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M. D. K. Taylor

Confederate Army general and politician

Correspondence, annotated notebooks and portrait silhouettes prepared for research
People and ideasInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionJul 23, 2026
Entity authorityQ6712506
Source-derived summary

Marion DeKalb Taylor or M. D. K. Taylor (October 13, 1818 – June 22, 1897) was an American politician in Alabama and Texas, and a Texas militia colonel during the American Civil War. He was a member of the Alabama Legislature for two stints between 1842 and 1846, and served in both the Texas House of Representatives and the Texas Senate. In the Texas House, Taylor served three non-consecutive terms as Speaker of the House, and, in the Texas Senate, was twice elected President pro tempore of the Texas Senate.

Biography

Taylor was born in Jones County, Georgia to Anne Mathews and Ward Taylor, who was a blacksmith, farmer, and Methodist preacher. The family had moved to Butler County, Alabama, by 1822. M. D. K. Taylor received his education in Alabama and studied medicine there. Taylor married the 14-year-old Elizabeth Sarah McDaniel in 1838 and, for the next 24 years, they would have some nine children together. Taylor was elected to the Alabama Legislature from Butler County in 1842. He was an advocate for the annexation of Texas, a position which cost him re-election in 1844. However, he was again sent to the Alabama Legislature in 1845, serving through the following year.

Editorial summary

This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “M. D. K. Taylor” as confederate Army general and politician. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.

Editorial reviewStrongest as a route into the people, institutions and dated events that shaped the subject’s public record. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1818, 1897, 1842, 1846—that can be checked directly. The linked authority record independently contributes the date 1818-10-13. The account is most persuasive where Taylor, Confederate and Army can be independently traced.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

The subject matters to the people & ideas register because the source frames it as confederate Army general and politician. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.

Evidence profile

Chronology provides the most reliable spine for this subject; interpretation should follow only after identities and dates are secure. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jul 23, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q6712506. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1818, 1897, 1842 and 1846.

Critical limits

Public reputation and documentary evidence do not always develop together; absence from a summary is not evidence of historical absence. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. 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
Verify next

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 “M. D. K. Taylor”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow M. D. K. Taylor primary sources, M. D. K. Taylor archive and Taylor 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

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “M. D. K. Taylor”?
  2. How has the subject’s reputation changed across later accounts?
  3. Which primary records establish identity, chronology and institutional ties?
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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from M. D. K. 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.