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Article Covers __________________________ [edit] The Taylor Families of Old Augusta County, Virginia, by Richard McMurtry, Los Gatos, CA
Including those of the portions of Augusta that became Rockingham, Botetourt, Rockbridge, Montgomery, Grayson, Giles Counties, by Richard McMurtry April 2010; revised with corrections May and July 2010A survey of the various Taylor families that lived in old Augusta County, including the portions that became Rockingham, Botetourt, Rockbridge, Montgomery, Grayson, Tazewell and Giles Counties. There were 7 major Taylor families: Northern Augusta (Rockingham County)
Central Augusta (Rockbridge County and Boteourt County)
Southern Augusta (Montgomery and Grayson Counties)
There are a number of other loose ends that we have only minimally studied as yet:
[edit] 1. Family of John Taylor d. 1772, Augusta CountyThis John bought land on Muddy Creek in what became Rockingham Co in 1756 and sold it with his wife Esther in 1757. He acquired additional lands and died there in 1772 His widow and children also acquired additional land in this same area. These lands were in the Muddy Creek, Cub Run, Stovers Mill Creek area. His children were: John Taylor, Archd. Taylor, James Taylor, Joseph Taylor, Jonathan Taylor, Wm. Taylor, Sarah Taylor, Francis Carter and Margaret, late Margt. Taylor, Saml. Twitchet and Catherine, late Catherine Taylor, Sylvenus Gibson and Elenor, late Elenor Taylor. At least 5 of the 6 sons were single in 1810 and it is not known if the 6th son had progeny or not. At least two of the daughters Margaret and Elinor, married and moved south shortly after the death of their father. According to one source, Elinor and her husband Sylvanus Gibson were in Wake Co NC by 1774 and in Wilkes Co Co by 1805. Another source shows that Elinor and Sylvanus Gibson and Margaret and Francis Carter were in Wilkes Co by 1791 when they appointed their brother John Taylor of Rockingham Co as their attorney to dispose of their portion of land. (Page 369--CARTER, FRANCIS and wife Margaret, and Sylvanus Gibson and wife Elinor, all of Wilkes Co. Ga., power of atty to John Taylor of Rockingham Co. Va., to dispose of two tracts of land in Rockingham Co. One tract belonged to John Taylor, dec'd, at the head of Stoors Mill creek, (Starrs?). The other adj the one above mentioned, the property of Jas. Waits, dec'd. Dec. 6, 1791. Jos. Taylor, John Massey (?) test. This abstract is from The Early Records of Georgia, Volume II, Wilkes County abstracted and compiled by Grace Gillam Davidson, published in 1933 at Macon, GA. (p. 314). Also John Taylor and Ann his wife of Rockingham sold land in Wilkes Co GA in 1797 that he bought in 1793. Wilkes Co GA: P. 347 Book RR 20 Dec. 1797, John Taylor and Ann, his wife, of Rockingham Co., VA., to Edward Moore of Wilkes Co., GA, for $30, 15 acres in Wilkes co., GA on Cooks Branch waters of Little River, adjacent Isaac Stewart, John Taylor (ours?), Robert Chrismas, part of 200 acres granted to William Digbey, 15 July 1785, & by him sold to said John Taylor by deed 10 June 1793. (signed John Taylor, Nancy Taylor. Wit: Felix Gilbert, Junior., Abraham Tyson, Wm. G. Gilbert. Red. 21 Dec. 1799. There is a marriage record in Rockingham County of John Taylor to Ann Gilbert (1786: John Taylor md Ann Gilbert (History of Rockingham Co by Wayland, p 446). Also Felix Gilbert sold land in Rockingham Co VA in May 1791 to John Taylor. Felix Gilbert also moved to Georgia and died there. (Page 234-GILBERT, FELIX, merchant. To four daus., Sarah Gibson, Nancy Taylor, Mariah Christmas and Elizabeth Hay $200.00 each, they having already received property. To younger son Felix Heywood Gilbert £400. Residue to be divided between sons Wm. Grant Gilbert and Felix," all legacies to be settled as money now passes in Va., that is six shillings for every Spanish milled dollar." Above mentioned sons and friends Rev. John Springer and Benj. Taliaferro, Excrs. Signed Mar. 15, 1798. Probated Feb. 24, 1801. Abraham Tyson, Reuben Wright, Bedfd. Brown, Obadiah Wynne, Test. The 1810 census lists John Taylor and brothers (5 unmarried males in the household). There is evidence that James, William, John, and Jonathan were still in the county in 1829. James died in the area (Dayton) in 1843 and William in 1849. William Taylor’s will of 1848 identifies him as William Taylor of Taylor’s Springs and gave $500 to inclose the graveyard at Union Church, “where my father mother brothers and and other friends are buried” and mentions “my sister Catherine Twitchet”. His grave is at Cross Keys. Archibald and Joseph are mentioned in deeds in 1814/1815; John, Jonathan and William sell land in 1829 to Milcher Secrist. . .
