John Allan Taylor & the Marble House
Susan Taylor Block
- The John Allan Taylor House, about 1870. Those individuals pictured may be Catherine Harriss Taylor (porch, on right) and her children, Harriet Taylor, and John D. Taylor. (NC Collection, UNC-Chapel Hill. Courtesy of Walker Taylor III)
John Allan Taylor was born in New York City in 1798. His parents, John and Jane Taylor, were Ulster Scots who emigrated from Northern Ireland sometime before 1790. They had at least one other child- a boy named James. John died only a few years after John Allan’s birth, and eventually his widow married a neighbor, John Leary.
John Taylor’s sister, Sally Taylor, married James Cronly. They had a son named Michael who was orphaned during early childhood. Michael was raised by Jane Taylor Leary and supported during adolescence by first cousin John Allan Taylor.
Except for the fact that he was a Mason and a member of the Grand Lodge of New York, little has been recorded about John Allan Taylor’s life in New York City or his family’s origins in Ireland. His parents’ names are such common ones that Internet searches continue to frustrate. What is known is that young John Allan Taylor arrived in Wilmington in 1820. A newspaper report noted later that he succeeded, “by his own exertions,” and indeed he did hit the Wilmington ground running.
John Allan Taylor established himself as a significant businessman on Wilmington’s bustling riverfront. In time, he ran a steam sawmill at Water and Castle streets, acquired a small fleet of tugboats, created the Brunswick Ferry system, and became steamboat agent for the Wilmington and Raleigh Railroad. His success led to other opportunities.
With partner, J. Colville, he owned large steam saw and planing mills on Nutt Street, near the foot of Walnut Street. The promotion stated, ” Every description of lumber sawed to order. Black walnut, ash, poplar, juniper, and cypress - and seasoned pine lumber always on hand.”
By 1847, John Allan Taylor wore many hats. He was a town commissioner, a director for the Wilmington branch of the Bank of the State, a member of the local school board, and on the subscription committee for the Wilmington and Manchester Railroad. Taylor also served on the welcoming committee when Daniel Webster visited Wilmington, in 1847. That same year, along with John MacRae, Dr. Thomas H. Wright, Gilbert Potter, and James S. Green, Mr. Taylor contributed liberally to the “Relief of Ireland” fund, a charity formed to ease the horrors of the Great Famine.
Taylor joined the York Rite, a Freemason organization, in 1825, and First Presbyterian Church soon after he arrived in Wilmington. From 1820 until it burned in 1859, the church building, the second for that congregation, was housed on the east side of South Front Street between Dock and Orange. Taylor was elected Ruling Elder and proved to be a generous church member who underwrote the cost of substantial repairs including painting the entire church and providing a new tin roof. After the building burned, Taylor was involved with plans to rebuild the church at its present location at Third and Orange streets. The new beautiful Georgian church structure was designed by Philadelphia architect Samuel Sloan.
First Presbyterian Church (1861-1925) (Reprinted from Cape Fear Lost. Photo housed at Cape Fear Museum)
In 1859, First Presbyterian Church launched a drive to build a mission schoolhouse for children in Wilmington’s underprivileged south side. John A. Taylor contributed a South Front Street lot on which the new structure was built. The organization became known as Immanuel Presbyterian Church and still exists. Renamed Windemere Presbyterian Church, it presently is located near Wrightsville Beach, on Eastwood Road.
In 1823, three years after relocating, John Allan Taylor married into a well-established Wilmington family when he wed Catherine McIlhenny Harriss. She was daughter of Elizabeth and William Harriss of Wilmington, and a relative of the McIlhenny family that owned a rice plantation, Eagles Nest, in Brunswick County.
Catherine Harriss was one of three children. Her older sister, Susan, married Wilmington businessman Isaac Northrop. Her brother was Dr. William James Harriss, father of Ellen McIlhenny Harriss who married Dr. John D. Bellamy in 1839. Dr. Bellamy studied medicine under Dr. Harriss.
