University of Virginia Library

THE BAYLOR FAMILY OF NEWMARKET

According to family records in the possession of James B.
Baylor, of "Newmarket" plantation and Washington, D. C.,

the first members of the Baylor family to settle permanently in
America were John and Robert Baylor who came to Virginia
toward the close of the seventeenth century. They were born in
Tiverton, Devonshire, England, John Baylor's birth date being
1650. Shortly after their emigration to Virginia they were
followed by their father, John Baylor, I, who had lived in Virginia
or owned property in the colony as early as 1650. The Lancaster
county records show that he was assessed in 1854 with three
tithables.

Fac simile of Statement of Account Between John Baylor and Edm. Pendleton

John Baylor, II, was married in 1696 to a widow, Mrs. O'Brien,
of New Kent, whose maiden name was Lucy Todd. He lived
first in Gloucester, which he represented in the House of Burgesses,
and afterward removed to King and Queen which he represented

in the House of Burgesses in 1718. He was a merchant as well
as a planter and employed a number of ships to bring in goods
for his stores in Gloucester, King and Queen and New Kent.
His principal warehouses were at a placed called "Baylor" on
the Mattaponi, between Walkerton and King and Queen Courthouse.

John Baylor, III, son of John and Lucy Todd O'Brien Baylor,
was born at Walkerton may 12, 1705 and was educated in
England at Putney rammar School and Caius College, Cambridge.
He was granted lands in King and Queen in 1726, upon
which he established his home calling the same "Newmarket."
The County of Caroline was formed the following year and the
plantation of "Newmarket" fell in the new county. John Baylor
III was Colonel in the Caroline Militia and was a Burgess for
Caroline from 1742 to 1765. He was also County Lieutenant
for Orange where he had been granted a vast tract of land upon
which he lived during the summer months. His commission as
Lieutenant is still preserved. He died April 16, 1772. Colonel
Baylor was noted as an importer and breeder of thoroughbred
horses. Among the famous horses which he brought to the
colony may be mentioned "Fearnaught" who cost him one
thousand guineas as the bill of sale, still in possession of the
Baylor family, will testify. In the New York Herald, of February
12, 1922, appeared the following: