 He was brought to America at the age of 12 and attended the College of William & Mary.Taylor was elected to represent Fayetteville, North Carolina in the North Carolina House of Commons in 1792, 1794 and 1795.He became a state Superior Court judge in 1798 and turned over most of his law practice to his brother-in-law, young William Gaston, who later became a North Carolina Supreme Court judge and U.S.