Story of Hascal Taylor

In the Spring 2009 an article of local significance was published in Western New York Heritage Magazine by Jason Aronoff. Hascal Taylor, the man who commissioned Adler & Sullivan's Buffalo Building was from Fredonia. This world famous office building we now know as the Guaranty Building was the last commission he did before he died in 1894. Hascal Taylor, born in Stockton, NY in 1830 became a well known business man in Fredonia before he worked in the oil region of the northwestern Pennsylvania, and finally in Buffalo. In 1856 Taylor formed a partnership with a carriage maker, Festus Day. The company called, Taylor & Day, grew rapidly, expanding its operations. In 1864 another partner joined, forming Taylor, Day & Company. One factor in the company's rapid prosperity was the demand created by the Civil War. Another factor was the firm's invention of the "Road Wagon" and its sale in the oil regions of northwest Pennsylvania. In 1867, the firm patented the famous "buck board" road wagon, "which had an immense sale not only throughout the oil country but wherever a wagon was wanted for rough roads and severe service," according to the Fredonia Censor newspaper. By 1872, the company had built a large three-story building on Center Street in Fredonia to house the manufacturing, storage and display rooms their expanding business warranted. In 1873 the booming operation built five new forges and another three-story building. However, later that year the carriage industry was among the victims of a financial downturn that drove prices for the wagons to low levels. In 1875 Taylor sold his interest in the business and went onto the oil business in nearby Titusville, PA., and by the 1880s Taylor was the President of Union Oil Company which was one of the largest producers of oil in the country. In 1881 Taylor became a resident of Buffalo, and moved his Union Oil headquarters to Buffalo. He started purchasing property and in the Dec. 25, 1894 issue of the Buffalo Morning Express a drawing of the Taylor Building appeared. If Taylor had lived for two more years (he died in 1894) the building we know as the Guaranty Building would have been the Taylor Building and the name Hascall L. Taylor, would be as well known as other great patrons of Buffalo's out standing architecture including William Dorsheimer, Darwin Martin, and Edward Kleinhans. (This information was taken from the original article published in the Spring 2009 issue of the WNY Heritage Magazine.)