John Taylor (1752-1833)
Encyclopedia
John Taylor was a pioneer Baptist
preacher
, religious writer, frontier
historian and planter
in north and central Kentucky
. His two histories of early Baptist churches in Kentucky provide insight into the frontier society of the early decades of the 19th century. His 1820 pamphlet entitled "Thoughts on Missions" put him at the center of the controversy within frontier Baptist congregations about supporting mission societies. In buying and selling land on the frontier, Taylor acquired 2000 acres (8.1 km²) and 20 African-American slaves by the end of the first decade of the 19th century, thus entering the planter class.
to a farming family. He was taught at home to read, write and do his numbers. Although christened in the Church of England
, he was strongly influenced by the preaching of the Baptist William Marshall, whom he first heard at age 17. Taylor united with the Baptists when he was 20 years old and began preaching on the frontier while living in Virginia.
In his History of Clear Creek Church: and Campbellism
Exposed (1830), Taylor provided material about his origins:
.
In 1795 Taylor moved with his family to Boone County
, where he was the stated preacher at Bullittsburg Baptist Church (1795–1802), the first church in northern Kentucky. Seven of his slaves were also members of the church. He was ministering there when the church experienced a revival in 1800-01 (during the period referred to in the South
as the "Second Great Awakening
". A total of 113 people converted and were baptized into Taylor's church. Never financially supported by a church, he pursued independent farming and other vocations, as did most frontier preachers.
In addition to acting as a pastor, Taylor was part of organizing local Baptist associations in Kentucky. In 1785 Taylor attended the organizing conference of the Elkhorn Baptist Association (Lexington, Kentucky
area). He also was part of organizing the Long Run Baptist Association (Louisville, Kentucky
area) in 1803. There he preached the Introductory Sermon and was on the committee of organization. He became one of the early leaders of that association.
In 1802 he moved his family to Gallatin County (a portion now in Trimble County
) near Mount Byrd along the Ohio River
, where he had already bought nearly 3000 acres (12.1 km²) of land in various tracts. There he entered the planter class, for he eventually held 20 enslaved
African Americans and owned 2000 acres (8.1 km²), selling some of his former land to other settlers to create a community. Historians of the antebellum South define planters as those people who held 20 or more slaves to work their land. While not all Baptists held as many slaves as Taylor, by this time most members had accommodated to the Southern institution and stopped calling for its abolition
. "Far more than their Northern counterparts, Southern evangelical Protestants stressed the importance of individual piety rather than social regeneration."
Ministering in Gallatin County for 13 years, Taylor also stayed in contact with the churches and pastors of the Boone County area. He attended a total of 25 North Bend Association meetings from 1805 through 1834. He was invited to preach virtually each time he attended. Fourteen of the visits were at Boone County churches, which hosted the association meetings.
In 1815 Taylor moved his family and slaves to Franklin County
to be further from the free state of Indiana
, which proximity across the Ohio River from Gallatin County he had believed threatened his slave holdings. The missionary James E. Welch, who knew him, wrote an account that said Taylor had left because of differences with his congregation. He helped found a Baptist church in Frankfort
. Next he helped establish one at Buck Run in 1818, where he was invited to pastor. Instead, he chose to preach there regularly for several years.
Many religious historians have identified Taylor's leading role in the disputes over the Missionary
/Anti-missionary movement that arose among Protestant churches in the United States in the 1820s. In his booklet, "Thoughts on Missions" (1820), Taylor criticized mission societies and their methods of soliciting money from frontier churches. Later in life, he expressed regret over writing the 36-page pamphlet. The historian Larry D. Smith noted that Taylor was opposed only to "mission societies;" he was never opposed to missions.
Most of Taylor's ministry preceded the controversy associated with the anti-missionary movement among Baptists, and he did not appear to have "divided" with his brethren over the issue. In 1820 Taylor gave a copy of his "Missions" pamphlet to the local (North Bend) Association, but they made no comment on it. He was still invited to preach for the association that year and at later times when he attended their meetings. In 1820 the Elkhorn Association reported, "Bro. John Taylor presented to the Association a pamphlet, written by himself, on the subject of missions, which was referred to the committee on arrangement." At a later session of the body, "after much discussion it was agreed to strike out that item from the arrangement, and return the pamphlet to the author." Similarly, Taylor gave the booklet to the Long Run Association; there was no surviving record of any response. He was honored by being one of two preachers asked to conduct the funeral of Absalom Graves, who was then the leading advocate of missions in the northern part of the state.
