Company names

1851

Kendall & Taylor

     George Taylor (d. 1889) and David Kendall founded the Taylor Instrument Company in Rochester, New York in 1851 under the original name Kendall & Taylor. The general stock and trade of the company was in thermometers and other instruments for monitoring temperature.

1853

George Taylor

    Kendall left the company in 1853 and George Taylor succeeded him as sole owner, before withdrawing himself in 1859. Under George the company moved to 11 Hill Street, a larger space with more room for the company’s expanding employee forces.

1866

Taylor & Richardson

     His brother Frank came to Rochester in 1862 from New Hampshire and re-named the company as Taylor and Richardson, under himself and Hamlet Richardson in 1866, operating out of a space at 145 Buffalo Street. Richardson eventually left the company [due to ill health] in 1866, and sold his interest to George Taylor in 1870.

1872

Taylor Brothers

     Under the two Taylors, the company officially became the Taylor Brothers Company in 1872. George Taylor stayed with the company as its president until his death in 1889. His brother Frank succeeded him, and would stay on as president until 1900.

1890

Taylor Brothers Company

     Incorporated as the Taylor Brothers Company. George’s two sons, J. Merton Taylor and G. Elbert Taylor, were also associated with the company under Frank Taylor.

1907

Taylor Instrument Companies

     In 1907, Taylor consolidated and reorganized itself into Taylor Instrument Companies and began using the trade name Tycos.

Tycos trade name

1968

Taylor Instrument Company

     The Taylor Instrument Companies merged with Ritter Pfaudler Corp. in 1968 to form Sybron Corporation. Based in Rochester, New York, Sybron operated Taylor as a prominent division specializing in industrial controls, barometers, and thermometers until selling the division to Combustion Engineering in 1983.