In setting out to discover where my ancestors were buried, I eventually broke down a significant brick wall in my family tree. It was not among my recent two-part list of my "Top 10 Brick Genealogical Brick Walls" (http://thesaltofamerica.blogspot.com/2019/03/my-biggest-brick-walls-part-one.html and http://thesaltofamerica.blogspot.com/2019/05/my-biggest-brick-walls-part-two.html), but if I had made a top 12, it would have made the cut. Part of the reason it wasn't on those lists is because I have been more consumed with breaking down walls in more recent generations than this one. But a broken brick wall is valuable just the same and I felt I needed to share this information with other researchers that could appreciate its significance.
In deciding how to present this information, I thought it would be best to just share everything I have been collecting on this family for the past several years. I knew nothing about this branch of my family until around 2011 when I really started looking into it. And after some initial progress on a couple of lines up until about 2013, one particular line stopped me dead in my tracks and I could go no further. But at last I can, and I want to share how I reached all of my conclusions. I hope that this information will be of use to others researching these lines, and I encourage anyone else looking into them to reach out to me.
It has been rare in my family to be able to do much "original genealogy". That is to say that before I started researching seriously--and in the majority of cases, before I was even born--most of my family lines had already been researched by others. Some were just loosely done, and others had been thoroughly exhausted. My cousin Colleen had done my Vaughan line. Numerous researcher cousins had done my Moose line. My uncle Tom had done my Martin line. My Marks, Rorie, May, Auston, Binkley, and Eversole lines had all been well-researched. Significant chunks of my Jay and Sain lineages had been done. All that was really left "un-researched" were parts of my Baker and Barnett lines, and then most of the family tree of my great grandmother Pauline Clements.
My Baker and Barnett lines came together fairly easily and I enjoyed finally getting to put together pieces of my tree that hadn't already been largely done for me. But my great grandmother's tree remained an enigma. Despite thoroughly researching his father's side, my uncle Tom did little on his mother's lineage. Perhaps it was because she only knew her father as a young girl and never even met 3/4 of her grandparents, so there was little to go on. Tom passed away this year, so I don't think I'll ever have the answer as to why Grandma Pauline's family was not delved into, but in many ways I'm glad because it allowed me the privilege of doing it myself.
Parts of her family tree had been researched but could only be trusted to a certain point. Her Clements and Patton lineages turned out to be incorrect. I have thoroughly debunked and corrected her Clements line online, and her Patton family to a lesser extent. Her Cowan line is still a major brick wall for me, though I have made more progress than others had. Finally, we come to her paternal grandmother, Mary, and her family. That is where I will start to outline this family.
Pauline's grandmother was Mary Alice Taylor. Working our way backward, family genealogy stated she died about 1887. She was married to Dr. William Hamilton Clements. She resided at the end of her life and presumably died in Collin County, Texas. From what limited information I can gather, this apparent estimate is a little off. Her husband, Dr. Clements, died 3 Jan 1883, and that is the last year he appeared on tax rolls for Collin County. A full biography of Dr. Clements, which also encompasses most of the latter half of Mary's life, can be found on the Find A Grave memorial I created for him here: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/169752069/william-hamilton-clements
"Mrs M. A. Clements" and "Mrs. M. Clements" paid taxes in Collin County in 1884 and 1885, respectively. (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QJ8G-B7WN and https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QJ8G-B821) The original grantee of a chunk of most of her property is shown to have been "Jno Russell", and in 1883 W. H. Clements paid taxes on land originally granted to "Jno Russell", indicating that "Mrs. M." is indeed Mary Alice. (1883 taxes here: https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QJ8G-BM6C). By 1890, my ancestor William Jr. was apparently added to the title, because tax rolls show "Mrs. M. A. & W. Clements" to have paid on land originally granted to Jno Russell (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QJ8G-1H4H).
This is the last time I can definitively find Mary Alice on a record, so I have her down as having died around this time. The family story goes that William then took over the family farm and took care of his siblings until they grew to adulthood and moved forward with their lives, and William continued residing on this farm. I have not proven it, but family lore also suggests that this particular farm is now beneath a man-made lake.
Prior to coming to Collin County, Texas, other than a brief period in Kansas, Mary Alice appears to have lived most of her life at her birthplace: Daviess County, Kentucky. She and Dr. Clements married there in 1863 in the home of her mother, Elton Riley Taylor. Elton's lineage is a mostly well-researched one. The paternal line of her father, Amos Riley, can be traced back several generations to the early American colonies. Her mother's line does not go back as far, but there is significant research available on the family of her grandfather, Jenkin Phillips. Those lines were neither brick walls nor original research for me other than filling in some supplemental information. While I will reference both families in this post, and Part II will delve into the Riley family significantly, this study is primarily focused on Elton's husband and Mary Alice's father: Howard T. Taylor.
Records show that Elton passed in 1866 and Howard in 1851, when Mary Alice was only 7 years old. The History of Daviess County, Kentucky (1883) tells us Howard died in a hunting accident. As I've referenced in my Feb 2015 post "12 Unfortunate Ways My Ancestors Met Their Demise" (http://thesaltofamerica.blogspot.com/2015/02/12-unfortunate-ways-my-ancestors-met.html), the diary of Joseph Thomas of Daviess County, Kentucky provides us with the details of Howard's death.
"Howard T. Taylor, one of the best farmers and citizens of the county, was accidentally killed by the discharge of a gun in the hands of Dr. Wilmot. Fifteen buckshot entered his heart, three of which went through him. The fun was so near him that the flash set fire to his shirt. He fell, exclaiming, "Lord, have mercy on me; I am killed;" and was dead before those immediately behind him could raise him up." (p. 411 of History of Daviess County, Kentucky, Chicago: Inter-state Pub. Co., 1883)
The trauma of having Howard's lifeless form unexpectedly brought home to his wife and children aged 15 at the oldest would have been unfathomable. Elton was apparently pregnant at the time, as Census records show their youngest child, Howard Victor Taylor, to have been born about 1852. I cannot imagine Howard being buried in an unmarked grave; my hope is that his grave can be found with diligent research, something I have set out to do and which preempted this study, but that will be outlined in Part II. In the meantime, we'll continue to moving backward in the Taylor family history.
Howard T. and Elton were the parents of the following known children:
1. Susan, b. circa 1836
2. Levi G., b. circa 1837*
3. Amos Riley, b. 2 Jan 1842
4. John H., b. circa 1843
5. Mary Alice, b. 7 Jun 1844
6. James Richard, b. circa 1848
7. Howard Victor, b. circa 1852
*The 1840 Census for this family contains two boys under 5, indicating the family had another son probably born about 1838-1839 and died before 1850.
Howard can be found in the 1840 and 1850 Censuses for Daviess County, and it was there that he married Elton Riley on 21 Nov 1833. This is about as far as I had gotten with this family until I found a detailed biographical sketch of my uncle Amos Riley Taylor, one of four published sketches I have found, plus a fifth within a sketch of his son, Francis Howard. Note that the reference to "Howard Taylor of St. Louis" is in regard to this son, who went by his middle name:
"Amos Riley Taylor is the senior partner of the law firm of A. R. and Howard Taylor of St. Louis. He was born January 2nd, 1842, about six miles west of Owensboro, Kentucky on his father's farm. His parents were Howard and Elton (Riley) Taylor. He comes of the same Taylor stock as President Zachary Taylor and in the paternal line is also a descendant of William Graham who as a patriot participated in the Revolutionary war and was captain of a company called Silver Greys.
