Shortly after becoming ironmaster at Durham, Taylor entered public life for the first time, serving as a justice of the peace in Bucks County from 1757–63. When the lease for the Durham mill expired, the Taylors relocated to Easton, the county seat of Northampton County. He obtained the Bachmann's Tavern, later known as Easton House in 1761. The next year, 1764, Taylor was commissioned as a justice of the peace in Northampton County and with William Allen's backing, was elected to the Pennsylvania Provincial Assembly.