John Taylor (1722-1799) was born in Deerfield, Massachusetts. His parents, John and Mary (Nims) Taylor, had nine other children in addition to John, Jr. A farmer who also kept a tavern for over a decade on his parents' home lot in the Deerfield village, John also served in the militia during French and Indian War (1754-1763.) He sold his Deerfield lot in 1754 and was living in nearby Shelburne by 1760. He was active in town affairs and politics, and was a member of the Massachusetts Provincial Congress that met in Concord, Massachusetts, on the eve of the American Revolution (1775-1783.) John Tayor died in 1799, aged 77. (Susan McGowan and Amelia Miller, Family & Landscape: Deerfield Homelots from 1671 (Deerfield, MA: PVMA, 1896) p. 161; George Sheldon, A History of Deerfield (Greenfield, MA: PVMA, 1896.) Vol II, p. 339.)
In 1759, Daniel Arms noted in his account book that John Taylor rented his enslaved man, Titus. John's brother, Jonathan, Sr. (1724-1800) of Charlemont, Massachusetts, would later purchase Titus in 1771 for 20 shillings. (Daniel and Aaron Arms Account Book, PVMA Library.)
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