Adirondack Daily Enterprise, November 8, 1958Born: May 17, 1909
Died: June 19, 1999
Married: Alice Bragdon
Children: Edwin A. Taylor, John B. Taylor, Keith A. Taylor, Nancy Stockburger, Kathrene Deprey
John Isley Taylor, known as Jack, was a taxidermist; he owned and operated Taylor's Taxidermy on Lake Flower Avenue from 1958 until 1989. He was a World War II veteran.
Adirondack Daily Enterprise, June 19, 1999
SARANAC LAKE - John Isley Taylor, 90, died Friday June at Mercy Health Care in Tupper Lake, where he had been a resident since 1993.
Born May 17, 1909 in Portland Conn., he was the son of Edwin A. and Anna Belle (Hunter) Taylor. He married Alice (Bragdon) Taylor on September 14, 1929. Together they owned and operated Taylor's Taxidermy on Lake Flower Avenue in Saranac Lake from 1958 until their retirement in 1989.
Serving in the Navy, Mr. Taylor was a veteran of WWII. He was an avid outdoorsman who enjoyed hunting and fishing.
Survivors include his wife, two sons, Edwin A. Taylor of Alaska, and John B. Taylor of Pennsylvania; 12 grandchildren; 14 great-grandchildren; and several nieces and nephews. He was predeceased by a son, Keith A. Taylor, and two daughters, Nancy Stockburger and Kathrene Deprey.
There will be no calling hours or services. Friends wishing to may make contributions to their favorite charity in care of the Fortune-Keough Funeral Home.
Adirondack Daily Enterprise, March 12, 1960
How To Stuff A Hippopotamus;
The Great Art of A Taxidermist
Jack Taylor is a man who can stuff a hummingbird or a hippopotamous with equal dispatch and his career as a taxidermist figures closely in today's Enterprise story on Litchfield Park.
Jack recently completed restoration work on approximately 220 wildlife pieces in the main Chateau which were in various stages of disrepair.
With thirty-one years of experience and over 5,000 completed specimens to his credit he was still intrigued when it came to replacing ears, eyes, teeth and toes of such far ranging varieties as Grizzly Bear, Giraffe, Kudu and Gnu.
Most of the taxidermy jobs which the Saranac Lake expert tackles are of native animals tackles are of native animals, fish and birds. The sudden switch to the big game specimens of Africa and India presented a problem that forced him into complicated zoological research.
Especially difficult was the technical work on a giant elephant head which had turned black from age but was far too massive lo be taken from its wall bracket. Jack erected a 20 foot scaffold which allowed him to reach the head where he carried out the necessary but involved work of restoration.
Another problem which afforded the artist a chance to brush up on his Asian and African lore concerned the true reproduction of color patterns in the animals when alive. Duplication of the natural shade of hide, horn and tusk is never an easy one.
Taxidermist Taylor estimates that it has been at least fifteen years since any work had been done on the hundreds of heads and figures at Litchfield Park.
The names of some very famous zoologists and naturalists are inscribed on many of the superior trophies in the Great Hall including that of James L. Clark, present mentor of the American Museum in New York City. Another Internationally famous name "Ward of London'' also appears on many African and Indian heads.
Jack was able to complete most of the restoration work ''on location" but many of the smaller, delicate animals were brought into his shop on Lake Flower Avenue.
The nearly lost art of Taxidermy may be making a comeback with the recent swing to the unusual in home furnishings. If the trend continues, Mr. Taylor may be in on the ground floor of a busy career as a rustic designer.
His background as a cabinet maker combines easily with a natural love of wildlife and he has created several interesting and decorative pieces utilizing the horns and feet of deer and other animals.
Among his more recent originals ere liquor cabinets and bookcases with hooved underpinnings, gun racks, lamps and other quixotic items made to order.
Very little goes to waste in the Taylor Taxidermy establishment as his wife operates a buckskin shop in conjunction with her husband's business.
