Robert William Taylor was the son of Ahijah Taylor and Isabella Wiley. He was born in Norwalk, Fairfield County, Connecticut on December 15, 1769. In August 22, 1781, Robert's father Ahijah was awarded, along with 64 others including Robert's uncles Gamaliel and Levi, proprietorship in the town of Wolcott, Lamoille County, Vermont. It does not appear his father ever set foot in the town. Of the original proprietors, almost none of them ever lived there. The town was settled inl 1789 by Seth Hubbell and Thomas Taylor, Robert's cousin, being the son of Gamaliel. In the 1790 census, Thomas Taylor, Seth Hubbell, Hezekiah Whitney, Robert Taylor and Luke Guyer were living in Wolcott. Gamaliel Taylor was living in the adjacent town of Hype Park about 10 miles away. At the first town meeting on March 31, 1791, Robert W. Taylor was made Town Clerk. Thomas Taylor, Seth Hubbell and Hezekiah Whitney were made Selectman. Luke Guyer was not mentinoed. In 1794, Robert's son Bennet was born in Vermont, so we must assume it was in Wolcott. By 1800 however, Robert was living back in Fairfield, Fairfield County, Connecticut where he grew up. He remained there through 1810, and died in Fairfield County prior to November 12, 1816 when his wife, guardian of their 5 minor children, filed a petiton with the probate court to sell land awarded to them in the distribution of his estate. The petition was advertised in the Connecticut Republican Farmer newspaper. Bennet Taylor was not a minor at the time, so is not mentioned in the petiton.

Robert Taylor married Rhoda Bennett on December 19, 1787. She was baptized in Westport, Fairfield County, Connecticut on April 2, 1769, and died sometime after 1824. She was the daughter of Captain Joseph Bennett and Sarah Lyon.

Robert and Rhoda had 9 children:

Robert (abt 1788 - )
dau (abt 1790 - dy)
Bennet (2 Apr 1794 - 11 Mar 1853) m1. Rachel Jelliffe, m2. Nancy Bilay
Hiram (abt 1796 - )
Isabella (abt 1798 - )
Alonzo (abt 1800 - )
Gilbert (abt 1805 - )
Sarah Ann (Sally Ann) (abt 1807 - )
Charles Hart (12 Feb 1807/08 -) m. Mary Bissell Osborn
Mariette (abt 1809 - )

The approximated birthdates come from the following analysis of census and probate records:

             1790     1800        1810          1816      1820         1830
Robert       2 (<16)  12 (10/15)  x             x         x
girl         0         x          x             x         x
Bennet       x         6 (<10)    16 (10/15)    x         x
Hiram        x         4 (<10)    14 (10/15)    x         x
Isabella     x         2 (<10)    12 (10/15)    x         x
Alonzo       x         0 (<10)     9 (<10)      15 (<21)  19 (16/25)  29 (30/40)
Gilbert      x         x           5 (<10)      11 (<21)  15 (16/18)
Sarah Ann    x         x           3 (<10)       9 (<21)  13 (10/15)
Charles H.   x         x           2 (<10)       8 (<21)  12 (10/15)
Marietta     x         x           1 (<10)       6 (<21)  10 (10/15)

When Robert's father died, he left land in Norwalk, Fairfield County, Connecticut for Robert's mother's use until her death in January of 1824, at which time the land would have been distributed among his father's heirs. His son, Bennet, sold his portion of the land on October 25, 1824 to Robert's brother, Dan Taylor. Robert's brother Charles W. Taylor signed as a witness ("Norwalk Deeds, Vol. 24", page 732, LDS film #5012).