William E. Taylor, whose initiation into the business world connected him with publishing interests and who throughout the intervening period has continuously directed his efforts in the same channel, is now associated in an executive capacity with the business office of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. A native son of St. Louis he was born July 25, 1861, his parents being William N. and Mary Jane Taylor. The family is of English lineage and the father, William N. Taylor, was born in Yarmouth, England, whence he came to the United States, being the first of his family to emigrate to the new world. For some time he was engaged in the shoe business in St. Louis.
William E. Taylor was a pupil in the public schools of this city until he reached the age of sixteen years when the failure of the Provident Savings Bank, followed by the death of his parents within a year of each other, left him homeless and penniless. Necessity, therefore, forced his entrance into the business world and he early recognized the eternal principle that industry wins and that opportunity slips away from the sluggard, tauntingly plays as a will-‘o-wisp before the dreamer but yields its rewards to the man of determination, energy and enterprise. Industry has always been the source of his advancement. He was first employed in the St. Louis branch of the D. Appleton & Company book publishing house of New York city, with which he remained until December 12, 1879, when he entered the employ of Joseph Pulitzer, proprietor of the Post-Dispatch, in the position of collector. Realizing the value of further educational advantages than he had thus far received he supplemented his qualifications for business by attending night sessions of the Mound City Business College and afterward studied under private tutorship. The steps in his orderly progression are easily discernible. He has won advancement through earnest effort and the mastery of every task assigned him and through the faithful performance of each day’s duties has found courage and strength for the labors of the succeeding day. In 1906 he was elected to the office of Secretary of the Pulitzer Publishing Co., publishers of the Post-Dispatch, and held that position for five years, when illness forced him to retire from active business over a period of several years. Barring that period he has always directed his energies in connection with the publishing business and with every phase thereof he is thoroughly familiar. Today his success is due to perfect health and an unfaltering determination.
Mr. Taylor was married on the 17th of March, 1886, to Miss Carrie B. Wright, a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. L. W. H. Wright, of St Louis, and they are now parents of two children, W. Everett and Edith Wright (Mrs. Frank C. Cann). Mr. Taylor belongs to the Royal Arcanum and for about a third of a century was identified with the St. Louis Legion of Honor. He is a member of the Midland Valley Country Club, also the City Club. During the war with Germany he cooperated in every possible way in sustaining the interests of the government in its relations with the allies and in its prosecution of the war. Widely known in the city of his nativity his friends and they are many rejoice in what he has accomplished in the course of his active business career. Denied the advantages that many youths enjoy he has nevertheless advanced steadily, the force of his character and his developing powers bringing him to a prominent place in the business circles of the city.