===Death in office===
He Although considered healthy,<ref>Hill, Ray (August 26, 2018). [https://knoxfocus.com/archives/this-weeks-focus/mystery-j-will-taylors-death/ The Mystery After J. Will Taylor’s Death, I]. ''The Knoxville Focus''. Retrieved August 5, 2021.</ref> Taylor suffered a [[heart attack]] in mid-November 1939 and died while in officeat the age of fifty-nine.<ref name=knoxvillefocus/> Controversy emerged afterwards, with reports of his federal office building being ransacked. Although his older daughter Elizabeth managed to recover some personal papers, others were taken away and privately kept by his youngest daughter Catherine. At the same time, a number of Republicans considered running for the seat to succeed Taylor.<ref name=knoxvillefocus/> These included John Jennings, Jr., [[Howard Baker, Sr.]], and his daughter Elizabeth, who asserted support and encouragement for her potential candidacy as having been:
{{cquote|...a great tribute to my Daddy for his friends to want me to fill out his unexpired term in Congress.}}