JAMES W. (JAMES WICKES) TAYLOR:

James Wickes Taylor, son of James and Maria (Wickes) Taylor, was born in Starkey Township, Yates County, New York, November 6, 1819. He attended an academy in Penn Yan, New York, and graduated from Hamilton College in 1838. He returned to Penn Yan and studied law under his father until 1842, when he went to Cincinnati, Ohio. He was admitted to the Ohio Bar in 1844. He established the Cincinnati Morning Signal; in 1850 he became editor of the Sandusky Daily Mirror. Elected as a representative to the second Ohio state constitutional convention (1850-1851), he became involved in politics and served as Ohio state librarian (1854-1856). His particular interest was Northwest British America.

In 1856, the Taylor family moved to Minnesota, where he set up a law practice, wrote articles for newspapers, and promoted commercial development of the region, especially railroads. In 1859, President James Buchanan appointed Taylor special agent of the Treasury Department to report on trade relations with Canada. He continued lobbying for railroad development, especially with the St. Paul and Pacific Railroad and the Lake Superior and Mississippi/Northern Pacific railroads. In 1869, Taylor became a secret agent of the United State Treasury Department to report on the Riel Rebellion and other activities in British North America. In 1870 he became counsel at Winnipeg, Manitoba, a position he held until his death in 1893. He promoted the annexation of Canadian territory by the United States, represented American interests in Canada, particularly Manitoba, and advocated for increased cultural and economic ties with the American Midwest.

In 1845, Taylor married Chloe Sweeting Langford, of Utica, New York. They had five daughters. Taylor died in Winnipeg, April 28, 1893, and is buried in Forest Hill Cemetery, Utica, New York.

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The letters and printed materials describe the personal, business, professional, and official activities of James Wickes Taylor as a lawyer, newspaper publisher and writer, promotor of the economic development of the Upper Midwest, especially railroads, and particularly the United States’s relationship with British North America, special agent of the U.S. Treasury Department (1859-1869), U.S. secret agent during the Riel Rebellion (1869), and United States Counsel at Winnipeg, Manitoba (1870-1893).

Family letters are found throughout the collection and detail births, marriages, illnesses, and deaths. They describe the social scene of St. Paul.

Flora and fauna of British Northwest America are documented in letters (1856-1861) between Spencer F. Baird of the Smithsonian Institution and Donald Gunn of the Selkirk Colony. Taylor continued correspondence (1874-1889) with Baird providing plant and animal samples to Baird and arranging for American scientists to study in Canada. After 1884 Taylor handled requests from Canadians asking for carp to stock their ponds.

Taylor acted as secretary to the Nobles expedition to the Fraser River gold fields in 1859. He traveled with the expedition as far as Pembina and then visited the Red River settlements, meeting religious officials of the settlements and factors of the Hudson’s Bay Company. He spent time in Washington, D.C., with Salmon P. Chase investigating trade and transportation with the British Northwest. Taylor’s correspondence (1860-1866) with Charles J. Brydges of the Grand Trunk Railway concerns possible renewal of the Reciprocity Treaty of 1854. After 1867, Taylor’s letters advocate annexation of areas of eastern and western Canada by the United States and disapproval of the annexation of the Selkirk Colony to the new Canadian federation. Taylor’s reports during the Red River Rebellion (1869-1870) provide data on the events during and after the rebellion.

Taylor’s papers reveal his deep interest in the railroad development of the nation, particularly as it relates to a northern transcontinental route. In 1857 he was appointed secretary of the Minnesota and Pacific Railroad Company. His work with the St. Paul and Pacific Railroad, the Lake Superior and Mississippi Railroad, the Northern Pacific Railroad and the Red River Transportation Company includes correspondence with George L. Becker, Jay Cooke, Andrew DeGraff, James J. Hill, Norman W. Kittson, Electus B. Litchfield, A.B. Nettleton, Henry M. and Edmund Rice, J. Gregory Smith, and George B. Wright. Additional topics include a proposal for a railroad terminus at Bayfield Wisconsin, his directorship of the Western Railroad of Manitoba, and on the Canadian Pacific Railroad’s proposal for an international railroad to Alaska (1889).