In 1825, John A. Taylor purchased the St. John’s Lodge building at 114 Orange Street from his fellow Freemasons, who relocated. It is possible he and Catherine lived there for two or three years. In 1828, Taylor sold the lodge to silversmith Thomas W. Brown. John A. Taylor had two children, John Douglas Taylor and Harriett Harriss Taylor. For many years, the family lived on the northeast corner of Fourth and Market streets in a house owned by William Harriss, then owned by John Allan Taylor. During this period, Taylor’s mother came to visit, but did not leave until she died in 1852. Mrs. Leary’s sister, Nancy Powers, also came to live with the Taylors. After the Taylors moved to the marble house, the women had their own floor in the large two-story brick servants’ quarters located close to Princess Street. Jane Leary and Nancy Powers were buried at Oakdale Cemetery in the same plot as John AllanTaylor.
As early as 1847, John Allan Taylor was in the process of building the marble house. He purchased the land at 411 Market Street from the Walker family, then set about to make good on an old promise. Years earlier, when he was engaged to Catherine Harriss, she told him she would like to have a house made of marble one day.
Double-click and scroll to see small details in this photo by Louis T. Moore. (Courtesy of New Hanover County Library)
Catherine’s youthful desire had become more timely by the 1840s when fires occurred with great frequency. City fathers urged builders to use all the fireproof materials possible when constructing houses, particularly those within 6 or 7 blocks of the Cape Fear River that seemed to manufacture winds capable of fanning a flame into a bonfire within seconds.
The building lot Taylor chose was a large one: 130′ by 330′. North-south, it went from Market Street to Princess Street. He built a two-story classical revival dwelling made of Philadelphia pressed brick and marble veneer. The price tag for the house, described in the Wilmington Herald, July 22, 2857, as being “costly,” was $30,000. The cold white residence was warmed and colored by rich landscaping. On the northwestern end of the property sat a large greenhouse filled with garden material that would make its way to the lawn and/or dining room table. Like most Wilmington residents, they also had a vegetable garden, at least one cow, and a chicken coop.
Michael Cronly, the cousin John Allan Taylor helped support, had moved to Wilmington years before construction began on Taylor’s house. Through the Cronly side of his family, Michael had a relative named Dr. Murphy, an elderly man who lived in Philadelphia. Dr. Murphy took a special interest in architecture and the building project - and “attended to getting the marble from Millican in Philadelphia.” Outside, the facade, front steps, and tower pilasters were all made of marble veneer. The interior featured marble floors and a solid marble tub.
Considering Dr. Murphy’s contacts in Philadelphia, it is tempting to wonder if architect Samuel Sloan had anything to do with the Taylor residence. Sloan had been working steadily in Philadelphia since 1833 as a builder, and in 1850 would be acknowledged as a gifted architect. He was well-versed in marble construction. In addition to designing Wilmington’s third First Presbyterian Church building (1859-1861), Sloan served as architect for neighboring First Baptist Church (1859-1870), and the Bank of New Hanover, another structure covered in Philadelphia marble veneer. (1872). The bank and bank building were closely associated with the Taylors for at least fifty years.
A vintage postcard image of First Baptist Church. (Hill-Taylor Collection)
The Bank of New Hanover sat on the northwest corner of Front and Princess streets from 1873 until 1959. (Reprinted from Cape Fear Lost. Photo housed at Cape Fear Museum)
About the same time, John Allan Taylor built a marble mausoleum in a Colonial cemetery that sat near the northwest corner of 4th and Dock streets. A newspaper account recorded the unusual sight, remarking it was “erected entirely above the surface of the earth.” One of the neighbor complained bitterly. Others, many of whom, illogically, thought it indecent to entomb bodies above ground level, joined the lament.
According to J. Fred Newber, on September 26, 1845, a “band of drunken rowdies decided to put an end to the controversy. They packed the mausoleum with gunpowder to its marble rafters. Then, someone lit a fuse. The blast…was heard for miles. Sleeping citizens sat up straight in their beds and wondered if an earthquake had struck.” Reports of airborne marble came from miles away. Eventually, Taylor rebounded. In 1852, he was one of fifteen “Proprietors of the Wilmington Cemetery,” who incorporated Oakdale Cemetery.
The green house was erected on the western side of the marble house. John Allan Taylor supported a gardener’s passage from Sligo, Ireland to attend to his properties that eventually included the marble house, a sound house, and The Oaks plantation in Brunswick County. The Oaks, known today as Pleasant Oaks, is currently owned by the Robert R. Bellamy family.
