George Taylor | Founding Father, Signer

George Taylor was an Irish-born businessman who settled in Pennsylvania in 1736 and became a Patriot leader during the American Revolution. Elected to the Continental Congress in July 1776, he signed the Declaration of Independence, making him one of the nation’s Founding Fathers.

Overview

George Taylor was an Irish-born businessman, soldier, and politician who rose to prominence during the American Revolution. After immigrating to Pennsylvania as an indentured servant, he worked in the iron manufacturing business, rising through the ranks to oversee operations and own his own foundries. By the mid-1760s, he was living near Easton, Pennsylvania, and became involved in Pennsylvania politics, although he remained focused on his businesses. In 1776, he was elected to the Second Continental Congress, where he signed the Declaration of Independence. After resigning from Congress, he returned to his business, which produced cannonballs and other types of ammunition for the Continental Army and Continental Navy.

Personal Facts

Born: Around 1716, in Northern Ireland.
Parents: Reverend Taylor (father), mother unknown.
Spouse: Anne Taylor Savage (1742).
Died: February 23, 1781. He was around 64 or 65.
Buried: Easton Cemetery, Easton, Pennsylvania.
Part of: Signers of the Declaration of Independence.

Significance

George Taylor is important to American History for his role in the Patriot Cause in Pennsylvania and his involvement in the American Revolution. As a Signer of the Declaration of Independence, he is one of the nation’s Founding Fathers.

Biography

Early Life

George Taylor was born around 1716 in Northern Ireland. Although very little is known about the 20 years he lived in Ireland, he received an education and could read and write.

Taylor arrived in Pennsylvania around 1736 as an indentured servant to Samuel Savage Jr., the ironmaster at Coventry Forge in Chester County, west of Philadelphia. Taylor worked directly for Samuel Nutt, the owner of the forge, and his job was to shovel coal into the furnace when it was blasting.

Savage was Nutt’s stepson.
Nutt assigned Taylor to work as a clerk in the company’s accounting office.
Nutt died in 1737 and left the forge to his wife, Anna Rutter Savage Nutt, and Savage.
Savage and his mother built Warwick Furnace in 1738.
Taylor continued to work for Savage.

Savage died in 1741. A year later, in 1742, Taylor married his widow, Anne Taylor Savage, and became responsible for the Warwick Furnace. This provided him with additional wealth and public prestige.

In 1747, Taylor was appointed to the rank of Captain in the Chester County Associators. This group was founded by Benjamin Franklin to help protect Backcountry settlers against Native American Indian attacks.

Taylor stepped away from Warwick Furnace in 1752 and turned operations over to his stepson, Samuel Savage III. This was done in accordance with the will of Samuel Savage Jr.

Around 1754, Taylor moved to Durham, Pennsylvania, in Bucks County, where he and Samuel Flower leased Durham Iron Works from Joseph Galloway. Taylor spent most of the rest of his life involved in this business, which is known for producing cannonballs used by Pennsylvania and British forces during the French and Indian War (1754–1763).

AHC Notes

Joseph Galloway (1731–1803) — Galloway was a Pennsylvania businessman and politician who became a leading Loyalist during the American Revolutionary War. As a delegate to the First Continental Congress, he proposed the Galloway Plan for reconciliation with Britain, which was similar to the Albany Plan of Union (1754). After the war started, Galloway actively supported the British war effort; however, he was forced to flee to New York after General Henry Clinton abandoned Philadelphia (1778). Soon after, the Patriots labeled Galloway a traitor and seized his property.

Patriot Cause

By 1764, Taylor was living near Easton, Pennsylvania, in Northampton County, where he became active in local politics. It was his experience as a Backcountry business owner that helped shape his views on politics.

AHC Notes

Taylor purchased an estate in 1767 called “Manor of Chawtown.”
In 1768, he built a two-story mansion, which still stands and is known as the “George Taylor Mansion.”
It is about 15 miles west of Easton.
He sold the estate in 1776.

On October 4, 1764, he won election to the Provincial Assembly and served each year for the next five years. He joined the minority proprietary party and strongly opposed the Royal Government and its main supporter, Benjamin Franklin.

In 1765, during the Stamp Act Crisis, Taylor worked on a committee that wrote the Pennsylvania Assembly’s instructions to the Pennsylvania delegates who were attending the Stamp Act Congress: George Bryan, John Dickinson, and John Morton.

After four years outside of politics, Taylor returned to public life as chairman of a Northampton County meeting that protested the Boston Port Act and the closing of Boston Harbor. He also supported a meeting of all the colonies to address their concerns, which became the First Continental Congress.

