Forest City press. (Forest City, Potter County, D.T. [S.D.]) 1883-19??, 1912-06-06
Late Senator From Tennessee
Endeared Himself to All
Who Met
less Story Teller.
BY JOHN TRorwoop MOORE.

BY JOHN TROTWOOD MOORE.
IT is almost impossible to put into
typ the stories OF Bob Taylor. 1t is
ms" trying to preserve i'm tins the
;tr"tn;t of the peaches of his own
Happy Valley. In all the world Their.
has never lived Il man who could tell
Il STORY like him. his voice. his facial
expressions. his mann"risms, his dia-
l"ct. the solemn. owl look when he told
his funniest yarns. and the hidder hu-
mnr that came even with those THAI
mad" You weep--all these. and his own
Irresistible drawl-nf Il tone never be
furc heard on land or snn-mad.. the
most commonplace of them classics.
And they made him. They carried
him from "a mountain bny-lawNer.
hri, nssS and lMoneyless. and with moth
ing but IL fiddle and his hunvr as an
asset. TO the highest office of his state.
n" went to congress. was three times
governor and obtained IL seat for life
I'm the Senate OF the United States.
And he died the most beloved man in
Tennessee.
His reputation was not confined to
his own state; by telling his stories L"
audiences everywhere he drew yearly.
before he accepted the senatorship. "A
SALARY equal to that of the president
"f the United States.
AS for the man hiinself-his qualities
of head and heart. his honesty. his alb
solutc unselHsi,ness. his devotion To the
people and the political principles he.
stood for. his generous heart, his habit
or giving always to others-thrsc gave
him Il hold on the affections of the
people OF his state as was never be
fore held by amy man. not even An
drew jackson himself.
The difference hay i'm their stars.
Though great. Andrew jackson was
feared. Bob Taylor was bcloved-id"l-
tied.
The man Was happy and lovtble by
nature. He was born i'm Happy Valley.
Tom. on the Watauga river. where
John SEWER established the first pi"~
h"ei' fort I'm the new state. The name
ot his birthplace was II synonym of
ms own nature. and he inherited all
ti'e romantic sentiment that hung oyer
tle mountains and the valley. III is
doubtful If in all his life he ever had an
ene'my. His nature was so broad, opti-
mistic and loving that even il he were
MT"nged. as he often was I'm a long po-
iltiral career of 81 years. he never re-
mcillhe1eu II between suns. 1t WAS as
natural for hi,n to help an enemy as
IA friend.
He spoke i'm parallels. the lam
suage of the plain, common people. ana
they understood.
The mountain people are republicans
and i'm the district I'm which young
Taylor lived their majority was easily
h.ooo. Not only that. but 1T was repre-
s"nted In congress by Il very able man,
MAJ. H., a.. Psttibonc. a scholar and an
orator himself. who got his earliest
scheduling under James A. Garfield
when the latter taught in IA log house
In ohio.
But this did not deter the eenia!
Bob TAYLOR from throwing his fiddle
tand likewise his hat) into the political
ring. He had learned to play the fiddle:
he Mas chockful of fun: human nature.
anecdotes and sunshine. He knew the
mountain people better than he had
ever known his Webster's spelling
book. So. to use his own term, .hc
made a fling ut it,
And he won so easily that it aston
ished him and the who'll state. He
turned his opponents 5000 majority i'm
to "a for Taylor, and from then on &c
was never headed for office in Ten
ntSsee.
u he did it in the simplest way.
While the learned Pettibone was max
tnE long. dry. speeches ON the tariff and
the great principles of the republican
party. Bob was telling them side split
ting yarns. and when not making them
laugh or weep as he chose by brow
ing in now and then little matchless
word paintings of mountain e%loquence
he was playing his fiddle for the young
ok to dance by. and getting the
mothers to name their babies for him,
while he extOlled their beauty and al
~ WIZ GNV iidStuVklN IHlXeu With
people and made friends.
In speakin ing to me the other day
about that campaign, his venerable op-
pOnent who has always been one OF
his stanchest friends. told. in his inim-
ttable way. how Bob did 1t. I quote
1t because 1t gives Il graphic account
of a typical political fight in the Tenn
essee mountains:
The first campign for congress-"
said Major Pettibone. was Bob Tay-
lor's first essay in the political arena.
and he Was then the same rollicking,
good natured fellow that everybody
knew afterward. He was full OF fun
and life. and. after we had completed
the serious parts of our speeches and
got down to telling yarns and swap
ping Jokes, he was In his element.
AS a matter OF course we did a lot
OF travelling together. and we were al
Ways on the best Of terms. never.
will forget a time when we were travel
ing along together from one little town
to another, | in a buggy and O along
side on a big horse. 1t was necessary
at that time the creek was Il tre-
mendous stream. due to heavy rains Of
the past week. When We reached 1t I
happened to glance at Bob's face and 1t
was the most ~wOe-begOne that l ever
looked at. His appearance Indicated
that the chances Of his being left be-
hind were very bright.
z. Major he said, you reckOn 1 can
get across with this animal?'
well. Bob I said. you get OFT and
get In the buggy with me, and I will
make my driver ! d your noble steed
over
This was agreeable to Bob. 30 down
ne got and up he came into the buggy
nnnnaa Nnu, n hnnn0npd tH.of Tho