This monument, perhaps the finest and most expensive in the cemetery, marks the graves of Lewis Taylor and his mother, Jane Pinney. Lewis Taylor was born in New York State in 1818, and his father died when he was an infant. His mother married Ovid Pinney and the family moved to Rochester, which at that time was still a part of Beaver. Taylor's stepfather, Ovid Pinney, acquired large land holdings in Rochester, developing various plans of lots which contributed greatly to the development of that community. Pinney Street in Rochester carries his name.
Lewis Taylor spent his childhood years in the Pinney home in Rochester, attended Yale for several years, and later studied law with John R. Shannon, Esquire, of Beaver, being admitted to the bar here in 1843.
He served for six years as Deputy District Attorney for Beaver County, becoming one of the most able criminal lawyers in Pennsylvania. When Lawrence County was formed in 1849, he moved to New Castle and formed a partnership with Attorney Jonathan Ayres. The firm of Ayres & Taylor continued until 1853, by which time Lewis Taylor had become a leader of the Lawrence County bar.
In 1867 he returned to Rochester, residing again at the old Pinney residence in which his mother had recently died, and continuing to live there until his death in 1884. He apparently was a lifelong bachelor, as we can find no record that he ever married.
It is alleged, and here we are only repeating a story that has been passed along for 101 years, that Attorney Taylor wanted to have the finest monument in the cemetery and so provided in his will. It is said that his entire estate went to pay the cost.
You will note that Lewis Taylor's three-dimensional portrait is embossed into one side of the shaft. Taylor's good friend, Samuel B. Wilson, the prominent Beaver attorney, arranged to have the following Latin inscription placed on the monument: "DOCTRINA SED VIM PROMOVET INSITAM, RECTIQUE CULTUS PECTORA ROBORANT." We are indebted to Mrs. Sally Hughes for this translation: "And, indeed, knowledge improves the inborn power, and cultivation of the right strengthens the mind."