John Tayloe III

Tayloe was born September 2,^[5] or September 13, 1770.^[3] the son of John Tayloe II and Rebecca (née Plater) Tayloe, herself from a long-established Maryland gentry family. Her brother was Governor of Maryland George Plater and her brother-in-law was Edward Lloyd III, son of Edward Lloyd II. His paternal grandfather was Col. John Tayloe I of the Old House, and great-grandfather was Col William Tayloe, the nephew of the original settler Col William Tayloe of Kingsmill Plantation, husband of Elizabeth Kingsmill, daughter of Richard Kingsmill of the Virginia Company.

Of the nine children in Tayloe's family, a twin brother did not survive more than a few days,^[5] and two sisters died while babies.^[6] His surviving siblings were girls.

Tayloe was educated in England at Eton prior to 1788, when he entered Christ's College, Cambridge.^{[7][page needed]} His classmates included Wellington, Canning, and Edward Thornton. He was socially involved with Waterford, Lord Graves, and Grey Skipwith, like him, a native of Virginia.^{[7][page needed]}

When he arrived back to the United States from England, his familial contemporaries included George Washington, his Sister Sarah "Salay" Tayloe married Captain William Augustine Washington, son of George Washington's half-brother, Augustine Washington Jr.. His sister Elizabeth Tayloe married Edward Lloyd IV of Wye House and Chase-Lloyd House. His sister Rebecca Plater Tayloe married Francis Lightfoot Lee, signer of the Declaration of Independence, and another sister Mary Tayloe had married Mann Page, of Mannsfield Plantation, an exact replica of Mount Airy.

"He succeeded to the largest estate in Virginia"^[8] upon his return to the United States in 1790; as he was the only surviving son after his father's death in 1779. Tayloe was named in his father's will to receive most of his slaves, personal property, land and business interests.^[5] When his inheritance was turned over to him, the income was US$60,000; within a few years, he increased this to US$75,000. He owned or purchased Gwinfield in Essex County; Douge, Hopyard, and Oaken Brow in King George County; Deep Hole, Neabsco, and Windsor in Prince William County; Doctor's Hall, Forkland, Marske, Menokin, Mount Airy, and Old House in Richmond County, and Nanjemoy in Charles County, Md.

His father's iron and shipbuilding interests were conserved and enlarged by Tayloe. His master shipbuilder at Occoquan was his slave, Reuben. Of Tayloe's other slaves, he reportedly sold 50 of them, mostly young girls, during the period of 1809 through 1828.^[9] In addition to shipbuilding at Neabsco Iron Works, Tayloe had other dealings in Prince William County, Virginia. In 1814, he purchased lots in Occoquan, and on the one that fronted Mill Street, he built the Occoquan Hotel. He served as a county postmaster for a time, and his stagecoach lines stopped in Occoquan, giving passengers a chance to disembark here.^[10]

During his residence at his summer home, "Mount Airy", the mansion was enlarged, having originally been built by his father. Among his guests were men of the American Revolution.^[11] Tayloe was a member of the Federalist Party, and he was a personal friend of General George Washington. He built the Octagon House in Washington, D. C. in 1799, residing there in the winter.^[3] The Octagon was designed by Dr. William Thornton, the first architect of the U.S. Capitol.^[12]

While a resident of Washington, he was elected to the board of directors at the Washington Branch of the First Bank of the United States on February 2, 1808, replacing Joseph Carleton, and later served as its president. This bank's board consisted of such men as John Van Ness, Joseph Nourse, and Benjamin Shreve Jr. of Shreve, Crump & Low. Tayloe himself chartered The Central Bank of Georgetown and Washington on March 3, 1817. On March 25, 1812, at the Davis Hotel, he founded "The Produce Bank of the Potomac" with again John Van Ness, Charles Carroll of Bellevue, Elias B. Caldwell, Tench Ringgold, C.W. Goldsborough, and John Graham (diplomat), and later added Roger C. Weightman, and James H. Blake.^[13] He was also a director at Bank of Alexandria (Alexandria, Virginia), the Bank of Metropolis^[14] and owned shares in the Washington Bridge Company, Potomac Steamboat Company, Chesapeake and Ohio Canal.^[15]