A.R. Taylor of this review learned much concerning the early history of the family from an old negress who lived to be one hundred and four years of age and who distinctly remembered events of the Revolution, including the raid made by Benedict Arnold into Virginia after his act of treason. She often told Mr. Taylor of hiding in a stack of fodder to escape the British raiders at that time. She also remembered the death of his great-grandfather, who was stricken with apoplexy while at the table.
The Grahams came of an ancestry from western Scotland. William Graham, the great-grandfather of A.R. Taylor, emigrated from Scotland to the new world and was connected with the Montrose family of that country.
Howard Taylor was a farmer by occupation and was accidentally killed while out hunting with friends in 1851. As stated, his wife bore the maiden name of Elton Riley. She was a daughter of Amos Riley, who removed to Kentucky and settled in Daviess county at an early period in its development. His ancestors had been early residents of Maryland. His brother was the owner of the slave, Josiah Henson, made famous as Uncle Tom in Harriet Beecher Stowe's story of Uncle Tom's Cabin. In an interview with Queen Victoria, Josiah Henson, as reported by the London Times in 1884, fully exonerated the Riley family from the charge of cruelty portrayed in the story bu which for the purposes of the narrative Mrs. Stowe had given in the manner indicated. The death of Mrs. Elton Riley Taylor occurred in 1866." (St. Louis: History of the Fourth City 1763-1909, Volume 3 (1911), by Walter B. Stevens (S.J. Clarke Publishing, St. Louis), pages 44-47)
Another sketch of Amos Riley Taylor contained some supplemental information I thought would be useful: "His father, who was a farmer, was born in Virginia. His paternal great-grandfather, William Graham, raised a company in the valley of the Rappahannock, known as the Silver Grays, which he commanded under Washington, in the times which tried men's souls." (The Bench and Bar of St. Louis, Kansas City, Jefferson City, and Other Missouri cities: Biographical Sketches (1884), by the American Biographical Publishing Company (St. Louis and Chicago), pages 155-156)
The information from these sketches--published while Amos was still alive--gave me clues I needed to continue working backward on this family...but also gave me some false leads. Long story short, there is no connection to the Zachary Taylor family. And based on this sketch, my looking for a William Graham who would have been old enough to be "grey" and living in Virginia ("in the valley of the Rappahannock") at the time of the Revolution ("under Washington") really held up my search for my Graham lineage. Fortunately, I gleaned enough truth from this sketch that it was overall much more helpful than it was frustrating.
So at that point, I felt certain that I had at least one really solid lead: Howard Taylor's grandfather was a William Graham, meaning his mother's maiden name was Graham. But I did not have his mother's first name, so I needed to start digging in records to see what could be found. I tried to find any references to Howard Taylor in Daviess County records I could find in order to try to tie him to other relatives besides his wife, children, and in-laws.
As one might expect, Howard appeared in numerous records with his Riley in-laws, as well as their Phillips relatives. Elton Riley Taylor's mother, Susanna, was a daughter of Jenkin Phillips, and that prolific family largely resided in the area around Owensboro and up to Louisville, with another branch out near New Madrid, Missouri, where some of the Rileys would eventually end up as well. Some of the records I found included:
- 8 Sep 1834 - Howard is named the administrator of the estate of Allen G. Taylor, with John Hathaway among the securities. John was the husband of Martha Riley, a sister of Elton.
- 12 Nov 1838 - Susan and Camden Riley were named co-administrators of the estate of Amos Riley, indicating he is deceased by this time. Howard Taylor, George Riley, and Amos Riley [Jr.] are among the securities.
- Feb 1842 - Numerous actions regarding the Amos Riley estate occurred during this month. Among these records was a reference to a Jonathan G. Taylor being a security to Amos Riley's estate. Myra and William Riley, minor orphans of Amos Riley over the age of 14 years, selected their mother, Susan, as their guardian, with Camden Riley and Howard Taylor acting as securities.
- Aug 1843 - Howard and his brothers-in-law, Camden and William Riley, acted as securities for a cousin named Richard Phillips as Phillips acted as the administrator of the estate of Susanna/Susan Riley, Howard's mother-in-law. Among the men listed as potentially appraisers of the estate was Jonathan G. Taylor.
- Jun 1844 - Howard Taylor applies for an court order that he be appointed to "execute deeds of partition agreeably to the division of lands of Amos Riley, dec'd" on behalf of the children/heirs of George W. Riley, who was apparently deceased by this time. This request was granted by the court.
9 Dec 1850 - Howard T. Taylor one of the securities for the estate of Cynthia Riley. Robert S. Price is administrator. Cynthia was an unmarried daughter of Amos & Susanna Riley. Robert S. Price was the husband of Prudence Riley, daughter of George W. Riley.
There were mentions of Howard as a security for other non-relatives, but these were the most genealogically relevant entries. One land transaction ended up being the key I needed to push this family back another generation. As shown above, in 1834, Howard was named the administrator for the estate of an Allen G. Taylor. Both Taylors, so we should assume they are related, right? Often times--probably most of the time--yes, we would assume that. But I want to take a moment here to indicate how that is NOT always the case.
Above you will also see two references to a Jonathan G. Taylor in regards to dealings with the estates of Amos and Susan Riley. It would be natural to assume Jonathan and Howard are related, right? I have enlisted the help of multiple Daviess County researchers over time who have made the same assumption, as have the owners of multiple online family trees. I, too, assumed they would be close kin. But I'll save everyone a little bit of time. I combed Jonathan's tree and could find no indication of a connection to Howard. I determined quickly they were not brothers and soon after figured out it was unlikely they were cousins. Since then I have 100% determined Howard's Taylor lineage and there is no more overlap between Howard and Jonathan Taylor than there is between Howard and President Zachary Taylor. It's just a coincidence, as it is not an uncommon name. If you have Howard and Jonathan in your family tree as relatives, it is incorrect.
Identifying the Siblings and Parentage of Howard T. Taylor
In the case of Allen G. Taylor, the indication was strong that they were indeed related. Howard was appointed estate administrator, and the following heirs for Allen were identified: Frances Bell, Mildred A. Taylor, Samuel & Lucy Denton, Mary C. Taylor, and James Bell. I don't know the reasons for Howard determining that he himself was not an heir to Allen, but it may be due to his jointly holding the property Allen owned with him or being named his estate administrator gave him a conflict of interest. Regardless, the Commissioner's Deed indenture dated 12 Apr 1841 shows that Allen and Howard owned a 300 acre plot together. Howard and the Commissioner's office divided the land into equally valuable plots of 143 3/4 acres and 156 1/4 acres. Allen's portion was then auctioned and Howard was the highest bidder, so this deed formally passed ownership of Allen's portion from his heirs to Howard.
Owning this plot of land together strongly points to a familial relationship between Allen and Howard. My belief was that Allen and Howard were brothers. So I needed to look into Allen's remaining heirs in order to determine how this family pieced together as a whole.
Samuel Denton married a Lucy Taylor on 2 Sep 1838 in Daviess County. It would be easy to assume Lucy was a sister to Allen, except that on 15 Mar 1830 in Daviess County a Charles Taylor married a Lucy Chambers. Estate records then show a Byrd Chambers being appointed administrator of the estate of Charles Taylor on 12 Jan 1835. It would follow, based on Charles Taylor's widow being an heir of Allen, that Charles and Allen were related. This gave us a potential third brother in the family. In an e-mail exchange with Roger Walker in 2012, he told me that he personally viewed and held the Chambers family bible which gave the names of three children between Charles and Lucy: Mary E. Taylor, John Taylor, and Charles Taylor.
