Ohio History Journal

THE TAYLOR FAMILY OF DENTISTS

by EDWARD C. MILLS, D.D.S., F.A.C.D.

Of the many families of America which have made outstand-

ing permanent contributions to science and to the professions,

Ohio may claim one which has made a special contribution to the

field of dentistry--the Taylor family.

The progenitor of this family, William Taylor, a Revolu-

tionary soldier of Monmouth County, New Jersey, was born

December 27, 1744. His forbears, of English extraction, had

settled in New Jersey in the seventeenth century. In the last

decade of the eighteenth century, William Taylor and his wife

Lucy Imlay moved west, settling first in Kentucky and finally

near the present site of Bainbridge, Ohio, around 1800. Here

he lived for the next thirty years; he died in 1830.

The eldest son of William and Lucy Taylor was Joseph, born

in New Jersey in 1770. He moved to Kentucky with his parents

and there married Jane Irwin in 1797. Joseph and his wife

moved to Ohio with the elder Taylors. Among the nine children

of Joseph were four sons who became dentists: Joseph (1806-73),

James (1809-81), Edward (1811-68), and Irwin (1813-43). One

grandson and two great grandsons of the elder Joseph Taylor also

chose the dental profession for their life's work. They were

James Irwin Taylor (1842-1916) of Cincinnati; his son Henry

C. Taylor (1871-1946) of Toledo; and James Silcott (born 1865)

of Washington C. H. Among these dentist members of the

Taylor family, James was the first to enter the profession and

perhaps became the best known.

JAMES TAYLOR, as a teacher and as a founder of the Ohio Col-

lege of Dental Surgery, effectively contributed to the advance of

dentistry from a craft to a profession. Born near Bainbridge in

1809, he received the advantages of a good education from his

father, who served the community as judge and school commis-

sioner. At an early age James chose medicine as his occupation

392

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TAYLOR FAMILY OF DENTISTS              393 and became a student of Dr. John Harris, who had moved to Bainbridge in 1826. An act of the Ohio General Assembly in 1824, to establish training standards for physicians, had required that candidates for examination must have received instruction under a preceptor. Dr. Harris had announced his willingness to serve as a preceptor in the Chillicothe Supporter and Gazette of November 1, 1827. Dr. Harris, a man of ability and ingenuity

who had already made a name in medical circles in the West, became the young Taylor's preceptor. His guidance directed Taylor toward a successful career and was keenly appreciated by Taylor in later years. Of his preceptor, Dr. Taylor wrote in 1861: He has acquired considerable reputation as general surgeon and a skillful operator. He was much devoted to the study of anatomy and chemistry, and was fond of experimenting; he had a quick and active mind, was polished in his manners, and delighted in imparting instruction to his pupils, devoted much time to their interests and prided much in their advancement in medical knowledge.

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394 OHIO ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL QUARTERLY

 

By the time James Taylor became associated with Dr. Harris,

the preceptor was already devoting much of his time to the prac-

tice of dentistry.¹ Naturally, a number of his students, including

Taylor, were directed into this field of specialization. When Har-

ris moved his office to, and began practice in, Chillicothe in

1830, Taylor moved to Hillsboro, where he practiced dentistry

while continuing the study of medicine with a Dr. Kirby. Later

Taylor entered Transylvania University at Lexington, Kentucky,

where he received an M.D. degree. Thereafter he returned to

Ohio and opened an office in Bainbridge. There, for several years,

he practiced his profession (only dentistry after 1834), wintering

in the South with his brother Joseph.

Apparently his dental practice was not sufficiently remunera-

tive, for in 1838 he invested in a dry goods business in Bainbridge.

He soon sold the store and moved to Crawfordsville, Indiana,

where he established a good practice and opened another dry goods

store. When the store failed in 1841, he again pulled up roots

and went South. The following year, however, found Taylor

back in Ohio, this time looking for a permanent position. He

found this in Cincinnati, where he purchased the practice of a

Dr. Rostaing, with his residence, office, and equipment. There

he induced his brother Edward, who was practicing medicine

and dentistry in Louisville, Kentucky, to join him.

Shortly thereafter he received an invitation from Chapin

A. Harris, a brother of John Harris and a former fellow student at

Bainbridge, to teach in the Baltimore College of Dental Surgery,

which Harris had founded in 1840. He declined the invitation

as there then appeared some possibility that a dental college might

be established also in Cincinnati. The college, the Ohio College

of Dental Surgery, was eventually established in 1845, largely

through Taylor's efforts, and Taylor became its first dean.2

Along with his brothers Joseph and Edward, James Taylor

was one of the leading members of the Mississippi Valley Asso-

ciation of Dental Surgeons at its organization at Cincinnati in

 

1 Edward C. Mills, "Dentistry and Dental Education," in Ohio State Archaeolog-

ical and Historical Quarterly, XLIX (1940), 386-397.

