Wandering John Taylor

Wandering John TaylorAuthor(s): Margaret RossSource: The Arkansas Historical Quarterly, Vol. 20, No. 3 (Autumn, 1961), pp. 207-226Published by: Arkansas Historical AssociationStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/40038047 .

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Wandering

John Taylor By MARGARET ROSS

Little Rock

In the year that Arkansas became a state, John Taylor moved from Alabama to Little Rock, bitter, disagreeable, and completely friendless. Approximately three years later, he departed for Texas in precisely the same condition.

An ordinary man would not be long remembered in a community which had claimed such a small part of his life, but Taylor was no ordinary man. He had all the elements of greatness, except ambition. His intellectual superiority, his remarkable ability as a lawyer, his personal eccentricities, and above all, his consistently nasty disposition, made an indelible impression upon everybody who came in contact with him.

Some of the most articulate men of his day wrote about him, and their sketches have provided much of the information for this article. Alfred W. Arrington, the scape- grace lawyer-minister, wrote two sketches,1 both fiction but widely accepted as fact, in which Taylor was a leading character. In the second of these, Albert Pike was portrayed as one of three heartless lawyers.

Pike was notoriously petty when his vanity was in- jured, and many years later, he still stung with the memory of his unflattering role in the story. He wrote a sketch of Taylor for John Hallum's book,2 and directed all his resentment, not at Arrington who had written the

1Charles Summerfield (pseud, of Alfred W. Arrington), "John Taylor; the Timon of the Backwoods Bar and Pulpit," Spirit of the Times (New York), July 13, 1850; also in the Conneaut (Ohio) Reporter, August 8, 1850.

[Alfred W. Arrington], "The Volunteer Counsel. A Tale of John Taylor," Southern and South- Western Sketches. Fun, Sentiment and Adventure, edited by a Gentleman of Richmond (Richmond: J. W. Randolph, 1855), 47-53.

2John Hallum, Biographical and Pictorial History of Arkansas (Albany: Weed, Parsons & Co., Printers, 1887), 70-72.



20g ARKANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY

story, but at John Taylor, who had figured in it as in-

nocently as he himself. Of course, he vigorously denied

every detail of the story. John Hallum, who never knew Taylor, gathered in-

formation from the old lawyers and wrote a sketch of him for the same book.3 Some of the information in this sketch evidently originated with the Arrington fiction, and has no known basis in fact.

Dr. Willis Smith wrote his recollections of Taylor in a newspaper article4 which contains many factual errors in spite of its ring of authority. Its usefulness is further reduced by numerous typographical errors.

W. D. Wood, a newspaper editor who knew Taylor in Texas and had no knowledge of his background, wrote a sketch of him5 which agrees substantially with the Ar- kansas sketches, so far as his ability and personality are concerned.

The fascination extended to a later generation, and George B. Rose wrote two sketches of him,6 which were evidently based entirely on the articles by Pike and Hallum.

Physical descriptions of Taylor vary somewhat in minor details, but they give similar impressions. He was about six feet tall, and very slender and erect. His shoulder- length hair was blonde or "dirty red," and his piercing eyes were described as gray, green, and the somewhat improbable color of reddish-vellow. His sharp features were emphasized by a long-, pointed nose, and he had a nervous habit of lickingf his lips as he talked, which was compared to a snake. His clothes were neither elegant nor disgrace- ful, and in the pockets of his long coat, he always carried two large pistols.

The key to his strange disposition was an unreason- zIbid., 90-96. 4Dr. Willis Smith, Early Sketches. Unidentified clipping, probably from the

Gurdon Advocate during the 1880's. Clipping was seen in a scrapbook of the writ- ings of Dr. Smith, which in 1954 was on loan at the Arkansas History Commission.

6W. D. Wood, "Wandering John Taylor," The Quarterly of the Texas State Historical Association, Vol. Ill, No. 3 (January, 1900), 214-218.

6George B. Rose, "The Supreme Court of Arkansas," The Green Bag. An Entertaining Magazine for Lawyers, Vol. IV, No. 9 (Boston, Mass.: The Boston Book Company, Publishers, September, 1892), 421-422.

George B. Rose, "The Bench and Bar of Arkansas," in Fay Hempstead, Historical Review of Arkansas, Vol. I (Chicago: The Lewis Publishing Co., 1911), 447-448.



WANDERING JOHN TAYLOR ^og

able hatred for mankind. He did not hate in silence, but was given to public denunciations of any unfortunate person who crossed him.

This he did with an incredible eloquence which won the grudging admiration even of his victims. With a de- cided flair for the dramatic and a talent for expressing himself vividly, he held the fascinated attention of audiences made up entirely of men who held him in utter contempt. The word "spellbinder" is simply not strong enough to de- scribe the forensic ability of John Taylor.

Almost nothing is known of his background before he came to Arkansas, but it is generally agreed that he came from Alabama. Dr. Smith said he had practised law at Tuscaloosa, and cited Taylor himself as his authority. He also said that B. F. Avera once studied law in Taylor's office at Tuscaloosa, which seems extremely doubtful.

Hallum and Pike said he was a candidate for the United States Senate when Alabama was admitted to the Union in 1819, and was defeated by William R. King by a majority of only two votes. Probably his Arkansas acquaintances jumped to this conclusion because they did not realize that John Taylor was a very common name in Alabama, as it was in Arkansas.

One John M. Taylor of Huntsville was a member of the Alabama Constitutional Convention in 18 19, and was one of three members of the sub-committee that drafted the first Alabama Constitution. He was later a justice of the Alabama Supreme Court.7 Certainly it is more likely that it was he who ran for the Senate, and not the lawyer of the same name who never showed the slightest interest in public affairs.

Of the several approximate dates given for Taylor's arrival at Little Rock, none is quite early enough. Dr. Smith gave the only exact date, April 1, 1837, and again he said Taylor himself gave him this information. Never- theless, he was here at least eight months earlier.

On August 17, 1836, at Little Rock, he entered into a purchase agreement with Gilbert Barden for the 12 lots

7Thomas McAdory Owen, History of Alabama and Dictionary of Alabama Biography (Chicago: S. J. Clarke Publishing Co., 1921), Vol. IV, 1651.



2Jq AkKANSAS HISTORICAL QtTARtERLV

in Block 25, Original City of Little Rock.8 This block is bounded by Ninth, Tenth, Rock, and Cumberland streets, and was then far enough outside the settled part of the town to satisfy his need for complete isolation.

The purchase price of $600 was to be paid in three installments, the last of which was due on January 1, 1838. At the expiration of the contract, he could at his option redeliver the property to Barden and continue to occupy it by paying rent at the rate of five dollars a month.

Taylor's wife, Mary Jane, was at least as peculiar as he was, and much more mysterious. Pike said he never knew anybody who had seen her, and that neither of the

Taylors ever visited in a Little Rock home, and so far as he knew, nobody ever entered their home. Except for her

signature on one deed and the occasional appearance of her name in lists of unclaimed letters at the Little Rock

post office, her presence here could not be proved. Dr. Smith claimed to have visited in Taylor's home,

but he did not elaborate, and did not mention Mary Jane or any other member of the household. He said he was Taylor's intimate friend, but all other sources agree that he had no friends and wanted none.

Pike said Taylor had no children, and coining an ex-

planatory phrase from Tristam Burgess, he commented that "fortunately, monsters are incapable of propagating their species." Pike and Burgess were both wrong. John Taylor was the father of two children, a boy and a girl. The son, John Thaddeus Taylor, Jr., was born on September 21, 1835,9 making him less than a year old when the family came to Little Rock. Almost nothing is known of the daughter, Elizabeth Ann.

It must have been difficult to conceal a wife and two small children in a small town, or even to get them here in the first place and live unobserved until a private home could be secured. The purchase agreement identifies him as "J°rm Taylor, of Pulaski County/' which might

8Pulaski County Deed Book I, pp. 372-374. •John Taylor to William E. Woodruff, September 1, 1856. Taylor file, Wood-

ruff Papers, Arkansas History Commission,



WANDERING JOHN TAYLOR 2II

be taken as an indication that he had been living near but not in the city.

It must have been doubly difficult to keep the servants from carrying tales to the curious townspeople. Taylor owned a Negro man named Frank and a Negro girl named Fanny, who was about seven or eight years old in 1838.10 For the calendar year of 1838, he hired another slave, a girl named Nicey. She was owned by James M. Daniel, and was hired to Taylor by Daniel's guardian, William E. Woodruff, for $100 for the year.11

Although it seems inconsistent with his warped personality, he was deeply religious. He was regular in attend- ance at the Methodist Church at Little Rock, but even here his wife and children never appeared. Hallum said he was an ordained Methodist minister, but nothing has been found to support the statement, and it is assumed that it was taken from the Arrington fiction. He was not offi- cially connected with the Arkansas Methodist Conference, whose manuscript minutes for this period (now at the Ar- kansas History Commission) do not mention his name. No ministerial credentials in his name were filed for record in Pulaski County, and there is nothing to indicate that he ever preached a sermon in Arkansas.

However, he made at least one speech in a church, which was not connected with his profession in any way. On February 21, 1837, the Arkansas Gazette announced that John Taylor would make a temperance address at the Methodist Church on Friday morning. This was probably the speech made soon after his arrival, praised highly by Hallum.

Soon after his arrival at Little Rock, he rented an office in Ashley's Brick Row, and all the local lawyers called on him to extend the usual professional courtesies. Hallum said he was extremely affable and polite to each of them, giving no hint of his devilish disposition. But Pike said he was grimly unresponsive to these and all other friendly overtures.

10Pulaski County Deed Book K, pp. 57-61. 11 Account of John Taylor with William £. Woodruff, as guardian of James

M. Daniel, 1838. James M. Daniel file, Woodruff Papers.



2! 2 ARKANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTE1LY

He was one of 14 lawyers who passed the oral ex- amination for the Arkansas Supreme Court on November 10, 1836, and was admitted to practice the following day. At about the same date, he was one of 11 lawyers admitted to practice in the Federal District Court.12

Not once did he ever insert the customary professional card in any of the Little Rock newspapers. It had no ill effect upon his practice, and some of the state's most sen- sational cases were his to prosecute or defend.

Volume I of Arkansas Reports contains the decisions rendered during the first five terms of the Supreme Court, from the January term of 1837 through the January term of 1839. At least 15 of the 73 cases reported in this volume were Taylor's - not bad for a newcomer with a vile disposition. All the attorneys are not shown in 18 of the cases reported so he might have been the counsel in more than 15 cases. One other case is added to his record in Volume II, during the July term of 1839.

The decisions in most of these cases were in his favor, and he lost none of the cases he handled alone. He was never associated with any other lawyer on a partner- ship basis, but he often worked with other lawyers on specific cases.

His contemporaries leave the impression that he was very nearly infallible, but he lost a number of cases in the lower courts, including his most spectacular criminal cases - and he is said to have been at his best in criminal cases. In some instances, it is difficult to understand how he escaped being branded as a shyster, even though he prac- ticed law in a day when professional ethics were vaguely defined. But all of the sketches agree that he was a genius, and that his extraordinary ability as a lawyer was un- questionable.

He had neither time nor inclination for anything but business. He could be engaged in conversation only when the subject was strictly business and when the business was disposed of, the conversation abruptly ended.

His memory for authorities was described as "almost 12 Arkansas Gazette, November 15 and 22, 1836; Arkansas Advocate, November

18, 1836,



WANDERING JOHN TAYLO& ^1$

superhuman/' and he could write out the long and involved common law pleadings exactly as they appeared in Chitty, without reference to the book. This fact no doubt partially accounts for his success in Supreme Court, for Chief Justice Daniel Ringo was a stickler for exact form, and clung tenaciously to the common law.

He brought with him a supply of long, untrimmed sheets of foolscap paper, which lasted as long as he re- mained in Little Rock. On this Pike said he "wrote with great rapidity in a running hand, the like of which I have never seen anywhere; but it was perfectly legible/' On this minor point, I must disagree with Pike. I found nothing unusual about Taylor's handwriting, and I doubt if unsigned examples of it could be easily identified. It was not nearly as distinctive as Pike's own handwriting, which would be instantly recognized by anyone who ever saw it.

It was customary for the circuit-riding lawyers to travel in groups, for company and mutual protection. The tavern situation was such that two or more lawyers were usually obliged to share a room, and often two or more had to sleep in one bed.

John Taylor would have no part of this democratic arrangement. He invariably declined companionship on the road, and refused to patronize the taverns except when bad weather forced him to seek shelter. Instead he pitched a tent and camped out in the woods, out of sight of the road, preferring the company of his large bundle of law books to that of his fellow lawyers. Hallum quoted Judge Jesse Turner as saying that when he had to spend a night at a tavern, he demanded a bed to himself. When this was impossible, he wrapped himself securely in a blanket to avoid any possible contact with his bedfellow.

Many courtroom anecdotes are told of John Taylor. In retrospect, they were regarded as highly humorous because they illustrated the eccentricity of a colorful character. But at the time they were about as funny as a small- pox epidemic, particularly to those who bore the brunt of his abuse. Most of the stories hinge upon long, irrele-



2i a ARKANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY

vant speeches, in which Taylor expended the full force of his magnificent rhetoric in maligning . the opposing counsel - a thing which would not be tolerated in a mod- ern court.

