History of Iowa From the Earliest Times to the Beginning of the Twentieth Century/4/Stephen J. W. Tabor
STEPHEN J. W. TABOR was a native of Corinth, Vermont, where he was born August 5, 1815. Early left an orphan, it was only by hard labor and much personal sacrifice that he secured an academic education at Bradford. He early became known as an accomplished writer and every spare moment was employed in accessible libraries. He began school teaching and at the same time translated a work from the French for a Boston publisher. He resolved to become a journalist and going to New York obtained a position on the Beacon. When the New York Sun was established, Mr. Tabor secured a position on the staff of that paper, but because of failing health was obliged to resign, going to Ashfield, Massachusetts, studied medicine. Mr. Tabor was a Democrat until the organization of the Republican party when he became a member. In 1855 he came west and located at Independence, Iowa, where he soon became editor of the Civilian. The same year he was elected county judge, serving many successive terms and was also recorder and treasurer for a time. In 1863 Judge Tabor was appointed Fourth Auditor of the United States Treasury, which position he held for fifteen years. Because of failing health he then resigned and returned to Independence. Judge Tabor was a lover of books and doubtless possessed the largest and best selected private library in the State. In religious works it was especially complete. Few theologians in modern times have so many and carefully chosen books on religious themes. Thirty years of thought were spent in the selection and every book had been read before being placed upon the shelves. This library numbered 6,000 volumes and it was among these that he spent the last remaining years of his life. He died May 10, 1883, at his home in Independence.