R. M. Taylor
R. M. Taylor, secretary, treasurer and manager of the McKibben Gas Engine Company, of Lima, stands among the city's representative business men, although scarcely yet in the prime of life. He was born in England, in April, 1881, and is a son of George Taylor.
The father of R. M. Taylor is one of Allen County's best known men. He graduated as a civil and as a mechanical engineer in England and came to America in 1886. He has served as county surveyor and is a professional civil engineer. One brother of our subject, Joe Taylor, graduated from the Lima Business College, taking the world's record in shorthand. He received the degrees of A. B. and B. S. from Lima College where he taught for a time. Later he took an A. B. degree at Wooster and still later received an A. B. at Harvard University. He is now manager of the Uncas Paper Mills, of Norwich, Connecticut. Still another brother, George Taylor, a graduate of the Lima High School, received the degree of A. B. from the Western Reserve University, and is assistant chief draughtsman for the Pennsylvania lines west of Pittsburg.
R. M. Taylor was five years old when his parents came to America and located at Mount Pleasant, Pennsylvania, where he lived until 1893, when he came to Lima. He attended the Lima High School when Prof. Charles C. Miller was in charge. Immediately after graduating, he entered the shops of the C. H. & D. Railway, where he remained three and a half years, gaining a thoroughly practical education. He next spent a short season with Charles W. Angell, in his electrical works, after which he was appointed inspector of locomotives for the Chicago, Cincinnati - Louisville Railroad, He performed the duties of this office for six months; when the road changed hands, Mr. Taylor bought an interest in the McKibben Gas Engine Company, This company was incorporated April 11, 1901, with a capital stock of $10,000, with C. A. Moore, president; Fred E. Herold, Vice-president, and R. M. Taylor, secretary, treasurer and manager. The business is the manufacturing of gasoline engines, repair work on steam and gas-engines and all kinds of boiler work. Mr. Taylor is also a tockholder in the Bower Roller Bearing Comany, of Dayton, Ohio. He was made treasurer of the Lima Paper Stock Company, November 15, 1905.
For some 14 years Mr. Taylor has been a member of the Market Street Presbyterian Church of Lima. He takes an active interest in public matters and political contest, but not to the exclusion of his own business interests. He is in every way qualified for the positions he holds and is fast becoming one of the city's successful business men.