Who is George Edwin Taylor?
Taylor was born in Little Rock, Arkansas, in August 1857, to Amanda Hines, a free African American woman. Taylor later reported that his father was Nathan Taylor, a slave. Hines was forced to leave Arkansas in 1859 as a consequence of a new law that required all free African Americans to leave the state by January 1, 1860, or be sold as slaves. Hines died in Alton, Illinois, in 1861 or 1862, and young George was forced to live in “dry goods boxes” and fend for himself until 1865 when he arrived in La Crosse, Wisconsin, aboard the “Hawkeye State,” a side-paddle vessel operating on the upper Mississippi River. Taylor lived in La Crosse only one or two years, after which he was “bound out” to Nathan Smith of rural West Salem where he lived until he reached the age of 20 years. He attended Wayland University in Beaver Dam from 1877 to 1879, after which he settled in La Crosse and in the employ of Marcus “Brick” Pomeroy, editor of Pomeroy’s Democrat. From 1880 to 1885, Taylor wrote for several local papers and contributed articles to the Chicago Inter Ocean. In 1885, he was on the staff of a newspaper supported financially by Frank “White Beaver” Powell, and eventually became an important player in Powell’s first two terms as mayor of La Crosse. In 1886 and 1887, Taylor became a crucial figure and office holder in Wisconsin’s People’s Party and then its Union Labor Party. His Wisconsin Labor Advocate was the voice of Wisconsin’s Labor Party in 1886-1887. From 1891 to 1910, Taylor lived in Oskaloosa and Ottumwa, Iowa, where he published a newspaper called the Negro Solicitor. During this period, he rose to prominence in national African American politics, acting as president of the National Colored Men’s Protective Association and the National Negro Democratic League and served high office in various other African American organizations. In 1904, Taylor was selected to lead the ticket of the National Negro Liberty Party for the office of President of the United States. From 1910 to 1925, Taylor retreated from the national stage and lived an active life in Jacksonville, Florida.
(Image from Richmond Planet (Richmond, VA), October 14, 1899, p.8)
Images of George Edwin Taylor
The Quincy Daily Journal (Quincy, IL), August 25, 1897, p.7.
Iowa State Bystander (Des Monies, IA), December 23, 1898, p.2.
George Edwin Taylor, 1904 Presidential Campaign Poster.
Source: Eartha White Collection, Thomas G. Carpenter Library, University of North Florida.
George Edwin Taylor, Portrait of Presidential Candidate, 1904, Voice of the Negro, October 1904, p.476.
La Crosse Tribune (La Crosse, WI), April 19, 1907, p.2.
Syracuse Daily Journal (Syracuse, NY), August 12, 1904, p.3.
Fort Wayne Journal-Gazette (Fort Wayne, IN), January 19, 1908, p.10.
George Edwin Taylor, President of National Negro Democratic League, 1900, Times Picayune, New Orleans, 12 August 1900, p.22.
Resources on George Edwin Taylor
- Haas, Charles. “George Edwin Taylor: The black presidential candidate with the La Crosse connection.” Past, Present and Future. La Crosse County Historical Society vol. 30, no. 4 (October-December 2008): 1-3.
Included is a nice full-length portrait from the University of North Florida library.
- Mouser, Bruce L. "Black La Crosse, Wisconsin, 1850-1906: Settlers, Entrepreneurs & Exodusers." La Crosse: La Crosse County Historical Society, 2002.
This monograph consists of eight chapters covering the history of Black settlement between 1850 and 1906. Chapters 1 through 5 include biographical sketches of all persons listed in official records, personal/residential/occupational data for each person, residential districts and barbershop addresses, a chronology of Black settlement for the period of study, and a narrative analysis of data. Chapters 6 through 8 consist of reprints of eight articles printed earlier in Past, Present, & Future. La Crosse County Historical Society between 1998 and 2001. Of particular are chapters regarding George Coleman Poage (Olympian in 1904) and George Edwin Taylor (newspaper publisher, politician, and unsuccessful candidate for President of the United States in 1904).
- Mouser, Bruce L. "For Labor, Race, and Liberty: George Edwin Taylor and the Making of Black Politics." Madison, Wis.: University of Wisconsin Press, 2010.
One of the first items digitized with the help of UW-La Crosse Murphy Library Endowment Fund in 2002 was the only known original copy of the Wisconsin Labor Advocate, a newspaper published in La Crosse in 1886 and 1887. This newspaper had been given to the La Crosse Library Association and was considered by that association so liberal and incendiary that it was never removed from its original wrappers. That collection of papers was found in a store room of the library only in 1986. Murphy Library at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse has the original issues, and the full run is available online.
*There are more materials about Taylor and African Americans in La Crosse on La Crosse History Unbound.
- Wisconsin Labor AdvocateWisconsin Labor Advocate: Newspaper published in La Crosse in 1886-1887. La Crosse was a hotbed of Labor political party activity in the 1880s and the “Labor Advocate” was one of at least four La Crosse area Labor-related newspapers from that time. What makes the “Labor Advocate” unique was its editor and owner: George Edwin Taylor. Taylor was an African-American, born in Arkansas in 1857. As a black business owner, he was an anomaly in La Crosse in the 1880s. Taylor got his start in publishing working at other La Crosse newspapers. He also became increasingly interested in politics as reflected in his editorship of the “Wisconsin Labor Advocate.” The last existing edition of the paper dates from August 6, 1887 and George Edwin Taylor left La Crosse soon afterwards. He maintained a life-long interest in politics and by 1904 had become involved an all African-American political party called the National Liberty Party. Taylor accepted the nomination of that party in 1904 as its candidate for the office of the U.S. President. In doing so, Taylor was the first candidate of a national African-American party for the U.S. presidency.
