RE Taylor’s long story of crime and reformation was recorded in Isaac Hopper’s diary on page 207 of volume 2.  Taylor was a native of Georgia and attended Princeton College before leaving due to ill health.  He later moved to Andover, Massachusetts where he entered the Theological Seminary in 1835 and graduated in 1838.  He worked his way up to Saco, Maine and was ordained by Bishop Eastburn in Trinity Church. Due to his ill health, he was again forced to resign his charge.  After leaving Saco, he ended up in Cambridge, Massachusetts where he established a boarding school for boys.  He also established a Church called St. John’s in East Boston, which changed names multiple times in its life.  The Church was on Meridian Street in East Boston.  

Taylor became intemperate and no longer able to perform his ministerial functions, as a result he left the ministry of his own volition in 1847.  

After leaving the ministry, Taylor fell into deep poverty and was unable to even afford a meal.  He was sent to prison after attempting to steal food from a hotel, although the jury at his trial decided to suspend his sentence.  After being released, he sought relief from his classmates at Princeton.  He decided to travel to Newark, at first on foot and then he was picked up by a man in a wagon.  Unfortunately, the wagon was overturned when the horses got spooked and Taylor’s leg was broken.  He was taken to a hotel where he was taken care of until he had healed.  

When Taylor finally arrived in the city, he was arrested for theft at a hotel on Hudson Street.  There was no evidence of this claim and he was kept in jail for two weeks before being released.  When he was released he was completely broke and began to pass himself off as a letter courier to make some money.  After being arrested this time, he confessed of his crime but again was only kept in jail for six days.  

At this point, Taylor sought help from Isaac Hopper to get employment in Philadelphia.  Hopper gave him two dollars and free transportation to Philadelphia, on the condition that Taylor remained temperate.  

Though Taylor never spent a long period of time in prison, he is an example of a redemption story. He struggled for a large part of his life, and eventually decided that he needed to get help from the Prison Association of New York.