Representative and a Senator from South Carolina; born near Granby, S.C., May 4, 1770; attended Mount Zion Institute, Columbia, S.C., and was graduated from the College of New Jersey (now Princeton University) in 1790; studied law; was admitted to the bar in 1793 and commenced practice in Columbia, S.C.; also engaged in planting; member, State house of representatives 1796-1802, 1804-1805; circuit court solicitor 1805-1806; served as first intendant of Columbia 1806-1807; elected as a Republican to the Tenth and Eleventh Congresses and served from March 4, 1807, until his resignation on December 30, 1810; elected as a Republican to the United States Senate on December 19, 1810, to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of Thomas Sumter; was also elected on December 20, 1810, for the full term beginning March 4, 1811, and served from December 31, 1810, until his resignation in November 1816; member, State senate 1818-1826; Governor of South Carolina 1826-1828; trustee of South Carolina College (now the University of South Carolina) at Columbia and director of the Columbia Theological Seminary (Presbyterian); died at Camden, Kershaw County, S.C., April 16, 1832; interment in the family burial ground at Columbia, S.C.602
• Taylor was related to two US Presidents: James Madison and Zachary Taylor.602