Taylor’s appointment as counsel in Winnipeg generated significant amounts of correspondence. Letters received and outgoing letters in the letter books document his promotion of national economic interests, including advising American citizens on trade opportunities, agricultural production, tariffs, and lumber production. Taylor’s oversight of the customs offices includes documentation on custom duties, bonding regulations, and other fees. Providing support of Americans working in Canada, including those who died there, who had disputes with employers, and others who needed general assistance are documented.

As counsel, Taylor was involved in the notorious Lord Gordon alleged swindling case (1873) that resulted in correspondence with Governor Horace Austin, Senator Alexander Ramsey, William King, Charles M. Loring, Joseph Wheelock, and Eugene M. Wilson. Other significant events documented include the deaths of a number of Assiniboine Native Peoples in the Cypress Hills region of the Northwest Territories and those accused of their murders (1875-1879), attempts to stop illegal sale of liquor to Native Americans (1875), the illegal cutting of American timber by Canadians (1890), and the harvesting of so many fish from Lake of the Woods that native peoples were starving (1891). Documentation exists on the Fenian invasion (1871), the Second Riel Rebellion (1885), and on various border issues.

Taylor’s concerns about his being replaced as counsel during the 1880s resulted in correspondence with Solomon G. Comstock, Cushman K. Davis, Oliver H. Kelley, Hans Mattson, William Marshall, William R. Merriam, Alexander Ramsey, Henry H. Sibley, William D. Washburn, Joseph A. Wheelock, and William Windom.

Other notable correspondents include Sir Joseph Hickson (Grand Trunk Railway, 1880-1893), Alfred J. Hill (burial mounds, 1882-1890), Lorin Blodget (climatologist, 1890), Erastus Wiman (reciprocity and tariffs, 1887-1889), Charles Hallock (commissioning of a cyclorama of the Northwest for the Paris Exposition (1888), William T. Sherman (watch found on the Custer battlefield, 1890), Donald A. Smith (Lord Strathcona), and Dr. John C. Schultz. Archbishop Alexandre A. Taché and Ignatius Donnelly provide data (1891) on the origins of the Cree and Chippewa alphabets. Also found is documentation on the bells of the cathedral tower of St. Boniface, Manitoba (1892).

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These documents are organized into the following sections:

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The microfilm is described in: Constance J. Kadrmas, Guide to a Microfilm Edition of the James Wickes Taylor Papers (St. Paul: Minnesota Historical Society, 1968). A copy of this guide is available in the repository (filed as M156) and in pdf format.

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Access Restrictions:

The originals of the microfilmed papers (Boxes 1-5 and partial box) are closed to general use.

Use Restrictions:

Copyright in the microfilm is reserved by the Minnesota Historical Society. Consult the reference staff for more information.

Preferred Citation:

[Indicate the cited item and/or series here]. James Wickes Taylor Papers. Minnesota Historical Society.

See the Chicago Manual of Style for additional examples.

Microfilm Production:

M156: St. Paul, Minn. : Minnesota Historical Society, 1968. 10 reels; 35mm.

M156-A: St. Paul, Minn. : Minnesota Historical Society, 1988. 1 reel; 16mm.

Microfilm available for sale or interlibrary loan from the Minnesota Historical Society.

Provenance:

In 1915 the papers were discovered in a trunk in the Minnesota State Archives at the second (former) state capitol building. Many small additions to the collection were subsequently made by various family members, especially by Taylor's grandson James Taylor Dunn.

Accession Information:

Accession number: 1767B2; 4268; 4749; 5292; 6401; 6536; 6782; 7234; 10,548; 10,567; 13,965

Processing Information:

Initially processed by Theodore C. Blegen, approximately 1915.

