Bayard Taylor (1825-1878)

He was born at Kennett Square, Chester Co., Pennsylvania. He began publishing books and poems from 1844 which quickly made him a household name across the States. The book he published in 1870, Joseph and His Friend: A Story of Pennsylvania, is purported by some (but certainly not all) to have been 'America's first gay novel'. He travelled all over the globe meeting various interesting people and his accounts of his many journeys were popularly received back in America. In 1852, he accompanied Commodore Matthew Galbraith Perry on his historic diplomatic mission to Japan. In 1862, he was appointed secretary to the U.S. Legation at St. Petersburg in Russia and in 1878 he was appointed Minister to Prussia, where he died only months after his arrival. He married (as his second wife) Marie, daughter of the German astronomer Peter Andreas Hansen. They had one daughter, Lillie, and lived at Cedarcroft, Kennett Square.