Though not formally educated, Taylor was an expressive writer with strong opinions. His A History of Ten Churches was first printed in 1823, and A History of Clear Creek Church: and Campbellism Exposed in 1830. He also wrote several brief biographies, as well as many articles that were published in religious periodicals. The Concise Dictionary of American Biography describes A History of Ten Baptist Churches as "a fine picture of religion on the frontier."
When asked to tell about Taylor's life, James E. Welch, a frontier Baptist missionary, wrote:
Taylor died in 1833 in Franklin County, Kentucky
near Forks of Elkhorn Creek
, the year of a major cholera
epidemic
in the region. Welch wrote: "His death was peaceful and tranquil, and he has left behind him a name worthy of enduring remembrance." The 19th-century historian William Cathcart wrote, "He [Taylor] traveled and preached extensively and probably performed more labor, and was more successful than any other pioneer Baptist preacher in Kentucky."
Baptist
Baptists comprise a group of Christian denominations and churches that subscribe to a doctrine that baptism should be performed only for professing believers , and that it must be done by immersion...
preacher
Preacher
Preacher is a term for someone who preaches sermons or gives homilies. A preacher is distinct from a theologian by focusing on the communication rather than the development of doctrine. Others see preaching and theology as being intertwined...
, religious writer, frontier
Frontier
A frontier is a political and geographical term referring to areas near or beyond a boundary. 'Frontier' was absorbed into English from French in the 15th century, with the meaning "borderland"--the region of a country that fronts on another country .The use of "frontier" to mean "a region at the...
historian and planter
Plantation
A plantation is a long artificially established forest, farm or estate, where crops are grown for sale, often in distant markets rather than for local on-site consumption...
in north and central Kentucky
Kentucky
The Commonwealth of Kentucky is a state located in the East Central United States of America. As classified by the United States Census Bureau, Kentucky is a Southern state, more specifically in the East South Central region. Kentucky is one of four U.S. states constituted as a commonwealth...
. His two histories of early Baptist churches in Kentucky provide insight into the frontier society of the early decades of the 19th century. His 1820 pamphlet entitled "Thoughts on Missions" put him at the center of the controversy within frontier Baptist congregations about supporting mission societies. In buying and selling land on the frontier, Taylor acquired 2000 acres (8.1 km²) and 20 African-American slaves by the end of the first decade of the 19th century, thus entering the planter class.
Early life and education
Taylor was born in 1752 in Fauquier County, VirginiaFauquier County, Virginia
As of the census of 2000, there were 55,139 people, 19,842 households, and 15,139 families residing in the county. The population density was 85 people per square mile . There were 21,046 housing units at an average density of 32 per square mile...
to a farming family. He was taught at home to read, write and do his numbers. Although christened in the Church of England
Church of England
The Church of England is the officially established Christian church in England and the Mother Church of the worldwide Anglican Communion. The church considers itself within the tradition of Western Christianity and dates its formal establishment principally to the mission to England by St...
, he was strongly influenced by the preaching of the Baptist William Marshall, whom he first heard at age 17. Taylor united with the Baptists when he was 20 years old and began preaching on the frontier while living in Virginia.
In his History of Clear Creek Church: and Campbellism
Restoration Movement
The Restoration Movement is a Christian movement that began on the American frontier during the Second Great Awakening of the early 19th century...
Exposed (1830), Taylor provided material about his origins:
"At my birth, and in the early part of my life, my lot was cast in the backwoods of Virginia, where IndiansIndigenous peoples of the AmericasThe indigenous peoples of the Americas are the pre-Columbian inhabitants of North and South America, their descendants and other ethnic groups who are identified with those peoples. Indigenous peoples are known in Canada as Aboriginal peoples, and in the United States as Native Americans...
often killed people, not far from where I was. My parents, who were of the church of EnglandChurch of EnglandThe Church of England is the officially established Christian church in England and the Mother Church of the worldwide Anglican Communion. The church considers itself within the tradition of Western Christianity and dates its formal establishment principally to the mission to England by St...
