According to Indiana Authors and their Books, 1958, Benjamin Taylor’s happy childhood was cut short when his mother died and his father was forced to place him in the Jeffersonville Orphans Home at age 2. Two brothers, Obediah and William, went to the orphanage with Ben. William died after a year in the orphanage, in 1882. Despite his early tragedies, Taylor united with his father and went on to become a teacher, a minister for the Churches of Christ, and an editor of Christian Leader. He lived more than a century, dying in California in 1987.