He attended the Male Academy in Lexington and the Union University, Murfreesboro, Tennessee.

[1] Taylor enlisted in the Confederate States Army, and was elected first lieutenant in June 1861 and promoted to captain.

He served as delegate to the Democratic National Convention in 1880, and was a member of the State house of representatives in 1881 and 1882.

[2] He served as chairman of the Committee on Expenditures in the Department of the Navy (Forty-ninth Congress).

[4] This article incorporates public domain material from the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress