John T. Taylor, the well known chief of police of Leavenworth, Kan., was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, August 7, 1841, the son of William H. H. and Anna Tuttle (Harrison) Taylor. His father was a native of Richmond, Va., who moved to Ohio at an early day, and there met anad[sic] married Anna Harrison, youngest daughter of President William Henry Harrison, and a grandchild of Benjamin Harrison, one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence. Judge John Cleves Simms, her grandfather, was one of the first white settlers in Ohio. He purchased several thousand acres of land between the two Miami rivers, which also included what is now the city of Cincinnati. When John T. Taylor was only seven years old his parents moved to North Bend, Ohio, to live with the grandfather, and there the boy was reared and received the educational advantages afforded by the hardy pioneers. At the outbreak of the Civil war the father organized the Fifth Ohio cavalry and served as colonel of the regiment, but in 1864 was forced to resign on account of ill health, and returned to the old home, where he lived until 1867, when he moved to Minnesota and for eighteen years served as state librarian of Minnesota and died in office, at the age of eighty-one. The mother passed away in 1865, in Ohio. John T. Taylor's brother, William, also enlisted in the Union army and received a commission as captain of the Eighteenth United States infantry and served throughout the war.

Aug. 7, 1861, John T. Taylor enlisted in Company G, Fifth Ohio cavalry, and subsequently, was elected first lieutenant. At Paducah, Ky., he was appointed aide-de-camp to Gen. W. T. Sherman, and his first important battle was Shiloh. At Vicksburg he was severely injured, but after months of suffering recovered, and had the distinction of witnessing the restoration of the old flag to the flagstaff at Fort Sumter, by Gen. Robert Anderson, and listening to Henry Ward Beecher's oration on that occasion. He was discharged in May, 1865, at Charleston, S. C., and returned to Ohio, and in 1866 came to Kansas. For some time Mr. Taylor was engaged in farming and in real estate, buying and selling land, but gave that up to accept a position as traveling salesman, which occupation he followed for twenty-one years. When D. R. Anthony became mayor of Leavenworth he appointed Mr. Taylor chief of the police force, and when the commission form of government was adopted by the city, at the election of Mayor Crancer, he was again made chief of police. Mayor Abernathy chose him for the same position, and he was reappointed by Mayor Doege, which office he still holds.

In 1881 Mr. Taylor married Amelia M. Wilson, who was a teacher in the schools at Bloomington, Ill. Mr. Taylor is a member of the Grand Army of the Republic; Military Order of the Loyal Legion, being second vice-commander of that order; the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks; of the United Commercial Travelers, and is also a member of the International Association of Police Chiefs, and vice-president of the Peace Officers' Association of the State of Kansas. He is an able and efficient officer, who does his duty fearlessly and impartially.