John Tayloe I

Col. John Tayloe I (February 15, 1688November 15, 1747) was one of the richest plantation owners and businessmen in Virginia for his generation. Considered to be the chief architect of the family fortune, he was known as the "Hon. Colonel of the Old House". The Tayloe family of Richmond County, Virginia, including John Tayloe I, his son, John Tayloe II, and grandson, John Tayloe III, exemplified gentry entrepreneurship diversifying business interests through vertical integration. Early years Born into the third generation of a British Colonial Family, his father was the Colonel William Tayloe (the nephew) (1645–1710) formerly of Gloucester, England; who emigrated to the Colony of Virginia in the 17th century and took up land in Lancaster & Richmond Counties in 1650; he was the progenitor of the Tayloe's of "Mount Airy." In 1685, William married Anne (1664–1694), daughter of Honorable Henry Corbin (colonist) (circa 1629–1676) and Alice (Eltonhead) Corbin, of "Buckingham House", in Middlesex County. His siblings included Elizabeth (born 1686), and William (1694–1770). He inherited "Tayloe's Quarters," also known as "Mount Airy," from his father. The plantation home was known as “The Old House.” John Tayloe I accumulated a vast estate and was a liberal supporter of the Established Church. He was a Burgess in 1710, 1728 and 1730.