, told me, I had been christenBaptismIn Christianity, baptism is for the majority the rite of admission , almost invariably with the use of water, into the Christian Church generally and also membership of a particular church tradition...
ed when young. Being taught in all the rules of the old prayer bookBook of Common PrayerThe Book of Common Prayer is the short title of a number of related prayer books used in the Anglican Communion, as well as by the Continuing Anglican, "Anglican realignment" and other Anglican churches. The original book, published in 1549 , in the reign of Edward VI, was a product of the English...
, I had my partialities that way; but we lived so frontier, I never heard any man preach, till about 17 years old; this was a baptist, (William Marshall). My awakening that day, was so striking, that I was won over to Marshall, and the religion he taught. A little more than two years after this, by the conviction I had from the New TestamentNew TestamentThe New Testament is the second major division of the Christian biblical canon, the first such division being the much longer Old Testament....
, I was baptised [sic], and became a baptist from principle. To this way, and cause, I have had warm and decided attachments ever since. I would not be hard or unfriendly to other christianChristianA Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...
societies; but I am a decided, full bred baptist...."
Marriage and family
Taylor married Elizabeth Cavanaugh, daughter of Philemon and Nancy (Cave) Kavanaugh. They had several children together. Their son Ben was born a month after their arrival in Kentucky in December 1783, after a difficult three-month trip from Virginia through the mountains. Their daughter Jane married Jeconiah Singleton, another early Baptist pioneer and son of Manoah and Sally (Craig) Singleton, members of the early Forks of Elkhorn Church. The Singletons had migrated to Kentucky in 1781 with The Traveling Church, led by Sally's brother, the Rev. Lewis Craig, pastor of the notable congregation.Career
While Taylor was in his 20s, he organized and served churches in the Virginia frontier settlements. At age 29, he took his young family to Kentucky in late 1783, two years after the historic migration of "The Traveling Church" of Baptists from Spotsylania County, Virginia. Later he wrote about the trip: ". . . We arrived at Craig's Station, a little before Christmas (1783), and about three months after our start from Virginia. Through all this rugged travel my wife was in a very helpless state; about one month after our arrival, my son Ben was born." He was soon called as the first pastor in Clear Creek Baptist Church, Woodford County, KentuckyWoodford County, Kentucky
Woodford County is a county located in the heart of the Bluegrass region of the U.S. state of Kentucky. As of 2000, the population was 23,208. Its county seat is Versailles. The county is named for General William Woodford, who was with General George Washington at Valley Forge...
.
In 1795 Taylor moved with his family to Boone County
Boone County, Kentucky
Boone County is a county located in the U.S. state of Kentucky. It was formed in 1798. The population was 118,811 in the 2010 Census. Its county seat is Burlington. The county is named for frontiersman Daniel Boone...
, where he was the stated preacher at Bullittsburg Baptist Church (1795–1802), the first church in northern Kentucky. Seven of his slaves were also members of the church. He was ministering there when the church experienced a revival in 1800-01 (during the period referred to in the South
Southern United States
The Southern United States—commonly referred to as the American South, Dixie, or simply the South—constitutes a large distinctive area in the southeastern and south-central United States...
as the "Second Great Awakening
Second Great Awakening
The Second Great Awakening was a Christian revival movement during the early 19th century in the United States. The movement began around 1800, had begun to gain momentum by 1820, and was in decline by 1870. The Second Great Awakening expressed Arminian theology, by which every person could be...
". A total of 113 people converted and were baptized into Taylor's church. Never financially supported by a church, he pursued independent farming and other vocations, as did most frontier preachers.
In addition to acting as a pastor, Taylor was part of organizing local Baptist associations in Kentucky. In 1785 Taylor attended the organizing conference of the Elkhorn Baptist Association (Lexington, Kentucky
Lexington, Kentucky
Lexington is the second-largest city in Kentucky and the 63rd largest in the US. Known as the "Thoroughbred City" and the "Horse Capital of the World", it is located in the heart of Kentucky's Bluegrass region...
area). He also was part of organizing the Long Run Baptist Association (Louisville, Kentucky
Louisville, Kentucky
Louisville is the largest city in the U.S. state of Kentucky, and the county seat of Jefferson County. Since 2003, the city's borders have been coterminous with those of the county because of a city-county merger. The city's population at the 2010 census was 741,096...
area) in 1803. There he preached the Introductory Sermon and was on the committee of organization. He became one of the early leaders of that association.
