History of Lincoln, Oneida and Vilas Counties

"History of Lincoln, Oneida, and Vilas Counties Wisconsin"

Compiled by George O.Jones, Norman S. McVean and Others. Printed in 1924 by H.C.Cooper. Jr. & Co., Minneapoli-Winona MN. ill. 787 pages. The first two hundred pages are history of the three counties, the remainder of the book is biographies.

Biography

Taylor, Arthur, head of the Taylor Beverage Co., of Rhinelander, Oneida County, who has been a resident of this city for 33 years, and who in that time has been intimately connected with some of the most progressive movements in the city and county, which, largely by his own initiative and persistence have been carried to a successful issue, was born at Ripley, Derbyshire, England, April 16, 1858, son of Percival and Eliza (BRADLEY) TAYLOR. The parents, who were natives of the same place, emigrated to Canada in June, 1867, when he was ten years old. In October, 1879, he came to the States, locating first in Schoolcraft County, Mich., where he remained until 1880, when he came farther west, to Marinette County, Wis. During those years he was connected chiefly with the lumber industry in one way or another. In 1887, in partnership with his brother, Walter, he engaged in the manufacture of soda waters and soft drinks in Marinette, Wis., and so continued until December, 1890, when he came to Rhinelander and purchased the original plant of his present business together with the goodwill. Both the plant and business were then small, and he set to work to develop them. In 1905 he built his present factory, a two-story building with basement, and it is worthy of mention that the first use to which it was put was to shelter for several days a number of families who had been burned out in the great fire which occurred in Rhinelander that year. His business grew from year to year, and in 1920 he added to it a wholesale jobbing candy department, which he now conducts under the name of the Taylor Beverage & Candy Co. As to his beverage department, he specializes in coco cola, Hire's orange crush and ginger ale, besides manufacturing all the regular lines of bottled soft drinks. His trade outside of Rhinelander extends to about 60 miles in all directions except the south, which route has been shortened by a similar plant owned and conducted by Mr. TAYLOR at Antigo. It was purchased by him Dec. 6, 1921, and is conducted under the name of Taylor Beverage & Candy Co. Mr. TAYLOR'S activities in the directions above mentioned have kept him farily busy, but he has found time to do a good many others things of a business or public nature. He helped to organize the Rhinelander Telephone Company and was its first secretary, a position that he held for many years, and he is now president of the company, also president of the Rhinelander Building & Loan Association, besides being a member of the Rhinelander Rotary Club, and several fraternal orders. For 13 years he was a member of the Oneida county board and for four years its chairman. It was while he was serving as a member of that body that he accomplished a great and useful work in moulding public sentiment in favor of the erection of the present fine court house. When its erection was at last decided upon, he was made chairman of the building committee. This court house is said to be one of the finest public buildings in northern Wisconsin. Another public institution with the establishment of which Mr. TAYLOR had much to do, and the importance of which ranks almost with that of the court house, was the Oneida County Training School for Teachers. It had long been his hobby that the county should have such a school; he advocated it from time to time, helping to create public sentiment in its favor, and in 1909, when he was acting president of the Oneida County Board of Supervisors, the matter was taken up and the school soon became an accomplished fact, Mr. TAYLOR serving as president of the Oneida County Training School from that year, 1909, to 1912. For 24 years he served as secretary of the Oneida County Agricultural Society. In politics he has always been a Democrat and for 15 years he was secretary of the Oneida Democratic Committee, also serving for several years as its chairman. On May 3, 1883, Arthur TAYLOR was married, at Cheboygan, Mich., to Mary Elnora RICHARDSON, who was born at that place, daughter of Thomas and Elnora (BELOIT) RICHARDSON. He and his wife have had six children, of whom the first three died in infancy. The other three were Douglas Arthur (now deceased), Bradley R., and Lloyd R. Of Douglas Arthur a separate sketch appears in this volume; the record of the other two is as follows: Bradley R. TAYLOR was born in Rhinelander June 4, 1895. In 1913 he was graduated from the local high school and subsequently entered the University of Wisconsin. When the call to arms came in 1917 he enlisted in the military service of his country, went through the prescribed studies and exercises in an officers' training camp, and was commissioned second lieutenant. He went overseas in June, 1918, landed in Russia with the 339th Infantry and was stationed in that country until June, 1919, when he returned to the United States by way of France and was discharged at Camp Grant, Rockford, Ill., in November, that year. He was the only Oneida County man to serve in Russia during the war. After he return home he became associated with his father in business and is still with him. He married July 8, 1920, to Helen PERRY of Superior, Wis., and has two children: Douglas A., born May 25, 1921; and Joan, born Feb. 14, 1923. He is a member of the Phi Gamma Delta "Frat" of Wisconsin University, and is also a thirty-second degree Mason and a member of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. Lloyd R. TAYLOR, born in Rhinelander in July, 1900, was graduated from the Rhinelander High School, and is now a student at the University of Wisconsin, taking courses in agriculture and law. He, like his brother Bradley, is a member of the Phi Gamma Delta.

Transcribed by Susan Swanson, from page 226-227; History of Lincoln, Oneida and Vilas Counties Wisconsin; Compiled by George O. Jones, Norman S. McVean and Others 1924, H. C. Cooper, Jr. & Co.

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