Roger descends from Charles's daughter, Mary. The bible belonged to the parents of Lucy Chambers. he wrote: "I saw this bible in the first year I began to taken an interest in actually pursuing the genealogy of my family. My aunt had the bible. She decided that she must preserve the pages with the genealogical information so she wrapped the pages in Saran Wrap. By the time I saw the pages they were extremely brittle and hard to read. I copied the information down and shortly after the pages disintegrated altogether, like crushed up potato chips. To make matters worse, when she died, the only child had no interest in family history and he sold the bible, along with all of her other possessions at an estate sale. I believe the death date for Charles was also included in the bible, December 31, 1835." Based on Byrd Chambers filing to be administrator of Charles's estate in Jan 1835, the year was more likely 1834.
Since Allen's probate records mention only Mary and not John or Charles, we can presume both were deceased prior to 1841, and likely prior to 1840 as there is no enumeration for either of them in the 1840 Household of Samuel Denton.
Allen's heir Mildred A. Taylor stumped me for a long time. She married James G. Leman/Leaman on 25 Sep 1841 in Daviess County, and I presumed she was a sister. But death records of her children show her maiden name as Kelly/Kelley, and numerous family trees list Mildred, wife of James Leaman, as a daughter of George Thomas Kelly/Kelley and Jane Field. Unfortunately those trees do no acknowledge the fact that he last name was Taylor when she married Leaman, so determining her relationship to Allen was difficult.
I next believed she was actually the widow of Allen, and that the Mary Taylor listed as Allen's heir was their child together. However, I figured out that Mary was the daughter of Charles Taylor based on her presence in 1850 in the home of his widow Lucy Chambers who was by then married to Samuel Denton. No marriage record for Mildred to any Taylor has been found. I can be confident she was not a wife of Charles, Howard, or John. My thought then became if she was Allen's wife, wouldn't she likely be the sole heir to his property? So that meant she was likely the second wife of Rawleigh Colston Taylor.
As discussed later, his first wife Catherine Winstead is said to have died in 1833 according to a bible in the Winstead family. The 1830 Census indicates that Rawleigh had a daughter under 5 in his household as well. In reviewing court documents concerning Howard Taylor v. Allen Taylor's heirs, I learned that girl's name was Frances, as a guardian was appointed for her and Charles's daughter Mary as well. I believe she may have died before the case was completed because she is not mentioned again among the final heirs of Allen's estate when his land was sold to Howard in 1841. That may not be the case though since at one point John's daughter Levenia (see below) was also an heir of Allen but was not listed among the final heirs. Based on all the information I have, I now believe Mildred was most likely the widow of Rawleigh C. Taylor.
That left us with Frances and James Bell. They were not grouped together in the listing of heirs as a married pair like Lucy and Samuel were, so I did not believe they were married to one another. I could find no further information on James Bell. In fact, to this day I have yet to find a single piece of documentation bearing his name other than this land transaction naming him an heir of Allen and the court records about the case. Those court records do state that both he and Levenia Taylor, daughter of John, were non-residents of Daviess County. That makes sense since no taxes, deeds, census, or other records of any sort have been found for him Daviess County. I don't know for sure how old he is or anything else about him, unfortunately. Luckily, Frances Bell ended up being the person I needed to move back another generation.
I was pretty sure I was looking at at least three brothers (Howard, Allen, and Charles) and needed to figure out how they connected to Frances Bell. This was where my good friend Google came in handy. With a few searches I was able to find out everything I needed. I did not see Frances Bell in the 1840 Census, but she was in Daviess County for the 1830 Census. Prior to that in the 1820 Census there was a Benjamin Bell in Daviess County. I played around on Google looking for connections between this Benjamin Bell and someone named Frances, or the common nicknames for Frances, "Fannie" or "Fanny" until I struck gold in the form of one issue of a newspaper.
The Farmer's Repository was an early newspaper based out of Charles Town, Virginia in Jefferson County, which is today in West Virginia. The 9 Jun 1814 issue included two articles that would at last tie these people together for me, as well as give me some additional relatives to pursue.
So here in the same paper is a Frances/Fanny TAYLOR marrying a Benjamin BELL. Then another Fanny Taylor referenced as the widow of a Levi Taylor, with five sons listed--including Charles W. and Allen G. The outlier is "Howell" Tapscott Taylor, but it is clear that was a misprint of "Howard". The chances that these were two different Fanny Taylors being referenced in the same newspaper issue was very small. Further, Howard's oldest son was also named Levi. These articles gave me a clear indication that Howard's parents were Levi Taylor and Fanny/Frances, who remarried to Benjamin Bell. Amos Riley Taylor's biographical sketch told me that Fanny's maiden name was Graham. And the second article also proved that Allen and Charles were Howard's brothers and that there were two more--John and Rawleigh.
I started delving into Levi Taylor, Benjamin Bell, Frances/Fanny Graham, John Marshall Taylor, and Rawleigh Colston Taylor as much as I could. I got in touch via Ancestry with Mark Phelps, who was researching Benjamin Bell and he brought to my attention proof that the Fanny Taylor that married Benjamin Bell was the widow of Levi Taylor, father of Howard and his brothers.
From the USGenWeb Archives of Jefferson County, VA/WV [http://files.usgwarchives.net/wv/jefferson/newspapers/bbellgua85gnw.txt]:
Farmer's Repository May 1, 1816
At a Superior Court of Chancery holden at Winchester, the 8th April, 1816. On the petition of Benjamin Bell, guardian of the Infant Def'ts of Levi Taylor, dec'd. praying that he may be authorised and empowered by this court, to make sale of so much of a tract of Land of which said Levi Taylor, died seized in the county of Jefferson, as will be sufficient to pay and discharge the balance of the purchase money pursuant to an act of the General Assembly of Virginia, passed at the last session...The petitioner is to make a particular return of his proceedings therein to the court: whereupon the said Benj. Bell entered into bond with Wm. Tapscott, his security, (who justified upon oath) in the penal sum of fourteen thousand dollars, conditioned as by the said act of assembly is directed, which bond is ordered to be recorded.
So this proved that the Fanny Taylor that married Benjamin Bell was the widow of Levi Taylor, as Benjamin was named the guardian of Levi's sons. This also gave me the name of another important player in this research--William Tapscott. It did not escape notice that Tapscott is Howard T. Taylor's middle name, indicating this man may have had a connection the family that pre-dates Benjamin Bell's joining it. Once I started searching for mentions of Benjamin Bell and William Tapscott, I found a ton of information. Before I get to that though, locating the above transcription from the Farmer's Repository regarding Levi Taylor's estate led me to search the USGenWeb archives again for more related items, and I did find one more that gave me an additional name to search. [http://files.usgwarchives.net/wv/jefferson/newspapers/lanetayl67gnw.txt]
Farmer's Repository February 7, 1812
Public Sale.
Will be sold, on Tuesday the 25th inst. (if the weather permits, or the first fair day afterwards) at the farm belonging to the heirs of Levi Taylor, dec'd, withing 2 1/2 miles of Charlestown, best known in that neighborhood by the name of Fleetwood, on a credit of nine months -- All the farming utensils and stock of every description belonging to said estate, consisting of a waggon and geers, ploughs, and harrows, and every other kind of implements necessary on a farm -- work horses, valuable brood mares, cows, hogs and sheep -- Also, a complete wheat fan(?). Bond and approved security will be required before the property can be removed. The sale to commence at 10 o'clock, A.M. where due
attendance given by
WILLIAM TAYLOR, Adm'or,
FANNIE TAYLOR, Adm'trix.
February 7, 1812.