[edit] 2. Family of Isaac TaylorIsaac Taylor appeared in Augusta Co VA in the early 1740's. He bought land on Mill Creek in the Borden grant in 1746, land on Buffalo Creek in 1756, and land 55 miles south on the Roanoke River in 1763. In the 1760's, he divided his lands on Mill Creek amongst his sons Andrew, George and William and sold his Buffalo Creek land to his son Isaac.
o William’s son William b 1758 md Jean Guffey 1792, went to Augusta County about 1800, returning about 1808 and then selling his land and going to Rockcastle Co Kentucky about 1810. o William’s son James married Mary Gunn in 1780, had 4 daughters and died about 1800 in Rockbridge with his 117 acres going to his son-in-law William Tolley. o William’s son Isaac died prior to 1795 and his unnamed heirs who referenced in a Chancery Court Suit in 1795. No detailed records of the suit have been found, though mentioned in William b 1758 deed of 1810.
We do not yet know what happened to George Taylor son of Isaac Taylor after his sale of Rockbridge Co land in 1778. However, we note that in 1778, George, Andrew and Isaac Taylor (Isaac being the grandson of Isaac d 1781) all sold their Rockbridge Co land and in 1782, George Taylor and Andrew Taylor both got North Carolina land grants in Washington Co TN and in 1787, Isaac Taylor got a land grant there. Perhaps the George who got the 1782 grant in Washington Co TN is the George Taylor who sold his Rockbridge County land in 1778. DNA from a descendant of Andrew Taylor (son of Isaac Taylor d 1781) and a descendant of George Taylor d 1801 shows that George Taylor d 1801 Montgomery Co VA is NOT the son of Isaac Taylor d 1781. [edit] 3. Family of John Taylor of Craigs Creek, Botetourt CountyJohn Taylor and his wife Mary bought and sold property in the James River area in the 1760s and then seem to have moved to the Craigs Creek area by 1770. He remarried in his late middle age in 1804 (to Mary Meggitt) in Botetourt Co and died there in 1811/1812. His children were: Mary, Elizabeth, John b 1764, James, Thomas b 1770's?, Isaac (b 1760's?) and Andrew b 1806 (by his second wife). Andrew b 1806 inherited his father’s plantation and was still in the area (Craig Co) in 1880 though no will was found in Craig Co 1880-1900. James seems to have left the area after 1785; John b 1764 left to go to Pulaski Co KY after 1803; Isaac left after 1806. Brother James may have also gone to Pulaski County based on being a surety for the marriage bonds of two of his brother’s children in Pulaski Co. Living in the Craig Creek area were Taylors but of unknown connection to John d 1812.
