Jane Taylor (science writer)

Jane Taylor
Born	Jane Ellen Agnew 1817–1820 New Jersey
Died	1904–1907 (age 87) New Brunswick, New Jersey
Other names	Mrs. John Taylor
Occupation	Science writer
Years active	1839–1860
Notable work	Physiology for Children

Jane Taylor (c. 1817–1820 — c. 1904–1907) was a pre-American Civil War writer of children's physiology books. Her works were widely distributed and provided instruction on basic anatomy, health maintenance and social etiquette.

Early life and education

Jane Ellen Agnew was from New Brunswick, New Jersey. Her birth date varies on census records but fairly consistently report that she was ten years younger than her husband, J. Orville Taylor, who was born on May 14, 1807. The couple were married on November 16, 1835, or 1836. They had a son, Edward, born around 1850, who married and then died in 1880. Edward and his wife Lydia had a daughter Mary born that same year. Very little biographical information on her has surfaced, primarily because she was often confused with the English author Jane Taylor. Her obituary confirms that Jane Agnew Taylor was the author of Physiology for Children, as well as a contributor to other leading journals in New York.

Career

Taylor began publishing educational books for children in 1830s. Orville was a proponent of developing professionalization of the teaching profession and advocated for standardized text books for public education. As the secretary of the American Common School Union and later the American Common School Society, he wrote, published, and sold educational textbooks. He filed the copyrights on Jane's works; under the law at that time, a wife could not appear in court or defend herself without her husband or a guardian's representation. She wrote The Girls School Book No. 1, as early as 1837, which her husband published, and was in its fourth edition by 1839. The book was described as a first reading primer for girls, teaching them proper behavior.

Beginning in the 1830s, discussions of anatomy and physiology became popular, and were increasingly seen as necessary information for women to know to maintain the health of their families. Women were expected to be able to transmit information to their children and other women about their bodies, excluding explicit sexual information. Catharine Beecher and Taylor began writing texts to relay basic information on the body, omitting discussion of sexual anatomy. These books focused on the benefits of good posture, physical education, diet, exercise, and proper moral behavior.

In 1839, Taylor published Physiology for Children, which would become her most popular work. Following in the pattern of similar books by William Alcott, her texts were written in the style of a catechism and presented basic anatomy to children. They focused on various parts of the body, explaining their importance and structures in simple terms. For example, she described the spine as a structure "which runs from the head down the back, and is made up of twenty-four round pieces, like twenty-four rings piled one above the other", which were known as vertebrae. The book did not focus upon physiology or hygiene, until the fourth 1847 revision. It described different parts of the body and gave basic foundations for physiology, health care hints, as well as types of exercise and demonstrations of proper posture.

In 1848, Taylor revised the work and substantially expanded it under the title of Primary Lessons in Physiology for Children. The revision not only discussed anatomy and physiology but was aimed at presenting lessons on the body and its functions which legitimated the American social structure. For example, she depicted slaves and working-class people as more susceptible to disease, because they did not have the mental capacity to resist ailments and were likely to sink into "weakness and despair". Two subsequent editions were published in 1855 — one by George F. Cooledge and Brother and the other by Phinney & Co. — another edition was printed in 1856, and the final edition appeared in 1860.

Taylor's 1858 book, Wouldst Know Thyself!, or, The Outlines of Human Physiology gave more focus on behavior and hygiene giving tips on general health and care of the body as well as recommendations on clothing, diet, and exercise. The book had many illustrations giving examples of proper and improper body positions for optimal functioning. She avoided use of scientific names preferring common descriptions that her readers would understand. In this book, she also differentiated traits which separated humans from other animals. It was written in a question and answer format and was a condensed version of her earlier works. A second edition was published in 1860.

Death and legacy

Taylor died on May 3, at the age of 87, at her home in New Brunswick, New Jersey. At the time of her death, she was remembered for her educational publications. In her lifetime, according to academic Elizabeth Wagner Reed, the books were very popular and seen as important works to "make children aware of the structure and functioning of their bodies". Though her biographical details were lost after Taylor's death, her work continued to be the subject of academic evaluation in both the 20th and 21st centuries.

Works

• Taylor, Jane (1838). The Girls School Book No. 1. New York, New York: Common School Depository. OCLC 36531421.
• Taylor, Jane (1839). Physiology for Children. New York, New York: American Common School Society. OCLC 28592330.
• Taylor, Jane (1848). Primary Lessons in Physiology for Children. New York, New York: George G. Cooledge & Brother. OCLC 1289509487.
• Taylor, Jane (1858). Wouldst Know Thyself!, or, The Outlines of Human Physiology: Designed for the Use of Families and Schools. New York, New York: George G. Cooledge & Brother. OCLC 4316895.