Portrait of Taylor used as an illustrative image in this finding aid is taken from the Minnesota Historical Society Sound and Visual collections.

Catalog ID number: 990017337080104294

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This collection is indexed under the following headings in the catalog of the Minnesota Historical Society. Researchers desiring materials about related topics, persons or places should search the catalog using these headings.

Topics:

Agriculture -- Northwest, Canadian.

Consuls -- United States.

Customs administration -- United States.

Cypress Hills Massacre, Sask., 1873.

Diplomatic and consular service -- United States.

Fisheries -- Northwest, Canadian.

Horticulture -- Northwest, Canadian.

Indians of North America -- Government relations.

Indians of North America -- Languages.

Lumber trade -- Northwest, Canadian.

Métis.

Northwest Resistance, Canada, 1885.

Red River Resistance, Man., 1869-1870.

Railroads -- Minnesota.

Railroads -- Northwest, Canadian.

Railroads -- United States.

Spies -- United States.

Persons:

Archibald, Adams George, Sir, 1814-1892, author.

Austin, Horace, 1831-1905, author.

Baird, Spencer Fullerton, 1823-1887, author.

Becker, George L. (George Loomis), 1829-1904, author.

Blodget, Lorin, author.

Brackett, George Augustus, 1836-1921, author.

Brayton, George M., 1834- , author.

Brydges, Charles John, 1827-1889, author.

Cooke, Jay, 1821-1905, author.

Dunn, Alice Monfort, 1872-1954, author.

Dunn, James Taylor, author.

Gunn, Donald, 1797-1878, author.

Hallock, Charles, 1834-1917, author.

Hill, A. J. (Alfred James), 1833-1895, author.

Hill, James J. (James Jerome), 1838-1916, author.

Howe, Joseph, 1804-1873, author.

Kittson, Norman W. (Norman Wolfred), 1814-1888, author.

Langford, Nathaniel Pitt, 1832-1911, author.

Marshall, William Rainey, 1825-1896, author.

McGee, Thomas D'Arcy, 1825-1868, author.

Moberly, Walter, 1832-1915, author.

Nettleton, A. B. (Alvred Bayard), 1838-1911, author.

Ramsey, Alexander, 1815-1903, author.

Rice, Henry M. ǂq (Henry Mower), 1816-1894, author.

Riel, Louis, 1844-1885, author.

Schultz, J. C. (John Christian), 1840-1896, author.

Sherman, William T. (William Tecumseh), 1820-1891, author.

Sibley, Henry Hastings, 1811-1891, author.

Strathcona and Mount Royal, Donald Alexander Smith, Baron, 1820-1914, author.

Taylor, Chloe Langford, 1821-1882, author.

Taylor, Elizabeth, 1856-1932, author.

Wheelock, Joseph Albert, 1831-1906, author.

Windom, William, 1827-1891, author.

Wright, Geo. (George Burdick), 1835-1882, author.

Gordon, Gordon, Lord, -1874.

Malmros, Oscar, 1825-1909.

Langford family.

Taylor family.

Organizations:

United States. Bureau of Customs.

United States. Army -- Pay, allowances, etc.

Smithsonian Institution.

St. Paul & Pacific Railroad Company. First Division.

Canada. Constitution Act, 1867.

Canada. Manitoba Act, 1870.

Hamilton College (Clinton, N.Y.)

Hudson's Bay Company.

Places:

Red River Settlement.

Canada -- History -- Fenian Invasion, 1871.

Lake of the Woods.

Manitoba -- Commerce.

Manitoba -- Description and travel.

Manitoba -- Economic conditions.

Manitoba -- History.

Pembina (N.D.)

Saint Paul (Minn.)

Saskatchewan -- Description and travel.

Saskatchewan -- History.

United States -- Boundaries -- Canada.

United States -- Foreign relations -- Canada.

Winnipeg (Man.)

Document Types:

Diaries.

Letter books.

Microfilms.

Scrapbooks.

Titles:

Reciprocity Treaty (1854 June 5)

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