Anstis Elmina Shepard Taylor was born 12 September 1830 in Middlefield, Otsego County, New York to David Spalding Shepard (1803-1885) and Rosella Bailey (1807-1873) and died 6 December 1904 Salt Lake City, Salt Lake County, Utah of unspecified causes. She married George Hamilton Taylor (1829-1907) 31 August 1856 in Haverstraw, Rockland County, New York.
Biography
Anstis Elmina Shepard Taylor (September 12, 1830 – December 6, 1904) was the first general president of what is today the Young Women organization of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) and was a founding member of the National Council of Women.
Anstis E. Shepard was born in Middlefield, New York to David Spaulding Shepard and Rosella Bailey. Following her graduation from public school and Hardwick Academy, she left home in 1854 to teach school in Haverstraw, New York, where she met John Druce, a member of the LDS Church. She was taught by Druce and baptized into the church on July 5, 1856. On August 31, 1856, she married George Hamilton Taylor (1829-1907) in Haverstraw. They left New York for Utah on April 15, 1859, and arrived in Salt Lake City on September 16.
At a meeting of the LDS Church's organization for adolescent girls held June 19, 1880, in the Assembly Hall on Temple Square, Taylor was appointed the first general president of the Young Ladies' National Mutual Improvement Association, the original name of the church's Young Women organization. Taylor was the general president of the organization until her death in 1904. Under her direction, Susa Young Gates founded the Young Woman's Journal, which began publication in 1889. Just prior to Taylor's death, she shortened the name of the YLNMIA to the Young Ladies' Mutual Improvement Association. Taylor was succeeded by her second counselor, Martha H. Tingey.
In 1888, Taylor and others met with Susan B. Anthony in Seneca Falls, New York and participated in the founding of the National Council of Women, an organization dedicated to promoting the rights of women. In 1891, Taylor was appointed an ex officio vice president of the organization, a position she held until her death. Taylor died at her home in Salt Lake City.
Marriage & Family
- Almira Mae Taylor Nystrom (1871-1959) - she was also very active in the Utah suffragist movement and also served as 2nd Counselor of the LDS Church General Young Women's organization.
Children
| Name | Birth | Death | Joined with |
| George Shephard Taylor (1860-1924) | |||
| Frank David Taylor (1862-1914) | |||
| Lydia Rosella Taylor (1864-1867) | |||
| Elminnia Mae Taylor (1867-1867) | |||
| Clarence Warren Taylor (1869-1930) | |||
| Almira Mae Taylor (1871-1959) | 11 August 1871 Salt Lake City, Salt Lake County, Utah, United States | 8 December 1959 Salt Lake City, Salt Lake County, Utah, United States | Theodore Nystrom (1870-1949) |
| Eugene Shepard Taylor (1874-1874) | |||
Siblings