This shows that Frances (this time with her nickname spelled Fannie, so we are up to three name/spelling variations) was co-administrator of Levi's estate with a William Taylor. But like with Jonathan Gibson Taylor, it's important not to automatically assume people with a shared common surname in close proximity are automatically related to each other. I assumed William to be a brother of Levi, but had nothing that formally spelled out their relationship.
At this point, I was neck-deep in information and leads to pursue. On one hand, I had the name of Howard's father--Levi--which could lead me to Howard's Taylor line. On the other hand, I was still looking for Frances's Graham family as well, and hoped that by looking into Benjamin Bell and other family associates like William Tapscott I might find her family. I ended up trying to tackle both lines at the same time, and while I had almost immediate success with one of these families, the other proved much more difficult until very recently.
Levi Taylor and His Ancestry
As I searched for Levi Taylor in and around Jefferson County, VA, I began to find traces of him in various online genealogical corners. Eventually, I was directed to a book that ended up being exactly what I needed to discover my full Taylor line. I had found that Levi was an heir of a John Taylor, but John Taylor being a ridiculously common name, I could only go so far with him. Fortunately, I discovered a well-researched and well-documented book that would take my Taylor line back generations.
Taylor, Hager, and Related Families by Clara Sesler Genther was referenced in some message board posts regarding the Taylor families around Jefferson and Berkeley County, VA/WV. I found that she was still living in the Cincinnati area, so I called her up. I told her what I knew about Howard and Levi and John, and she told me they were all named in her book. And for the very low (for a genealogy reference book) price of $35 plus $5 shipping, she sent me the hardcover book, and it was everything I could have hoped for. I have since learned that Clara passed away last year at age 101. If you find yourself benefiting from the Taylor information in this post, it would only be fitting for you to leave her flowers on her Find A Grave memorial: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/192496376/clara-genther
The book referenced Levi on pages 130-131. Like me, she found Levi's widow to have been Frances (Fanny) Taylor, though she had not located a marriage record or maiden name for Frances. To date, I have still not located a marriage record for the pair. She abstracted Levi's will, which involved a relatively large estate. Levi's relationship to William is not specified, but a bequeath to a brother named Samuel at the request of his father gave us one relationship for him. After the estate's settlement, ownership of Levi's large farm, called "Fleetwood", passed to Levi's five sons, the aforementioned John, Charles, Rawleigh, Howard, and Allen. This apparently represented Frances's dower, so she and her future spouse Benjamin Bell could make some decisions regarding this property, but could not sell it outright until the Taylor brothers reached the age of majority, which at that time was 21.
Most helpfully, Clara provided citations for the documents she transcribed and abstracted, allowing me to seek copies of the full documents myself. Among the additional documents she cited was an 1815 conveyance from Levi's sons of some of Levi Taylor's land to the heirs of a Bushrod Taylor, dec'd, of Frederick County, Virginia. Bushrod's children were represented by an Eben Taylor. Exactly three years later, that same land was referenced again when Bushrod's widow requested a release of her dower and wished to be granted 1/3 of the land's value, with the other two parts being held by Bushrod's heirs and a Griffin Taylor. So all of this gave us the names of Bushrod, Eben, and Griffin Taylor. Allen Taylor's middle name being Griffin could indicate some sort of relationship, but no relationship between these parties is ever spelled out.
Clara assumed that Bushrod was another son of Levi, but from everything I have found online since, Bushrod was approximately the same age as Levi and his children were approximately the same age as Levi's, so it is unlikely Bushrod was the son of Levi Taylor. I have found numerous references to Bushrod during his lifetime and after his death, and some references to Eben and Griffin Taylor as well, but I had not established their parentage. Bushrod is not listed as an heir to Levi, nor an heir to Levi's father, so his relationship, if any, remaied un-established. Once again, just because two people with the same common name live in the same place and conduct business together does not mean they are related. We wouldn't automatically assume two Smiths, Johnsons, or Williamses doing business together were related, and I think at least in this time period, we have to lump the name Taylor in with those.
The book Descendants of Capt. Thomas J. Taylor Born 1571 England and Margaret Swinder, which is available online indicates Bushrod was a son of a Nathaniel Taylor. That Taylor family was also from Jefferson County, VA, and interestingly--if Bushrod does belong to this family--his sister, Mary, had a daughter named Courtney Figg who eventually ended up in Daviess County, KY of all places. The book Some Virginia Families: Being Genealogies of the Kinney, Stribling, Trout, McIlhany, Milton, Rogers, Tate, Snickers, Taylor, McCormick, and Other Families of Virginia, available via Google Books, shows a Taylor family from Virginia made up of multiple Griffins and Bushrods. Now, when I look into Eben Taylor, a FamilySearch tree shows he, Griffin, and Bushrod to be among the sons of a Captain William Taylor: https://ancestors.familysearch.org/en/KDM2-NB2/eben-taylor-1763-1810. At least one Virginia Chancery Court case references all three men: https://www.lva.virginia.gov/chancery/case_detail.asp?CFN=069-1833-138.
What all of this indicates is that if the Levi Taylor and Bushrod Taylor families were related (and none of the above-cited genealogy indicates an intersection between the two families), it was not a close relation. So despite what Clara's book asserts, Bushrod was not a son of Levi. Other than that conclusion, I agree with everything else she presents.
Clara also shared two deed abstracts involving Levi's sons. One was between Charles and a John Moore and the other between Allen and the same John Moore. It appears that these showed that Charles and Allen had reached the age of majority (in 1823 and 1830, respectively) and were selling their ownership stakes in Fleetwood to the man who presumably had been leasing or farming the property all this time while the family lived in Kentucky. Both documents list Charles and Allen as residents of "Davison" (sic) County, Kentucky. Such a county does not exist, but was obviously meant to be Daviess County. To get as complete information as I could, I decided to send off for copies of the full deeds from Jefferson County.
Fortunately for me, Jefferson County made it really easy to order documents from them, and they have a great system with all their old records indexed. So I was able to order every document that involved Levi, Frances, John, Charles, Rawleigh, Howard, and Allen Taylor all at once. Their handy database can be accessed here: http://documents.jeffersoncountywv.org/. I will discuss those records further later on. In an interesting coincidence, the man assigned to collect these record copies for me was a native of the town I was living in--Adrian, Michigan. This was back in 2012, and I have since moved to Oklahoma and back to Adrian, and he has moved back to Adrian from West Virginia. He is a local stand-up comic these days.
Clara also found the will of the John Taylor with sons Levi and Samuel, and with a son William as well, who was likely the William that was co-administrator of Levi's estate with Fanny. According to Clara's research, John resided near Harper's Ferry in Berkeley County, VA. He had a large estate in Virginia as well as land in Clark County, Kentucky; it is said he accompanied Captain William Morgan to survey Kentucky in 1779. Clara provided a transcription of John's will in full, which explicitly named 8 children: Mary Brown, William Taylor, John Taylor, Levi/Levy Taylor, Samuel Taylor, Sarah Taylor, Susannah Hendricks, and Jean Morgan. Mary was the wife of John Brown, Susannah the wife of William Hendricks (they migrated to Champaign County, Ohio), and Jean the wife of Richard Morgan. Sarah later married David Osborne.
