Dean P. Taylor

Who was Dean P. Taylor?

Dean Park Taylor served as a United States Congressman from New York for nearly 20 years and came from a family long involved in public service to New York. Taylor was born in Troy, Rensselaer County, N.Y., on January 1, 1902, and attended the Troy public schools, Colgate University, Hamilton, N.Y., and Albany Law School of Union University.

Taylor was admitted to the bar in 1926 and commenced practice in Troy, N.Y. with his father, former Rensselaer County District Attorney John P. Taylor, and brother, Donald S. Taylor who went on to become a judge. Taylor served as Assistant United States Attorney, Northern District of New York from 1927-1930. He was chairman of the Rensselaer County Republican Committee from 1938–1952 and served as a delegate to the Republican National Convention in 1940. Taylor was also chairman of the New York State Republican Committee from 1953-1954. He served as trustee of Russell Sage College, as well as a director of the Union National Bank and the Niagara Mohawk Power Co.

Taylor was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1942 as a Republican to the Seventy-eighth and to the eight succeeding Congresses. He served on various committees, including the United States House Committee on the Judiciary and the House Committee on Public Land. Taylor also sat on the sub-committee of the U.S. House Committee on Territories evaluating Hawaiʻi for statehood. Commencing in 1946, Taylor travelled to Hawaiʻi, conducted hearings, and briefed President Harry S. Truman and Secretary of the Interior Harold L. Ickes on matters pertaining to legislation generally known as the Hawaii Admission Act, which, however, did not become law until 1959.