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Edwin Maxwell Taylor
b.25 May 1848 Franklin, Richland, Ohio, United States
d.6 Apr 1906 Summit, Cloud, Kansas, United States
Family tree▼ (edit)
m. 21 May 1874
Facts and Events
BIO HIGHLIGHTS: Born Franklin Twp, Richland Co, OH. Family moved to Washington Co, OH in 1856. Went to Cloud Co, Kansas, in 1871, just 6 years after Civil War. Went back in 1874 to marry Hulda Sarah and bring her back to the "home". Died at Farm Home 6 miles south of Jamestown of "apoplexy" (sic). CEMETERY LOCATION: Fairview Cemetery is located on Highway 9 between Concordia and Jamestown. (It seems to me that it is closer to Jamestown than to Concordia.) It has (in 1997) a big metal sign over the front gate, so it is hard to miss. The Taylor plot is towards the far side of the cemetery from the front gate, towards the east side (your right as you're walking in). There is a large monument with the name "Taylor" on it in the middle of the plot. This monument is reddish granite. Once there, you are very close to the Taylor, Millirons, and Johnston original farm homes. For map, see: http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=cr&CRid=92412&CScn=Fairview&CScntry=4&CSst=18& GPS Coordinates: Latitude: 39.58890, Longitude: -97.77250 PIONEER CERTIFICATE: I have obtained a Pioneer Certificate from the Washington County, Iowa Genealogical Society for Edwin and Hulda (Beaty) Taylor. It required the submission of source documents proving my descent from them and their residency in Iowa before 1897. These documents are on file with the Washington Co, IA Genealogical Society for perpetuity (I hope!). REAL ESTATE Original Homestead SW 1/4 of NE 1/4, W 1/2 of SE 1/4 and NE 1/4 of SE 1/4 of 33-5-4. Deed book J. Page 185. This is a handwritten transfer from US in County Deed books, not US Patent Books. Homestead certificate No. 6663. 829 application. Filed Dec 16, 1879 . Then, sold it on May 22, 1878. [Yes, before the buying filing was made.] REAL ESTATE. "Taylor Home Place". Bot F-533, 4-3, 25-351. Made a $1,500 mortgage on it in 1901, paid off in 1903. Mtg Book 35-283. There was a quitclaim deed made for some kind of correction in 6-53. Then, after both Edwin and Hulda passed away, Robert & George took out a mtg of $1,500 and paid it off 1917. Mtg Book 50-12. Then, the five heirs split the property, giving it all to Robert in 1918, showing a value of $15,000 (which would be $3,000 each) Deed book 47-230. Then Robert took a $9,000 mortgage out (I think he paid $3,000 each then to Pim, Fred, and Aurie.) This was in 1918. Mtg Book 55-228. Then, a $2,000 mortgage to George. Mtg Book 45-624. I don't think George actually loaned cash to Robert; I think this was just his share of his $3,000 legacy and that Robert had probably already given him $1,000. Then, it looks like Robert gave up and sold it for $16,000 to Jacob Fulmer in 1919. There is a question about a corner 10 acres across the road that was in the first parcel purchased. I don't ever see it sold?? CENSUS 1880 Summit Twp, Cloud Co, KS, Pg 183. Taylor, Edmund 37 M OH PA PA Hulda S. 36 F VA VA ?? Orra E. 4 Dau KS OH VA George A. 1 Son KS OH VA Sarah M. 4/12 Dau KS OH VA Ed is a farmer. CENSUS 1900. Summit Twp, Cloud Co, KS, Pg 186A. Taylor, Ed W. 52 M OH OH PA Huldah S. 55 F VA MD VA George A. 21 Son KS OH VA Myrtle S. 20 Dau KS OH VA Robert L. 18 Son KS OH VA Fred W. 17 Son KS OH VA Married 26 years. Myrtle is a dressmaker. Ed is a farmer and George is a farm laborer. They own their farm, with mortgage. Farm schedule 23. Children ever born: 6. Living Children: 5. (Note that Aurie is married to Ethan McBride now and out of the house.) The Roots of Edwin and Hulda Edwin's paternal grandparents, Thomas and Agnes/Nancy (McClelland) Taylor were from Pennsylvania and moved to Richland County, OH around 1825. His maternal grandparents were Henry and Mary (Tombleson) McCart, who were in Ohio by 1809, possibly earlier. Edwin was born in Franklin Twp, Richland Co, OH, a bit north of Mansfield, OH in 1848. Hulda's paternal grandparents are a bit of mystery. Her paternal grandfather was Robert Beaty, of whom we have scant information on. We're not sure who the grandmother was. Two names have surfaced as possible candidates.. Sarah Ross