1821-1890
Family of Daniel Gray Taylor
A Country Preacher Virginia VA
To understand the significance of the Taylor family in The Judson Legacy Project we must begin with Daniel Gray Taylor and his wife, Martha King Taylor. A simple biography of Rev. Taylor was written by their son, Joseph Judson Taylor, and simply named Daniel G. Taylor: A Country Preacher.[1] The Taylors founded and served the Mayo Baptist Church in Henry County, Kentucky, where they raised 6 children from which 3 sons would become significant Baptist pastors. One of these sons was named for Adoniram Judson and two grandsons carried the Judson moniker with distinction.
1. Their first son was Rev. John Lee Taylor (wife, Roxie) whose 1925 biography is reported in John Lee Taylor, Minister and Missionary.[2] John and Roxie named their third son in honor of Adoniram, as Thomas Judson Taylor who was born 28 February 1877, in Martinsville, VA, and died in that same city 18 April 1936. “Thomas Judson lives with his family on the farm where his father spent his last years, and his mother lives with him.”[3] He married Sarah Ellen Boaz and is buried in the Mayo Baptist Church Cemetery. That is all we can find on Thomas Judson Taylor, a grandson of Daniel Gray Taylor.
2. Their second son was Rev. Sam Frank Taylor, pastor and educator, who married Ellen Burdett. This couple named one of their children for the missionary using the appellation, Eugene Judson Taylor. The sad story of this infant grandson of Daniel Gray Taylor is reported as entry 1879-1881.
3. Daniel and Martha Taylor’s third son was Rev. Joseph Judson Taylor who became the great pacifist of Southern Baptist life at the beginning of the twentieth century. The story of this courageous son of Danial Gray Taylor is reported in entry 1855-1930.
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i[1] Joseph Judson Taylor, Daniel G. Taylor: A Country Preacher (Louisville, KY: Baptist Book Concern, 1893).
[2] William Carson Taylor, John Lee Taylor: Minister and Missionary (Nashville, TN: Cokesbury Press, 1925).
[3] Ibid., p. 106.