Robert Love Taylor

American politician (1850–1912)

For his nephew, the judge, see Robert Love Taylor (judge) .

For other people named Robert Taylor, see Robert Taylor (disambiguation) .

Robert Love Taylor (July 31, 1850 – March 31, 1912) was an American politician, writer, and lecturer. A member of the Democratic Party, he served three terms as the 24th governor of Tennessee , from 1887 to 1891, and again from 1897 to 1899, and subsequently served as a United States senator from 1907 until his death. He also represented Tennessee's 1st district in the United States House of Representatives from 1879 to 1881, the last Democrat to hold the district's seat.

A charismatic speaker, Taylor is remembered for defeating his older brother, Alfred A. "Alf" Taylor , in the 1886 gubernatorial campaign known as "The War of the Roses." The campaign involved storytelling, fiddle-playing, and practical jokes, standing in contrast to the state's previous gubernatorial campaigns, which typically involved fierce rhetoric and personal attacks. Though Robert Taylor won in , Alfred Taylor was elected as governor in the early 1920s.

Along with politics, Taylor was a public lecturer and magazine editor. He published several collections of his lectures and short stories in the 1890s and early 1900s, and was co-editor of the Taylor-Trotwood Magazine.

Early life and career

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Taylor was born in Happy Valley , Carter County, Tennessee , the third son of Nathaniel Green Taylor , a Methodist minister, and Emmaline Haynes, an accomplished pianist. : 23  His father, a member of the Whig Party , had been defeated by Andrew Johnson in a campaign for Congress in 1849 but would win the seat in the mid-1850s. His mother's family supported the Democratic Party , and her brother, Landon Carter Haynes , was a prominent Democratic politician. Robert Taylor would adopt his mother's political leanings and become a Democrat, and his older brother, Alfred, would follow his father into the Whig (and later Republican ) Party.

Nathaniel Taylor supported the Union during the Civil War, : 19  and the family moved to Philadelphia in 1861 when Tennessee seceded and the Confederate Army occupied East Tennessee. In 1864, the Taylor brothers enrolled in Pennington Seminary in New Jersey. The family moved to Washington in 1867 when Nathaniel Taylor was appointed as Commissioner of Indian Affairs by President Andrew Johnson. Robert Taylor took a position in the Treasury Department. : 29  The family returned to Tennessee in 1869, where Robert would attend Buffalo Institute (modern Milligan College ) and East Tennessee Wesleyan College . While at the former, he cowrote a play with his brother, Alfred. : 29 

In the 1870s, Taylor tried several business ventures, including farming, operating a lumber mill, and managing his father's Doe River iron forge. He largely failed at all of those, however, since he was reckless with money, overpaid his employees, and preferred conversation and storytelling to working. : 35  He read law during this period with S.J. Kirkpatrick in Jonesborough .

In 1878, Alfred Taylor ran for the Republican nomination for Tennessee's 1st congressional district seat against Augustus H. Pettibone . At the party's convention, Alfred appeared to have more delegates, but Pettibone managed to win the nomination, which led Alfred's supporters to suspect corruption. Robert Taylor was convinced to run against Pettibone on the Democratic ticket in the general election. The public got its first real taste of his speaking ability at a debate in Bristol , when Taylor thrashed Pettibone with a "bewildering kaleidoscope of oratory." : 40  With help from Alfred's disgruntled supporters, Robert edged Pettibone for the seat by 750 votes. : 44  Legislation sponsored by Taylor included a bill calling for a federal income tax.

Taylor was defeated by Pettibone in his re-election campaign in 1880 and lost to Pettibone a third time when he tried to regain the seat in 1882. : 45  He launched a pro-Democratic Party newspaper, The Comet, in nearby Johnson City . : 46  In 1884, Taylor was named the elector from the 1st district for Democratic presidential candidate Grover Cleveland , and campaigned across the district against the Republican elector, Samuel Hawkins. After Cleveland won the election, he appointed Taylor as federal pension agent in Knoxville . : 48 

Governor

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In , Republicans, hoping to exploit divisions in the Democratic Party between the pro-farmer and Bourbon factions, nominated Alfred Taylor for governor. (The office then had a two-year term.) Democrats, realizing they needed a unifier and effective campaigner to counter Alfred, nominated Robert Taylor as their candidate, pitting the two brothers against one another. The Prohibition Party offered its nomination to the Taylors' father, Nathaniel, but he declined. : 50 

The Taylors' 1886 campaign, as depicted on the cover of the October 2, 1886 issue of _[Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_Leslie's_Illustrated_Newspaper

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