Taylor Mansion
Photo about 1845
James Taylor once owned 1500 acres of what is now Newport and Bellevue in Campbell County, inheriting the land from his father who had received it from the state of Virginia for his service in the Revolutionary War. 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 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.
General James Taylor Mansion
information and more pictures.