On Christmas Eve of 1836, Beauford P. Scott was murdered, and Alexander and William F. McKee were indicted on two counts of first and second degree murder. The murdered man's sister, Catherine, was the wife of Alexander McKee, and her family's disapproval of the marriage had led to the murder.

The trial was held in the Pulaski Circuit Court on April 19, 1837. John Taylor was one of three defense attorneys. The key witness was Catherine Scott McKee, and her testimony was very damaging both for her husband and her brother-in-law. A verdict of guilty was returned against William F. McKee, but Alexander was acquitted because his wife's testimony was inadmissable against him, but not against his brother.

In an attempt to get a new trial for his brother, Alex- ander filed his affidavit confessing the crime and completely exonerating William, knowing he was protected by the double jeopardy law. But the prosecutors knew a few tricks, too. A public meeting, obviously promoted by Albert Pike, one of the prosecutors, was held at the court house. The people were highly incensed by Alexander's effrontery, and they unanimously passed resolutions stating that his presence would no longer be tolerated in the community.

The motion for a new trial was overruled, and the defense then made a motion in arrest of judgment, which was withdrawn on April 25. The next day, William Mc- Kee was sentenced to death.13

Dr. Smith tells the story of Taylor's first appearance at the Clark Circuit Court at the September, 1837 term. He gratuitously made a speech in a case in which he was hot concerned in any way, and made such an impression that in less than 20 minutes he had been retained in a criminal case then pending, which brought him a fee of about $400 or $500.

^Arkansas Advocate, April 27, 1327.



WANDERING JOHN TAYLOfc ^je

This was the case of the State vs. John H. Mosly, a man about 70 years old who was charged as accessory before and after the fact of horse stealing. With three other lawyers, Taylor defended Mosly. The trial was at Green- ville, and was quite prolonged. The verdict was guilty, and the motion for arrest of judgment was denied, and Mosly was sentenced to death, the execution date set at De- cember 9.

When the day arrived, Mosly was dressed in his shroud, seated on his coffin on top of a wagon, the jail door was opened, and the wagon was ready to carry him to the gallows, when Taylor appeared - just one hour before the time set for the execution. He presented a 20- day stay of execution signed by Governor James S. Con- way.

Taylor was one of five prosecutors in the trial of John Wilson for the murder of Joseph J. Anthony on the floor of the House of Representatives on December 4, 1837. The trial was held in May of 1838 in Saline County, on a change of venue.14 Dr. Smith said Taylor stayed at the home of David Dodd, grandfather of the Confederate martyr. The verdict was "excusable homi- cide/' and Wilson was discharged.

James C. Anthony, a relative of the murdered legis- lator, wrote a letter to the Gazette, published on May 30, 1838, in which he protested several irregularities in the trial, one of which was a series of deliberate disturbance in the court house yard during a speech by Taylor. In the Gazette of June 13, one who signed "J. C. M." (probably Jared C. Martin), said that nobody was paying any attention to Taylor anyhow, since everybody except the judge and jury had already left the courtroom.

A communication signed "Saline" was refused because it was too personal for publication in the Gazette. At the writer's insistence (and at his expense) the letter was published as a supplement to the Gazette of June 20. About 200 copies were printed and distributed with the Gazette to all the subscribers in Saline County and some in Pu- laski County.

^Arkansas Gazette, May 16, 1838.



2i6 ARKANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY

"Saline" clearly did not agree with the usual opin- ions of Taylor's eloquence. As a matter of fact, his ap- praisal of the speech was downright insulting. Twice he mentioned the horse thieves of Clark County, evidently referring to the Mosly case.

"Saline" gave this explanation for the disturbances in the court house yard: Major Anthony and Bennett H. Martin, one of the prosecuting lawyers working with Tay- lor, felt that Taylor was doing their case more harm than good. Martin himself created the diversions in the yard, in a desperate attempt to shut Taylor up. First he went out among the loafers in the yard and shouted, "Part them, part them!" Of course, everybody in the courtroom rushed to the doors and windows to watch the fight, but they were disappointed to find there was no fight.

Soon order was restored and Taylor resumed his argu- ment. A few minutes later, Jesse Bland appeared with a horse to be sold at auction. The sale began in the yard, but Martin called the auctioneer up to the court house door, and for some 10 or 15 minutes he loudly called for bids. Martin even tried to persuade him to ride the horse into the court house, and offered to pay any fine or serve any jail sentence that might result. All of these things were told in the letter signed "Saline."

Taylor was indignant. He called on William E. Wood- ruff, the editor of the Gazette, and learned "Saline's" identity. He then wrote a letter to Woodruff, in which he said he could not stoop to reply to anything from a source so degraded, but he demanded that Woodruff deny in the next issue of his paper that he agreed with anything "Saline" had said.

Woodruff complied, with a meekness that was certainly not one of his most prominent characteristics. He published Taylor's letter and his answer in the Gazette of July 4, 1838. He explained how "Saline's" communication got in print, and said he knew nothing whatever of the allegations, having had no part in the matter be- yond the mechanical chore of the printing. He also ex- pressed the fervent hope that he would hear no more about it.



WANDERING JOHN TAYLOR 2I7

William Brown of Pope County murdered his wife on June 14, 1838, and soon afterwards retained John Taylor and John Linton to defend him. Between July 24 and August 2, he conveyed literally everything he owned to his lawyers. Taylor wound up with actual possession of more than $1,000 of his client's assets, and title to two tracts of land, plus his fee. There was an understanding "between them that the deed to the land was a mere form-

ality, for the benefit of Brown's six minor children. At the September term of Pope Circuit Court, Brown

was indicted, tried, and convicted. Taylor made no further effort to save his life. A supersedias was awarded by one of the judges of the Supreme Court in time to stay the execution, but Taylor neglected to take it out, saying that Brown would only be convicted again, and it would increase the costs, and he would lose the property.

On Tanuary 20, 183Q, Taylor sold one of the tracts to Daniel Johnson for about half its value, Johnson being fully aware of the facts in the case. Taylor and his wife, Mary Jane, signed the deed to Johnson on February 28, 1830. His client, William Brown, was executed on October 19, 1839. At the April, 1840 term of Pope Circuit Court, Brown's administrator filed a bill in chancery attempt- ting to recover the land and other assets for the Brown children. This bill stated all the pertinent facts in the case.15

Hallum tells the story of a trial at Norristown in which Taylor defended a man charged with murdering his wife. John J. Clendenin, the prosecuting attorney, tore up an important part of the bill of exceptions and the scraps of paper fell through the puncheon floor. When Taylor learned of it, he tore up the floor, gathered up the bits of paper, and spent many long hours piecing them together like a jigsaw puzzle. When the case went to Su- preme Court, he used the multilated record very effectively. The decision was reversed, but the second trial resulted in conviction and hanging.

John Linton lacked Taylor's polish, but his courtroom tactics were sometimes as withering as Taylor's, and he

™Ibid., April 29, 1840.



2Ig ARKANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY

certainly had not endeared himself to the other lawyers. They engineered a courtroom debate between Linton and Taylor, but they did not know that Taylor found out about the plot and prepared to get even. Hallum probably heard this story from Samuel H. Hempstead.

It happened in the court house at Clarksville. Linton began with a long address in which he allegorically described Taylor as his aunt, and represented his religion as hypocritical. The spectators enjoyed this part of the show tremendously, but from the time Linton ended his speech, the joke was on them.

Taylor began with all the dignity he possessed, which was in sharp contrast to the crudeness of Linton. He named all the men who had united to goad Linton into attacking him, and then he gently turned the pages of the Bible used to swear in witnesses, and began a heart-rendering defense of his religion. Soon the entire audience was in tears, and decidedly in sympathy with him.

Then he dropped the mild tones and took up the con- spiring lawyers, one by one, saving Linton for last. All but one of them took their punishment without one word of protest.

Pointing to a streak of prematurely white hair on William Cummins' head, he said, "That is not indicative of honorable age, but like the mark that branded Cain is indicative of phenomenal crime." Cummins leaped for- ward to attack Taylor, and was restrained by the judge.

When Cummins took his seat again, Taylor took up where he had left off. When Linton's turn came, he out- did himself. Linton was visibly disturbed, but he made no move to interrupt, although his part of the speech lasted one full hour.

In spite of the fact that Taylor never indulged in small talk, he managed to know the skeletons in the closets of every member of the bar, and he never hesitated to use them. On one occasion in Clarksville, he made a sly reference to a man who had once chaperoned a $3 stud horse. The judge, R. C. S. Brown, knew he referred to him, but was surprised that this information had followed him to Arkansas. But he was equal to the occasion. He



WANDERING JOHN TAYLOR 2IQ

said, "I kept a stud horse back in Tennessee, but it is a lie and a slander to say it was a $3 horse, it was a $10 horse, sir. Now proceed and confine yourself to the truth, Mr. Taylor."

