Col. John Tayloe I was one of the richest plantation owners and businessmen in Virginia for his generation. Considered to be the chief architect of the family fortune, he was known as the "Hon. Colonel of the Old House". The Tayloe family of Richmond County, Virginia, including John Tayloe I, his son, John Tayloe II, and grandson, John Tayloe III, exemplified gentry entrepreneurship diversifying business interests through vertical integration.

Col. John Tayloe II was the premier Virginia planter; a politician, and colonial Colonel in the Virginia Militia. Virginia. He served in public office including the Virginia Governor's Council, also known as the Virginia Council of State.