In 1802 he moved his family to Gallatin County (a portion now in Trimble County
Trimble County, Kentucky
Trimble County is a county located in the U.S. state of Kentucky. As of 2000, the population was 8,125. Its county seat is Bedford. The county is named for Robert Trimble. Trimble is a prohibition or dry county. It is part of the Louisville/Jefferson County, KY–IN Metropolitan Statistical...
) near Mount Byrd along the Ohio River
Ohio River
The Ohio River is the largest tributary, by volume, of the Mississippi River. At the confluence, the Ohio is even bigger than the Mississippi and, thus, is hydrologically the main stream of the whole river system, including the Allegheny River further upstream...
, where he had already bought nearly 3000 acres (12.1 km²) of land in various tracts. There he entered the planter class, for he eventually held 20 enslaved
Slavery
Slavery is a system under which people are treated as property to be bought and sold, and are forced to work. Slaves can be held against their will from the time of their capture, purchase or birth, and deprived of the right to leave, to refuse to work, or to demand compensation...
African Americans and owned 2000 acres (8.1 km²), selling some of his former land to other settlers to create a community. Historians of the antebellum South define planters as those people who held 20 or more slaves to work their land. While not all Baptists held as many slaves as Taylor, by this time most members had accommodated to the Southern institution and stopped calling for its abolition
Abolitionism
Abolitionism is a movement to end slavery.In western Europe and the Americas abolitionism was a movement to end the slave trade and set slaves free. At the behest of Dominican priest Bartolomé de las Casas who was shocked at the treatment of natives in the New World, Spain enacted the first...
. "Far more than their Northern counterparts, Southern evangelical Protestants stressed the importance of individual piety rather than social regeneration."
Ministering in Gallatin County for 13 years, Taylor also stayed in contact with the churches and pastors of the Boone County area. He attended a total of 25 North Bend Association meetings from 1805 through 1834. He was invited to preach virtually each time he attended. Fourteen of the visits were at Boone County churches, which hosted the association meetings.
In 1815 Taylor moved his family and slaves to Franklin County
Franklin County, Kentucky
As of the census of 2000, there were 47,687 people, 19,907 households, and 12,840 families residing in the county. The population density was . There were 21,409 housing units at an average density of...
to be further from the free state of Indiana
Indiana
Indiana is a US state, admitted to the United States as the 19th on December 11, 1816. It is located in the Midwestern United States and Great Lakes Region. With 6,483,802 residents, the state is ranked 15th in population and 16th in population density. Indiana is ranked 38th in land area and is...
, which proximity across the Ohio River from Gallatin County he had believed threatened his slave holdings. The missionary James E. Welch, who knew him, wrote an account that said Taylor had left because of differences with his congregation. He helped found a Baptist church in Frankfort
Frankfort, Kentucky
Frankfort is a city in Kentucky that serves as the state capital and the county seat of Franklin County. The population was 27,741 at the 2000 census; by population it is the 5th smallest state capital in the United States...
. Next he helped establish one at Buck Run in 1818, where he was invited to pastor. Instead, he chose to preach there regularly for several years.
Many religious historians have identified Taylor's leading role in the disputes over the Missionary
Missionary
A missionary is a member of a religious group sent into an area to do evangelism or ministries of service, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care and economic development. The word "mission" originates from 1598 when the Jesuits sent members abroad, derived from the Latin...
/Anti-missionary movement that arose among Protestant churches in the United States in the 1820s. In his booklet, "Thoughts on Missions" (1820), Taylor criticized mission societies and their methods of soliciting money from frontier churches. Later in life, he expressed regret over writing the 36-page pamphlet. The historian Larry D. Smith noted that Taylor was opposed only to "mission societies;" he was never opposed to missions.
