Taylor, George (1716?–1781), signer of the American declaration of independence, was born in Ireland, probably in the north of the country. His father may have been a clergyman or minister; the boy received a good education, but it is said that he was unhappy when apprenticed to a doctor. Apparently he ran away, penniless, and took passage to America as a redemptioner, arriving around 1736. His passage was paid by Samuel Savage, an ironfounder in Chester county, Pennsylvania, and the young man worked as a labourer at Savage's furnace for some time, until his employer realised that he could be useful as a clerk in the office. When Savage died (1742) Taylor married the widow, Anne Taylor Savage, and ran the business until Savage's son died (1752), when changes were introduced by the remaining shareholders. Taylor moved with a partner to operate an important foundry at Durham, Bucks county, and then moved in 1763 to Easton, Northampton county. He was successful in business, was elected a JP for the area, and then (1764) was elected to the provincial assembly, in which he served for five years. He was reelected in 1775, and was a member of the committee of safety from 1775 to 1776; he helped draft instructions for delegates to congress. Though not an extreme radical, he was in favour of throwing off British regal power, and he agreed to go as a replacement for one of the representatives of Pennsylvania in the continental congress of July 1776, who had opposed the declaration of independence. Taylor accordingly signed the declaration on 2 August 1776, or thereabouts, but seems to have resigned from congress soon after he was involved in treaty discussions with Native Americans near his home in Easton (January 1777). In March 1777 he was elected to the Pennsylvania supreme executive council, his last public service. After six weeks, ill health caused him to resign, and he died 23 February 1781 at Easton, and was buried in the Lutheran graveyard there. His house has been maintained as a museum.
Taylor and his wife (d. 1768) had a son and a daughter; the son had a family, but died before his father, and the daughter never married. With his housekeeper, Naomi Smith, Taylor had five illegitimate children. A likeness (which may however not be authentic) is in Appletons.