Taylor, Alexander L. Jr.

Description

Alexander L. Taylor

Alexander L. Taylor was born on May 3, 1916, in New York City, New York, to Madeleine Underhill Brown and Alexander Lindsay Taylor In Rye his family lived on Hill Top Place and were members of the Presbyterian Church.

He graduated from Kent School in 1936 and Williams College and was a member of the West Side Tennis Club.

Prior to World War II, Alexander enlisted February 9,1939 and served three years in the National Guard. In the NG Lieut. Taylor was with the 207th Coast Artillery (Seventh Regiment). Alexander then served as an officer in the regular U.S. Army during World War II. Alexander was stationed in Panama with a Coast Artillery anti-aircraft battery.

Panama hosted significant U.S. Army Coast Artillery Corps (CAC) anti-aircraft (AA) batteries, especially around the Canal Zone, to protect the vital waterway, with units like the 65th Coast Artillery Regiment manning guns like the 3-inch M1918 and later developing unique “Panama mounts” for heavy coastal defense guns, creating a robust defense system that evolved through World War II.

He returned home on leave and married Miss Cherry Grafton on February 19, 1944, at St. Paul’s Church in Greenwich, Connecticut. The Rev. William J. Toper officiated and reception followed at the Indian Harbor Yacht Club, Greenwich. They had five children during their marriage.

After his discharge, he and his family would make their home in Greenwich, CT. He would work in a business started by his father Alex Taylor& Co., Inc. It was a New York based sporting goods dealer which his father served as president and he as secretary.

The company is no longer in operation, but its vintage sporting goods, such as tennis rackets and baseball gloves, are now considered collectible antiques and sometimes displayed in museums like The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Alexander Lindsay Taylor died on May 23, 2003, in Exeter, New Hampshire, at the age of 87.