Most of Taylor's ministry preceded the controversy associated with the anti-missionary movement among Baptists, and he did not appear to have "divided" with his brethren over the issue. In 1820 Taylor gave a copy of his "Missions" pamphlet to the local (North Bend) Association, but they made no comment on it. He was still invited to preach for the association that year and at later times when he attended their meetings. In 1820 the Elkhorn Association reported, "Bro. John Taylor presented to the Association a pamphlet, written by himself, on the subject of missions, which was referred to the committee on arrangement." At a later session of the body, "after much discussion it was agreed to strike out that item from the arrangement, and return the pamphlet to the author." Similarly, Taylor gave the booklet to the Long Run Association; there was no surviving record of any response. He was honored by being one of two preachers asked to conduct the funeral of Absalom Graves, who was then the leading advocate of missions in the northern part of the state.
Though not formally educated, Taylor was an expressive writer with strong opinions. His A History of Ten Churches was first printed in 1823, and A History of Clear Creek Church: and Campbellism Exposed in 1830. He also wrote several brief biographies, as well as many articles that were published in religious periodicals. The Concise Dictionary of American Biography describes A History of Ten Baptist Churches as "a fine picture of religion on the frontier."
When asked to tell about Taylor's life, James E. Welch, a frontier Baptist missionary, wrote:
"I saw this aged brother at the meeting of the Elkhorn Association, at the Big Spring Church, near Frankfort, in 1832. He was a member of the Body; and yet he took his place on the front seat of the gallery. The Moderator, observing him, said, — 'Come down, Brother Taylor, and sit with us;' but he promptly replied, — 'I am a free man, Brother Moderator,' and kept his seat. (The gallery was a balcony where the slave members and attendees of the church were seated during worship services.) He was low of stature, muscular, had broad shoulders and a broad face, high cheek bones and heavy eyebrows, over-hanging a pair of light and small, but expressive, eyes. He was plain, and by no means particular, in his apparel, and rather reserved in conversation, though, at times, he seemed to enjoy a dry joke upon his brethren."
Taylor died in 1833 in Franklin County, Kentucky
Franklin County, Kentucky
As of the census of 2000, there were 47,687 people, 19,907 households, and 12,840 families residing in the county. The population density was . There were 21,409 housing units at an average density of...
near Forks of Elkhorn Creek
Elkhorn Creek
Elkhorn Creek is an stream running through several counties in central Kentucky in the United States. It derives its name from the shape, as seen on a map, of its main stem with its two primary forks....
, the year of a major cholera
Cholera
Cholera is an infection of the small intestine that is caused by the bacterium Vibrio cholerae. The main symptoms are profuse watery diarrhea and vomiting. Transmission occurs primarily by drinking or eating water or food that has been contaminated by the diarrhea of an infected person or the feces...
epidemic
Epidemic
In epidemiology, an epidemic , occurs when new cases of a certain disease, in a given human population, and during a given period, substantially exceed what is expected based on recent experience...
in the region. Welch wrote: "His death was peaceful and tranquil, and he has left behind him a name worthy of enduring remembrance." The 19th-century historian William Cathcart wrote, "He [Taylor] traveled and preached extensively and probably performed more labor, and was more successful than any other pioneer Baptist preacher in Kentucky."
Works
- A History of Ten Baptist Churches, Frankfort, KY: (np), 1823; reprint, Cincinnati, OH: Art Guild Reprints, Inc., 1968; reprint with ed. Chester R. Young, Macon, GA: Mercer University Press: 1995, as Baptist Churches on the American Frontier.
- A History of Clear Creek Church: and Campbellism Exposed, Frankfort, KY, Printed by A. G. Hodges, Commentator Office, 1830
Further reading
- Dorothy Brown Thompson, "John Taylor of the Ten Churches," The Register of the Kentucky Historical Society, Vol. 46, No. 156, July, 1948, pp. 239–25. Thompson is a descendant of Taylor.
- ____________________, "John Taylor and the Day of Controversy," The Register of the Kentucky Historical Society, Vol. 53, No. 184, July, 1955, pp. 196–233.
- ____________________, "Additional Notes on the John Taylor Family," The Register of the Kentucky Historical Society, Vol. 53, No. 185, October, 1955, pp. 348–354.