Taylor, John W., 1784-1854

<p>John W. Taylor (March 26, 1784 – September 18, 1854) was an early 19th-century U.S. politician from New York. He was the first Speaker of the House of Representatives from the state.</p>

<p>Taylor was born in 1784 in that part of the Town of Ballston, then in Albany County, New York, which was, upon the creation of Saratoga County in 1791, split off to form the Town of Charlton. He received his first education at home.</p>

<p>Taylor graduated from Union College in 1803 as valedictorian of his class. Then he studied law, was admitted to the bar in 1807, and practiced in Ballston Spa, New York. In 1806, he married Jane Hodge (died 1838), of Albany, New York, and they had eight children. He was a member from Saratoga County of the New York State Assembly in 1812 and 1812–13.</p>

<p>Taylor served in the United States House of Representatives for 20 years, from 1813 to 1833, and was twice elected as Speaker of the House: in 1820 and in 1825. In 1819, he supported the proposed Tallmadge Amendment regarding the Missouri Territory's admission to the Union as a free state (which passed the House, but was defeated in the Senate), and was a staunch proponent of the subsequent Missouri Compromise of March 1820. During the floor debate on the Tallmadge Amendment, Taylor boldly criticized southern lawmakers who frequently voiced their dismay that slavery was entrenched and necessary to their existence.</p>

<p>After leaving Congress, Taylor resumed his law practice in Ballston Spa, and was a member of the New York State Senate (4th D.) in 1841 and 1842. He resigned his seat on August 19, 1842, after suffering a paralytic stroke. In 1843, he moved to Cleveland, Ohio, to live with his eldest daughter and her husband William D. Beattie, and died there 11 years later. He was buried in the Ballston Spa Village Cemetery.</p>

TAYLOR, JOHN W., a Representative from New York; born in Charlton, N.Y., March 26, 1784; received his early education at home; was graduated from Union College, Schenectady, N.Y., in 1803; studied law; was admitted to the bar in 1807 and commenced practice in Ballston Spa, N.Y.; organized the Ballston Center Academy; justice of the peace in 1808; member of the state assembly in 1812 and 1813; elected as a Republican to the Thirteenth Congress and reelected to the four succeeding Congresses, elected as an Adams-Clay Republican to the Eighteenth Congress, reelected as an Adams candidate to the Nineteenth and Twentieth Congresses, and elected as an Anti-Jacksonian to the Twenty-first and Twenty-second Congresses (March 4, 1813-March 3, 1833); chairman, Committee on Elections (Fourteenth and Fifteenth Congresses), Committee on Revisal and Unfinished Business (Fifteenth Congress), Committee on Elections (Sixteenth Congress); Speaker of the House of Representatives (Sixteenth and Nineteenth Congresses); unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1832 to the Twenty-third Congress; resumed the practice of law in Ballston Spa, N.Y.; member of the state senate in 1840 and 1841, but resigned in consequence of a paralytic stroke; moved to Cleveland, Ohio, in 1843, and died there September 18, 1854; interment in the Ballston Spa Village Cemetery, Ballston Spa, Saratoga County, N.Y.