Description:

Taylor George 1716 - 1781 Declaration signer George Taylor signed DS, among the rarest of the Signers.

Bi-fold manuscript document signed, 9.25" x 15.25'. Heavily inscribed on three sides with docket to verso of second page. Boldly signed by George Taylor as "Geo Taylor" on the verso of the first page. Dated "thirty first day of December ... one thousand seven hundred and seventy nine". Professional repair to separation along folds, with partial infills to small areas of paper loss. Scattered stains and/or handling marks.

Taylor's signature is among the rarest of the Declaration Signers, in part due to his limited role in public life and his death prior to an American victory that would have opened more opportunities to serve. This superb large land grant document from 1779 boasts a bold George Taylor signature as a witness to the sale for "three hundred pounds lawful money for ... a tract or parcel of land situate in Haycock Township in the County of Bucks and Sates of Pennsylvania aforesaid".

Presents beautifully as an opened document laying flat with Taylor's signature showcased.

George Taylor (1716-1781) was an Irish immigrant who came to America indentured to Samuel Savage, Jr., the master of the Warwick Furnace and Coventry Forge in Chester County, Pennsylvania. He took over the forge upon the death of Savage (as well as marrying his widow) and ran it until his heirs came of legal age to inherit it under the terms of their father's will. In 1757, he became justice of the peace in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, and in 1764 he was elected to the Pennsylvania Provincial Assembly. He was reelected to the position in 1775, the same year he secured a contract to produce cannon balls for the Pennsylvania Committee of Safety. When the Second Continental Congress voted for independence on July 2, 1776, Taylor was appointed by the Assembly to replace one of the Loyalist delegates who had resigned. Less than a month later he was signing the Declaration of Independence as part of the Pennsylvania delegation despite not having been present for the actual vote. Taylor was one of eight foreign-born signers, the only iron master, and the only former indentured servant to sign. Taylor served only seven months in the Continental Congress before the Assembly appointed a new delegation. He was then appointed to Pennsylvania's Supreme Executive Council but retired after a month due to illness.

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$100 $299 $20
$300 $499 $25
$500 $999 $50
$1,000 $1,999 $100
$2,000 $2,999 $200
$3,000 $4,999 $250
$5,000 $9,999 $500
$10,000 $19,999 $1,000
$20,000 $49,999 $2,500
$50,000 + $5,000