506 



BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES. 



ed to the Philadelphia Meeting of 

 Friends in 1684, recommending a John 

 Taylor, but it is not certain that thej 

 were presented by the subject of this 

 notice. 



Taylor, Jacob, son of the above 

 named John, was a mathematician, and 

 in his younger days a practical sur- 

 veyor, lie made astronomy a par- 

 ticular study, and during manj- years 

 published an Almanac, in which he 

 gave place to scraps of poetry com- 

 posed b\- himself. About the com- 

 mencement of the past century he was 

 appointed Surveyor- General of Penn- 

 sylvania, which ofiBce he held till the 

 time of his death, the exact period of 

 which is not known. He was alive, 

 but evidently very infirm, at the death 

 of his brother Isaac, in 1728. He never 

 married. He was in membership with 

 Friends. 



Taylor, Isaac, son of the above John, 

 and brother of Jacob, was also a sur- 

 veyor, and likewise a " practitioner of 

 Physick." He was appointed Deputy 

 Surveyor for Chester County about the 

 year 1701, by his brother Jacob, and 

 continued to hold that office, and to 

 perform its arduous duties till .the time 

 of his death, in 1728. He also prac- 

 ticed the healing art during this period. 

 In 1604 he married Martha, the daugh- 

 ter of Philip Roman, by whom he had 

 five children, viz., John, Philip, Jacob, 

 Ann and Mary. Isaac Taylor was em- 

 ployed on behalf of Pennsylvania in 

 running the circular line which sepa- 

 rates the State from Delaware, a ser- 

 vice for which he was well fitted by 

 his superior mathematical knowledge. 

 The question is presented — how did the 

 brothers, Jacob and Isaac Taylor, ob- 

 tain their mathematical knowledge ? 

 The answer to this query is readily 

 suggested in the fact that they resided 

 some years at Tinicum, where Chris- 

 topher Taylor, doubtless a relative, 

 taught a school specially for the instruc- 

 tion of youth in the higher branches 

 of knowledge, a task for which he was 

 eminently qualified. I am indebted to 

 Professor John F. Frazer, of the Uni- 

 versity of Pennsylvania, who is a lineal 

 descendant of Isaac Taylor, for an op- 

 portunity to examine the Taylor papers. 

 Many of these papers are still in a 

 good state of preservation. 



Taylor, Joh\. the oldest son of 

 Isaac Taj'lor, was a prominent man. 

 He was born in 1695, and in 1718 

 was married to Mary Baker, a widow. 

 He was a physician and a surveyor, 

 and established iron works at or near 

 the site of Glen Mills, on Chester 

 Creek, which he conducted with ener- 

 gy till the time of his death, in 17')6. 

 He served the office of Sherifi' of Chester 

 County ten years, and represented the 

 County in the Provincial Assembly 

 several terms. 



Taylor, Peter, with his brother 

 William, came from Sutton in Cheshire, 

 England, and arrived at Chester as 

 early as 1682. The brothers settled 

 on adjoining tracts of land near the 

 present site of Media. Peter being un- 

 married at the lime of his arrival was 

 united in matrimony with Sarah, the 

 daughter of his neighbor, John Houl- 

 ston, in the early part of 168."j, agree- 

 ably to the good order of the Society 

 of Friends, of which he was a consis- 

 tent member. As is usual in the set- 

 tlement of new countries, the immigra- 

 tion of young men to our favored land 

 at first greatly exceeded that of young 

 women, and such respectable spin- 

 sters as arrived, did not remain in 

 that condition verj- long. As evidence 

 of this, three daughters of John 

 Houlston passed meeting and were 

 probably married on the same day, 1st 

 mo. 2d., 1685, Sarah with Peter Tay- 

 lor, Elizabeth with James Swaffer and 

 Rebecca with William Gregory, while 

 a fourth daughter, Jh^rtha, was married 

 to David Ogden before the close of the 

 same year. The children of Peter and 

 Sarah Taylor were Peter, John, Sarah, 

 William and Samuel. He removed to 

 East Cain and died in 1720, probably 

 at the residence of his son, William. 



Taylor, William, was a brother of 

 Peter Taylor, came from the same place 

 and settled on an adjoining tract of 

 land in Upper Providence, but he had 

 scarcely become established at his new 

 home in the wilderness, when he was, 

 on the 6th of the 1st mo., 16t;!, called 

 upon to pay the inevitable debt of 

 nature, his wife, Margaretta, having 

 died three days previously. He left 

 one son, Joseph, who died without 

 issue, and two daughters, Elizabeth 

 and Mary. 