Image from Pleasant Oaks brochure, about 1955. (Hill-Taylor Collection)
Gardener George Peacock Lamb raised “roses, all budded on English dwarf roses,” in addition to many other flowers and plants. He created arrangements for the Taylor household frequently. Though Lamb continued to work for the Taylors, he opened his own florist business, too.
George P. Lamb lived at 105 North 6th Street and had a nursery and second residence on the Plank Road (Wrightsville Avenue). He was a member of St. John’s Episcopal Church and the Hibernian Benevolent Society. Years later, when he died in 1887, members of the society, suited up in their regalia, accompanied Lamb’s body from his house to the funeral service.
The kitchen of the marble house featured a brick oven. Though the immediate family was small, cooks served meals for scores of diners on holidays. At Christmas, according to Miss Ellen Bellamy, they prepared turkeys, oysters, hams, roast pig, vegetables, pies, Sally White cake and numerous other delights for the Taylors, their many in-town relatives, and the minister of First Presbyterian Church, and his wife.
Author James Sprunt considered John Allan Taylor one of Wilmington’s “most eminent publicists and logicians.” His ability as a publicist is evident in numerous local newspaper announcements designed to jumpstart his new ventures and remind the public of his established businesses. There is almost an lilt in the wording. The Calhoun, a powerful tugboat and towboat Taylor purchased from a seller in Charleston, in 1848, outshone the competition. Taylor’s promo read, “Vessels from abroad will not be detained on account of wind or tide hereafter. The Calhoun will do the needful.”
Recognizing the lure of breezy Smithville (Southport) during hot weather, Taylor set up a summer schedule for The Calhoun that featured passenger service from Wilmington to Smithville on Saturday and a return trip on Monday. All voyages were “commanded” by Captain May. He purchased another steamboat in 1848, the Charles Downing, but it was smaller than the Calhoun. Taylor purchased another boat that he named the May, in honor of Captain May. That boat became part of Taylor’s Brunswick Ferry system and survived in rebuilt form until much larger ferries and the Cape Fear Memorial Bridge took their place.
The May (on the right), still going, about 1919. (Reprinted from Along the Cape Fear. Photo is housed at Cape Fear Museum.)
John Allan Taylor died May 10, 1873, at 2:00 a.m., in the marble house. Over time, he had made personal loans and co-signed for many friends. Reconstruction era economics were particularly hard for the Taylor family and the house had to be sold at auction. Lt. Gov. Charles M. Stedman was the new owner. From 1893 until 1951, the house served as an armory for the Wilmington Light Infantry.
From 1956 until 1981, the John Allan Taylor residence housed the municipal library. The novelty of the house made library visits very special during those years, especially if you were a child. Everything echoed and you felt as if you were in a place of much importance. The marble floors fought the “Silence” sign. A stern female librarian was likely to say, “Shush,” when you walked across them at your usual pace and step, wearing hard sole shoes.
Later, city offices occupied the building. Today, it is the property of First Baptist Church. Though put to fine use, church alterations necessary for function have made the interior almost unrecognizable to those who remember it from the good old days.
Sources: Author’s interviews during the early 1980s with Walker Taylor III, Katherine Taylor Hill, David Oliver, Margaret Hall, and John D. Taylor. Additional information provided by J. Fred Newber. Bill Reaves Files (New Hanover County Public Library); James Sprunt, Chronicles of the Cape Fear River (1660-1916); writings of W. P. McKoy; Ida Brooks Kellam Files (Historical Society of the Lower Cape Fear); Ellen Bellamy, “Christmas at Uncle Taylor’s.” (Note: Clarence Jones, the legendary African American gardener at Orton Plantation, who lived to be 100, identified the little ferryboat May. “That’s the old May, he said,” in 1998. “When I was a boy, my job was to put the blinds down when it rained.” Jones’s father and grandfather ran the ferry for owner O. E. Durant, who rebuilt the May several times.)
COPYRIGHT 2010, Susan Taylor Block. (All proceeds from the books Along the Cape Fear and Cape Fear Lost, by the author, go to Cape Fear Museum.)
