TAYLOR, WILLIAM STANHOPE (ca. 1819-1869). William Stanhope Taylor, soldier and planter, was born in Ohio about 1819, the son of Thomas and Sarah (Hayland) Taylor. Before moving to Texas, probably in 1832, he lived in Tennessee. He settled in Fayette County and later moved to what is now Montgomery County. Taylor enlisted in the revolutionary army on October 17, 1835, and was discharged on December 23, 1835. He reenlisted on March 12, 1836, and served under captains William Ware and William Smith. He was involved in the Grass Fight and the battle of San Jacinto. For his services he received a headright in Milam County. In 1840 he owned 10,048 acres in Montgomery County and two slaves. Taylor married Agnes Elizabeth Garrett on June 7, 1838; the number of his children is uncertain. Taylor was vice president of the 1860 Know-Nothing convention (see AMERICAN PARTY) at San Jacinto that nominated Sam Houston for president. Taylor died on February 2, 1869, and was buried at Conroe. In February 1879 his widow filed for a Republic of Texas veteran's pension. A Texas Centennial marker was erected at his grave in 1936.
BIBLIOGRAPHY: Daughters of the Republic of Texas, Founders and Patriots of the Republic of Texas (Austin, 1963-). Daughters of the Republic of Texas, Muster Rolls of the Texas Revolution (Austin, 1986). Sam Houston Dixon and Louis Wiltz Kemp, The Heroes of San Jacinto (Houston: Anson Jones, 1932). Robin Navarro Montgomery, The History of Montgomery County (Austin: Jenkins, 1975). Vertical Files, Barker Texas History Center, University of Texas at Austin. Gifford E. White, ed., The 1840 Census of the Republic of Texas (Austin: Pemberton, 1966; 2d ed., Vol. 2 of 1840 Citizens of Texas, Austin, 1984). Amelia W. Williams, A Critical Study of the Siege of the Alamo and of the Personnel of Its Defenders (Ph.D. dissertation, University of Texas, 1931; rpt., Southwestern Historical Quarterly 36-37 [April, July, October 1933, January, April 1934]). Amelia W. Williams and Eugene C. Barker, eds., The Writings of Sam Houston, 1813-1863 (8 vols., Austin: University of Texas Press, 1938-43; rpt., Austin and New York: Pemberton Press, 1970).
