William Taylor was born around 1846 in North Carolina. He worked as a farm laborer and resided in Charlotte (Mecklenburg County), North Carolina, with his family until the Taylors moved to Arkansas. He was convicted of forgery in Wilmington (New Hanover County), North Carolina, in June 1877 and sentenced to eight years in the North Carolina State Penitentiary. During his sentence, he was leased to the Western North Carolina Railroad to work on railroad construction. In federal census records, Taylor's race is listed as white. In 1878, Thomas J. Moore wrote to Governor Zebulon B. Vance requesting a pardon for Taylor. He was pardoned and released on August 3, 1883.