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James Simon Taylor
Gender:
Male
Born:
1798
Died:
1820
Home Town:
Columbia, SC
Biographical Notes:
James Simon Taylor was the son of James and Peggy (Hirons) Taylor of Columbia, SC. He attended South Carolina College before the studying at the Litchfield Law School. Taylor died by suicide in 1820, reportedly after being rejected romantically by Litchfield Female Academy student Lucretia Swift.
Quotes:
Taylor's death was discussed in letters between former Litchfield Law School classmates.
George Younglove Cutler noted in his "Journal" for 18 October 1820 that he had received a letter from Thomas Tucker Whittlesey (Yale 1817, LLS 1818) which stated, "Taylor has been refused by Miss Swift of Windham." On 29 December 1820, Cutler noted, "Little Taylor, you remember him — he is mentioned in orator Ogilvies book as a rare specimen has killed himself for the love of Miss Swift."
[All we know of Taylor is that he passed the bar in 1820 and died soon after."]
Emily Noyes Vanderpoel, Chronicles of a Pioneer School from 1792 to 1833: Being the History of Miss Sarah Pierce and her Litchfield School (1903) pp. 201, 205.
George Younglove Cutler noted in his "Journal" for 18 October 1820 that he had received a letter from Thomas Tucker Whittlesey (Yale 1817, LLS 1818) which stated, "Taylor has been refused by Miss Swift of Windham." On 29 December 1820, Cutler noted, "Little Taylor, you remember him — he is mentioned in orator Ogilvies book as a rare specimen has killed himself for the love of Miss Swift."
[All we know of Taylor is that he passed the bar in 1820 and died soon after."]
Emily Noyes Vanderpoel, Chronicles of a Pioneer School from 1792 to 1833: Being the History of Miss Sarah Pierce and her Litchfield School (1903) pp. 201, 205.
Education
Years at LLS:
1818
Other Education:
Graduated from South Carolina College in 1815.
Profession / Service
Admitted To Bar:
Columbia, SC in 1820
The Citation of Attendance provides primary source documentation of the student’s attendance at the Litchfield Female Academy and/or the Litchfield Law School. If a citation is absent, the student is thought to have attended but currently lacks primary source confirmation. Records for the schools were sporadic, especially in the formative years of both institutions. If instructors kept comprehensive records for the Litchfield Female Academy or the Litchfield Law School, they do not survive. Researchers and staff have identified students through letters, diaries, family histories and genealogies, and town histories as well as catalogues of students printed in various years. Art and needlework have provided further identification of Female Academy Students, and Litchfield County Bar records document a number of Law School students. The history of both schools and the identification of the students who attended them owe credit to the early 20th century research and documentation efforts of Emily Noyes Vanderpoel and Samuel Fisher, and the late 20th century research and documentation efforts of Lynne Templeton Brickley and the Litchfield Historical Society staff.
CITATION OF ATTENDANCE:
Catalogue of the Litchfield Law School Hartford, CT: Press of Case, Tiffany and Company, 1849.
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