In 1774, Taylor entered into a business arrangement with Galloway to lease additional facilities in Pennsylvania and New Jersey.

AHC Notes

Despite Galloyway being a Loyalist, Taylor signed a contract to produce cannonballs and other war materials for the Pennsylvania Committee of Safety and the Continental Army.
Most of this was done at his own expense, which significantly reduced his fortune.

Taylor and five others were chosen as a Committee of Correspondence. Although he missed the deputies’ meeting in Philadelphia in July, he showed his support for the Patriot Cause by attending a similar convention in January 1775.

In July 1775, he was elected colonel of the Third Battalion of the Bucks County Militia, and although he never saw combat, he helped drill the troops and retained his title throughout the war.

Northampton County sent him back to the Assembly in October 1775, where he served on key committees and helped prepare instructions for delegates to Congress in November.

He joined the second Committee of Safety from October 1775 to July 1776, though he rarely attended. His place in the more cautious Assembly likely explains why he did not take part in the radical conference of committees in June 1776 or the convention that followed.

Declaration of Independence

Taylor’s views became clear when the new governing body appointed him as a delegate to the Second Continental Congress on July 20, 1776, replacing Pennsylvania delegates, including John Dickinson, who refused to support the Declaration of Independence.

AHC Notes

Taylor was joined by George Ross, George Clymer, Dr. Benjamin Rush, and James Smith as replacements for the delegates who opposed independence.

Taylor signed the engrossed copy of the Declaration on August 2. He had no further role in Congress except to join George Walton at a meeting with Susquehanna Indian leaders at the Easton Conference in January 1777. Taylor resigned from Congress in March 1777.

AHC Notes

Taylor and Walton met with Iroquois leaders during the Easton Conference.
They discussed whether the Iroquois should form an alliance with the Americans or remain neutral.
The Iroquois Confederacy split during the war, and some of the nations attacked American settlements along the New York-Pennsylvania Border and in the Wyoming Valley.

Later Years

In March 1777, Northampton County elected him to the new Supreme Executive Council of Pennsylvania, but illness limited his service to about six weeks before he resigned.

In 1779, the Pennsylvania government seized Galloway’s properties, including the Durham Iron Works. Afterward, the Durham forge was sold to Taylor, Richard Backhouse, Isaac Sidman, and Robert Hooper Jr. Blackhouse took over operations.

Taylor moved to Greenwich Township, New Jersey, where he leased and operated Greenwich Forge in Warren County, New Jersey. At this forge, he oversaw the production of cannonballs for the American war effort.

Taylor moved back to Easton in 1780 and rented a house.
He died in Durham on February 23, 1781.
Taylor was originally buried in the St. John’s Lutheran Cemetery, but was reinterred at Easton Cemetery in 1780.

Taylor was a moderate radical whose views were shaped by his Backcountry experience, and he never treated politics as his main interest.

Marriage and Children

Taylor’s wife, Anne Taylor Savage, died in 1768. He had two legitimate children with her and five more with his housekeeper, Naomi Smith.

Accomplishments and Milestones

1716 — George Taylor was born in Northern Ireland.
1736 — Taylor emigrated from Ireland and settled in East Nantmeal, Pennsylvania.
1742 — He married Anne Taylor Savage, his employer’s widow.
1754 — Taylor moved to Durham, Pennsylvania, opened a successful ironworks, and settled in Easton, Pennsylvania.
1764 — He won the election to the provincial assembly.
1774 — Taylor chaired a Northampton County meeting to protest the Boston Port Bill.
1775, July — He became Colonel of the Third Battalion of the Bucks County Militia.
1776, July 20 — Taylor became a delegate to the Continental Congress.
1776, August 2 — He signed the Declaration of Independence.
1777, January — Taylor negotiated with the Susquehanna Indians at the Easton Conference.
1777, March — He resigned from Congress.
1777 — Taylor sat briefly in the Supreme Executive Council of Pennsylvania but retired after six weeks.
1781, February 23 — He died in Durham.

AP US History Alignment

Alignment

George Taylor is part of the following units, topics, and chapters in the AP US History curriculum:

Definition

George Taylor (c. 1716–1781) — Taylor was a Pennsylvania ironmaster and moderate radical who rose to political prominence during the years leading to the American Revolution. After serving on local committees, including a Committee of Correspondence, he entered the Provincial Assembly and supported resistance to British policies. In July 1776, he replaced a delegate who refused to approve the Declaration of Independence and signed the final document on August 2, establishing him as a Founding Father. He briefly served on Pennsylvania’s Supreme Executive Council before retiring from politics due to illness. Taylor continued to operate his forges and produced cannonballs and other war materials for the Continental Army and Continental Navy.

Written by Randal Rust