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Samuel and Sarah Taylor

Samuel Penfield Taylor left his native New York during the 1849 California Gold Rush to seek his fortune. He purchased the Marin County property in 1854 where he built the first paper mill on the West Coast.

During the construction of his Pioneer Paper Mill Company, he returned to New England on a business trip where he married Sarah Washington Irving, a schoolteacher. Together with their seven sons and one daughter, they lived in San Francisco while maintaining a second home near the mill. Samuel died in 1886 and was buried in this private family gravesite.

After Samuel’s death, Sarah operated the mill with one of her sons until 1893. After her death in 1907, her remains were laid to rest in Oakland.

With the cooperation of the Taylor family and California State Parks, the Brothers of Yerba Buena #1 E Clampsus Vitus reburied her in his family gravesite February 16, 2002. A dedication was held September 28, 2002 to mark this event.

Dedicated September 28, 2002 C.Y. 6007 - Capitulus Redivivus Yerba Buena Number One - Ancient and Honorable Order of E Clampsus Vitus – Credo Quia Absurdum