Lot 50
Taylor, George (1716-81) Signer of the Declaration of Independence from Pennsylvania. Born in Ireland, he indentured himself to ironmaster Samuel Savage, Jr. to finance his passage to America in 1736. In 1742, Savage died and Taylor married his widow, Ann. He managed Savage's two ironworks until Savage's son came of age in 1752. In 1755, Taylor formed a partnership to lease Durham Furnace in Upper Bucks County and Taylor became the ironmaster. About the same time, he entered public service. He served as a justice of the peace in Bucks County, then Northampton County, and in 1774 was elected to the Pennsylvania Provincial Assembly. In July 1775, he was commissioned a colonel in the Third Battalion of the Pennsylvania Militia, and in August he secured a contract for cannon shot from the Pennsylvania Committee of Safety; Durham Furnace became the first ironworks in Pennsylvania to furnish munitions to the Continental Army. When independence was declared, five of Pennsylvania's delegates to the Continental Congress were forced to resign because they were Loyalists. Taylor was one of five replacements named by the Pennsylvania Assembly on July 20th; thus, on August 2, 1776, he affixed his signature to the Declaration of Independence. He served only seven months in the Congress, not being renominated in March 1777. Instead, he was appointed to Pennsylvania's Supreme Council, but ill health caused him to cut short his service. Taylor was one of only eight foreign-born Signers, the only one to have been indentured, and the only ironmaster among the group.
Excessively rare Manuscript Document Signed ("Geo. Taylor"), one page, 13 x 8¼ in., n.p., Oct. 11, 1774. A "Memorandum of an Agreement…between George Taylor & Lewis Gordon of Northampton County of the one Part and Thomas Adams of Bucks County All in the Province of Pennsylvania of the other part…." Taylor and Gordon agree to sell five one-hundred-acre tracts of land in lower Smithfield Township for €150 "Money of Pennsylvania" per tract, for a total of 500 acres. The terms by which Adams is to pay are set forth. Taylor signs at lower right, by a paper seal, and adds "Self & Lewis Gordon." Gordon served with Taylor on Northampton's Committee of Observation and Comittee of Correspondence. Fold splits and marginal tears are repaired on recto, affecting somewhat the aesthetic appearance. A 2¾ x 4½ inch area in the lower left corner has been excised but can be matted out. Taylor's signature, which is quite bold, is not affected. Opportunities to purchase a document signed by Taylor very rarely appear.
Estimated Value $25,000 - 30,000.
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| Realized $28,320 |