Pike said that at one term of the Pope Circuit Court, Taylor brought slander suits for one family against another, and at the next term he brought slander suits for the other side against his own clients. All the suits stood for trial

together, and most of the parties involved were women. On January 1, 1838, his purchase agreement with

Gilbert Barden had expired and the property was paid for. The deed was not made to Taylor, but to his son, John Thaddeus Taylor, Jr.16

On August 25, 1838, for the consideration of $1,000 and natural love and affection, he conveyed to his son evervthing he owned or to which he had any claim.17 He listed specifically the slaves Frank and Fanny, two horses, five head of cattle, 20 hogs, and itemized all his furniture, some of which sounded rather elegant. He included also his office furniture, agricultural implements, notes, $1,000 in cash, personal property, and even the corn, fodder, and oats in the cribs.

He itemized the books in his library, which took up almost three pages and included history, religion, biography, various classics, law books, several kinds of Greek books, a French-English dictionary, and pocket maps of Texas, Arkansas, and the United States. The law books included volumes on Georgia, Missouri, Illinois, Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Arkansas.

He mentioned "the house frame lving in the yard." It might be assumed that he unintentionally omitted the commas before and after the word "frame" and was de- scribing his home as being of frame construction. But evidently this was not so, and actually he referred to the un- finished frame of a house in the process of construction, since he had already conveyed his home to his son in the earlier deed, and in later years he mentioned both an old and a new house on the property.

16Pulaski County Deed Book K, pp. 54-56. ™lbid., pp. 57-61.



2?o ARKANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY

On December 3, 1838, for love and affection and $10, he conveyed to his daughter, Elizabeth Ann Taylor, everything not already disposed of.18 This was $1,000 in cash, one judgment, and notes, bonds, due bills, in the amount of more than $3,000, and a few articles of furniture and a few more books.

He gave no reason for putting everything in the names of his minor children, but the usual reason was to save them from execution of judgments against the father. No judgment is known to have been outstanding against him in Arkansas.

On December 4, 1838, he executed a power of attorney to William Gilchrist to transact all his business in Pulaski County, especially charging him with the care and con- trol of the real estate.19 Gilchrist' s home was only a short distance from Taylor's home. Both he and his brother, Malcolm Gilchrist, are mentioned frequently in the Ala- bama Territorial Papers before 18 19, so it is possible that Taylor had known him before he came to Arkansas.

He left Little Rock sometime between May 8, 1839, when he settled his account with William E. Woodruff for the hire of the slave Nicey, and April of 1840, when Brown's administrator sued him as a non-resident. He was probably still here in July of 1839, when he had his last case in Supreme Court.

In one final burst of glory, he denounced his brother lawyers, and said he was leaving because they were trying to poison his well. This was seen by some of his post- mortem psychoanalysts as evidence of a streak of insanity.

Alfred W. Arrington had once engaged in debate with Taylor at Ozark, to his regret. Later he wrote a series of sketches which were sheer fiction, but included just enough actual facts to give them a ring of truth. To com- pound the felony, he gave his characters the names of people he had known in Arkansas and elsewhere. These people were highly indignant at the unauthorized use of their names. They did not call the sketches fiction, they called them lies.

™Ibid., pp. 137-138. ™Ibid.t pp. 141-142.



WANDERING JOHN TAYLOR 22l

At least two of the sketches portrayed John Taylor as the hero. His characteristics are recognizable, but they are also so strongly reminiscent of Arrington himself as to arouse a suspicion that Arrington might have applied Taylor's name to a character which was in reality himself. An article written for the Missouri Chieftan by one who signed "Will Look," and reprinted in the Fayetteville Democrat on January 5, 1878, supports this theory.

Both stories were reprinted so many times that it is almost impossible to say where and when they were first published. "John Taylor ; the Timon of the Backwoods Bar and Pulpit" was published first, during the summer of 1850. Published under the pen name Charles Summerfield, its setting is the Conway County court house at Lewisburgh. A beautiful but persecuted young woman was on trial for murdering a scoundrel to save her honor, and had been deserted by her lawyer, John Linton. The silver-tongued John Taylor volunteered to defend her, won an acquittal over tremendous odds, and then preached a sermon in the court room that night.

Arkansas writers have given the dates 1852, 1853, and 1854 for the first publication of the second story in the Arkansas Intelligencer at Van Buren. It appears, without a by-line, and under the title "The Volunteer Counsel. A Tale of John Taylor," in a book entitled Southern and South-Western Sketches. Fun, Sentiment and Adventure, edited by a Gentleman of Richmond. None of the other stories in the book were written by Arrington.

