Images(4)

Edward Taylor

Periodca. 1830 - 1835

MediumOil on canvas

Dimensions30 × 25 in. (76.2 × 63.5 cm)

ClassificationsPortraits

Credit LineGift of Katherine Taylor Clark (Mrs. William F.), 1932

Object number2001.512

DescriptionPortrait of a seated male facing right but looking at the artist. He is a ruddy-cheeked, full-lipped, and fleshy-faced man, with blue-gray eyes and black hair worn in long sideburns in front of his ears, with longer curls at the back of his neck. He wears a black coat, white collar and stock, and goffer-pleated ruffled shirt, with a portion of a light blue waistcoat showing. The subject is seated in a chair with his right arm resting on its arm.
Curatorial RemarksThe portrait of Edward Taylor shows him at the peak of his mercantile career in New York City, and about the time of his election as an Alderman in 1834. Accompanied by his two Alderman's staffs, the portrait descended to his daughter, Mary Holmes Taylor II (1814 - 1897). When she, her husband Joseph Dorset Taylor, and their two children Edward and Mary Holmes Taylor III moved into a new residence adjacent to their ancient home (which by then was known as Marlpit Hall) in February of 1854, the portrait was hung at the head of the grand staircase in the reception hall. It remained there until the death of Mary Holmes Taylor III in 1930, when it was inherited by her second cousin and principal heir, Katherine Louise Taylor Clark (1866 - 1942) of Maplewood, NJ. Mrs. Clark presented the portrait and staffs to the Association on 1 November 1932 for display in its new museum in Freehold. On 1 June 1936, these three items were transferred to Marlpit Hall in Middletown, which opened to the public as a historic house museum five days later under the auspices of the Association. They have remained on view there since.NotesEdward Taylor was born in Middletown, Monmouth County, on 16 January 1779, a son of John Taylor (1740 - 1818) and Mary Holmes (1743 - 1819). He was placed at an early age in the store of his uncle Joseph Taylor (1752-1827) at New Dorp, Staten Island. In a few years he transferred to a clerkship with Andrew and Obadiah Bowne in New York City, eventually becoming a partner in their business. Taylor first appeared as a merchant under his own name at 166 Water Street in the city directory for 1812. He relocated the business to 245 Pearl Street in 1814, and to 249 Pearl by 1819. The last move took place in 1829 to 247 Pearl, where the following year the name of the business was changed to Edward Taylor & Co. It remained under that banner until Taylor left the firm in 1841. In 1813, the rising merchant married Mary Grover Holmes (1789 - 1814). Their only child, Mary Holmes Taylor, was born in New York on 18 January 1814. Her mother passed away eighteen days later, probably from complications arising from child birth. She was interred in the Friends' Burying Ground on Houston Street. Infant Mary was sent to be raised by her father’s unmarried siblings, Mary, Huldah, and Samuel, who lived on the homestead farm in Middletown. Edward remained in New York City running a successful dry goods business until the death of his brother in 1843. From 1834 to 1839, he also served as an Alderman for the Second Ward of New York City, which earned him a seat on the Common Council. Taylor ran for election on the Whig Party ticket, which opposed many of the policies of President Andrew Jackson. In 1838 he was appointed President and Director of the Stuyvesant Banking Company, and in 1841 as Surveyor of the Port of New York. The latter was a political appointment. Following the demise of his brother Samuel, Edward Taylor returned to the family farm in Middletown, where he and his daughter made their home. Taylor had inherited a 1/6 interest in the farm from his father in 1818, and subsequently purchased another 1/6 share from his sister, Sarah Manning. He died on 12 April 1845 at the age of sixty-six years. Interment took place among the graves of his relatives in the yard of the Baptist Church in Middletown. The Association also owns Taylor's short and long staffs, symbols of his term as a New York City Alderman (see accession numbers 2001.514 and 2001.515).

Collections

Portraits

ProvenanceEdward Taylor (1779 - 1845); to his daughter Mary Holmes Taylor II (1814 - 1897); to her daughter Mary Holmes Taylor III (1850 - 1930); to her second cousin and principal heir Katherine Taylor Clark (1866 - 1942).