Richard Taylor (colonel)

Richard Taylor (1744 – January 1829) was a colonel in the Continental Army in the American Revolutionary War, and the father of the 12th President of the United States, Zachary Taylor.

Richard Taylor was born in Orange County, Virginia in 1744 to Zachary and Elizabeth (Lee) Taylor. He was a graduate of the College of William and Mary. After graduation, he toured the Ohio River and Mississippi River in 1769 with his older brother Hancock Taylor, starting from Pittsburgh to New Orleans. Once the American Revolutionary War began, Richard Taylor became an officer in the Virginia Continental forces, and fought in the battles of Brandywine, Monmouth, Trenton, and White Plains, attaining the rank of lieutenant colonel. [Kleber, John E. "Encyclopedia of Louisville". (University Press of Kentucky). pg.868.]

He married Sarah Dabney Strother in 1779. They initially lived at his estate of Hare Forest, but the estate failed to sufficiently compensate economically. He had already acquired convert|8000|acre|km2 throughout Kentucky, and in 1783 started clearing the land for his family to move to Kentucky in 1785. By 1790 he had built a permanent house he called "Springfield", which is known in the present-day as the Zachary Taylor House. [Kleber pg.868.] [Hayne, Hugh. " [http://pdfhost.focus.nps.gov/docs/NHLS/Text/66000359.pdf Zachary Taylor House] " (1974) pg.3,6]

During the Northwest Indian War, while serving in the Kentucky militia under Major John Adair, he was injured in a 1792 skirmish against Indians under Little Turtle near Fort St. Clair (present Eaton, Ohio).

Taylor prospered enough to increase the size of Springfield to convert|700|acre|km2 by 1800. For the rest of his life he became active in Louisville and Kentucky politics. [Kleber pg.868.] [Hayne pg.3] He donated sixty acres for the creation of Taylorsville, Kentucky, which was named to honor him. [Bailey, Bill. "Kentucky State Parks". (Glovebox Guidebooks of America, 1995). pg.299-301]

Richard Taylor died in January 1829, and was buried at the family cemetery, now part of Zachary Taylor National Cemetery.

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