Samuel Penfield Taylor facts for kids
Samuel Penfield Taylor (born October 9, 1827, in Saugerties, New York – died January 22, 1886, in San Francisco, California) was a clever businessman who became wealthy during the exciting time of the California Gold Rush. He is most famous for building the Pioneer Paper Mill, which was the very first paper mill in California. Taylor traveled all the way from Boston Harbor on a schooner (a type of sailing ship) that he bought with some friends. They arrived in San Francisco about ten months later.
Taylor's first business in California was a simple stand selling bacon and eggs on the beach. When he arrived, he found a wooden barrel of eggs floating near the shore. He cooked them, turned the barrel upside down, and started his food stand right there. In 1853, Taylor went to Hawkins Bar, California in Tuolumne County, California to search for gold. He used the money he earned from gold to buy land in Marin County, California and start his paper business.
Samuel Taylor was quite innovative for his time. He was one of the first to make recycled paper products. His employees would collect old rags and papers from different California cities to use in the mill. He also created the first fish ladder on the West Coast. This special ladder helped fish swim upstream around the dam near his paper mill, allowing them to reach their spawning grounds. Taylor married Sarah Washington Irving and they had a large family with seven boys and one girl. He also served on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, helping to make important decisions for the city. Working with other caring citizens, Mr. and Mrs. Taylor helped protect young Chinese girls from difficult situations in San Francisco.
After Samuel Taylor passed away in 1886, his wife lost the paper mill and the land around it during a financial crisis called the Panic of 1893. The new owners of the land later lost the property themselves. In 1945, the State of California took the land because taxes had not been paid. The state then created the beautiful Samuel P. Taylor State Park on this land.
Taylor is buried on a hill that looks over where his paper mill used to be. His gravesite was fixed up in 1997 by a group called the Freemasons from San Francisco. Sarah Washington Irving is now buried next to her husband on the side of Barnabe Mountain.
Family History
For a while, some people thought that Samuel Taylor was the grandson of George Taylor, who signed the United States Declaration of Independence. It was also believed that Sarah Washington Irving was the favorite niece of the famous writer and poet Washington Irving. However, in 2010, researchers found evidence that these claims were not true. Samuel Taylor's grandfather was actually Captain George Taylor Sr. from Catskill (town), New York. And Sarah Washington Irving Taylor's parents were James W. Irving and Mary Doak from Providence, Rhode Island.
There is no record that Samuel P. Taylor or Sarah Washington Irving Taylor ever said they were related to these famous people. The first time these claims appeared in writing was in a book from 1959.
