Taylor Mansion
Photo about 1845
James Taylor once owned 1500 acres of what is now Newport and Bellevue in Campbell County, whose father bought it from George Muse, who had received it from the state of Virginia for his service in the Revolutionary War. The first house was built by his enslaved men that came with him from Virginia, Moses, Humphreys and Adam. An English Army deserter, Robert Christy, and Christy's wife and their three children, also came with them. They reached Newport June 20 but couldn't find lodging so he stayed at Ft. Washington in Cincinnati. His enslaved men worked through the summer to clear 16 acres in fields along the Licking River, plant two corn crops and build a small cabin on lot no. 6 at the southwest corner of Second Street and Central Avenue. They dug the foundation by hand and laid the stone for it. One can still see the stone foundation today.
Keturah Moss Leitch received the 15,000 acres of Campbell County when her husband, David Leitch died. Taylor was the lawyer who probated the estate for her. A year later they married and became the largest land owners in the county.
Taylor served in the War of 1812 and helped finance American campaigns against Britain and its allies in Michigan during that conflict. Taylor had a large house built in Newport by 1820 by the prisoners from the Newport Barracks, but it was destroyed by fire in 1842. It took several years to build the house.
Articles about the Taylor Mansion Fire
Tradition has it that is was set by a disgruntled slave. To replace it, Taylor had a new brick mansion constructed in the 1846-7 again by his enslaved men, which took four years to rebuild. He named it "Bellview" and it still stands at 335 East Third street in Newport and first was known as the Vonderhaar-Stetter-Betz Funeral Home. It is now owned by the law firm of Gerner Law.
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Kentucky Post, Thursday, 23 January 1919, page 4
A deal for the purchase of the famous old Taylor mansion, Third and Overton streets, Newport, has been completed and the property passes into possession of Bernard Vonderhaar, member of the undertaking firm of Vonderhaar & Stetter. Vonderhaar said Thursday it is the intention of his firm to remodel the beautiful old place into up to date funeral parlors.
The mansion formerly was the property of General James Taylor, an officer in the Revolutionary War. It was in this house that the late King Edward of England, then Prince of Wales, was entertained.
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General James Taylor Mansion
information and more pictures.