Clara did not give a maiden name for John's wife, but found her first name to be Blanche, who apparently pre-deceased the writing of John's will as she is not mentioned. She asserted that he had been married previously to an unknown first wife, an assertion of which I have not yet found evidence. She did research John's Taylor line several generations back, which I won't go into complete detail with here. I will give a brief outline of his direct line, and recommend that anyone who wishes to see Clara's accompanying documentation should locate a copy of Clara's book; it is available in numerous repositories, including the Fort Wayne Library. John was the son of:
Samuel Taylor, who died 1762. His will was dated 2 Nov 1760 and recorded 4 Aug 1762 in Frederick County, VA. He married three times, first to Patience Wright, second to an unknown woman, and third to Rachel. He was the son of:
Israel Taylor, b. 27 Jan 1660 in Otley, Yorkshire, England, d. 17 Nov 1725 at Tinicum Island, Pennsylvania. Married to an unknown Hendricks, possibly. He was the son of:
Christopher Taylor, b. circa 1623 at or near Skipton, Yorkshire, England, d. 26 Jun 1686 at Philadelphia, PA. Married Isabel and Frances. He came to America with William Penn. He was the son of:
Christopher Taylor, d. 2 Oct 1644 near Skipton, Yorkshire, England. Married thrice to Ann Hodgson, Haworth, and Maudlen Wage.
Although Clara did not identify the maiden name of John Taylor's wife Blanche, Google provided answers fairly easily. Various documents show John Taylor's wife as a daughter of John Lemen. John Taylor was a witness of John Lemen's will which was written 2 Apr 1774 and proved 16 Aug 1774. [https://sites.google.com/site/sjzscertainfolksandevents/edward-mercer-d-1783-berkeley-co-va] The book History of the Lemen Family, of Illinois, Virginia, and Elsewhere by F. B. Leman (1898) on pages 530-531 shows one of John Lemen's daughters was the wife of John Taylor. Further solidifying the relationship was the will of John's son James Lemen. He reportedly died in the Battle of Brandywine in 1777. In his will, he conveyed land to his wife and daughter, and then legacies to select apparent favorite nieces and nephews. Among those nephews was Levy Taylor, son of John Taylor. I don't know if this was purely a "favorites" game, or if perhaps Clara was correct in asserting that John Taylor married twice, perhaps Levi was the only child born of Blanche at the time James Lemen died.
At this point, I began earnestly seeking my Graham lineage. My research returned to Howard and his siblings with the intention of finding more about them and working backwards in order to find further maternal connections now that I had worked out his paternal family. I had learned all I could about Charles and Allen, but now I had John and Rawleigh. I also finally received several documents I ordered from Jefferson County which I will summarize.
I believe John Marshall Taylor was the oldest child of Levi and Frances because he was the first of his brothers to sell his portion of Fleetwood, which as I stated earlier appeared to happen when each brother came of age. He sold his portion in 1823, indicating he was born circa 1801. That may also indicate that Levi and Frances were married circa 1799-1800 based on the quick succession in which they had their sons. That same year on 20 Feb 1823 in Daviess County John married to Ruth Bell, daughter of Benjamin Bell and therefore John's step-sister. Benjamin had previously been married to Margaret Southwood, based on inheritance that Ruth and her siblings received from Margaret's father, Edward Southwood.
Ruth Bell Taylor then remarried to George Bast on 4 Jan 1827 in Daviess County, indicating that John had died. I found no other records of John after his marriage. Probate records for Daviess County did not yield anything for John, but while some records exist back to 1812, some were lost in an 1865 fire. (https://www.familysearch.org/wiki/en/Daviess_County,_Kentucky_Genealogy). So in my tree, I list John as having been born circa 1801 and died circa 1826. Thanks to Bell-descendant Mark Phelps, I learned that John and Ruth had a child: Levenia Taylor. Levenia is the feminized version of Levi, so she was named for John's father. She later migrated to Missouri, where she married Thomas Price in 1841. She died in 1915 in Lafayette County, MO; her death certificate shows her father John Taylor and her birthplace as Owensboro, Kentucky.
Rawleigh Colston Taylor appears to have been the 3rd of the five Taylor brothers, as he sold his portion of Fleetwood in 1826, after Charles and before Howard. He is listed as "Raleigh Cotton" Taylor in the Daviess County marriage index; he married Catherine Winstead on 2 Aug 1827. She was the daughter of Stephen Hall Winstead and Martha McFarland. Online I found a reference to her dying on 23 May 1833 according to a family bible that belonged to her parents. I contacted the owner of the bible, Joe Craig, who checked the bible for any references to Rawleigh. He reported that Catherine's information was actually written on the pages of another bible that had been torn out and placed into the Winstead family bible. She is listed as Catherine Taylor, but no reference to her husband is made.
Rawleigh is listed as "Colson Tailor" in the 1830 Census in Daviess County. In addition to his wife, there is one female under 5 in the household, who court records indicate was named Frances Taylor. Unfortunately, this is the last record I can locate of Rawleigh other than his wife's name in that bible up until Allen's death; the court records for that case prove he had died by then. The bible had no additional Taylor entries, including Catherine's apparent daughter. Rawleigh is not listed in any Daviess County probate records of his own.
The copies of original documents I received from Jefferson County are chronologically as follows:
3 Apr 1802 - Deed from heirs of John Taylor to John Donaldson of Clarke County, Kentucky. Heirs of John Taylor given as "John Taylor and Catharine his wife, William Taylor and Ann his wife, William Hendricks and Susannah his wife, Levi Taylor and Fanny his wife, David Osborn [sic], and Richard Morgan, the said John Taylor, William Taylor, Levi Taylor, and Susannah Hendricks being children heirs and representatives of John Taylor deceased and the said David Osborne and Richard Morgan being sons in law of the said John Taylor dec'd their wives being dead, all of Jefferson County, late a part of Berkeley County in the state of Virginia". Donaldson paid 58 pounds for 127 acres of land in Clarke County.
10 Dec 1802 - Deed between "John Baker of Jefferson County and state of Virginia, Obediah Clifford of Loudoun County and state aforesaid and John Taylor of Jeferson County Virginia aforesaid of the one part and Levy Taylor of the last mentioned place of the other part. Whereas the said Levy Taylor and Franney [sic] his wife did by Deed of trust bearing date the 14th day of May 1800 sale [sic] and convey to the said [Baker, Clifford, and John Taylor] in trust a certain tract or parcel of land situated lying and being then in Berkeley County and state aforesaid but now in Jefferson county and state aforesaid containing two hundred and one acres..."
1 Mar 1807 - Deed between William and Nancy Taylor of Jefferson County and Levi Taylor of Jefferson County. Levi paid William one dollar for 14 acres of land.
6 Jun 1810 - Agreement between Henry Bedinger and Samuel B. Harris regarding purchased by Bedinger from Abel Westfall that is now in the possession of Harris, a total of roughly 305 acres in Jefferson County. Included in that land were 8 acres patented to John Taylor and bequeathed to his sons William and Levi Taylor.
2 Mar 1811 - Deed between Levi and Frances Taylor of Jefferson County and Bernard Wesinall [sic]. Wesinall paid $6,910.92 to Levi and Frances for a tract of land about three miles from Shepherds Town in Jefferson County containing 177 and 3/4 acres of land, including the 14 acres Levi bought from his brother William in 1807.
4 Mar 1811 - "Deed of Martyr [sic?]" between Bernard Wisenall and Levi Taylor. The agreement states Wisenall is in debt to Taylor in the sum of $1,910.92--indicating he could only pay $5,000 of the purchase price for the above-mentioned 177 acre plot. Wisenall agrees to pay Taylor a total of $477.73 on the first day of March for several years beginning 1 Mar 1813 and concluding on 1 Mar 1816.
1 Mar 1817 - Deed between Benjamin and Frances Bell of Jefferson County and Anthony Rosenberger of Berkeley County. The Bells were paid $24,000 for 338 acres of land in Jefferson County.
