At the advent of the American Civil War, Taylor enlisted in the Union Army at the age of 16 and was badly wounded at the Battle of Port Hudson.

[3] In August 1873, with the paper facing low circulation and financial difficulties, Jordan hired Taylor as temporary business manager.

[3] At the time, Taylor was a 27-year-old Civil War veteran,[2] who had worked as a staff member and printer for the Boston Traveler, and as a stringer for the New York Tribune.

His most important innovation, however, was adding stock quotations, women's pages, and sports coverage to the previous menu of political, national and foreign news, creating a prototype of a modern family newspaper.

[6] The Globe successfully avoided an incorrect call in the 1916 United States presidential election, when it initially appeared that Republican Charles Evans Hughes would defeat incumbent Democrat Woodrow Wilson.