Colonel Benjamin Tasker Jr. (February 14, 1720–21 – October 17, 1760) was a politician and slave trader in colonial Maryland, and

Mayor of Annapolis The Mayor of Annapolis is the chief political figure in the city of Annapolis, which is the capital city of Maryland. The mayor is elected to a four-year term. List of Mayors of Annapolis *1708–1720 Amos Garrett *1720–1721 Thomas Lar ...

from 1754 to 1755. He was the son of

Benjamin Tasker Sr. Benjamin Tasker Sr. ( – June 19, 1768) was the 21st Proprietary Governor of Maryland from 1752 to 1753. He also occupied a number of other significant colonial offices, including, on various occasions, being elected Mayor of Annapolis. Career ...

, Provincial Governor of

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...

from 1752 to 1753.

Early life

Benjamin Tasker Jr. was born in Maryland in 1720, the son of Ann Bladen and

, the Provincial Governor of

from 1752 to 1753.

Career

From September 1742 to December 1755, Benjamin Tasker Jr. was Naval Officer for the port of Annapolis (a position previously held by his father). Tasker was Surveyor General of the Eastern Shore from October 1747 to 1755. Benjamin Tasker Jr. was appointed by Provincial Governor of

Horatio Sharpe Horatio Sharpe (1718 – November 9, 1790) was the 22nd proprietary governor of Maryland from 1753 to 1768 under the restored proprietary government of Maryland. Early life Horatio Sharpe was born in Hull, Yorkshire, England in 1718 to ...

as Commissioner, to secure the assistance of The Six Nations, having been voted £500 by the Maryland General Assembly for this purpose. This commission resulted in the Confederacy of 1752, a union of colonial interests for defense about a quarter of a century before the

United States Declaration of Independence The United States Declaration of Independence, formally The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen States of America, is the pronouncement and founding document adopted by the Second Continental Congress meeting at Pennsylvania State House ...

. He was one of Maryland's delegates to the Albany Congress of 1754, another attempt on the part of the colonists to deal jointly with a common problem. He served on a committee at the Albany congress with

Benjamin Franklin Benjamin Franklin ( April 17, 1790) was an American polymath who was active as a writer, scientist, inventor, statesman, diplomat, printer, publisher, and political philosopher. Encyclopædia Britannica, Wood, 2021 Among the leading inte ...

which was charged with the task of drawing up a plan for a central government of all the colonies. Ath the adjournment of the congress, the plan adopted was submitted to the various legislatures for approval. While it was rejected, its goals were pursued later at the

Constitutional Convention Constitutional convention may refer to: * Constitutional convention (political custom), an informal and uncodified procedural agreement *Constitutional convention (political meeting), a meeting of delegates to adopt a new constitution or revise an e ...

in Philadelphia. In 1752 he helped to organize a lottery to pay for a town clock in Annapolis. He was dispatched to settle Cresap's War between Maryland and Pennsylvania. Tasker partnered with his brother-in-law, Christopher Lowndes on the slaving voyage of the ''Elijah''.

Horse racing

An owner of

thoroughbred The Thoroughbred is a horse breed best known for its use in horse racing. Although the word ''thoroughbred'' is sometimes used to refer to any breed of purebred horse, it technically refers only to the Thoroughbred breed. Thoroughbreds are c ...

horse The horse (''Equus ferus caballus'') is a domesticated, one-toed, hoofed mammal. It belongs to the taxonomic family Equidae and is one of two extant subspecies of ''Equus ferus''. The horse has evolved over the past 45 to 55 million y ...

s, Tasker is noted in horse racing circles for having imported from

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

the mare " Selima" between 1750 and 1752. Sired by

Godolphin Arabian The Godolphin Arabian (–1753), also known as the Godolphin Barb, was an Arabian horse who was one of three stallions that founded the modern Thoroughbred (the others were the Darley Arabian and the Byerley Turk). He was named after his best-kno ...

, "Selima" was raced until the end of the 1752 season then was sent to

Samuel Ogle Samuel Ogle (c. 1694 – 3 May 1752) was the 16th, 18th and 20th Proprietary Governor of Maryland from 1731 to 1732, 1733 to 1742, and 1746/1747 to 1752. Background The Ogle family was quite prominent for many centuries in Newcastle-upon-Tyne, ...

's Belair Stud in Collington, Maryland. As a broodmare, "Selima" produced ten foals that would become an important bloodline in American racing with important racing offspring such as "Hanover" and is even the ancestress of George Washington's stallion, "Magnolia." Tasker and Franklin became friends, and when Franklin visited

Annapolis Annapolis ( ) is the capital city of the U.S. state of Maryland and the county seat of, and only incorporated city in, Anne Arundel County. Situated on the Chesapeake Bay at the mouth of the Severn River, south of Baltimore and about east o ...

in the spring of 1755, he visited Tasker at the Belair Mansion, then being run by Tasker. Tasker died on October 17, 1760, around 40 years of age.

References

*Andrews, Matthew Page, ''History of Maryland'', Doubleday Doran & Co, New York City (1929).
Warfield, J. D. ''The Founders of Anne Arundel and Howard Counties, Maryland: A Genealogical and Biographical Review from Wills, Deeds and Church Records''
Retrieved August 2012

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tasker, Benjamin Jr. 1720 births 1760 deaths American racehorse owners and breeders Mayors of Annapolis, Maryland American planters People of colonial Maryland American slave traders Tasker family

Early life

Career

Horse racing

See also

References

Notes