George Taylor (gardener)
| George Taylor | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Born |
February 12, 1803 Scottish Borders |
| Died | August 21, 1891 (aged 88) Kalamazoo |
| Nationality | Scottish |
| Occupation | Horticulturist |
George Taylor (February 12, 1803 − August 21, 1891) was an award-winning nurseryman from Scotland who emigrated to Kalamazoo, Michigan in 1855. There, he became known as George "Celery" Taylor because he introduced commercial celery growing to the United States.
George Taylor was born in the Scottish Borders on 12 February 1803. His parents were Andrew Taylor, a shepherd, and Violet Stevenson. As a child, Taylor had to watch over the sheep, often snaring rabbits and hares illegally to sell for one shilling and sixpence each, wages for a whole day’s work in those days. His parents were literate and he could already read the Bible when he started school aged seven.
Even though he only had a few years of schooling he was an educated man with a great love of books. He used to walk the fifty miles to Edinburgh, which took him fourteen hours, to spend his money on books rather than pay the coach fare.
He learned his trade as a market gardener and in 1846 he became manager of a plant nursery in Kelso. He worked there successfully for nine years.
He was a deeply religious man at a time when there was much upheaval in the Church of Scotland. He followed Thomas Chalmers at the time of the Disruption of 1843 to form the Free Church of Scotland. After seeing families destroyed by drink, he became involved in the Temperance movement which was growing in Britain at that time. He became vice-president of the Temperance Society in Kelso. His faith also made him speak up against slavery.
In 1855, aged 53, he took his family to the United States and settled in Kalamazoo, Michigan, where his brothers were already living. There, he started a gardening business and had many plants and trees shipped from Scotland. It was there that he introduced commercial celery growing to the United States, an achievement remembered on a plaque in Kalamazoo. He gave several addresses to the Horticultural Society of Michigan on hedging and forestry, stressing the need for planting for the future.
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