Page:Encyclopedia of Virginia Biography volume 4.djvu/643

 VIRGINIA BIOGRAPHY

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in Richmond, I^^bruary 14, 1844, and of this union were born ten children as follows : Marshall, Walter, Charles Alexander, Eliza Adams, Alfred Crozet, Wirt Edwin. Richard Ashby, Hetty Ambler, Alice Marshall, War- ren Poindexter, mentioned at length below. (VIJ) Warren Poindexter Taylor, young- est child of James Marshall and Isabel de Leon (Jacobs) Taylor, was born Septem- ber II, 1868, at Taylorsville, Hanover county. Virginia. Taylorsville had received its name from our subject's family, and the old Taylor estate so many years in that vicinity. His education, however, was ob- tained at the city of Richmond, in which his father spent much of his time, and he at- tended at various times the Madison and Central schools, and at a later date the high school. Of a most industrious tempera- ment, Mr. Taylor did not wait, as do the majority of boys, for the end of his school years before taking a hand in the active busi- ness of life. On the contrary, while still attending the daily sessions of school, he received a position as office boy with the Richmond. Fredericksburg & Potomac Rail- road, with which his oldest brother, then living, Charles A., was traffic manager. His Saturdays, those treasures of boyhood, he used also to give up in the same way to work, and in addition to his allotted task in the railroad company's office, delivered the "Richmond Standard," a newspaper edited and published by Dr. G. W^attson James, on Saturdays. Such uncommon industry coupled with great native aptness could not fail to bring success in its train, and truly Mr. Taylor's business career is a record of one success after another. The next posi- tion which he filled after his office boy days was as clerk and bookkeeper in the employ of Priddy & Taylor, a large grocery estab- lishment on Broad street, near Eighth street, Richmond. From this he went as a clerk with A. B. Goodman Bark and Tan Mill for a few months, then for a year as clerk with Watkins, Cottrell & Company, dealers in hardware. He then returned to the railroad business and secured a position in the offices of the Richmond & Danville Railroad. Here he worked as a clerk in the offices of the vice-president and general manager. This was in the year 1886, and the following year he was transferred to the office of the treasurer on the same road, with thepositionofassistantpaymaster. Here

he remained for two years longer, and then had an ofTer from the Richmond, Freder- icksburg & Potomac Railroad, where he had started as office boy while still a child at school. He accepted this offer, and on No- vember I, 1889, started upon his new duties as chief clerk to the traffic manager, an ex- cellent position from which to learn the de- tail of railroad business. On September i, 1898, he was appointed traffic manager of the Richmond, Fredericksburg & Potomac Railroad, succeeding his brother, Charles A. Taylor, who died in August, 1898. In addi- tion to his other position he was appointed traffic manager of the Washington South- ern Ra,ilway in October, 1901.

His capacity for judicious management was so great that it soon came to be recog- nized outside the limits of the company which he served, and, as was natural, other concerns desired to avail themselves of his skill and judgment. In May, 1897, he was accordingly elected secretary and treasurer of the Freight Claim Association. He has also been treasurer of the W^estmoreland Oyster and Packing Company for several years. He is connected with the large tim- ber tract and farm known as "Goose Pond" in Caroline county, Virginia, formerly owned by Colonel Richard H. Dulany. He is now recognized as one of the most promi- nent business men, and has been a director of the Richmond Chamber of Commerce since 1910. He served as a member of the board of visitors to Mount V^ernon in 1912. He is a man of striking personality and im- pressive bearing, and very popular in a large circle. He was appointed by the governor of Virginia a colonel and quartermaster on that functionary's staff. This appointment was made in February, 1914, by Governor Henry Carter Stuart. Mr. Taylor is a man of the widest activities and interests, and besides those in connection with his busi- ness has many in all departments of the life of the city. He is a conspicuous figure in the social life of Richmond, and a member of the most important clubs in the place, among them being the Commonwealth Club of Richmond, for which he has served on its board six years, and was its president in 1908 ; the Country Club of Virginia, the Po- cahontas Club, the Richmond Fishing Club, the Business Men's Club of Richmond and the Hanover Club of Ashland.

Mr. Taylor married, February 3, 1892,