Bert Leston Taylor - The Early Years

The Early Years

Bert Leston Taylor was born in Goshen, Massachusetts, on November 13, 1866. He was born in Goshen while his mother was visiting with relatives, but his family were from nearby Williamsburg. His mother was Katherine White (of Dublin, Ireland) and his father was Albert O. Taylor, who worked primarily in the whaling industry. Albert Taylor served in the navy during the Civil War and distinguished himself as a high-ranking officer. While in the navy, he met James Gordon Bennett, and went to work for him at the end of the war to serve as navigator for Bennett’s racing yacht, the Dauntless.

Taylor moved to New York shortly after his birth and grew up in the Manhattan neighborhoods of Greenwich Village and Yorkville. Taylor attended public schools in New York City and excelled at writing evidenced by winning a prize for an original story. From 1881-82, he attended the College of the City of New York (the former name of New York University’s undergraduate college). His original ambition was to become a lawyer, but after two years of studying law, he began to lose interest. He was attracted to music but felt as though he lacked sufficient talent to become a great artist. After he graduated from CCNY, Taylor pursued instead his passion for writing and chose the field of journalism. In 1883, he published his own magazine, The Aerolite, which did not have much success. Harrison Grey Fiske, an established New York journalist, playwright, and theatrical manager, wrote a serial for the paper. In 1887, he moved to Montpelier, Vermont, and worked for The Argus, The Patriot, and later, The Watchman. His column, the “Montpellier Mere Mention,” was the prototype for his famous “A Line o’ Type or Two” column at the Chicago Tribune. Taylor was known for his unique offhand writing style and independent spirit that often compromised his job at those early papers. He later moved south to Barre to start his own paper. The Barre Daily News ran only for a few months, and frustrated from the lack of support from the citizens and local businessmen, he printed the final issue in red ink as a reprisal before leaving town.

From Barre, Taylor moved on to Manchester, New Hampshire, in 1893, and wrote editorials for the Manchester Union. It was in Manchester that Taylor met Walter Lewis who would eventually become a close friend and collaborator. Walter Lewis was a graduate from the New England Conservatory of Music. Together, Taylor as librettist and Lewis as composer, they staged three comic operas.

On November 16, 1895, Taylor married Emma Bonner of Providence, Rhode Island. The following year, they moved west to Duluth, Minnesota after Taylor accepted an editor position at the News-Tribune. Taylor drolly referred to own editorials as the “What-does-the-New-York-Sun-mean-by-the-following?” variety. He remained in Duluth for three years before coming to Chicago in 1899 to work at the Chicago Journal. His journalistic fame began when he took over a column titled, “A Little About Everything”, which originally contained only brief news items. Taylor made the column more popular by adding humor and light verse.