The copy in the J. N. Heiskell collection at Little Rock is inscribed to the "Editor of the Intelligencer with respects of Franck Taylor." In a different but probably contemporary handwriting, the compiler's name is written in as Franck Taylor, followed by a question mark, and the same person wrote the publication date as 1855. This inscription may or may not have significance in connec- tion with the publication of the story in the Arkansas In- telligencer.

This story is set in the Red River County court house at Clarksville, Texas. George Hopkins had insulted Mary



2^2 ARKANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY

Elliston, murdered her husband, and circulated malicious

gossip about her character in hopes it would accrue to his benefit in his trial for murder. She filed a slander suit

against him, and the two trials were to be held at the same term of the circuit court.

Hopkins had retained the famous and fabulously ex-

pensive lawyers, Chester Ashley and Albert Pike of Ar- kansas, and Sargeant S, Prentiss of New Orleans. The murder trial was held first, and Hopkins was acquitted since the Texas lawyers were no match for these three

supermen. The slander suit came to trial the next day, and Mary

Elliston's lawyers had the good sense to withdraw from the case, being hopelessly outclassed. The community was in complete sympathy with Hopkins, and Mary's plight appeared to be desperate. But the picturesque Taylor appeared and volunteered to take her case. He not only won the case easily, but made the three visiting lawyers appear villainous and unscrupulous . . . and what was infinitely worse, downright ridiculous.

Hallum tells of Taylor's return to Little Rock in 1855, taking for granted that he made the long trip on horseback for sentimental reasons. Supreme Court was in session, and many of the old lawyers were present when he appeared in the courtroom. They all recognized him, but did not speak, and neither did he. He simply looked around and left.

As a matter of fact, he came back to Little Rock twice, both times on business, and not in 1855. William Gilchrist had died on September 5, 1843. 20 In l849> the taxes were delinquent on Taylor's property, and it was ordered sold,21 but was evidently redeemed in time to save it. When he came to Little Rock in the summer of 1853, Judge William H. Field had been handling the property, and Taylor turned it over to William E. Woodruff. His address was then Austin, Texas. He wrote a letter to Woodruff at Little Rock on August 22, 1853, giving in- structions relative to repairs and management of the prop-

2oTombstone of William Gilchrist, Mount Holly Cemetery* Little Rock. s^rkansas State Democrat, Uctober 12, 1849.



WANDERING JOHN TAYLOR 22$

erty. This letter is now in the Woodruff Papers at the Arkansas History Commission.

The house called the "new house' ' was old enough to need repairs, and was vacant at the time Taylor ordered a partition fence built between the two houses, and asked for an estimate on a plank fence around the entire block. He wanted both extensions of the old house roofed, and also the smoke house at the end of it.

He wrote, "I should like to have a tenant always in the old house/' implying that he had more concern for it than for the newer one. A Mr. Swindler was then occupy- ing the house, and was not to be pressed for the rent until spring.

On his second visit to Arkansas, he wrote to Woodruff from Benton, on September i, 1856. This letter, which is also in the Woodruff Papers, in some ways contradicts the inherent meanness attributed to him, and his unwilling- ness to discuss personal matters. On the other hand, it confirms some of the other traits mentioned.

Benton, Ark's. Sept. 1, 1856

Mr. Wm. Woodruff- Dear Sir - On my arrival at Little Rock, I fortunately

heard that my son, whom I expected to have met at Spring- field in Ohio, was at this place. I had come to the conclusion that he had died on the way. He had suffered severe & pro- tracted sickness, & other misfortunes, of which he will apprise you. I hope you will excuse my not calling to see you, - as it was on the sabbath when I had to leave Little Rock, - not knowing that my son was here, or alive until late the evening before, - too late to call on you. Until then I had expected to remain several days, & to have seen you on Monday. I hope his calleing on you will answer every purpose.

He will remain in Little Rock some time. He will be of age, on the 21st of this month, and will then probably wish to make some arrangement with regard to his property, of which he will apprise you. I have requested of Mr. Hemphill [Samuel H. Hempstead], to afford any



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legal advice or aid that might be required, in any transaction that might take place with regard to it. If neces- sary, I will myself come on here at any time. A letter will reach me at my office in Waxahachie Ellis County Texas, in five or six days. It is immediately on the stage line to Austin.

My son is young and inexperienced. He wishes in a short time to go on to the North to complete his studies. While he is detained at Little Rock, he wishes to devote himself to reading and study; and wishes to get a retired, and otherwise suitable situation to board, - as private as possible. For any facility or aid you can afford him I shall feel truly great ful.

I will write with my son, in any transaction in rela- tion to his property, and, if required, it will only be neces- sary to address me a letter as above, and I will immediately come on.

