John Louis Taylor (March 1, 1769 – January 29, 1829) was an American jurist and first chief justice of the

North Carolina Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the State of North Carolina is the state of North Carolina's highest appellate court. Until the creation of the North Carolina Court of Appeals in the 1960s, it was the state's only appellate court. The Supreme Court consists ...

. Born in

London, England London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a major s ...

, he is the only foreign-born Chief Justice in state history. He was brought to America at the age of 12 and attended the

College of William & Mary The College of William & Mary (officially The College of William and Mary in Virginia, abbreviated as William & Mary, W&M) is a public research university in Williamsburg, Virginia. Founded in 1693 by letters patent issued by King William I ...

. Taylor was elected to represent Fayetteville, North Carolina in the

North Carolina House of Commons The North Carolina House of Representatives is one of the two houses of the North Carolina General Assembly. The House is a 120-member body led by a Speaker of the House, who holds powers similar to those of the President pro-tem in the North Ca ...

in 1792, 1794 and 1795. He became a state Superior Court judge in 1798 and turned over most of his law practice to his brother-in-law, young William Gaston, who later became a North Carolina Supreme Court judge and U.S. Congressman. Before 1818, several North Carolina Superior Court judges met en banc twice each year, to review appeals and disputes from their own trial courts. This was eventually called the "Supreme Court." Taylor sat as part of this Court often and in 1810 was chosen as its chief justice. When the North Carolina General Assembly decided to create a full-time, distinct Supreme Court in 1818, the legislators chose three men to make up the new Court: Taylor, Leonard Henderson, and

John Hall John Hall may refer to: Academics * John Hall (NYU President) (fl. c. 1890), American academic * John A. Hall (born 1949), sociology professor at McGill University, Montreal * John F. Hall (born 1951), professor of classics at Brigham Young Unive ...

. The three met and elected Taylor to once again assume his title of chief justice. He served on the Court until his death, near Raleigh, in 1829. Taylor is buried in

Historic Oakwood Cemetery Historic Oakwood Cemetery was founded in 1869 in North Carolina's capital, Raleigh, near the North Carolina State Capitol in the city's Historic Oakwood neighborhood. Historic Oakwood Cemetery contains two special areas within its , the Confe ...

. Taylor was a prominent Freemason and served as Grand Senior Warden of North Carolina, while William R. Davie was Grand Master, and he himself served as Grand Master from 1802–1804 and from 1814-1816. He was a member of Phoenix Lodge No. 8, A.F. & A.M., Fayetteville, North Carolina.An Address Delivered to Phoenix Lodge No. 8 at the Dedication of their Present Lodge Building by James Banks, June 24, A. L. 5858, A. D. 1858 Elmwood, his home at Raleigh, was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...

in 1975.

Works

His publications include: * ''The North Carolina Law Repository'' (two volumes, 1814–16) * ''Term Reports'' (1818) * ''On the Duties of Executors and Administrators'' (1825)

References

North Carolina Historical MarkerNorth Carolina Historical Marker for Taylor's home, ElmwoodNorth Carolina History Project (About Gaston)Masonic HistoryNorth Carolina Reports, NC Supreme Court, 1919NC Supreme Court Historical Society
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Taylor, John Louis American legal writers Members of the North Carolina House of Representatives 1769 births 1829 deaths Chief Justices of the North Carolina Supreme Court College of William & Mary alumni 18th-century American politicians 18th-century American judges 19th-century American judges Lawyers from London English emigrants to the United States People from Fayetteville, North Carolina Burials at Historic Oakwood Cemetery