Wright Taylor was born in Simpson county, Kentucky, August 15, 1823, and his parents were natives of the same State, When only four years old his home was changed to Missouri, and for six years he lived near Liberty, in Clay county. From thence he removed to what was then known as the Grand River country, Plattsburg then being the chief town in the district, now comprising the counties of Daviess, DeKalb, Harrison, Grundy and Gentry. He went to DeKalb county from Clay, and remained there until he was twenty-one years old.
On the 20th of March, 1844, Mr. Taylor was joined in marriage to Miss Elizabeth Blackburn. The fruits of this union were nine children; namely, Nancy Jane, born March 20, 1845; Henrietta, born January 25, 1847; Mary E., born February 17, 1849; David A., born August 21,1851; Martha, born April 2, 1854; William, born June 11, 1856; Benjamin F., born February 21, 1859; Jacob L., born January 12, 1861; and Rebecca E., born July 21, 1863.
Mr. Taylor settled on his present farm in 1847, and there he has resided ever since. He owns 540 acres of fertile land, 400 acres of which are under cultivation, and has some two miles of hedge fence upon his farm. Mr. Taylor has traveled extensively in California and Texas, and says that he has never seen a country that can equal the Grand River Valley in the richness and fertility of the soil, or the picturesque beauty of the scenery. He rejoices over the downfall of slavery, and says that its existence was the only thing that retarded the progress of Missouri for many years, but that now she will become second to no State in the Union. When he first came to Missouri there were no roads, and traveling was done by stakes and “blazes” upon trees, Indians and wild animals made their homes in the stately forests, and the closest horse-mill was forty-five miles away. All is changed now, and he can stand upon his veranda and, looking over his broad, well-cultivated fields, see the residences of his children around him, while years ago there was but a dense wilderness.