I remain most respectfully and truly your

obdt sevt John Taylor

Although Woodruff was instructed to direct his mail to Waxahachie, a scrap of paper with the letter, in Taylor's handwriting, says "J°hn Taylor, Attorney at Law, Austin, Texas/'

On October 30, 1856, John Thaddeus Taylor of Leon County, Texas, sold Block 25 to Silas F. Feild for $i,ooo.22 On November 1, he settled his account with Woodruff and evidently left town immediately.

In 1900, W. D. Wood wrote an article about John Taylor's Texas career. He said that Taylor was called "Wandering John Taylor" because he was constantly on the move, and seemed to have no fixed abiding place, though his home was said to be in Cherokee County at one time.

Wood first saw him at Centreville, Leon County, in the spring of 1852, when district court was in session. Taylor arrived on horseback, leading1 three other horses tied head to tail and packed with camping equipment. The led horses,

22Pulaski County Deed Book Z, pp. 489-490.



WANDERING JOHN TAYLOR 22$

varying in number, were always with him, and it was assumed they were taken in payment of fees.

Most of the time, he had no business in the courts until after the session started, and picked up his clients in and around the court houses. As in Arkansas, he camped out whenever possible, shunned social contacts, refused to talk except on business, and impressed everybody with his knowledge of the law and his ability as a speaker.

Wood often saw him between 1852 and the outbreak of the Civil War. His principal range of travel was in the counties of Cherokee, Anderson, Houston, Leon, Madison, Robertson, Limestone, and Freestone.

Wood said of his son: "Some time before the com- mencement of the war he located a son of his on Clear creek, in Leon county, and commenced the erection of a saw mill on the creek. I think his mill never made a foot of lumber, for the reason that he never completed it. The lo- cation of this mill was in a wild spot, in or near the edge of the bottom of the Navasota River, just above the junction of the creek with the river. The seclusion of the place seemed to suit Taylor, and he visited it quite often, spend- ing considerable time there. I met him there once. The mill, like its builder, has long since disappeared, leaving no trace that it ever was, except a vague tradition about it among the old settlers in that vicinity. It was the rumor in the neighborhood of the saw mill, while it was being built, that Taylor lived in a house in Cherokee county of curious build and shape, something on the style of a fort or prison, and into which visitors were not received. Being a strange man, strange stories grew up about him."

Wood never saw or heard of him after the end of the Civil War, and did not know where or when he died. For all his hateful traits, Wood felt that his talents de- served a better fate than to be forgotten, and he wrote his sketch in hopes it would prompt somebody who knew more about him to write his biography. He suggested that Tudge John H. Reagan probably knew a great deal about him.

The fuller biography was never written. If the clues



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that exist could be followed up with research in records in Alabama, Arkansas, and Texas, a fairly complete biography might be written, but Taylor so wasted his talents that he is not sufficiently important to tempt historians except possibly as a matter of curiosity.

But even now, it cannot be said that he is forgotten, thanks to Alfred W. Arrington. E. W. Bowers, who was clerk of the District Court of Red River county from 1933 until his retirement in 1957, says the Arrington story about the Clarksville trial has become a part of the local folk- lore, and is reprinted ever so often. Over a period of years, Mr. Bowers has received a great many letters from people who ask him to verify the story, but there is no record of such a trial. However, he says that Taylor did practice in that court for perhaps two or three years, and he men- tions two suits in which he filed answers on March 22, 1845. He says further that in 1839 a man named Hopkins committed a murder and became a fugitive and was never apprehended, but there is no similarity between this case and the one described by Arrington.23

Taylor has not been quite forgotten in Arkansas either, and again he owes it to Arrington. The last time the story of the Clarksville trial was published in Arkansas was in 1950, and ironically it was published by a fairly new lodge of the organization Albert Pike loved best, the Free and Accepted Masons.24

The editorial preface says, in part, "I found and here- with submit one of the rarest, if not the only lucid and graphic description of a criminal court trial in which Pike participated, now in existence. No history of Pike can be considered complete without this page. . . . The report of the trial was written by an eye witness and reveals qualities and characteristics of Pike heretofore unknown, or at least unrecorded in any other paper or publication within my knowledge."

*8E. W. Bowers to Margaret Ross, March 3 and April 11, 1959. 24 John H. Caldwell (ed.), "Pike's Fame as a Lawyer Known in. the Early

Days of the Southwest," Arkansas Research Lodge No. 729, Free & Accepted Masons, (1950), Vol. I, No. 4, pp. 11-16.



Wandering John Taylor

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