1 Apr 1818 - Deed between Benjamin Bell and William P. Craighill. Benjamin Bell was acting as the guardian of the "Orphans of Levi Taylor, dec'd", namely John M. Taylor, Charles Taylor, Howard T. Taylor, Allen G. Taylor, and Raleigh [sic] C. Taylor, and "as tenant in right of his wife's dower". he transaction was in regards to Levi's homestead "Fleetwood", containing roughly 500 acres. The deed says that 150 acres of the tract was sold by order of the Chancery Court, but that the remaining land was to be leased and farmed by Craighill. What this all indicated was that the Levi's sons and widow retained ownership of roughly 350 acres of Fleetwood but were not residing there and were allowing Craighill to farm this land. Frances owns roughly 175 acres (half of the remaining 350) and the remaining 175 was divided between the five Taylor brothers, so roughly 35 acres apiece. One of the witnesses to this agreement was William Tapscott. I do not have the Chancery Court order where the estate of Levi Taylor sold 150 acres of Fleetwood, but it is referenced in multiple other deeds below.
[Day left blank] May 1818 - Deed between Benjamin Bell and William P. Craighill. The aforementioned Chancery Court case was referenced again, stating that in the April term of 1816 [not sure this is correct as a later deed says the order was from Apr 1818 and I don't know why they would wait two years to complete this transaction], a suit between the heirs of Levi Taylor and Griffin Taylor et. al. resulted in Benjamin Bell being authorized to sell a portion of Fleetwood to pay for the purchase of land by Levi's heirs from Griffin and Bushrod Taylor. Bell and Craighill agreed to a price of $48 per acre, and therefore Craighill paid $6830 for 142 1/2 acres. That allowed Bell to pay Griffin and Bushrod Taylor's heirs the money owed to them. That is what reduced the remaining part of Fleetwood still owned by the Taylors.
That is my best interpretation of these records, and it seems to be supported by this information from the Journal of the House of Delegates of the Commonwealth of Virginia:
14 May 1818 - Deed between Griffin Taylor and Mary his wife and the heirs of Levi Taylor. Named are John, Charles, Rawleigh, Howard, and Allen. "By a Decree of the Superior Court of Chancery" dated 17 Apr 1818, Griffin Taylor was ordered to convey to the heirs of Levi Taylor roughly 500 acres in Jefferson County for a total of $6020.05.
14 May 1818 - Deed between Eben Taylor as guardian of the infant heirs of Bushrod Taylor, namely George W. Taylor, Emily B. Taylor, Louisa T. Taylor, Sarah E. Taylor, Mary C. Taylor, Adison B. Taylor, and Bushrod S. Taylor of Frederick County, VA of the one part and the heirs of Levi Taylor of the second part (I'm not going to list them again). Acting by the same "Decree of the Superior Court of Chancery", Eben Taylor conveyed a total of 900 acres (separate adjoining tracts of roughly 400 and 500 acres) to Levi's heirs, with the land remaining subject to the dower right of Frances Bell, mother of the parties of the second part. I could not locate a dollar amount for this transaction.
14 May 1818 - Deed between Martha P. Taylor, widow of Bushrod, and the heirs of Levi. She released her dower rights to the property that was held jointly by Bushrod and Griffin that was conveyed to them by Fairfax Washington and wife. She was entitled to one third of one half of the money paid to Griffin by the heirs of Levi Taylor for her dower rights.
23 Nov 1819 - An account of Levi Taylor's estate submitted by William Taylor and Frances and Benjamin Bell. They submitted a settlement of Levi's estate, showing debts paid and debts owed the estate. The payments from Bernard Wisenall are referenced, with a remaining balance due of $340.17. It also showed a payment by "Mrs. F. Taylor, now Mrs. F. Bell, the admin'r to Griffin & Bushrod Taylor crediting of the estate", indicating that Bushrod's debt to the estate had been settled. The only remaining outstanding debt owed the estate was the $340.17 owed by Wisenall. A portion of that would be paid to William Taylor as co-administrator, and the rest would be paid to Frances.
11 Nov 1822 - Deed from John M. Taylor to John Moore. Says both are of Jefferson County, VA. Perhaps John moved back but the 1820 Census shows the Benjamin Bell family had moved to Daviess County by this time, so it may have been an error. Moore paid John $2002 for his portion of Fleetwood; the Taylor heirs owned a total of 357 acres. Deed also shows Frances Bell releasing her dower rights to the land, giving one fifth or her retained rights to the land to John, meaning the transaction was for a total of roughly 71.5 acres.
It would appear Moore had taken over Fleetwood from Craighill at some point in the years up to 1822.
6 Oct 1823 - Deed from Charles W. Taylor to John Moore. Charles is listed as a resident of "Davis" County, Kentucky. $2002 was again paid to Charles from Moore for his 71.5 acre portion of the 357 acres of Fleetwood still owned by the Taylor brothers.
20 Dec 1823 - Apparently it had not been formally recorded that Frances was releasing her dower rights to Fleetwood, essentially giving 1/5 of her half-ownership of the 357 acres to her sons. This deed formally recognized that Benjamin and Frances Bell for the total of $1 was giving John and Charles the right to sell (or already sold technically) the 35+ acre portions of Fleetwood she was giving each son.
22 Sep 1826 - Deed from Rawleigh Colston Taylor [of Daviess County] to John Moore. $1500 paid from Moore to Rawleigh for his portion of Fleetwood, namely 71 and 1/5 of an acre. No reference to Frances Bell's dower is made, but it would appear that like with John and Charles she was releasing her down to allow Rawleigh to sell her portion. It may have been recorded in a separate transaction and I didn't get a copy of it.
15 Jun 1829 - Deed from Howard T. Taylor of "Daves" County to John Moore. $1423.60 from Moore to Howard for his 1/5 portion of his father's estate. The acreage is not specified, only that it is 1/5 of 357 acres, so presumably it is around 71 acres like his brothers'.
21 Jul 1829 - Deed from Frances Bell, widow of the late Benjamin Bell deceased, to John Moore. Rather than outright relinquishing her dower rights to Howard's portion like she did with John and Charles, Frances sold her dower rights to the portion Moore bought from Howard for $100.
20 Aug 1830 - Deed from Allen Griffin Taylor of Daviess County to John Moore. $1430 dollars from Moore to Allen for his portion of his father's estate. This time, it is specified that Allen was selling 35 1/2 acres to Mr. Moore, and in a subsequent transaction the remaining portion held by his mother's dower was sold.
20 Aug 1830 - Deed from Frances Bell, widow of the late Benjamin Bell, to John Moore. She relinquished her dower rights to the remaining 35 1/2 acres that were part Allen's portion of Levi's estate to John Moore for another $500 from Moore to Allen.
The first two deeds show that where the Taylors lived was in Berkeley County until Jefferson County was formed in 1801. The later deeds prove conclusively that the Taylor brothers were in Daviess County by 1823, but almost certainly earlier because, as mentioned, Benjamin Bell is enumerated in the 1820 Census in Daviess County. In his household, enough males were enumerated to account for all of the Taylor brothers, though if the 1822 deed is correct, perhaps John did not reside with them. Two of the last three deeds prove that Benjamin Bell was deceased by July, 1829. This is would be as good as any transition for us to discuss the interesting case of Benjamin Bell and his friend/brother-in-law, William Tapscott.
Benjamin Bell, William Tapscott, and President James Madison
Much of my research surrounding Benjamin Bell and William Tapscott occurred in 2011 and 2012. I was greatly assisted by the efforts of two other researchers: Benjamin Bell descendant Mark Phelps and Tapscott family authority Bob Tapscott. What made Bell and Tapscott so interesting was not just their ties to my family, but their roles in a minor scandal.
