Taggart, Rush Jr.

Description

Rush Taggart was born on July 11, 1924, in New York, New York, to Carolyn H Dorsett, age 27, and William Rush Taggart, age 33. He was the grandson of William Taggart, an early explorer of the Grand Tetons in Wyoming. In Rye his family lived on Sunset Lane and were members of the Presbyterian Church.

Rush enlisted on March 30, 1943 and served as a sergeant in the Marine Corps in Texas during World War II. (See Muster Rolls) He was honorably discharged June 24, 1946. View Discharge Record

After the war, he graduated from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1949 with a degree in chemical engineering.

Before residing in Stockbridge, MA, he lived in New Canaan, Conn., and Charleston, W.Va., while he was employed by Union Carbide. He had been a production manager, purchasing agent and building materials supervisor for the company.

For more than 20 years he was a supporter of conservation organizations in Massachusetts. A Berkshire representative to the state Trustees of Reservations, he led its successful effort to acquire more than 250 acres abutting the Monument Mountain preservation that was threatened by development, and served on most of its standing committees.

For the Laurel Hill Association, he worked to document the many properties and easements donated to the organization over the years. He also was involved in the establishment of the Stockbridge Historic District His Main Street mansion was decorated as a designers’ show-house last summer to benefit Edith Wharton Restorations Inc. More than 7,000 people paid to view the 17 rooms decorated by interior designers.

A collector and restorer of Americana, Mr. Taggart specialized in Currier & Ives lithographs and Early American wood and brass clocks. A significant portion of his Currier & Ives collection was donated to the Shelburne (Vt.) Museum in 1989. More recently he specialized in the McKinney ,& Hall series of Early American Indian portraits.

Rush Taggart, 68, of Main Street died Monday evening January 11, 1993,at Berkshire Medical Center, in Lenox, Massachusetts and was buried in New Canaan, Connecticut.

At the time of his death, He left his former wife, Dorothy Harris; two sons, Rush Taggart III of Pelham, N.Y., and Stewart Taggart of Paris, France; a daughter, Mrs. Alison Barone of Albany, Calif.; two brothers, Robert D. Taggart of Dorset, Vt, and William Taggart of Darien, Conn.; a sister, Mrs. Eliza T. Davies of Lake Forest, 111.; and five grandchildren.

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