Taylor, William Nicholson, 1882-1945

William Nicholson Taylor was born on June 22, 1882 in Cincinnati, OH to Quaker parents Frank Hendrickson Taylor and Rebecca Morgan Nicholson Taylor. He grew up at Linden, a family home near Haddonfield, NJ. Frank Hendrickson Taylor (1855-1934) graduated from Harvard and was president of the Westinghouse Electric Company. Rebecca Nicholson Taylor (1857-1944), a descendent of the Whitall family, is known for writing poetry, history and memoirs.

William Nicholson Taylor studied architecture at Harvard University. Following his graduation in 1903, “his interests were evenly divided between athletics, travel and art,” (Who’s Who Abroad). Spending a considerable amount of his adult life abroad, he studied at the American Academy of Rome and at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts from 1905-1910, receiving his Diplome d’Architecte. He also sketched cartoons throughout his life, and played Cricket internationally.

When the United States entered World War I, Taylor joined the Field Artillery Officers’ Reserve Corps as a captain. On May 15, 1917, he was called to active duty and sent to Officers’ Training camp in Fort Niagara, New York. By August 15, 1917, he was promoted to major. He was then assigned to the 310th Field Artillery, 79th Division in Camp Mead, Maryland and a month later, sent to the School of Fire in Fort Sill, Oklahoma. His military successes continued as he was appointed instructor on December 21, 1917, promoted to Lieutenant Colonel on July 28, 1918, and assigned to command the 29th Field Artillery at Camp Funston, Kansas. At the end of the war, Taylor was discharged on February 11, 1919.

Following the war, Taylor married Gertrude Christine Duret de Brie on May 15, 1919. The Taylors moved to France where Taylor served as general European Manager for the E.I. DuPont de Nemours Export Corporation, Inc. in Paris. Their three children were born in Paris: Constance Alix, born on July 8, 1921; Benjamin de Brie, born on March 15, 1923; and Marie-Celine, born on May 20, 1925. In 1927, Taylor became president of the American Chamber of Commerce in France. The Taylor family returned to the United States in 1936, living in Wilmington, Delaware, Norton, Connecticut, New York, New York, and Chestnut Hill, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Taylor worked as an architect for George Howe.

During the Second World War, Taylor served in the 3rd Services Command, United States Army Office of the Inspector General. He died in Washington, DC in April, 1945.

Publications by Rebecca Morgan Nicholson Taylor include: Songs of Hope, 1915; Small Adventures of a Little Quaker Girl, 1937; A Family History of the Residence of Rebecca and Sarah Nicholson, Haddonfield, New Jersey, 1917; The Wind Passeth Over It, circa 1925; Poems: Christmas Greetings, 1915; Earth People: and Other Verse, circa 1920s-1930s; What Our Work Is: And Why We Do It, 1897; and Memoir of Mary Whitall, 1885.

From the guide to the Taylor and Nicholson family papers, Bulk, 1869-1944, 1810-1999, (Haverford College Quaker & Special Collections)