Bell and Tapscott jointly purchased 2,000 acres of land from none other than then-retired President James Madison and Madison's nieces. This land was situated in Daviess County, Kentucky, so that is what brought my family (Bell being Howard Taylor's step-father) to Kentucky from Jefferson County, Virginia. They made a down payment and had an arrangement to make a number of additional payments to Madison in subsequent years to pay off their purchase of this land.
The long and the short of it is that things did not go as planned for any of the parties involved. It appears Tapscott made one additional payment after the families' removal to Kentucky, but Bell never made another payment. Letters from an increasingly-impatient Madison survive to this day, giving us a good deal of detail on the matter, at least from the perspective of Madison and his confidants.
The "Founders Online" collection from the National Archives provides outlines of numerous letters to and from Madison that have been documented, along with some supplemental background on the incident that transpired.
To Benjamin Bell
Montpellier Decr. 22. 1817
Sir
I have but just recd. your letter of the 1st. inst. My niece is disposed to part with the land in question; and I shall acquiesce in the sale on the terms to which you refer. It remains with you therefore to come down & close the bargain. Accept my respects
James Madison
https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Madison/04-01-02-0161
Supplemental information provided by the National Archives: Benjamin Bell and William Tapscott of Jefferson County, Virginia (now West Virginia), purchased 3,000 acres [sic, should be 2,000] of Kentucky land owned by JM and his niece and ward, Nelly Conway Madison Willis, on 10 Apr. 1818. The land was part of a large parcel at Panther Creek purchased in the 1780s by JM and his brother Ambrose. The 1818 sale was for $6,000, with $2,000 to be paid immediately and the rest to follow in two equal annual installments. The down payment was made as promised, but over the succeeding years, despite several dunning letters from JM, only $1,000 of the remaining sum was voluntarily paid. A host of complications ensued.
In 1823, Bell informed JM of competing claims on his title to part of the land, though JM was assured by his friend and agent, Hubbard Taylor, that these were not serious and were being used as an excuse for nonpayment. His patience at an end and in dire need of ready money, JM engaged attorney John H. Lee to pursue legal remedies. Lee procured a court judgement against Bell and Tapscott, but the deaths of Tapscott by 1827 and Bell by 1829 drew out the proceedings. A judgement against Bell and Mrs. Tapscott in federal court in 1828, pursued by John J. Crittenden who acted as JM’s attorney, proved equally useless, as did recourse to the chancery court in Daviess County, Kentucky. Finally JM empowered Lee to arrange a settlement with, by now, the widows of Bell and Tapscott, which gave them title to some of the land in exchange for JM’s right to sell the rest for the benefit of himself and Mrs. Willis. This Lee was able to do, and JM and his niece received $1,650 in 1832 and an additional $1,200 in 1833.
All of the letters to/from Madison regarding William Tapscott and Benjamin Bell can be found here: https://founders.archives.gov/?q=Project%3A%22Madison%20Papers%22%20Tapscott&s=1511211111&r=1. I am providing my own outline of the letters with information of particular interest, with original letter spellings remain in place as provided in their transcriptions:
15 Apr 1819 - Tapscott makes his first scheduled payment; Bell does not.
19 Jan 1823 - Madison writes Bell and Tapscott asking for payment. "It is so very long since payments were due from both particularly one of you for the land purchased of Mrs. Willis & myself1 without our having recd. even a line on the subject from either, that you cannot be surprized at being now reminded of your obligations, and called to discharge them."
22 Apr 1823 - Bell has written back to Madison; Tapscott has not. Bell apparently claimed that there were others claiming they owned the land that Bell was purchasing from Madison. "I am very sorry that any difficulties shd. have arisen in the case of the land sold to you by Mrs. Willis & myself.2 All that I had learnt relating to it, had left me under the impression, that no interfering claims existed that could invalidate our conveyance: and I trust that such will be found to be the case. You will of course take the proper steps for obtaining the necessary information, and maintaining the proper defences."
25 Apr 1823 - Madison enlists the help of a Hubbard Taylor (no relation to Levi Taylor and sons), who resides in Lexington, Kentucky to help resolve the issue. "The two tracts of land containing 1000 acres each on Panthers Creek belonging to my Neice Mrs. Willis and myself, ware sold several years ago to Mr Ben: Bell, & Mr Tapscott, who are settled on them. I just lern by a letter from the former, who holds the lower tract, that interfering claims backed by a recent running of lines are set up in behalf of adjoining proprietors; which if not rightly met, may have the effect of delaying payment, if not mutilating the premises."
26 May 1823 - A report from Hubbard Taylor to Madison states that competing claims against the lands could not be ascertained. "I am acquainted both with Bell and Tapscott. I am inclined to believe that the object of the information to you is, an excuse for non-payment, for I cannot believe there can be any serious expectations of a recovery of any part of those tracts by the owners of the adverse ones."
4 Apr 1825 - A letter two years later from Madison to Hubbard Taylor. "I have delayed thanking you for your obliging letter of Decr. 19. 1823,1 partly from a hope that information might be recd. from Bell & Tabscott that wd. enable me at the same time to put an end to the trouble their defaults have occasioned you; but principally of late from a despair of your being able to render any service in the actual State of things in Kentucky. From Bell I have heard nothing; and from Tapscott nothing but apologies & promises which have lost their value."
29 Jul 1826 - Another year has passed, and Madison continues to plead with Tapscott to pay what is due to him, regardless of whatever troubles Tapscott has reported to Madison; Madison too, among many other prominent men of this time, was experiencing financial difficulties, and he needed the money owed him. "Your last letter expressed so much concern for the failure in paying for the land purchased by you & Mr. Bell, and so much anxiety to make first, that I have been in constant hopes of hearing from you satisfactorily on the subject. Being wholly disappointed, I am at length obliged by pressing circumstances to renew my earnest application for the discharge of what is due. It is particularly necessary that I should receive the whole or the greatest part by the middle of December, and I trust, that after the long forbearance, that before that date, the remittances will arrive. I am not unaware that difficulties may have existed where you are; but they are felt from other causes, here also; and the many years which have elapsed since the last payments, must have enabled you both to be in some condition now to do what is required & expected. No plea of interfering claims on a part of the land, can be admitted in this case."
29 Jul 1826 - A letter written the same day from Madison to Taylor points to Tapscott's and presumably Bell's economical issues being a statewide issue. "As a consequence I make another appeal to Tapscott & thro’ him to Bell, and beg the favor of you after sealing perusal to seal & to forward it, by mail, or otherwise as you may think best. I hope Kentucky is by this time emerging from the difficulties & misfortunes which have so long oppressed her. Altho’ exempt here from her peculiar ones, the situation of the Country is truly distressing, short crops & low prices obliging many to sell, and leaving none able to buy. I have myself been particularly unfortunate, having made but one favorable crop of Tobo. & Wheat since my reestablishment on my farm; and the current prospect, owing to insects & drought, at one time, and floods at another, promises no amends for past failures."