Children: • John Taylor Jr married Catherine Wilson in 1791 in Montgomery Co, purchased land from his father in 1802 and sold it in 1803, moving to Pulaski Co KY by 1806. • James Taylor may be the James who married Rebecca McDonald in 1785. In any event, when he sold land in 1791 no wife is mentioned. So he may be the James who was in Wayne Co KY. He may also be the James Taylor in Pulaski Co KY who was surety for marriage bonds of his brother John’s son Joshua b 1793 md 1814 Patsy Higgins and John Taylor md 1819. We can’t tell if the James Taylor who married 1778 to Ann Tillery and sold land on Craigs Creek with wife Ann in 1783 is the same James who married 1785 to Rebecca McDonald. If so, he was not the James Taylor who with wife Nancy sold Sinking Valley, Pulaski Co land in 1819 (grant 1818), but was probably the James Taylor in Tennessee in 1822 who sold land on Pittman Creek. Other researchers report James Taylor husband of Ann Tillery and Rebecca McDonald lived in Kentucky, then Anderson Co TN, then Greene Co IL by 1828. This is murky! • Isaac Taylor married Susanna Smith in 1785. She seems to have been ill in 1805 and probably died then. Isaac sold his Craig’s Creek land between 1801 and 1806 and then went to KY, settling in Wayne Co prior to 1813.In 1813, he appointed John Taylor of Pulaski Co his attorney to recover his due from the estate of his father John Taylor of Botetourt County. Jonathan sold some of his land in 1785 and then by 1791 he was in Fayette Co KY and appointed his son William (born prior to 1770) as his attorney. William sold Jonathan’s Craigs Creek land in 1794. Jontahan Taylor was born Dec 3 1742 Orange County Va and died June 26, 1803 Clark Co., KY. His wife was Nancy Ann Berry. Their son was William Berry Taylor, born Feb 26 1768 at Botetourt Co., VA DNA for descendants of John Taylor d 1812 (Francis Asbury Taylor, Isaac Taylor, and Joshua Taylor) are all 25 marker matches but this pattern does not match with the patterns of any other Taylor family. [edit] 4. Five Taylor Brothers of Rockbridge County, VirginiaThere was a second wave of immigation into Rockbridge County by the early 1770's. This consisted of five brothers: George, James, John, Cawfield and William. George seems to have bought land on Buffalo Creek by 1772, John died in the Revolution in 1778, Cawfield served in the Revolution, James married in 1768 to Ann Paul a daughter of Audley Paul and died in 1801, and William married Jane Walker and died about 1806. We do not have DNA samples from any branch of this family and can not determine if they are kin to the Taylors that preceded them, but it appears they are an unrelated family. George the oldest brother died in 1800/1801 and is buried in the family plot on Cedar Creek, a tributary Natural Bridge. George owned land from 1772 on the south branch of Buffalo Creek, NW of Short Hill and later owned land to the SE on Cedar Creek where his brother William settled. His children were: Mark b1784, Nancy , Silas Taylor md Lucinda, Nancy Taylor md John Gore, Betsy Taylor md Andrew Annix/Amyx, John Taylor, Matthew Taylor. James also died about 1801 in Rockbridge County. He bought land in 1774 from his brother George, on Buffalo Creek, and got grant for land straddling the Botetourt/Rockbridge Co border adjacent to his brother George in 1800. His children were: Audley Taylor b 1777 or 1769? , Caufield b1781, James 1781, John 1779, Rebecca 1783 md 1799 Henry Green=>Indiana, Archibald 1787, Nancy 1788 md 1808 Amos Thomas, Stuart Taylor b 1797, Elizabeth 1799 md Samuel Steele, Hugh Paul Taylor b 1800. William married Jane Walker and may have died about 1806. He bought land on Buffalo Creek in 1772 and later lived in the Cedar Creek area (tributary of the Natural Bridge and the James River) just over the ridge from the south branch of Buffalo Creek where his brothers James and George lived. He sold his land in 1804 and does not appear on the tax lists thereafter. John died in the Revolution in 1778. Caufield also served in the Revolution. His military land rights seem to have devolved to his oldest brother George whose heirs sold the land rights to someone who got land in Ohio. He sold his land in 1795 and does not appear on the tax lists thereafter.
[edit] 5. Family of Thomas Taylor of Augusta CountyLittle is know about Thomas Taylor except that his sons George, John and Abraham were bound out as indentured servants or apprentices in 1778 and 1779 because Thomas couldn’t take good care of them. The fate of these sons or of Thomas is not known.
