Tell Taylor was born in Vanlue, Hancock County, Ohio. He performed on Vaudeville and established a music publishing house in Chicago, Illinois. His other songs included "He Sleeps Beneath the Soil of France", "I Love You Best of All", "If Dreams Come True", "Little Old Home in the Valley", "Rock Me to Sleep in the Old Rocking Chair", "Some Day", and "When the Maple Leaves Were Falling". Taylor also wrote the Broadway musical comedies Tiger Lillee and In New York Town.
Tell Taylor died in Chicago of a heart attack and was buried in Van Horn Cemetery, Findlay, Ohio.