TAYLOR, HENRY RYDER (1850-1908). Henry Ryder Taylor (also found as Ryder-Taylor), journalist and author, was born in Leicester, England, on May 5, 1850, and began his journalistic career with the London Telegraph and All The Year Round. In 1881 he came to the United States and settled in San Antonio, where he was editor of the Sunday Mirror. He lived for two years in Mexico City, where he wrote for the Two Republics; he then worked in St. Louis and New York before returning to San Antonio to publish the Texas Figaro, a weekly paper devoted to drama, sports, society, and politics. He was one of the first reporters on the San Antonio Daily Light (see SAN ANTONIO LIGHT) and was on the news staff of that paper for over twenty years. He wrote poems and was engaged in the publication of the International Magazine until a short time before his death. As a youth in London he knew Charles Dickens and possibly served as the famous author's amanuensis. While living in San Antonio, he was occasionally host to (and perhaps a collaborating writer with) O. Henry (William Sydney Porterqv). In 1924 the Texas Historical and Landmarks Association^qv placed a tablet on his house on South Presa Street where O. Henry supposedly worked with Taylor. Taylor was the author of two books about San Antonio: History of the Alamo and of the Local Franciscan Missions (190?) and Visitors Guide, a Reliable History of the City of San Antonio from Its Foundation in 1689 to Its Present Time (1902). He died on July 13, 1908, in San Antonio and was buried in the Knights of Pythias Cemetery. Taylor was survived by his wife; accounts vary as to whether he had two or three daughters.

BIBLIOGRAPHY: San Antonio Express, July 14, 1908. San Antonio Light, July 14, 1908.

S. W. Pease