[edit] 6. Family of George Taylor, d. 1801 Montgomery CountyGeorge and John Taylor appear in the Crab Creek area by 1768 in what became Montgomery Co. John’s children were born beginning in 1767 and George’s children were born beginning in the late 1750's. They are assumed to be close kin and it is conceivable that John was an older son by a prior marriage of George though that would make George in his 80s when he died in 1801. Subsequent to their Crab Creek land acquisitions, George and John both bought land on Sinking Creek a few miles to the north. John (and his son John) settled on a plantation called Rockford in what became the town of Radford just to the south of Crab Creek but some of John’s other children settled on the Sinking Creek lands. George settled on Sinking Creek but his sons George and Woolrich remained on Crab Creek, while his other sons (Adam, Jacob, Joseph and James) seem to have settled on Sinking Creek. We have not yet identified George’s son John. Perhaps his son John was the John of Rockford. DNA shows that George Taylor d 1801 Montgomery Co VA is not the son of Isaac Taylor d1781 Montgomery Co VA, but may be connected to the Taylor families of Chester Co PA. John Taylor of Rockford died in 1814 and his children were: dau b 1767?, James b1769, Charles b 1771, William Taylor b1775, , Allen b 1777, John McCanless b 1780, Mary McCanless Taylor md 1802
[edit] 7. Family of John Taylor of Grayson CountyJohn Taylor reportedly came from NC and got grants on the New River in 1784 and 1797, including acreage abutting the boundary with NC. His children were born the 1760's, 1770's, including Simeon, Stephen b 1770 and William. He moved to Ashe County, North Carolina and died there in 1807.
[edit] Other Taylor Families8. William Taylor of Botetourt County and Shelby County, Kentucky William Taylor of Spotsylvania and Caroline Co VA obtained a grant on Glade Creek in Botetourt Co in 1795 and sold it in 1800 while living in Shelby Co KY.
William Taylor d 1807 Rockbridge Co arrived in Rockbridge County in 1792 and remained there until his death in 1807. IN 1795, he got a grant for 24 acres on Kerr’s Creek and in 1802 got a grant for 731 acres in the same area. He has been confused with the William Taylor of the Five Brothers who married Jane Walker and lived on Cedar Creek . But William of Kerr’s Creek is a different William; he is the brother of Daniel Taylor who married in Augusta in 1773, died in 1809, and whose widow Mary married in Rockbridge in 1810 and whose daughter married in Rockbridge in 1820. William d 1807 had sons William and John who inherited his 771 acres of land. John may be the John md 1806 to Jane Cunningham. DNA shows that this family is not related to the other Taylor families for which we have samples.
[edit] Additional Notes on selected Taylor Families:The Family of George Taylor d 1801 Montgomery County: My research hypothesis for George Taylor is that he may have been married three times: (1) to an unknown wife with whom he had a son John Taylor about 1741-46 who came with him to Virginia about 1768, (2) an unknown wife with whom he had sons Adam, Jacob, George and Ulrich Taylor born in the late 1750s and early 1760s, and (3) Mary Charlton that he married in the 1770s and with whom he had 4 children, including sons Joseph and James and 2 daughters. The weak part of the hypothesis is postulating that John Taylor of Rockford was the son of George d 1801; the strong part of this hypothesis is the division of George’s children into two groups – four who were George’s children by his last wife Mary Charlton and the other children who were by a former wife or wives. George’s will of 1801 mentioned “my wife and her four children”. Assuming that Mary Charlton Taylor was still alive when George died, this statement appears to distinguish between the last four of George’s children that are by his current wife and those that are not, i.e. that are children by a former wife or wives. Other puzzles In George Taylor Jr’s 1807 will, he mentions that if his nephew Charles, son of his brother Woolrick dies, then the land that was to go to Charles should go instead to his brothers Jacob, Adam and nephew George. So who was George’s father? Presumably the list that includes Adam and Jacob would have included another brother unless that brother were deceased in which case nephew might be named. Since we know that George’s brother Woolrick was deceased about 1806, then it is likely that the nephew George was the son of Woolrick. George Taylor Sr’s 1801 will mentioned Jacob Taylor and mentions his grandson John – the latter to receive a horse. Adam Taylor’s will of 1814 mentions a horse bequeathed to his grandson Samuel Hunter – a horse formerly the