MAJ/Judge James Taylor, Sr.

Ancestor #: A112605

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/44637013/james_taylor

From Find a Grave contributor:

Major James Taylor served in the
American Revolution.from Lancaster County, Pennsylvania.
He was commissioned Captain, January 5, 1776. Served as Captain of the 4th Pennsylvania Battalion, stationed at Ticonderoga in 1776.
And commissioned Major, September 23, 1777. Major Taylor served as a commissioned officer of the 5th Pennsylvania Regiment at Valley Forge from December 1777 to June of 1778.

Appointed Judge Advocate of the Northern Army, December 26, 1776 to April 3, 1778.

In 1782 under Colonel Anthony Wayne he served in the Williamson Expedition. He voted with 17 others against the killing of the peaceful Moravian Indians at Gnadenhutten, Ohio.

James arrived in Newark in 1804 with his family, settling in the South Fork Valley.
Early on Judge Taylor owned 1,400 acres in the area of the now Heath Post Office and on south of the area known as the Licking Summit down to the now Ridgley Tract, which was once named Blacksmill Road. On his property is where they broke ground for the Ohio Erie Canal.
His occupation was Judge. Serving as a judge in Pennsylvania and Ohio.
In 1808, when Licking County was organized, James Taylor was appointed one of the Associated Judges of the Common Pleas, along with Alexander Holmes and Timothy Rose, with Judge William Wilson the presiding judge. Judge Taylor did not relish public life very much and retired from the bench in 1809.
Prior to 1808, all business connected with the court was transacted at Chillicothe and Lancaster. In 1808 the county of Licking was organized, and Judge James Taylor was present for the official ceremonies.'

In 1808, James was instrumental in establishing the First Presbyterian Church in Newark. Judge James Taylor was chosen an elder, and served for 36 years in that capacity until his death. Mr David Moore being his associate elder.
James was a man of character and intelligence.

On July 4, 1825 on James Taylor's family property groundbreaking ceremonies took place for the Ohio and Erie Canal. The location was just south of Newark at Licking Summit. That location was known as Taylor's Locks. Locks No's. 3, 2 and 1 (Taylor's Locks), Northern Ascent.
Also, on that same date in St. Clairsville, opposite the old courthouse, groundbreaking was being held for construction of the National Road in Ohio. 1825 was a big year for Ohio!
The Hebron, Ohio Historical marker reads, "Located at the crossing of the Ohio and Erie Canal and the National Road, Hebron was a favored commercial and agricultural center for Licking County in the nineteenth century. Only four miles north of the city Governor DeWitt Clinton of New York turned the first spadeful of dirt for the Ohio and Erie canal on July 4, 1825. One can only imagine the crowds that day, 5,000 to 10,000 people arrived in wagons and horseback to see the groundbreaking ceremonies! No one could conceive at the time the impact this canal would have on the people and commerce for the whole state of Ohio!
The canal was completed through Hebron in 1828. Nearby Buckeye Lake served as a reservoir and feeder for the canal until 1894 when it was set aside for park purposes. The National Road was completed through Hebron in 1834."
By 1832 the entire 308 mile route of the Ohio-Erie was open to traffic. The Ohio & Erie Canal would go underneath the National Road at Hebron, Ohio.

In 1829, Judge James Taylor commissioned Aaron Pence to build his family a barn on RT 79 in Licking County, Ohio.
In 1969 it became the home to the first Weathervane Playhouse.
The Taylor family also built a distillery in the area.

Between the Black and Taylor family they owned a sizable amount of land along what is now Rt 79, which was originally the Ohio Erie Canal. This area was a very busy commercial area with the canal, the Taylor distillery and the Black's Mills, grist and saw mills.

What a wonderful and enduring legacy, James Taylor not only left to Licking County, but also to his family.

James Taylor's family were early settlers of Virginia.
In Lancaster, Pennsylvania his family owned a vast plantation where they raised farm products and tobacco.

It is written in the family histories of the Taylor family.
James would visit his daughter, "Margaret" Mary Taylor McCormick and her family in Fayette County, Pa. James would arrive from Lancaster, Pa., driving six white horses.

James was the only Revolutionary War veteran moved from the 6th Street Cemetery in Newark, Ohio to Cedar Hill in 1850.

It was James's request to be buried in his soldier's uniform.
Gravesite Details
91 years of age