Henry Taylor and a Lineage of Leaders

In describing the distinguished lineage of Wilmington's Henry Taylor, Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates Jr. finds it difficult to recall a black family tree with more “firsts” in African-American history, starting in the depths of slavery.

The story of this family's legacy begins with Henry Taylor, born near Fayetteville in 1823. Fathered by his white enslaver Angus Taylor and an enslaved woman who probably belonged to Angus as well, Henry was so skilled in his trade as a carpenter and contractor that his father allowed him to travel widely throughout his home state of North Carolina, pursuing his trade in defiance of the restrictive conventions of slavery. Henry moved to Wilmington, where he became a carpenter-builder as well as forming a mercantile business with a white ship owner. According to NCSU’s North Carolina Architects & Builders in a description by Catherine Bishir, Beverly Tetterton and Ellen Weiss: Henry Taylor was one of many free and enslaved men of color who participated in Wilmington's city-wide building boom. 

​Family tradition states that he was one of the carpenters who erected and finished the Bellamy Mansion in 1859-1861. Taylor's role was carried through family memories, and in 1999 his granddaughter Gladys Whiteman Baskerville and her extended family held her 100th birthday celebration at the mansion to honor the family legacy. 

​After the war, Taylor operated a grocery business on Nutt Street while continuing in the building business. In 1868 he received $1,800 for constructing the Hemenway School and improving the schoolyard. Active in civic life, Taylor was a member of Giblem Masonic Lodge, the second black Masonic lodge in the state; he served on the finance committee to erect the lodge building in 1871, and it is probable that he was involved in construction of the building, which still stands. He was a founding member of Chestnut Street Presbyterian Church and was active in the Republican Party. He was buried in Pine Forest Cemetery. 

Henry Taylor (1823-1891) was among the black artisans who built the Bellamy Mansion. Photo courtesy of New Hanover County Public Library, Cape Fearians Digital Collection.

Chestnut Presbyterian Church, located at 712 Chestnut St. Purchased in 1867 by a black congregation. Henry Taylor was on the first Board of Trustees.

The Taylor Family Tree
Henry and his wife Emily lived at 112 North 8th Street in a home that Henry built for the family, including their four children—John Edward, Anna Maria (Shober), Sarah Louise (Whiteman), and Robert Robinson— all of whom distinguished themselves.

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​Home of Henry Taylor, with his children and grand-children standing in front.
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From left to right: Lida Taylor, wife of John E. Taylor; John Edward Taylor, brother of Robert R.; Gertrude Taylor, Williston teacher and daughter of John Edward; Carrie Taylor Wright, daughter of John Edward; Lillian Taylor Shober, daughter of Anna Maria Taylor and James Shober; unknown; Robert R. Taylor, valedictorian of his class at  M.I.T. and architect of many buildings at the Tuskegee Institute; Robert R. Taylor's children, perhaps Robert, Jr. and Helen or Beatrice in front.  The family home was on N. 8th Street.

​John Edward Taylor remained in Wilmington and became a prosperous businessman and the first black man appointed Deputy Collector of Customs in the city, a position he held for 25 years. Anna Maria attended Howard University, as did her future husband, Dr. James Francis Shober, the first black physician with an M. D. degree to practice in North Carolina; a native of Winston-Salem, he spent his career in Wilmington. Sarah Louise Taylor likewise attended Howard University and married John Henry Whiteman, a prominent Wilmington businessman.

​Robert Robinson Taylor's Legacy
​Arguably the most notable among Henry's descendants is Robert Robinson Taylor, born here in 1868. He was the first African American to graduate from MIT and one of the first professionally trained black architects in the United States. As described by architectural historian Ellen Weiss, he forged a long career as an architect at Tuskegee Institute in Alabama and a close friendship with the school’s founder Booker T. Washington. He designed most of the campus buildings completed prior to 1932. In 1943, shortly after Robert’s sudden death the year before, a Wilmington public housing complex formerly called New Brooklyn Homes was renamed for Robert Robinson Taylor. The Robert R. Taylor Homes were redeveloped between 2008-2011. In 2015, a Forever stamp by the USPS brought perpetual national prominence to this Wilmington native.

The US Postal Service inducted Robert Robinson Taylor into its Black Heritage Stamp series in 2015.

New Brooklyn Homes, now part of the redeveloped Robert Taylor Estates, is a 48 unit multi-family development located on North 4th Street in Wilmington.

Today, the Robert R. Taylor public housing complex in Wilmington also includes the Taylor Senior Homes (pictured above) and The Pointe at Taylor Estates.

​Robert Robinson Taylor's son, Robert Rochon Taylor, became an important corporate and civic figure in Chicago, for whom the large Chicago public housing complex, Robert Taylor Homes (completed in 1962), was named. Among Henry Taylor's descendants through this branch of the family is his great-great granddaughter, Barbara Taylor Bowman (1928-2024), early childhood education pioneer and consultant to the U.S. Secretary of Education during former President Barack Obama's first term. Bowman's daughter, Valerie Jarrett, a civic and political leader in Chicago, also worked under President Obama as a White House Senior Advisor from 2009-2017.

Barbara Taylor Bowman (1928-2024), a pioneer in early childhood education and fierce advocate for equal educational opportunity. Photo credit: Erikson Institute.

Valerie Jarrett (b. 1956), Barbara Taylor Bowman's daughter, pictured with former President Barack Obama. She was his longest-serving senior advisor during his presidency.

Further Reading: 
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https://www.blackhistory.mit.edu/story/robert-r-taylor
https://www.politico.com/story/2013/12/valerie-jarrett-women-rule-100673
https://nieer.org/pioneer-barbara-bowman
https://www.dncr.nc.gov/blog/2016/06/08/wilmingtons-robert-r-taylor-pioneer-black-architect
https://www.huduser.gov/portal/casestudies/study_0724012_1.html
https://about.usps.com/news/national-releases/2015/pr15_012.htm​