John Tayloe II

Who was John Tayloe II?

Colonel John Tayloe II was arguably the richest plantation owner in Virginia for his generation. He served in public office including the Virginia Governor's Council, also known as the Virginia Council of State. He has been described as a "model Virginia planter, planting tobacco, wheat and corn and raising livestock." A fourth-generation plantation owner from the Tayloe family of entrepreneurs, he took over the management of the Neabsco Iron Works during the 1740s, likely after his father's death in 1747. The Tayloe family of Richmond County, including John Tayloe II, his father, John Tayloe I, and son, John Tayloe III, exemplified gentry entrepreneurship.