William Taylor (Virginia)

William Taylor (April 5, 1788 – January 17, 1846) was a nineteenth-century congressman and lawyer from Virginia.

Born in Alexandria, Virginia (then part of the District of Columbia), Taylor completed preparatory studies, studied law and was admitted to the bar, commencing practice in Staunton, Virginia. He later moved to Lexington, Virginia where he continued his law practice and became the commonwealth attorney for the county court of Rockbridge County, Virginia, serving from 1817 to 1843 and the commonwealth attorney for the circuit court of Pocahontas County, Virginia (now West Virginia) from 1817 to 1843. Taylor was a member of the Virginia House of Delegates in 1821 and was elected a Democrat to the United States House of Representatives in 1842, serving from 1843 until his death in 1846. There, he was chairman of the Committee on Accounts from 1843 to 1846. Taylor died on January 17, 1846 in Washington, D.C. and was interred there in Congressional Cemetery.