8/30/2006

Calvin B. Taylor was a Renaissance man
By Tom Range, Sr.

In the year 1886, 120 years ago, there occurred two events that changed the life of 29-year-old Calvin B. Taylor and, by extension, the lives of current and future residents of Worcester County.  In that year, young Calvin was admitted to the Maryland bar and married Mattie Collins of Hannibal, Missouri. 

Calvin was born at Trappe Creek Farm near Berlin on December 28, 1857.  He was educated at the Buckingham Academy in Berlin and in 1882 received both his Bachelor of Arts and Master of Arts degrees from Western Maryland College.  He held positions in the Worcester County school system from 1883 through 1889 during which time he studied for the law. 
By 1890 he decided to form his own bank.  His wife, of somewhat independent means, was one of the original backers of her husband's bank.  Combining their financial resources they purchased the site at the corner of Main and Commerce Streets in Berlin and erected the building that still serves as the main office of Taylor Bank.  Mattie Taylor was the only woman who was ever elected to the bank's board of directors.

At the turn of the 20th century, Berlin and its surrounding farm acreage was enjoying a period of relative prosperity.  Two railroad lines crossed in the town, the Wicomico and Pocomoke railroad, later named the Baltimore, Chesapeake and Atlantic railroad, connected Berlin with Salisbury to the west and Ocean City to the east, while the Pennsylvania line intersected the town in a north-south direction.  The proximity of the rail lines facilitated the delivery of Worcester County farm produce to major markets and the means to bring tourists to the resort areas along the coast.  The railroads also allowed representatives of Taylor Bank in later periods to commute to Ocean City one day a week to collect the deposits of the bank's customers on the island.  The train left Berlin at 4 p.m. and returned at 10 p.m.  The bank did not establish a branch in Ocean City until 1960.

As the privately-owned bank expanded, the advantages of incorporation were recognized, including that of additional investment capital.  In 1907 the bank incorporated with an initial capitalization of $50,000.  Calvin B. Taylor was elected president and the bank's board of directors included well-known local names like Purnell, Burbage and Adkins.

For 42 years, Mr. Taylor was involved in the banking system in Berlin until his death in 1932 at age 74 after serving as president of the banking corporation from 1907.  His tenure spanned the period of World War I, when the rural economy of the county prospered as the farmers of the region contributed to the war effort, to the depths of the Great Depression in which failures of banks were commonplace countrywide. 

Within his lifetime of service to the community, he was a member of the Maryland House of Delegates, the Berlin town council and the town's mayor.  A teacher, lawyer, politician and banker, his career was one of dedication to the Eastern Shore community.  The bank he founded expanded its operations by opening branches at 142nd Street in Ocean City in 1971 and Ames Plaza in Berlin in 1974. 

The bank's connection with the development of Ocean Pines began by the bank serving as an escrow agent in the sale of acreage owned by local property owners to predecessor companies of Boise Cascade.  It is said that many of the property owners, some representing families who had lived in the area for generations, did not have confidence in the prospective purchasers of the property and were wary of selling to them.  Upon payment of the purchase price to the bank, the sellers were assured of receiving the proceeds from the sales and surrendered their deeds.  The bank maintained its presence in the community opening its Ocean Pines branch in 1982.

By 1985 Calvin B. Taylor Banking Co., now advertising itself as Taylor Bank, listed assets in excess of $103 million.  As the bank approached the centenary of its formation in 1890 by Mr. Taylor, its total assets exceeded $164 million.  At fiscal year end 2005, the bank's asset exceeded $389 million and has established branches in Snow Hill and Pocomoke City to serve expanding Worcester County.

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