Marshall W. Taylor (July 1, 1846 – September 11, 1887) was a Methodist Episcopal minister and journalist in Kentucky.

Marshall William Taylor was born on July 1, 1846, in Lexington, Kentucky,[1] the youngest of three children.

He also attended school in Lexington, but after his father died, his mother moved Marshall and his brothers to Louisville, Kentucky[1] in 1854.

[3] They were not allowed to attend schools in Louisville, and they moved to Ghent, Kentucky where they stayed for two years and were secretly taught by white children in the neighborhood.

[3] In 1861, Taylor, William W. Hazelton, and Charles B. Morgan[4] formed the United Brothers of Friendship in Louisville.

In 1872 he was ordained by Bishop Levi Scott in Maysville, Kentucky and took charge of Coke Chapel in Louisville.

He wrote a number of small books, including a biography of Reverend George W. Downing, Life of Downey, the Negro Evangelist; a music compilation, Collection of Revival Hymns and Plantation Melodies;,[1] a religious text, Universal Reign of Jesus; and a biography of Amanda Smith, Life of Mrs. Amanda Smith, the Missionary.

[9] In 1869, Taylor married Kate Heston, a teacher from Hardinsburg, Kentucky, where he lived at the time.

His funeral was at Jackson Street, Methodist Church and he was buried at Cave Hill Cemetery in the grave next to that of his mother.