or Mary Polly Hoke. They are descended from Irish immigrants and were in Virginia (now West Virginia) in the early 1800's. Her maternal grandparents were Jacob and Mary (Connoly) Feather. Jacob was a German immigrant, who migrated the year before the Revolutionary War at age 16, and participated in that struggle, almost from the moment he got off the boat. We don't know much about Mary Connoly. We can only assume she is of Irish stock because of her name. Hulda was born near Kingwood, West Virginia in 1844. The Move to Iowa and Growing Up There Both sets of parents of our couple migrated to Richland County, IA, in 1856. James Taylor farmed on a rental basis (ie sharecropper) for his first four years, but was living on the "Taylor Place" by 1860, when he started acquiring the pieces of his farm. This was on the northwest side of Dutch Creek Township. The Beaty's, meanwhile, had setup home on a parcel which was in Dutch Creek Township, but in the southeast corner, just adjacent to the Grace Hill church and community. So, it's unlikely they were in the same school, but they were neighbors. The distance from the Taylor farm to the Beaty farm would have been about 5 miles south and 5 miles east. A Word on Grace Hill - the Church and Community When I visited Washington County, Iowa in the summer of 1997, and went to visit the southeast corner of Dutch Creek Township, where the Beaty's were from, I had on my agenda to check out the cemetery at Grace Hill, the small community right next door to the Beaty property, where James & Sarah Beaty are buried. Much to my surprise, as I drove over a bridge, which kind of heralded an entrance into the town of maybe 4 buildings.. there is a glistening, white church, with a sign in front: Grace Hill Moravian Church - National Register of Historic Places. Well, I hadn't anticipated this church even still existing so wasn't even looking for it, but this was the church in which Edwin and Hulda were marred, in 1874. So, many thanks to the local folks who have gone to the trouble of getting this church on the National Register, and restoring it. There obviously has been some hard work done here. They still have services in the church once a year. Grace Hill was a Moravian community. The Moravians have their roots in Germany in the same movement away from Catholicism as Lutheranism. The Moravians believed in communal living. The land was owned by the church and all the folks farmed it and shared in the crops. The Beaty's were not Moravians, (as evidenced by the known religious preferences of their children, as well their obituaries which talk about them being such good Methodists) but their property was adjacent to the Grace Hill community and they probably made good friends with their Moravian neighbors over the years, as they are both buried in the Moravian Cemetery and Hulda was married in the Moravian church (but, she was a Methodist all her life.) Ed and Hulda may very well have gotten married in that church for the same reason that some folks go to Las Vegas or Eureka Springs, Arkansas... it was, and still is, a neat church, especially for that period of time. To Kansas!! We are always intrigued about what motivated our ancestors to move west, away from the "creature" comforts of where they grew up. Sam and Ed, the two oldest brothers went west to Kansas. As I go back through the old newspapers, I see quite a few ads for how wonderful Kansas is, and to write to such and such place for a brochure on Kansas and its soil, etc. I suspect the younger brothers were getting old enough to help on the farm and Sam and Ed were itching to get their own place and saw the possibilities of homesteading. They were only 23 and 25, respectively, in 1871, when they came to Kansas. At any rate, Sam and Edwin came to the Cloud County area in 1871. I have wondered how they would go about selecting property, since fences were not in existence and roads not plentiful. I have discovered that there were folks who, wanting to make a buck, became familiar with the area and the government surveys and the goings-on at the courthouse or the land office. These folks would act as "guides" to the immigrants to escort them to pieces of available land and lead them through the process of getting it recorded