References

Bibliography

• Hoolihan, Christopher (2008). An Annotated Catalogue of the Edward C. Atwater Collection of American Popular Medicine and Health Reform. Vol. 3: Supplement A-Z. Rochester, New York: University of Rochester Press. ISBN 978-1-58046-284-6.
• Munsell, Joel (1872). Bibliotheca Munselliana: A Catalogue of the Books and Pamphlets Issued from the Press of Joel Munsell, from the Year 1828 to 1870. Albany, New York: Private. p. 9. OCLC 14858746. Mrs. Taylor was the wife of the publisher, J. Orville Taylor
• Murphy, Lamar Riley (1991). Enter the Physician: The Transformation of Domestic Medicine, 1760–1860. Tuscaloosa, Alabama: University of Alabama Press. ISBN 978-0-8173-0514-7.
• Princeton Alumni Association (1899). Necrological Reports and Annual Proceedings of the Alumni Association of Princeton Theological Seminary. Vol. II: 1890-1899. Princeton, New Jersey: C. S. Robinson & Co.
• Reed, Elizabeth Wagner (1992). "Jane Taylor". American Women in Science before the Civil War (PDF). Minneapolis, Minnesota: University of Minnesota. pp. 168–170. OCLC 28126164. Archived from the original (PDF) on July 8, 2016.
• Rice, Stephen P. (2004). Minding the Machine: Languages of Class in Early Industrial America. Berkeley, California: University of California Press. ISBN 978-0-520-92657-8.
• Sappol, Michael (2004). A Traffic of Dead Bodies: Anatomy and Embodied Social Identity in Nineteenth-Century America. Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press. ISBN 978-0-691-18614-6.
• Sullivan, Kathleen S. (2007). Constitutional Context: Women and Rights Discourse in Nineteenth-Century America. Baltimore, Maryland: Johns Hopkins University Press. ISBN 978-0-8018-8552-5.
• Taketani, Etsuko (2003). U.S. Women Writers and the Discourses of Colonialism, 1825-1861 (1st ed.). Knoxville, Tennessee: University of Tennessee Press. ISBN 978-1-57233-227-0.
• Taylor, Elisha (1886). Genealogy of Judge John Taylor and His Descendants. Detroit, Michigan: Richmond & Backus Co. OCLC 23790018.
• Travers, Paul D. (Spring 1969). "John Orville Taylor: A Forgotten Educator". History of Education Quarterly. 9 (1). Cambridge, Cambridgeshire: Cambridge University Press: 57–63. doi:10.2307/367129. ISSN 0018-2680. JSTOR 367129. OCLC 5548747788. Retrieved July 24, 2022.
• "1860 US Census, New York City, 4th District, 18th Ward". FamilySearch. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration. July 27, 1860. p. 159. NARA Series M653, Roll 813, lines 18–26. Retrieved July 24, 2022.(subscription required)
• "1870 US Census, New York City, 16th District, 21st Ward". FamilySearch. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration. July 21, 1870. pp. 49-50. NARA Series M593, Roll 1009, line 40 (p 49) and lines 1–6 (p 50). Retrieved July 24, 2022.(subscription required)
• "1880 US Census, New Brunswick, Middlesex County, New Jersey". FamilySearch. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration. June 10, 1880. p. 26B. NARA Series T9, FHL microfilm Roll 1254789, lines 25–31. Retrieved July 24, 2022.(subscription required)
• "A Lecture". The Public Ledger. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. October 21, 1841. p. 2. Retrieved July 25, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
• "Books Published by the 'American Common School Union'". The Evening Post. New York, New York. October 27, 1838. p. 1. Retrieved July 25, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
• "New Books". Hartford Courant. Hartford, Connecticut. September 28, 1837. p. 3. Retrieved July 25, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
• "School Books". Staunton Spectator and General Advertiser. Staunton, Virginia. December 10, 1840. p. 1. Retrieved July 25, 2022 – via Newspaperarchive.com.
• "School Books and Aids to Education". The Jeffersonian. Vol. 1, no. 50. Albany, New York: Horace Greeley. January 26, 1839. p. 416. Retrieved July 25, 2022.