George Taylor
George Taylor was born in Ireland in 1716. His father was a clergyman and gave him a good education. He then placed him with a physician under whose direction he commenced the study of medicine. He was penniless when he boarded a essel for Philadelphia as a redemptioner.Soon after his arrival his passage was paid by Mr. Savage of Durham, Bucks County, Pennsylvania, for which George bound himself as a common laborer for a term of years. This gentleman carried on iron works and appointed his new servant to the office of filler, his work being to throw coal into the furnace when in blast. His hands became cruelly blistered but being ambitious to gain the approbation of all around him he persevered without a complaint.
After the death of Mr. Savage, Taylor purchased a tract of land on the bank of the Lehigh River in Northampton County where he built a splendid mansion and iron works, making it his place of residence. Not being prospered there he removed back to Durham. During his residence in Northampton County he became extensively and favorably known.
Shortly after that the Stamp Act was repealed. Mr. Taylor was on the committee to prepare a congratulatory address to the king on the happy event. So ably did he discharge his public duties that he was uniformly placed upon several of the standing committees of great importance, assigning to him an onerous portion of legislative duties. Upon the committee of grievances, assessment of taxes, judiciary, loans on bills of credit, navigation, to choose a printer of public laws, the name of George Taylor was generally found and often the first. He was a member of the Assembly for six consecutive years. In 1768 he was upon a committee to prepare an address to the governor censuring him for a remissness of duty in not bringing to condign punishment certain offenders who had openly and barbarously murdered several Indians thereby provoking retaliation. It was respectful and manly but keen and cutting as a Damascus blade. It was a lucid exposition of political policy, sound law, equal justice and public duty.
In 1775, Mr. Taylor was one of the Committee of Safety for Pennsylvania, then virtually the organ of government. After retiring from public life, Taylor died on February 23, 1781