Pages 697-698
Sanford B. Taylor, a prominent planter and statesman of Perry County Ark, is a son of William Taylor and Priscilla Donaldson, of South Carolina, the forefathers for several generations having been residents of that State. The great-grandfather on both sides of the family were soldiers in the Revolution, whose deeds of valor have been handed down through each generation to the present. About the year 1840 William Taylor emigrated from his native State to Mississippi and located in LaFayette County where he remained until 1852 and then moved with this family to Pulaski County Ark. They resided here for three years and came to Perry County but in 1857 the father went to Texas, where he died, the mother dying in Johnson County Ark in 1861. Sanford B. Taylor was born on June 9, 1846 in DeKalb County GA and was trained to look upon farming as his natural occupation. He commenced in life for himself at the age of nineteen years, first working a farm on shares, and then engaging at a salary. In 1856 he was married to Miss Mary Jane Albia, a daughter of Peter Albia and Elizabeth Brazeale, who were among the earliest settlers of Arkansas, the father coming from Vermont and the mother from Illinois. This union was a happy one in every respect save one-they were childless. Mr Taylor has farmed all his life except the preiod of the Rebellion, when he was conscripted in the Confederate army. He did not volunteer his services, as the terrible tales of cruelty and hardships endured in the Mexican and Indian Wars by his grandfather and father were so vividly impressed upon his mind, that he concluded to remain and protect his wife and family instead of exposing his life to the tortures of war. His intentions were changed, however, in 1863, when he was pressed into the Confederate army becoming a private in Company A, of Col Brooks' regiment of infantry, and was at the battle of Helena Ark, when the attempt was made to capture that town. He was also within hearing of the guns at the battle of Pea Ridge, but did not participate on account of being unarmed. Mr Taylor served altogether about a year in the Confederate army, his company for the most part being on duty on, and in the vicinity of the Arkansas River, near Little Rock. While they were badly demoralized at the time, and every man seemed to have entirely lost all sense of discipline, it was not through fear but because of the successful efforts of the Federals, who greatly exceeded them in numbers. Mr Taylor finally joined the Federal army at Little Rock and was detailed as a nurse in the hospital, where he remained until the close of the war. June 30, 1865, he was mustered out, and July 5 of the same year, he received his final discharge and pay. The next day he embarked on a steamer at Little Rock and proceeded to Lewisburg Landing, the nearest point to his home, arriving there in the latter part of the month. On his return home he again resumed his farm work on the land he had purchased before the war, and in addition commenced cultivating forty acres adjoining. Mr Taylor has purchased various tracts and sold them again, and did not come upon his present farm until 1887. Altogether he owns 325 acres in various localities and the present farm consisting of twenty acres, although he has now been retired from active business life for seven or eight years, owing to ill health brought on by exposure in the army. He is a member of Aplin Lodge No. 444, A.F. & A.M., and was initiated in the fraternity about 1880, at Perryville. He attends the Missionary Baptist Church with his wife and is a liberal supporter and warm friend to all religious and educational matters. Mr Taylor is well known in the surrounding country, and popular with everyone in that section.