Editing Nellie Tayloe Ross (section)

== Early life and education ==
Born Nellie Davis Tayloe in [[St. Joseph, Missouri]],<ref name="NTRB" /> Ross was the sixth child, and first daughter, of James Wynns Tayloe, a native of [[Stewart County, Tennessee]], and his wife, Elizabeth Blair Green, who owned a plantation on the [[Missouri River]].{{sfn|Scheer|2005|p=2}} She spent much of her childhood in the [[Florence, Alabama|Florence]] and [[Decatur, Alabama|Decatur]] in northern [[Alabama]]'s [[Tennessee Valley]].<ref>{{cite news |author=<!--not stated--> |date=1928-04-27 |title=Former Alabamian Is Mentioned For Vice Presidency |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/99234024/former-alabamian-is-mentioned-for-vice-p/ |work=The Birmingham News |location=Birmingham, Alabama |access-date=2022-04-06}}</ref> In 1884, when Ross was seven years of age, her family moved to [[Miltonvale, Kansas|Miltonvale]] in [[Cloud County, Kansas|Cloud County]] in northern [[Kansas]]. This relocation happened after her father's old family home back in St. Joseph burned, and the [[sheriff]] was about to [[foreclosure|foreclose]] on the property.{{sfn|Scheer|2005|p=2}}

After Ross graduated from Miltonville High School in 1892, her family moved to [[Omaha, Nebraska]]. During this time, she taught private piano lessons and attended a two-year training program for kindergarten teachers that was sponsored by the Omaha city school system.{{sfn|Scheer|2005|pp=23, 224–25}} She then taught [[kindergarten]] for four years.{{sfn|Scheer|2005|p=36}} Two of her brothers sent her on a trip to Europe in 1896.<ref name="NTRB" />

While on a visit to her relatives in [[Dover, Tennessee]], in 1900, Ross met [[William B. Ross|William Bradford Ross]], whom she married on September 11, 1902. They had three children (twins James Ambrose and George Taylor, and Alfred Duff).<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/42001177/casper_startribune/ |title=Gov. W. B. Ross Answers Call |date=2 October 1924 |work=Casper Star-Tribune |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200110010901/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/42001177/casper_startribune/ |archive-date=10 January 2020 |url-status=live |page=4 |via=[[Newspapers.com]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last1=Benheim|first1=Max|title=Women of the West; a series of biographical sketches of living eminent women in the eleven western states of the United States of America|date=1928|pages=214–15|isbn=}}{{ISBN?}}</ref> William Ross practiced law and planned to live in the [[American West]]. He moved to [[Cheyenne, Wyoming|Cheyenne]] and established a law practice, bringing his wife to join him. Ross became a leader in Wyoming's [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic Party]] served as [[Laramie County, Wyoming|Laramie County]]'s prosecuting attorney from 1906 to 1907. In 1910 he was an unsuccessful candidate for Wyoming's at-large congressional seat, and in 1918 he was an unsuccessful candidate for the Democratic nomination for governor.