Taylor was born in Grand Forks, North Dakota in 1890. He grew up in Grand Forks with his parents and three younger siblings.[1] As a boy, he played violin in the boys' orchestra of the local YMCA.[2][3]
At Grand Forks High School, he was in debate club.[4] He was also involved at Trinity Lutheran and First Baptist while in high school.[5] Even after his family moved to Minot, Taylor chose to stay in Grand Forks. In February of 1907, he was assaulted by his roommate, First Baptist choir director Paul Gladstone; while Paul was out of town two months later, Taylor and his father publicly accused him of "crimes against nature," joined by other boys and men, leading to his arrest and later imprisonment. Taylor reunited with his family in Minot in the summer of 1907.
At Minot High School, he continued to be on the debate team.[6] While he was in high school, he also acted in local plays[7] and worked as the pastor of Burlington Presbyterian Church. He received his high school diploma and officially graduated on June 7, 1909.[8]
He continued to work as the pastor at Burlington Presbyterian until February 1910.[9] He began working at the Minot Adjustment and Collections Agency before allegedly going to Princeton University in the fall. The 1910 US Census listed his occupation as "stenographer."[10]
The young state printer and church moderator (1911-1915)
His dreams of being a Princeton man may have been dashed, because in 1911, Taylor began working as an editor at the Minot Reporter. In addition to his work at the paper, he also was the secretary of Minot's Young Men's Booster Club and Commercial Club.[11][12]
In 1913, he was appointed state printer by the state printing board.[13] He moved to Bismarck by the summer of 1913.
In 1913, he also started a position as the superintendent of the Sunday school of a local Presbyterian church, which he served into until 1915.[14] In the spring of 1914, he was also elected moderator of the Bismarck presbytery.[15] He retired from that position in the fall.[16]
In the summer of 1915, Taylor resigned from the position of state printer and began working at the Knight Printing Company of Fargo, a business-oriented printing firm.[17]
Family life (1915-1950)
Taylor began dating Julia Sisco in Bismarck in 1914,[18] and on November 23, 1915, he briefly returned there to marry her.[19] In 1922, Julia gave birth to their only child, daughter Helen Patricia.[20]
He continued to work as a bookkeeper at the Knight Printing Company, at least through 1918.[21] He was also in charge of the Bethel Sunday school alongside W. H. Northrop.[22]
In 1920, he began working as a secretary at the Schulz-Bowman Audit Company.[23] By 1930, he was a public accountant.[24] In 1931, he was a driver involved in a deadly car accident, resulting in the death of farmer William Atwood of Tuttle.[25]
Between 1935 and 1940, the Thompson family moved to Minneapolis, Minnesota, where Taylor began working as a salesman for Benson-Quinn Company, an independent grain merchandising firm for grain elevators in Minnesota and the Dakotas.[26][27] Taylor continued to work with the BQC and live in Minneapolis in 1950.[28]
The rest of his life (1950-1972)
For a man who had much of his early life reported on, Taylor spent his last twenty years out of the limelight with his wife Julia. At some point, they moved from Minneapolis to DeKalb County, Georgia, where Taylor passed away in 1972.[29] He was buried at Floral Hills Memory Gardens in Tucker.[30]
↑ "United States Census, 1910," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MLGG-K18 : accessed 23 January 2023), Taylor Thompson in household of Louie Thompson, Minot, Ward, North Dakota, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) ED 199, sheet 21A, family 394, NARA microfilm publication T624 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1982), roll 1149; FHL microfilm 1,375,162.
↑ "North Dakota Census, 1925," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QK9H-3SZN : 17 March 2018), Taylor O Thompson in household of Carlisle E Davis, Fargo, Cass, North Dakota, United States; citing sheet number 12, family number 3, State Historical Society of North Dakota; FHL microfilm 1,731,395.
↑ "United States World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918", database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:K6ZJ-RRF : 24 December 2021), Taylor Orlando Thompson, 1917-1918.
↑ "United States Census, 1930," database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XKJB-RDC : accessed 23 January 2023), Taylor Thompson, Fargo, Cass, North Dakota, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) ED 37, sheet 6B, line 94, family 143, NARA microfilm publication T626 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 2002), roll 1733; FHL microfilm 2,341,467.
↑ "United States World War II Draft Registration Cards, 1942," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QKCC-NC25 : 10 March 2021), Taylor Orlando Thompson, 26 Apr 1942; citing NARA microfilm publication M1936, M1937, M1939, M1951, M1962, M1964, M1986, M2090, and M2097 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.).
↑ "Georgia Death Index, 1933-1998," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:V49N-7JX : 24 December 2014), Taylor O Thompson, 23 Dec 1972; from "Georgia Deaths, 1919-98," database, Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com : 2001); citing DeKalb, Georgia, certificate number 039584, Georgia Health Department, Office of Vital Records, Atlanta.
↑ Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/121824922/taylor-o-thompson: accessed 23 January 2023), memorial page for Taylor O Thompson (1890–1972), Find a Grave Memorial ID 121824922, citing Floral Hills Memory Gardens, Tucker, DeKalb County, Georgia, USA; Maintained by Love in Family (contributor 48149498).