GEORGE TAYLOR AND THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE

by Rory Morgan  

One of the most prominent monuments in Easton Cemetery is dedicated to the memory of George Taylor, one of the 56 signers of the Declaration of Independence, who died in 1781.  The monument, made of marble and over 20 feet tall, is located just in front of the Chapel. It was built in 1855, at a cost of $2,500. Part of the funding came from a peculiar source: when the Belvidere and Delaware Railroad opened to in the previous year, 1854, there was a fundraising campaign to pay for a formal celebration of the occasion. Some of the money raised for that event was left over, so it was determined to spend it on a monument for Taylor.

 

The monument was dedicated on November 20, 1855. It was quite a holiday; the town shut down and a large parade, complete with several bands, marched from Centre Square to the Cemetery. The Declaration of Independence was read and a prominent local lawyer, Alexander Brown, orated. He noted that “this, so far as can be ascertained, is the first public monument raised in the United States to any Signer of the Declaration.”

 

The New York Times reported on the event, describing the “immense concourse of the yeomanry” in attendance. The Times also reported on the one dark spot of the day - the Belvidere & Delaware railroad’s office in Phillipsburg was robbed of $700, presumably by some “Short Boys” from New York attending the dedication. (The “Short Boys” were a New York criminal gang.)

 

The monument was indeed just a monument. For over 70 years, George Taylor’s remains were buried in the graveyard of St. John’s Lutheran Church; they would stay there for another 15 years. They were finally moved to Easton Cemetery in 1870, when the church sold part of its graveyard to the Easton school board for a new school, which was named for Taylor. (At least what were hoped to be his remains. One source pointed out in the 1850s that:  “. . . although his remains were interred in our midst, there liveth no one among us who can point with certainty to the spot where they repose.”)

 

The common (although not necessarily accurate) story of Taylor’s life is that he was born in 1716, in Ireland, the son of a Protestant minister. The father wanted the son to become a doctor, but the son had other ideas and sailed to America around 1736. The story continues that Taylor became a “redemptioner” (a variation on the more-familiar indentured servant system) at a Chester County iron manufacturing and forging operation, owned by one Samuel Savage, Jr.  Taylor supposedly rose from laborer to manager, and, when Savage died in 1742, Taylor married his widow, Ann. Taylor apparently ran the operation, but ownership of the business stayed within the Savage family. When Samuel Savage III came of age in 1752, he took control and Taylor was  now faced with the problem of how to make a living.

 

He found an opportunity in Bucks County, near Riegelsville. The Durham Furnace there had been operating for about 30 years. It produced iron and a variety of iron products. Around 1754, he and a partner leased the operating rights to it for five years at a cost of £250 a year, with an option to renew for an additional five years. Taylor and Ann moved to the Durham area, taking residence in the “mansion house” designated for the furnace’s superintendent. He expanded the product line; it now included cannon balls for use in the French & Indian War. As Taylor managed the iron operation, he also became an increasingly visible member of the community, serving as a Justice of the Peace, a leader of Red Hill Presbyterian Church, and as Captain in a Chester County militia. The year 1764 brought his election to Pennsylvania’s Provincial Assembly, a position that he held until 1770.

 

Durham Furnace apparently prospered under his management, but his lease to operate it eventually expired. In 1763, he bought at a sheriff sale what is now known as the Bachmann Publick House in Easton. He and Ann began living there and they later bought a neighboring house for their son James, their only living child. (A daughter, Nancy, had died at a young age.) In 1767, Taylor bought a large tract of land in what is now Catasauqua, and there built the mansion that is preserved today as the George Taylor House. His wife, Ann, did not get to enjoy their new home for long; she died in 1768.

 

In 1774, he again leased the Durham Furnace operation, returned to Bucks County and was once again elected to the Pennsylvania Assembly in 1775. He served there for one year, and also served as a Colonel in the Bucks County militia. Under his management, the forge became an important source of munitions for the Continental Army.

 

When the Continental Congress adopted the Declaration of Independence in 1776, several members of the Pennsylvania delegation were opposed to separating from Britain and would not sign the Declaration. The Assembly solved that problem by simply replacing the balking members; one of the replacements selected was George Taylor. He and most of the others signed the Declaration on August 2, 1776.

 

His additional time in the Congress was quiet. In January, 1777, he was assigned to manage a treaty meeting with Native Americans. It was held in Easton, and a treaty was hammered out - but it proved to be of little significance in the long run. After his stint in Congress, he was elected to Pennsylvania’s Supreme Executive Council, but resigned after a short time due to ill health. He apparently lived in Durham for the next several years.

 

Because  the owner of the Durham Furnace, Joseph Galloway, had actively assisted the British during the struggle for independence, his properties were confiscated by Pennsylvania. Galloway fled to England, with no plans to return. He left his wife to deal with the mess that he had created. Legal skirmishes followed. In the end, Taylor’s lease was allowed to continue to its scheduled end, but was not renewed.

 

He then spent some time in New Jersey, associated with the Greenwich Furnace in Warren County, but in 1780 returned to Easton. He leased the house at the corner of 4th and Ferry, now known as the Parsons-Taylor House. He died there on February 23, 1781, less than one  year after he moved in.

 

Taylor struggled financially in his later years, and his estate reflected that. His wife, daughter and son had all died before him, but he did have heirs who were named in his will: five grandchildren, who were the offspring of his late son James, and another five children that Taylor himself fathered with his housekeeper, a woman named Naomi Smith. (These children carried the surname of Smith.) He owned two slaves - Tom and Sam - who were sold by his executors, but that was not enough to keep his estate solvent. His original will is not located in the Northampton County Archives. It was missing for decades; it was finally located in the 1920s, in the hands of the New York Public Library. How the will got there remains a mystery of history. Ultimately, it took years to settle his estate.

 

In 1968, local historian Dr. Richmond Myers wrote of Taylor: “Much that is romantic has been told about him, but a great bit of these stories are absolutely unfounded. For instance there is a tale that he was a redemptioner. This has no basis or proof.”  

 

It’s hard to know, with a colonial figure like Taylor, exactly what happened when sources contradict other sources. A carelessly written phrase from the 1700s can have us scratching our heads in the 21st Century.

 

We do know one thing for sure: George Taylor was courageous enough to step forward in 1776 and sign his name to a document that he knew would shake the world and have consequences unknowable.