Ezra B. Taylor

Ezra Booth Taylor
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Ohio's 19th district
In office December 13, 1880 – March 3, 1893
Preceded by	James A. Garfield
Succeeded by	Stephen A. Northway
Personal details
Born	(1823-07-09)July 9, 1823 Nelson Township, Ohio
Died	January 29, 1912(1912-01-29) (aged 88) Warren, Ohio
Political party	Republican
Spouse	Harriet M. Frazier
Children	two

Ezra Booth Taylor (July 9, 1823 – January 29, 1912) was an American lawyer and politician who served as a U.S. Representative from Ohio from 1880 to 1893. He won election to the congressional seat that had been vacated by James Garfield after he was elected president.

Biography

Taylor was born in Nelson Township, Portage County, Ohio[1] and attended the common and select schools and academies. He studied law and was admitted to the bar and commenced practice in Portage County in 1845. Taylor was elected prosecuting attorney in 1854 and moved to Warren, Ohio, in 1861.

Civil War

During the American Civil War, he enrolled as a private in Company A, One Hundred and Seventy-first Ohio Infantry, on April 27, 1864. He was mustered into service on May 5, 1864, and was honorably discharged on August 20, 1864.

Congress

Taylor was elected judge of the court of common pleas for the ninth judicial district of Ohio and served from March 1877 to September 1880, when he resigned. Taylor was elected as a Republican to the Forty-sixth Congress to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of James A. Garfield. He was re-elected to the Forty-seventh and the five succeeding Congresses and served from December 13, 1880, to March 3, 1893.

He was an outspoken opponent of the Chinese Exclusion Act in 1882, arguing that Chinese immigrants were being singled out by laborers on the West Coast.^[citation needed] He served as chairman of the Committee on the Judiciary (Fifty-first Congress) but declined to be a candidate for renomination in 1892.

Personal life

After leaving office, he resumed the practice of his profession. He died in Warren, Ohio, on January 29, 1912, and was interred in the Warren mausoleum at Oakwood Cemetery.

In 1849, Taylor was married in Ravenna to Harriet M. Frazier, who died in 1876. They had a daughter and a son. The former, Harriet Taylor Upton was a famous suffragist and author.[2]

References

1. History of Trumbull and Mahoning Counties. Vol. 1. Cleveland: H Z Williams and Brother. 1882. pp. 182b.
2. Reed, George Irving; Randall, Emilius Oviatt; Greve, Charles Theodore, eds. (1897). Bench and Bar of Ohio: a Compendium of History and Biography. Vol. 2. Chicago: Century Publishing and Engraving Company. pp. 181–183.

• United States Congress. "Ezra B. Taylor (id: T000073)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. Retrieved on 2008-10-12

U.S. House of Representatives
Preceded by James A. Garfield	Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Ohio's 19th congressional district 1880–1893	Succeeded by Stephen A. Northway

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