*There are more materials about Taylor and African Americans in La Crosse on La Crosse History Unbound.
Documents Relating to George Edwin Taylor
- Defense of Voting Requirements - 1898This is an essay written by an unidentified person at the Negro Solicitor, likely in late 1897 or early 1898, and republished in the Broad Ax, which was then being published in Salt Lake City, Utah. The original issue of the Negro Solicitor from which this essay was taken no longer exists. Source: The Broad Ax, Salt Lake City, Utah, 30 April 1898, p.4
- Cincinnati Platform - 1887The Cincinnati Platform of the Union Labor Party. Conference of Industrial Labor, Cincinnati, Ohio, 22 to 24 February 1887. Source: Wisconsin Labor Advocate, La Crosse, Wisconsin, 4 March 1887.
- Colored Democrat - 1900“A Colored Democrat: Oskaloosa’s Black Boom for Bryan.” This article is the first sketch of Taylor and was written by him at the request of the press. It was written following Taylor’s election as president of the National Negro Democratic League in 1900. This is the first appearance of information about his early life. Much information from this sketch appears later in Taylor’s campaign literature in 1904. Source: Times Picayune, 12 August 1900, p.22.
- Cora Taylor Editorial - 1896Editorial written by Cora E. Taylor, Oskaloosa, Iowa, and co-editor of The Negro Solicitor, on about 30 May 1896.
- Letter of Acceptance - 1904Letter of acceptance made public today by Hon. George E. Taylor. Source: Ottumwa Weekly Democrat, 15 September 1904, p1. Letters of acceptance were generally published in full for all nominees of political parties. This is the only known segment from Taylor’s letter of acceptance.
- La Crosse Convention Platform - 1886Platform of the La Crosse Convention, 16 July 1886. Source: La Crosse News, La Crosse, Wisconsin, 17 July 1886, p.2.
- National Appeal - 1892A National Appeal of 1892: Address to the American Negro and the Friends of Human Liberty. Issued following the MinneapolisConvention of the National Republican Party. Source: Daniel Murray Pamphlet Collection (Library of Congress).
- National Appeal - 1896National Appeal to the American Negro of 1896: Why we should favor the Chicago platform : by Geo. E. Taylor, Oskaloosa, Iowa. Source: African American Perspectives: Pamphlets from the Daniel A.P.Murray Collection, 1818-1907, Library of Congress.
- Neenah Convention Platform - 1886The Labor Platform Adopted At The Neenah Convention. Source: Wisconsin Labor Advocate, 24 September 1886, p.2.
- Negroes for Bryan - 1900This was a message to the nation given by the National Negro Democratic League at the conclusion of its biennial convention held in Kansas, City, Missouri in 1900. That convention was marked by a vigorous campaign for president of the League. George Taylor was selected as the League’s president, but his challenger, Fredrick McGhee, asked League to produce a letter to the American public. McGhee became the chairman of a Committee on Addresses chosen to draft such a letter. It is likely that this announcement was largely the creation of Fredrick McGhee. Source: Broad Ax (Chicago, Illinois), 21 July 1900.
- National Liberty Party Appeal - 1904“The National Liberty Party’s Appeal, by George Edwin Taylor, Candidate of the National Liberty Party for President of theUnited States.” A slightly different version was printed by The Independent, Houston, Texas, 57(13 October 1904), 844-6. Source: Voice of the Negro, October 1904, 844-46.
- National Liberty Party Platform - 1904National Negro Liberty Party Platform adopted at convention at Douglass Hotel, St. Louis, MO., on 7 July 1904. Source: Everit Brown and Albert Strauss, A Dictionary of American Politics (New York: A. L. Burt, c.1907), 585-87. For a summary of the platform, see East St. Louis Daily Journal, East St. Louis, Illinois, 8 July 1904. The platform also is printed in Edward Stanwood, A History of the Presidency vol. 2 (New York: Houghton Mifflin, 1916), 127-29. The Landmark, Statesville, North Carolina, 22 July 1904, p2, listed the “non-interference” in the affairs of the Far East as one of the five most important issues of the campaign.
- Ross to Taylor - 1904Letter, James Ross to George Taylor, 9 August 1904. Source: Ottumwa Courier, Ottumwa, Iowa, 16 August 1904, p.2.
- Sun interview with Taylor - 1904Taylor interview with The Sun, conducted c. 9 or 10 November 1904. A portion of this interview was published by the Washington Bee, 26 November 1904. Source: The Sun, New York City, New York, 20 November 1904, Section 3, p.7.
- Tillinghast Editorial - 2008Article by Muriel Tillinghast written for “The Ladner Report – 25 May 2008.
- "What the Party is."This is the only copy of this article and synopsis. Source: The Ottumwa Courier, Ottumwa, Iowa, 3 August 1904.
- "A Man or a Monkey."This is a clipping from the Negro Solicitor and was found in a scrapbook of clippings kept by George Woodson of Buxton, Iowa. It was among a group of clippings dated by someone in the July to August period of 1898.
- "Ex-Slave Bounty and Pension Association," Senate Bill S.1176 - 1899This page from the Congressional Record contains the exact language of the bill introduced "by request" by Senator Pettus. According to the debate found on this page, it was identical to other bills offered in both the House and the Senate over the years. Source: U.S. Senate, Cong. Rec., 56th Cong., 1st sess., 1899–1900, 11 December 1899 (Mr. Pettus), 33:183.
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