William S. Taylor (Kentucky politician)

William S. Taylor
33rd Governor of Kentucky
In office December 12, 1899 – January 31, 1900
Lieutenant	John Marshall
Preceded by	William O. Bradley
Succeeded by	William Goebel
19th Attorney General of Kentucky
In office 1896–1899
Governor	William O. Bradley
Preceded by	W. J. Hendricks
Succeeded by	R. J. Breckinridge
Personal details
Born	William Sylvester Taylor October 10, 1853 Butler County, Kentucky, U.S.
Died	August 2, 1928(1928-08-02) (aged 74) Indianapolis, Indiana, U.S.
Political party	Republican
Spouse(s)	Sara Tanner Norah A. Meyers
Occupation	Politician lawyer farmer teacher

William Sylvester Taylor (October 10, 1853 – August 2, 1928) was an American politician who was the 33rd Governor of Kentucky. He was initially declared the winner of the disputed gubernatorial election of 1899, but the Kentucky General Assembly, dominated by the Democrats, reversed the election results, giving the victory to his Democratic opponent, William Goebel. Thus, Taylor served only 50 days as governor.

A poorly educated but politically astute lawyer, Taylor began climbing the political ladder by holding local offices in his native Butler County. Though he was a Republican in an overwhelmingly Democratic state, divisions in the majority party resulted in his election as Attorney General of Kentucky on a ticket with the Commonwealth's first Republican governor, William O. Bradley. Four years later, Taylor was elected in 1899 to the governorship.

When the General Assembly reversed the election results after a dispute, incensed Republicans armed themselves and descended on Frankfort. Taylor's Democratic opponent, William Goebel, was shot and died after being sworn in on his deathbed. Taylor exhausted his finances in a legal battle with Goebel's running mate J. C. W. Beckham over the governorship. Taylor ultimately lost the battle, and was implicated in Goebel's assassination. He fled to neighboring Indiana. Despite eventually being pardoned for any wrongdoing, he seldom returned to Kentucky. Taylor died in Indianapolis, Indiana in 1928.