Samuel was never a Principal Chief. He was a circuit judge, an Associate Judge of the Supreme Court of the Cherokee Nation, and was Assistant Chief to Stand Watie's Confederate Cherokee briefly during the Civil War. (source: Kathryn Forbes, 4/26/18)

--------------------

Judge Samuel McDaniel TAYLOR b: 3 FEB 1818 in Cherokee Nation East

Name: Samuel McDaniel Taylor

• Birth: 3 FEB 1818 in Cherokee Nation East, Tennessee, USA
• Death: 11 MAR 1883 in Canadian District, Cherokee Nation, IT
• Burial: Taylor Cemetery, Warner, Muskogee, OK

Father: Richard Fox Taylor , Chief b: 10 FEB 1786 in CNE, TN, 1/2-blood

Mother: Ellen McDaniel b: 1786 in Cherokee Nation, TN, USA

Marriage 1 Almira Williams b: 1830 in Cherokee Nation East

Marriage 2 Martha Fields b: 1822 in Cherokee Nation Indian Territory Married: ABT 1858 in no children of Samuel and Martha

Marriage 3 Juliette Lewis Vann b: 18 MAY 1826 in 1/16-blood, Cherokee Nation, Georgia, USA Married: ABT 1870 in no children from their marriage

from http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=45014704