John W. Taylor

Background

Taylor was born in 1784 at Charlton, N. Y. , the son of Judge John Taylor and Chloe (Cox) Taylor, and a descendant of Edward Taylor who settled in Monmouth County, N. J. , in 1692.

Education

After graduating from Union College, Schenectady, he began the study of law with Samuel Cook.

Career

Admitted to the bar in 1807, he formed a partnership with Cook and began to practise at Ballston Spa.

After two years in the New York Assembly (1811 - 12), he represented Saratoga County for twenty consecutive years in the federal House of Representatives (March 4, 1813 - March 3, 1833). He favored a national bank and a protective tariff, although he regarded federal appropriations for roads and canals as unconstitutional.

During the presidency of the second Adams he was a leader of administration policies and later a member of the Whig party. The slavery question brought him into national prominence. He seconded the amendment of James Tallmadge to the Missouri bill, prohibiting the further introduction of slavery in the proposed state and liberating at the age of twenty-five all children born of slave parents. To the bill organizing Arkansas Territory, he moved a similar amendment. When his motion was lost he submitted a proposal prohibiting the introduction of slavery into the territories north of 36° 30', in support of his restrictive policy delivering some of the first antislavery speeches heard in Congress. He argued that the power of Congress to admit new states implied a power to refuse to admit, and hence a power to prescribe conditions on which it would admit. As precedents he pointed to Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois, which had been compelled to frame constitutions excluding slavery, and to Louisiana, where Congress had insisted on English as the official language and the guarantee of habeas corpus, jury trial, and religious liberty. He also held that the provision vesting in Congress power to prohibit the "importation or migration" of slaves after 1808 was applicable in this connection, since the word "migration" meant the passage from one commonwealth to another. As to the expediency of restriction, he contended that slavery was ruinous to the economy of the country. He declared, also, that Congress was obligated to restrict slavery since slavery was incompatible with the "republican form of government" which it was the constitutional duty of the United States to guarantee to every state.

Taylor served two terms as speaker of the House of Representatives, in each case being defeated for reëlection. In a letter to his son, he said: "I lost my third election as Speaker through my direct opposition to slavery". While the South never forgave the part he played in the Missouri controversy, the chief opposition came from his own state. The anti-Clintonian faction in New York encompassed his defeat in 1821, and the Van Buren Democrats were largely responsible for it in 1827. In November 1832 they thwarted his reëlection to Congress. From 1840 to 1842 he was a member of the New York Senate, from which ill health compelled his retirement.

In 1843 he removed to Cleveland, Ohio, where he spent the remainder of his life at his daughter's home.

Achievements

• He was the first Speaker of the House of Representatives from the state.

Membership

He was a member of Democratic-Republican before 1825 and National Republican after 1825.

Connections

On July 10, 1806, he married Jane Hodge, who died in 1838, having borne him three daughters and five sons.

Father:

John Taylor

Mother:

Chloe (Cox) Taylor

Spouse:

Jane Hodge Taylor

colleague:

Samuel Cook

References

• Genealogy Of Judge John Taylor: And His Descendants (1886)