James Taylor (1869–1953)

James Taylor (J.T.) was one of the senior leaders of the Plymouth Brethren Christian Church in the early 1900s.

Born in Coolaney, Ireland, in 1869, to Philip and Maria Taylor (née Coulter), J.T. had five brothers and three sisters. He finished his third year of high school at the age of fourteen, and in 1883 travelled to Paisley, Scotland, to be an apprentice as a linen draper.

J.T. emigrated to the United States in September 1889 and settled in New York. In October 1891 he married a young widow, Estelle C. M. Hindman (née Garrett) from Baltimore. They had five children, but in June 1901 his wife was taken in childbirth, along with their sixth child. After his bereavement he brought up his family alone, with the help of his sister and several housekeepers, until his marriage to Georgina E. Brown of Barnet, in 1913.

For about thirty years he worked for the trans-Atlantic textile firm of Mills & Gibb, eventually becoming manager of the linen department in New York. He was known to spend time with his customers, helping them develop marketing strategies. After the firm ran into financial difficulties in 1916, it was found, however, that the linen department was prospering, and as a result he was promoted to manager of the entire New York branch and he helped to turn the company around.

In 1921 he left the firm and joined his youngest son, James Taylor Jr., in his recently started textile business. It was soon renamed Taylor Linen Company and other relatives were eventually included as it grew.

There are those still living who can recall J.T.’s interest and care in their welfare and how he used his means to help out many in need, in all walks of life. During the air raids of World War II he helped arrange for church members in New York to send financial aid and food parcels to Great Britain.

The outline of the Plymouth Brethren in the U.S. Census of Religious Bodies was contributed to by him, and this was later included in the Encyclopedia Britannica. Many of his addresses on the Holy Bible are available in tract form.

Mr James Taylor died in March 1953, at the age of eighty-four, having travelled globally and served within the church for over sixty years.