at the land office. The Cloud County Land Office was established in 1871. Ed settled on 160 acres about 8 miles west of Concordia, or 5 miles south and about 2 miles east of Jamestown. I have been to this area and it is surprisingly similar to the farm they left in Iowa. There is a creek running through the property, like there was in Iowa and it is gently rolling country. Probably not quite as steep as Iowa, but close. This property is described in Homestead Certificate 6663, Application 829. (It wasn't recorded until 1879, which is kind of strange, as they sold it in 1878.) This property is described as: SW 1/4 of NE 1/4 and the West 1/2 of the SE 1/4 of Sec 33 in Twp 5 south of Range 4 west. Ed then went to Iowa in 1874, and married Hulda and brought her out to Kansas in a horse drawn wagon. One of my goals is to re-trace the trail they followed. They had their first child, James William, in 1875. He only lived into his second year. They then had Aurie in 1876 on that farm. Then, in 1878, Ed and Hulda sold this 160 acres for $1,200. (Vol F 532) And, in the same year, they then purchased 160 acres about one mile south and two miles west of the first farm for $1,200 (Vol F-533). Then, in 1887, he purchased 40 more acres for $210 (Vol 4-3), and 40 more acres in 1901 for $400, for a total of 240 acres he owned when he died in 1906. He had paid $1,810 for this 240 acres. As near as we can tell there was no estate probated on his death. On the death of his wife, Hulda, in 1911, however, the farm was valued at $15,000 in her probate. Finally, in 1918, the four brothers and sisters of Robert filed a mortgage against the property for $12,000 (which would be 4/5 of the total $15,000 1911 value). Five days later, Robert took out a mortgage for $9,000 from an Andrew Montgomery, presumably to pay off Aurie, Pim, and Fred. Then, on March 28th, 1918, George recorded a $2,000 mortgage against the property. (Robert probably had a thousand dollars saved up and gave it to George to total to his $3,000.) Then, it appears that Robert owned the property and was obligated to pay both mortgages. Robert must have had a rough time of it, though. A year later, in March 1919, Robert sold the farm to Jacob Fulmer for $16,000. From which he probably paid the mortgages to Montgomery and George Taylor off, which amounted to $11,000, and had $5,000 left over for himself. According to his stepson, Robert Blachley, Robert Taylor continued to farm this farm until the 1930's as a sharecropper. My speculation is that the interest on the mortgage was simply too much. The Montgomery mortgage was 6%, or $540 per year. In other words, in order for all the kids to cash out of the farm it had to be sold, as the income from the farm couldn't pay the interest on the note. That's only my speculation. The Farm - and No Clock!! Following is an article from the Jamestown Optimist by one A.R. Moore approximately 1907: "Mrs. E. M. Taylor, of Summit township, was in today and paid her taxes. This revives old memories. Twenty five years ago last December, or in the fall of 1883, we boys shucked corn for E. M. Taylor on the same old farm five miles southeast of Jamestown. This was our first year in Kansas and the corn yield was 60 bushels per acre. We calculated to rise early and work late. One morning in particular Mrs. Taylor routed us out early, breakfast over, we waited for some four or five hours before day appeared in the east. Clocks were considered a luxury then. Mrs. Taylor, as well as the others, had secured no time piece and it was all speculation on the time of night. The Taylor family at that time embraced a large number of small children, now they are all grown, some married and some moved away. Mr. Taylor died suddenly about one year since. The farmers of Kansas no longer live in dugouts, sit around the fireplace, light their homes with the tallow-dip, guess at the time of day, wear their homespun garments and ride in the lumber wagon. They live in a mansion lighted and warmed by gas, talk by phone to their neighbors fifty miles away and ride to town in an automobile, while they dress in silk and broadcloth." A. R. Moore / Jamestown Optimist / Approx 1905 _______________ References
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