William Drury “Bill” Taylor (1909 - 1998)
Bill Taylor was born in Whitehorse to parents Isaac and Sarah Taylor. Isaac Taylor and William S. Drury founded the Taylor and Drury (T&D) chain of stores based in Whitehorse.1) One of Bill’s first jobs was a cook’s assistant on the Taylor and Drury riverboat. He went to school in Victoria from grade eight to grade twelve and then worked in the Seattle fur exchange to learn the business of buying furs. He returned to the Yukon in 1929 to work in family business.2)
Bill was a dog-mushing accountant who could be sent out in all weather conditions to the outlying T&D posts. In 1927, the firm established Taylor and Drury Motors, selling Chevrolet, Pontiac, Oldsmobile, and Buick cars and trucks. This company was owned by Bill Taylor, Charlie Taylor, and Bill Drury with twenty percent interest each, and the parent company, Taylor and Drury, holding forty percent.3)
In 1929, T&D’s supply boat, Yukon Rose, ran aground on the Teslin River. Bill and Frank Slim set off from Whitehorse with dog teams. They took ninety kilograms from the boat on each sled and took it to Teslin. They had to break trail at night so the dogs could pull the heavy sleds in the daylight. In Teslin, they arranged to have ten more teams unload the rest of the boat’s cargo. Bill was sent out again on another salvage operation when the company’s steamer Thistle sank in Lake Laberge.4) Bill Taylor ran the Mayo store from 1930 to 1932.5) In 1969, the house was sold to the Chamber of Mines and the Chamber sold the house to the Yukon Government in 1997. It was designated a Municipal Historic Site in 2002.6)
The Taylor and Drury car and truck business was slow until the construction of the Alaska Highway. A separate corporate entity, Taylor and Drury Motors Ltd., was formed in 1949. In 1953, General Motors divided the four-line dealerships, and T&D Motors was split into two separate businesses. Bill Drury sold his interest in Taylor and Drury Motors and formed Yukon Motors Ltd, selling Pontiac, Buick, and GMC vehicles. Bill Taylor took over the management of the Chevrolet Oldsmobile dealership under the name Taylor and Drury Motors Ltd. The business was rebuilt after a fire in 1969. In 1970, the name was changed to Taylor Chevrolet – Oldsmobile Ltd.7)
From 1970 to 1975, Bill Taylor was involved with Yukon Tire. In 2012, Bill Taylor was posthumously named Pioneer of the Year in the Yukon Transportation Hall of Fame.8)