property of John Taylor. Perhaps this is the horse bequeathed by George Taylor to his grandson John. I suspect that this John is the son Jacob because of the close relationship between Adam and Jacob and since Adam didn’t have a son John. George’s son John The weakest part of the hypothesis is the assertion that John Taylor of Rockford was son of George. The evidence is contradictory. John was born about 1741-1746 based on his being 21-25 at birth of first child Margaret in 1767 (according to Mary Taylor Brewer). This would be 12 to 16 years before the birth of Jacob or Adam Taylor. So this spread between birth of first child by first wife and next child by second wife seems a bit wide. The only reason for assuming that the John Taylor of Rockford was son of George is that there is no other unidentified John Taylors appearing consistently in the tax lists of Montgomery. The John Taylor Sr and John Taylor Jr that appear in the tax lists 1787 to 1789 are in the area of Montgomery that became Wythe Co in 1789 and Grayson Co in 1793. John Taylor Sr died in 1807 in Ashe Co NC and his children including John Taylor Jr were born in the 1770s. There are no Johns in Montgomery Co after 1789 except for once in 1790, 1801 and once in 1806. The first one could be an isolated instance of John Taylor who married Catherine Wilson in 1791 since he appears to be taxed on the same day as Thomas and William, sons of Isaac Taylor d 1801 in the vicinity of the area where the Wilson’s lived.; the other two references I assume to be to the grandson John referred to George Taylor’s 1801 will and Adam’s 1814 will. In any event we do not find anyone corresponding to George’s son John named in the 1801 will, other than John of Rockford. George Taylor’s will of 1801 bequeathed only a token amount to his son John. This would make sense if John were the independently wealthy John Taylor d 1813/1814 of Rockford. So we are left uncertain about the identity of John Taylor, son of George d 1801 – the evidence is a bit contradictory. George’s family seems to be: George Taylor d 1801 Montgomery Co, VA
Though John Taylor b 1741-56 could have been a brother to George, that would leave John the son of George a mystery as to where he lived.
In the 1760s, he acquired more land and began distributing land to his sons and to move south to the forks of the Roanoke River. In 1762, he sold 200 acres of his Mill Creek land to his son George, 250 acres of his Mill Creek land to his son Andrew and 181 acres of this Buffalo Creek land to his son Isaac. At the same time, he sold 150 acres of his Mill Creek land to William Taylor. This William Taylor also bought 200 acres on Mill Creek in 1762. In 1763, Isaac bought a 70 acre parcel next to his Buffalo Creek parcel and then sold it to his son Isaac Jr in 1765. In 1767, he bought land on the Roanoke River, and may have moved there or to Cripple Creek where his daughter Lettice Campbell had moved. • Son Andrew moved to Washington Co TN where he died in 1787. This area became Carter Co in 1796. His sons were: Isaac Taylor 1757-1842, Andrew 1765-1847 and Nathaniel 1771-1816. • Son William Taylor, remained in the Mill Creek area. His 1767 will was recorded in Augusta Co in 1768 and reportedly probated in 1799 in Rockbridge Co when his widow died. The will listed children: Isaac, William and James; Jemimah, Martha, Isabel. William b 1758 served in the Revolution and then migrated to Rockcastle County, KY where he died, reportedly in the 1830s. Elizabeth’s 1799 will indicated that she had a son Thomas (who also died in 1799), perhaps born after William’s death since Thomas was not mentioned in William’s will. James married Mary Gunn and had several daughters, dying about 1800. William married Jean Guffey in 1792 and sold his land in 1810 and moved to Rockcastle Co KY where he died in the 1830s. • Son Isaac Jr in 1763 bought 400 acres near the forks of the Roanoke River. In 1765, he bought land on Buffalo Creek and Purgatory Creek from this father and sold this land sold in 1771 to John Maxwell. At some point, he moved to the Roanoke River area. Isaac’s children were: Thomas, Isaac, William, Joseph, Mary Bryans, Jane Huston (Hudson?). He died in Montgomery Co in 1801 and his lands seems to have gone to his sons Isaac and William. His sons Thomas and William also obtained grants in the area in the 1780s and 1790s with William getting 260 acres in Botetourt Co at the forks of Roanoke. Thomas went to White Co TN between 1800 and 1808. William died in Montgomery Co in 1807. • Son George sold his land in 1778 at the same time as his brother Andrew and nephew Isaac. Perhaps he is the George who got a land grant in 1782 in Washington Co TN at the same time as Andrew d 1787 and Isaac. |