2 Edward C. Mills, "Dental Education in Ohio, 1838-1858," in Ohio State

Archaeological and Historical Quarterly, LI (1942), 294-312; LII (1943), 356--372.

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TAYLOR FAMILY OF DENTISTS     395

 

August 1844, and later served as its president in 1849. When the

Association began the publication of the Dental Register of the

West in 1847, Taylor became its editor. He edited this journal

for nine years. At the same time he was writing many articles

and delivering lectures on the practice of dentistry. This editing,

writing, and lecturing were all done while he continued to act

as dean of the Ohio College, to teach practical dentistry and

pharmacy, and to carry on an extensive dental practice. In 1856

he was elected president of the American Dental Convention,

succeeding Chapin A. Harris.

Taylor died on June 12, 1881, leaving a lasting imprint on

the dental profession, particularly in the Middle West.

JOSEPH TAYLOR, who was born near Bainbridge in 1806, fol-

lowed his younger brother James in the practice of dentistry.

Writing in the Dental Register, James Taylor once thus described

his brother's first efforts:

In 1830 I was pursuing the study of medicine under the instruction

of Dr. John Harris, brother of C. A. Harris, the latter practicing medicine

in Greenfield, and the former in Bainbridge. Dr. John Harris and myself

were devoting more or less time to the practice of dentistry and our

success in this specialty led Dr. C. A. Harris as well as my brother, to

turn their attention to this work. My brother, of course, had frequent

opportunity of seeing Dr. Harris and myself operate, and without any

consultation with anyone, determined to try his hand at dentistry. He set

to work without our knowledge, made and secured such instruments as

he conceived would be necessary, and started out on a trip through the

interior of the state. He soon found his suavity of manner and genial

address made it not difficult to secure business; but he also learned that

he knew but little about dentistry. This short experience, however, fixed

his purpose to take hold of dentistry as a profession. So at once he put

himself under a course of instruction, and pursued it with much zeal and

energy.

He continued his itinerant practice, however, and in 1831

went south to Vicksburg, Mississippi. He came back north again,

but for six years he returned to Vicksburg for six months out

of every year. In the meantime he went on with his studies and

ultimately was given the degree of Doctor of Dental Surgery by

the Baltimore College of Dental Surgery.

Following his marriage in 1837 he settled in Maysville, Ken-

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TAYLOR FAMILY OF DENTISTS               397

 

tucky, where he established a full practice of dentistry. Here

he remained until 1850 when he went to Cincinnati to join his

brother James. In 1859, however, he was suffering sufficiently

from a form of bronchial trouble that he was obliged to abandon

the practice of dentistry entirely. He died in May 1873 of pneu-

monia.

Joseph Taylor, with his brothers James and Edward, was

active in the organization of the Mississippi Valley Association of

Dental Surgeons and was its first president. He wrote little but

apparently well. He may be described as one of the pioneers of

the dental profession in the West.

EDWARD TAYLOR, the third of the Taylor brothers to take up

dentistry, was born near Bainbridge in 1811. He had as his pre-

ceptors his brothers James and Joseph. Beginning practice in

1831 he spent his first winter in towns on the Mississippi River.

On returning north he first settled in Cynthiana, Kentucky, where,

in addition to his regular practice of dentistry, he was able to be

of service in a cholera epidemic. In 1833 he moved to Springfield,

Ohio, where he went on with his medical studies, besides practicing

dentistry.

While he was living in Springfield, his wife died, and his

own health being poor he began to travel. He practiced for a

short time in Maysville, Kentucky, and finally settled in Natchez,

Mississippi, where he remained for several years. His health

evidently improved in the mild climate.

On leaving Natchez he went to Louisville, Kentucky, with

the intention of staying there permanently, but when his brother

James asked him to come to Cincinnati, he again moved. This

partnership was, however, short-lived, and in 1847, after an at-

tack of cholera, he dropped dentistry for the manufacturing busi-

ness and never returned to it. Later he moved to Cleveland and

eventually purchased a farm near there and engaged in the culture

of fruit. He died in 1868.

Edward Taylor was both a Doctor of Dental Surgery and

a Doctor of Medicine. His degree of Doctor of Dental Surgery

he held from the Baltimore College of Dental Surgery. Like his

brothers James and Joseph he was also one of the organizers of

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398 OHIO ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL QUARTERLY

 

the Mississippi Valley Association of Dental Surgery and was its

president in 1846.

IRWIN TAYLOR, the youngest of the four dentists, had the

shortest career in dentistry. Born near Bainbridge in 1813, he

may have studied some dentistry and medicine at the Harris

school, but in 1838 he took charge of the dry goods business which

his brother James had begun in Bainbridge. When this business

was sold out and James Taylor moved to Crawfordsville, Indiana,

Irwin managed the store that was established there. When this

business was sold, he went to Maysville, Kentucky, and took up

the study of dentistry with his brother Joseph. Not long after

this he joined his brother Edward in Natchez, Mississippi. He

died there in 1843.

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