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Leon Rutherford Taylor

American politician (1883-1924)

Correspondence, annotated notebooks and portrait silhouettes prepared for research
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Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionSep 5, 2026
Entity authorityQ884100 ↗
Source-derived summary

Leon Rutherford Taylor (October 26, 1883 – April 1, 1924) was an American politician who was the acting governor of New Jersey from October 28, 1913, to January 20, 1914. Taylor took office upon the resignation of James Fairman Fielder, who had stepped down to create a vacancy in the governorship and avoid constitutional limits on succeeding himself.

Biography

Taylor was born in Asbury Park, New Jersey, on October 26, 1883. He attended Denison University in Ohio, studied law and established himself as a lawyer in New Jersey. Taylor was elected to three terms in the New Jersey General Assembly, and was chosen as its speaker. After Governor of New Jersey James Fairman Fielder resigned from office on October 28, 1913, Taylor became acting governor by virtue of his role as speaker of the house, serving until January 20, 1914, when Fielder assumed a full term in office. Taylor died on April 1, 1924, in Denver, Colorado. He never married and had no children.

Editorial summary

The public source identifies “Leon Rutherford Taylor” as american politician (1883-1924). This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Leon, Rutherford and Taylor.

Editorial reviewA productive starting point for separating a subject’s documented career from later reputation and commemoration. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1883, 1924, 1913, 1914—that can be checked directly. The linked authority record independently contributes the date 1883-10-26. Its value is orientation rather than verdict, with Leon, Rutherford and Taylor providing the first useful test.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

A short description can identify a subject without explaining its stakes. For “Leon Rutherford Taylor”, the useful work is to connect “american politician (1883-1924)” to the records capable of establishing context and consequence.

Evidence profile

The entry’s evidential value lies in the named roles, institutions and publications that can be tested against primary documentation. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 5, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q884100. VIAF identifies the subject as 3845156253568808110008. 2 of 2 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1883, 1924, 1913 and 1914.

Critical limits

A concise life account rarely captures disputed attribution, private networks or the changing language used to describe a career. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Read biographical claims against dates, named institutions and the cited references. Distinguish a subject’s later reputation from evidence produced during their lifetime.

Best used for
  • Establishing names and roles
  • Building a first chronology
  • Locating cited institutions
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Personal papers, civil or court records, institutional files and the scholarship cited by the source.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “Leon Rutherford Taylor”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow Leon Rutherford Taylor primary sources, Leon Rutherford Taylor archive and Leon research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

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  3. How has the subject’s reputation changed across later accounts?
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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from “Leon Rutherford Taylor” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.