Almon Nicholas Taylor was born in 1855 in New York state. His father, a
grape farmer, died when Almon was seven years old. Taylor was determined to
acquire an education, although he attended school irregularly. In 1878,
he earned a diploma in classical studies from the high school in Ann Arbor,
Michigan. He went on to graduate from the University of Michigan in 1882 with a
bachelor of laws degree. Taylor practiced law for a year, then decided to
teach.
From 1884 to 1889, he served as principal and ultimately superintendent of progressively larger high schools and attained an excellent reputation as an administrator and instructor. The Arizona Normal School Board invited him to apply for the position of teacher/principal at the new Northern Arizona Normal School [NANS] in Flagstaff. He became one of two faculty members that first academic year of 1899 and presented diplomas to the first four graduates in June of 1901. Later that year, he was awarded the doctor of philosophy degree through correspondence by Arkansas Normal College. Taylor soon established a teacher training program and a modest library at NANS, and the institution acquired national recognition. Taylor successfully fought several politically-motivated attempts to close the school. In 1909, he retired from NANS and eventually relocated, with his wife Adelaide Vincent, to a New York grape farm. Dr. Taylor died in 1936.
Condensed from Platt Cline, Mountain Campus: The Story of Northern Arizona University (Flagstaff: Northland Press, 1983), chapter II.