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John Tayloe II
Col. John Tayloe II (28 May 1721 – 18 April 1779) was a Virginia planter and politician who served on the Virginia Governor's Council, also known as the Virginia Council of State. A colonial Colonel in the Virginia Militia, he is better remembered as an ironmaster, horse breeder, racing enthusiast and father-in-law of United States Declaration of Independence signer Francis Lightfoot Lee.
Tayloe built Mount Airy, the Neo-Palladian villa overlooking the Rappahannock River, still held and occupied by the Tayloe family in the 21st century. Tayloe, his father and namesake son were said to exemplify gentry entrepreneurship.
Tayloe was born in Richmond County at Old House, located along the Rappahannock River, a mile west of Mount Airy. Tayloe was born to Elizabeth Gwynn, daughter of David Gwynn and Katherine Griffin, and her husband John Tayloe I (1688–1747), who became a burgess and member of the Virginia Governor's Council. He had an elder brother, William Tayloe (1716–1726), who died at age 9; a twin sister Elizabeth; and younger sister Ann Corbin Tayloe, born 25 August 1723.
He was educated in England at Cambridge, and possibly Oxford, where he was associated with Thomas Hay, Viscount Dulppin, Paymaster of the Forces during the French and Indian War and George Gordon, 3rd Earl of Aberdeen.
In 1744, at the age of 23, Tayloe was a signatory of the Treaty of Lancaster, made with the Iroquois of the Six Nations. It was an effort to reduce warfare in the Shenandoah Valley in Virginia, where Iroquois warriors had been attacking local, less powerful tribes as well as intrepid colonists. Like his father, after holding local offices (but not serving in the House of Burgesses), Tayloe He would also serve on the Virginia Governor's Council, from 1757 until 1774, not long before his death.
After Tayloe's father died in 1747, the young man inherited an immense fortune, including 20,000 acres (8,100 ha) and 320 enslaved Africans and African Americans.
In 1748 he began building the mansion "Mount Airy," on a hilltop on the north bank of the Rappahannock River in Richmond County, in the Northern Neck of Virginia. He had inherited the plantation from his father, and it was formerly known as "Tayloe's Quarter." The new mansion was to be constructed on a different site and built from stone. This was unusual, as suitable stone was generally not available in the coastal Tidewater region of Virginia, and skilled stonecutters were rare.
A large deposit of hard gray sandstone was found on the plantation, and it was quarried for the mansion's walls. For window frames and the central pavilions on the entry, which frame the front doors and 2nd-story windows, Tayloe purchased Aquia Creek sandstone. This was similar to the stone later used for construction of the U.S. Capitol and the White House, and in the Octagon House.
John Tayloe II
Col. John Tayloe II (28 May 1721 – 18 April 1779) was a Virginia planter and politician who served on the Virginia Governor's Council, also known as the Virginia Council of State. A colonial Colonel in the Virginia Militia, he is better remembered as an ironmaster, horse breeder, racing enthusiast and father-in-law of United States Declaration of Independence signer Francis Lightfoot Lee.
Tayloe built Mount Airy, the Neo-Palladian villa overlooking the Rappahannock River, still held and occupied by the Tayloe family in the 21st century. Tayloe, his father and namesake son were said to exemplify gentry entrepreneurship.
Tayloe was born in Richmond County at Old House, located along the Rappahannock River, a mile west of Mount Airy. Tayloe was born to Elizabeth Gwynn, daughter of David Gwynn and Katherine Griffin, and her husband John Tayloe I (1688–1747), who became a burgess and member of the Virginia Governor's Council. He had an elder brother, William Tayloe (1716–1726), who died at age 9; a twin sister Elizabeth; and younger sister Ann Corbin Tayloe, born 25 August 1723.
He was educated in England at Cambridge, and possibly Oxford, where he was associated with Thomas Hay, Viscount Dulppin, Paymaster of the Forces during the French and Indian War and George Gordon, 3rd Earl of Aberdeen.
In 1744, at the age of 23, Tayloe was a signatory of the Treaty of Lancaster, made with the Iroquois of the Six Nations. It was an effort to reduce warfare in the Shenandoah Valley in Virginia, where Iroquois warriors had been attacking local, less powerful tribes as well as intrepid colonists. Like his father, after holding local offices (but not serving in the House of Burgesses), Tayloe He would also serve on the Virginia Governor's Council, from 1757 until 1774, not long before his death.
After Tayloe's father died in 1747, the young man inherited an immense fortune, including 20,000 acres (8,100 ha) and 320 enslaved Africans and African Americans.
In 1748 he began building the mansion "Mount Airy," on a hilltop on the north bank of the Rappahannock River in Richmond County, in the Northern Neck of Virginia. He had inherited the plantation from his father, and it was formerly known as "Tayloe's Quarter." The new mansion was to be constructed on a different site and built from stone. This was unusual, as suitable stone was generally not available in the coastal Tidewater region of Virginia, and skilled stonecutters were rare.
A large deposit of hard gray sandstone was found on the plantation, and it was quarried for the mansion's walls. For window frames and the central pavilions on the entry, which frame the front doors and 2nd-story windows, Tayloe purchased Aquia Creek sandstone. This was similar to the stone later used for construction of the U.S. Capitol and the White House, and in the Octagon House.
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