He helped organize and founded St. John's Episcopal Church, Lafayette Square in 1814, served as a trustee in 1816 during its construction and upon completion served on the vestry and donated to the parish a communion service of silver, which Bishop William Meade, in his work on the old Churches of Virginia, says had been purchased by Col. Tayloe at a sale of the effects of the Lunenburg Parish Church, Farnham Church, in Richmond County, VA., to prevent its desecration for secular use.^[16]

As Captain of Dragoons, he went to Western Pennsylvania, to help put down the Whiskey Rebellion. In 1799, he was appointed Major of Light Dragoons, U. S. A. by President John Adams. When General Washington wrote to Tayloe a warm letter of congratulation, Tayloe hesitated to accept the commission as he had just been elected as a Federalist to the Virginia Senate, and he feared, as he wrote to Washington, that if he resigned his seat, the place would be filled by an opponent of the administration. On February 12, 1799, Washington replied that he was inclined to believe his civil service would be more important than military service. Tayloe served in the Virginia House of Delegates and the Senate of Virginia, as Delegate and Senator. On the breaking out of the War of 1812, Tayloe was made lieutenant colonel of the cavalry of the District of Columbia and saw active service.^[11]

Killian K. Van Rensselaer, American lawyer and Federalist politician who served in the United States Congress as a Representative from the state of New York dined at The Octagon House.^[17] "Another invitation recalls one of General Washington's closest friends, whom he persuaded to become a resident of Washington in its infancy, and who built the spacious mansion on the corner of New York Ave and Eighteenth Street, which is one of the surviving relics of the primitive city, not having been destroyed by the British in 1814 - Col. Tayloe: "Mr. Tayloe requests the favor of Mr. Van Rensselaer to dine with him on Sat next at 4 o'clock. The favour of an answer is requested. Wed 9th feb.""^[18]

Tayloe's interests included American horse racing, being a leader and top horse breeder in this sport during the period of 1791–1806.^[19] His son, Henry Augustine Tayloe, founded the Fair Grounds Race Course in New Orleans with Bernard de Marigny in 1838.

Like his father, John Tayloe III was a successful horseman, and was one of the first breeders to import Thoroughbred foundation stock to the United States from England in the 1780s, keeping some at the Belair Stud. He owned such celebrated racehorses as Bellair II (b. 1786), sired by the imported stallion Medley, the latter being a favorite of Tayloe; and Diomed, whom Tayloe himself imported, and for him sired Sir Archy, whose descendants include Boston, Timoleon, Lexington, Secretariat, American Pharoah, and others.^[20]

In 1798 a mile track was laid out which extended from the rear of what is now the site of Decatur House at H Street and Jackson Place, crossing Seventeenth Street and Pennsylvania Avenue to Twentieth Street. The inaugural match featured John Tayloe III's Lamplighter and Gen. Charles Carnan Ridgely's Cincinnatus, for 500 guineas, ran in 4-mile heats, and won by the former, a son of Imp English bred stallion Medley. The only initial building was a small elevated platform for the judges. The "carriage folk" took to the infield for views of the contests and the strandees crested the outside of the course.^[21] The site of today's Eisenhower Executive Office Building, this first course's history was short lived as it stood in the path of L'Enfant's city plan.

In 1802 the Club sought a new site for the tract, as the current one that lay the rear of what is now the site of Decatur House at H Street and Jackson Place, crossing Seventeenth Street and Pennsylvania Avenue to Twentieth Street-today the Eisenhower Executive Office Building-was being overtaken be the growth of the Federal City. With the leadership of John Tayloe III and Charles Carnan Ridgely and support of Gen. John Peter Van Ness, Dr. William Thornton, G.W. P. Custis, John Threlkeld of Georgetown and George Calvert of Riversdale, Bladensburg, Maryland, the contests were moved to Meridian Hill, south of Columbia Road between Fourteenth and Sixteenth Streets, and were conducted at the Holmstead Farm's one-mile oval track.