Charles Edwin Taylor (February 27, 1884 – April 22, 1967), also known as "Red Flag" Taylor, "Red Flag Charlie" and Charley Taylor, was an American politician, editor, orator, who served as a member of the Montana State Senate from January 1, 1923, to January 5, 1931, and was candidate for United States Senate in the 1930 Election.[1][2][3] Taylor started off as an editor of The Producers News which was a popular farmer-labor newspaper in Plentywood.[4] He joined the Communist Party of the United States of America in 1922 but kept it a secret from the public.
Charles Edwin Taylor | |
|---|---|
"Red Flag" Taylor c. 1918 | |
| Member of the Montana Senate from the Sheridan County district | |
| In office January 1, 1923 – January 5, 1931 | |
| Preceded by | Hans J. Dixon |
| Succeeded by | Lars Angvick |
| Personal details | |
| Born | February 27, 1884 Wisconsin, U.S. |
| Died | April 22, 1967 (aged 83) Little Falls, Minnesota, U.S. |
| Resting place | Lakewood Cemetery |
| Political party | Communist Farmer–Labor Nonpartisan League Republican |
| Spouse | Agda |
| Children | 3 |
| Occupation | Newspaper Editor, Politician, State Senator for Montana, Farmer Labor Party Candidate for Senate |
During the early 1920s, Montana was affected by droughts which had farmers lose about 2 million acres of land in 11,000 farms, which was about 20% of all farm land in Montana.[5] The first communist to be elected during this time (and in the United States as a whole) was Rodney Salisbury, an early follower of Taylor, who served as Sheriff of Sheridan County from 1922 to 1928 due to Taylor's support. Taylor thought Salisbury was "an extremist and kind of a Wobbly type".[4]
There was a rumor that that at about 5:45 AM on November 30, 1926, Salisbury, along with three other people, robbed the Treasurers Office getting away with $116,579.25 ($1,954,823.26 as of December 2022) in order to fund socialist activities,[1][4][6] this rumor caused Salisbury to lose the 1928 election. On January 5, 1925, Taylor was elected to the Montana Senate. During the 1930 election for Senate, he was the Farmer-Labor Party candidate for Montana, getting 1,789 votes, with 1.02% of the total vote.[3]
During his later years as a politician, his advocacy of the Communist Party contributed towards his political decline. When he was first elected to the Farmer-Labor ticket for Montana State Senate[7][8] most people did not know he was a communist.
References
edit- ^ a b McDonald, Verlaine Stoner (2010). The Red Corner: The Rise and Fall of Communism in Northeastern Montana. Montana Historical Society. ISBN 978-0-9759196-7-5.
- ^ Dyson, Lowell K. (1972). "The Red Peasant International in America". The Journal of American History. 58 (4): 958–973. doi:10.2307/1917853. ISSN 0021-8723. JSTOR 1917853.
- ^ a b "Statistics of the Congressional Election of November 4, 1930" (PDF).
- ^ a b c "Rodney Salisbury (1888-1938)". Archived from the original on June 6, 2019.
- ^ "This is Montana". www.umt.edu. Retrieved 2023-02-13.
- ^ "NATIONAL SURETY CO. v. SHERIDAN COUNTY, 33 F.2d 473 | 9th Cir., Judgment, Law, casemine.com". casemine.com. Retrieved 2023-02-13.
- ^ "H-Net Discussion Networks". lists.h-net.org. Retrieved 2023-02-13.
- ^ "Charles E. Taylor". Ballotpedia. Retrieved 2023-02-13.
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