15 Jan 1827 - William Tapscott has apparently died, and with his death his debts have passed onto his family as they reside on land they owe a large amount of money on. They have enlisted a Mr. Carver Willis, a military Captain during the War of 1812 from Jefferson County and later a Virginia state senator, to negotiate a deal with Madison on their behalf.:
"I received a letter a few days since; from the widow of my old friend, and former neighbour Mr. William Tapscott: who in conjunction with Mr. Benjn. Bell, purchased of you, 2000. acres of land in Davis County Kentucky, prior to their removal from Jefferson Virginia, to that State, at three dollars p acre, $2000. paid in hand, and the balance in two anual payments of $2000. each, for which they gave their joint bonds. On one of these bonds, Mr. Tapscott paid $1000. the balance is still due you—I am earnestly injoined, by Mrs. Tapscott, to make known to you, the destressed situation, in which herself, and her children are plased; and further, to present to you, her several propositions; either of which if exsepted, she thinks, may release her from the impendent ruin, that awaits her and her children—In the first plase then she proposes; that she may be released from the joint contract, upon paying up the remaining $1000. due, as her deceased husbands one half of the purchase money. And to enable her to do so, asks as a special favour, that you would take back so much of the land, as is now unpaid fore; or if this is thought unreasonable, that you would, through an Agent, put it in her power to sell as much of the land, as will pay the balance due from her deced husband; and deed the remainder to herself and her children—Mrs. Tapscott further states, that the Land was originally in two tracts, one in your name, the other in that, of Ambrose Madison; that the land had been divided, by consent of parties, and that her husband at his death, was in possession of the tract patentd. in your name; Mr Bell of course in possession of the other—
I have thus Sir, put you in possession of Mrs. Tapscotts views, and wishes in this matter; with no other motive I assure you, than that, of performing a duty, required of me, by the unhappy, and distressed Widow of an old, esteemd and valued friend—Before I conclude, permit me to remark; That I know Mr. Tapscott left funds in Virginia, to pay his part of the purchase which I think I informed you of by letter, some years ago—But from the difficulties he had to encounter; in setling in a new country, on land heavily timbered; he was compelled, contrary to his first intention, to draw on those funds for the immediate support and comfort of his family, consisting of a wife, a son, and four daughters
This prevented your being paid, his half of the purchase money, as soon as collected—
I shall be happy to receive any communication, you may think proper to make, that I may immediately convey it to Mrs. Tapscott—with sentiments of my sincere regard and respect I am yours."
20 Jan 1827 - Madison's response to Willis indicates Tapscott had died a few months prior, based on his having received a letter from Tapscott's widow previously. Madison was clearly trying to accommodate the Tapscott/Bell party to some extent, but still needed to be paid as soon as possible.
"I have received your letter of the 15th. instant. I had received several months ago, from Mrs. Tapscott herself, a letter on the subject of hers to you, and stated the obstacles to her wishes, for which due sympathy & respect were felt. The land in question was sold by my widow niece Mrs Willis & myself tenants in common, for reasons which made punctuality in the purchasers very expedient, and, unfortunately, as it has turned out, without requiring any pledge to be left within the State they were removing from. Of Mr. T. most was known, and of course on him, most reliance was placed. If his partner has been the greater defaulter, he also disappointed us. With every allowance for a peculiarity of circumstances, there is far more ground for complaint, on our side, than for claims of indulgence on the other. All that could be said to Mrs Tapscott was that partial deeds would be made for partial payments as might be adjusted between her & Mr. Bell; with an expectation that every exertion would be used to shorten the delays of payment. I give you due credit for the interest you have taken in the case of a widow, a former neighbor & a friend, tendering you at the same time my respects, and my good wishes, with a request that they may be extended with the addition of Mrs. M’s, to Mrs. Willis & your family."
I'll be honest that at this point, despite my familial ties to the Tapscott/Bell party, I am siding with Madison on this. He has been waiting years to be paid for this land--money they agreed to pay him, and if they're experiencing financial difficulties, Madison should not be punished for it. Tapscott and Bell owned slaves and surely other assets they could sell to come up with funds, but apparently were unwilling to do so. Perhaps my perception is skewed because we're only really seeing Madison's side of this (not being able to read Bell's, Tapscott's, or Mrs. Tapscott's letters), but this seems a pretty cut and dry case to me.
4 Apr 1827 - John Lee has been enlisted by Madison to resolve the issue. He meets with the Bells and Tapscotts and reports to Madison.
"I some time since had an interview with Mr Bell and Mrs Tapscott on the subject of your business; thier letter to you was the result. In your letter to Mrs Tapscott you observe you are willing to make partial Deeds for partial Payments. I advised Mrs Tapscott only to ask of you Deeds for so much land as Mr Tapscott had sold; with this she appeared, at that time to be satisfied; but she has to day written me and requests me to urge you to make her Deeds for 666 2/3 acers; I will now give every information I have been able to obtain of the situation of both Bell and Tapscotts Estate; It is believed here that Bell owes money to the amt of 6 or 7000 $ exclusive of your demand against him, he has in possession 15 Negroes; and some personal property; this information I derive from Mrs Tapscott; Tapscotts Estates has in possession 18 Negroes; and small Tracts of Land on Cumberland River some personal Estate; and owe but little money. If you should not feel a willingness to make her title to the amt of her payment Deeds to 250 acres; which Tapscott sold would relieve her for the present; I cannot flatter you with the prospect of receiving money from either of them in any given time
Suits have been commenced vs Tapscotts Estate for the titles; on money paid by the purchasers of 250 acres; lands have fallen in value in this County & I believe: the holders of Tapscotts Bond would much prefer the money to Deeds; altho the purchas cost them much less than Tapscott agree’d to pay you for the land—I feel very confident it would be to Mrs Tapscott interest that you should commence suit on the agreement, before Bells Estate is entirely absorbed by his other creditors, some of whom threaten immediate suit; I have only further to add it will afford me much pleasure to aid you in the final setttlement of this business. With much respect I am Sir your obt Svt"
Bell is deep in debt to Madison and others, and the Tapscott estate owes considerably less and are willing to give back some of the land that has not been paid for and retain some of which has been paid for. Both parties have assets they are able to part with but are apparently unwilling to. Mrs. Tapscott seems to just want to default and give back the land to Madison except what William Tapscott has already made payments on.
28 Jan 1828 - Eight months later, the issues apparently remain unresolved, and so John H. Lee given power of attorney to represent Madison and his niece Nelly Willis in their lawsuits against the Tapscott estate and Benjamin Bell.
27 Feb 1828 - Madison responds to a letter from Ann Tapscott deferring to Lee in resolving their dispute. Madison remains tactful and respectful in his dealings with Mrs. Tapscott. "I tender you Madam my respects & my friendly sympathies."
25 Apr 1828 - Another letter from Madison to Ann Tapscott. It does not appear that Ann is too keen on dealing with Lee on these matters, but Madison again defers to his attorney. "I have recd. your letter of the 9th. inst: & every disposition is felt to relieve you from the anxiety you express. But not being sure of the bearing of your proposition on the general security for the debt under the Covenant with Mr. Tapscott & Mr. Bell, I have communicated your letter to Mr. J H Lee who will be disposed to afford every accommodation that the case will admit. With this reference to him, I tender you my respects & good wishes."
6 Aug 1828 - Again, Madison refers Ann Tapscott to Lee, and reminds her that economic woes are not exclusive to residents of Kentucky and that at times we must make sacrifices to take of what needs to be done, a position I wholeheartedly agree with. "Your two letters of June 2[.] & July 18. have been recd. and renew the sympathy heretofore expressed for your situation. I know not however that I can do more on the occasion, than refer you again to Mr. J. H Lee, who has the power to manage our claims under the Covenant with Mr. Tapscott & Mr Bell & will I am sure concur in any arrangements that are reasonable; of which he is a much better judge, than we can be at this distance. In justice to myself, I must be permitted to remark, that in all that relates to pecuniary distress, the State of things here is little different from that in Kentucky & that if you are threatened with sacrifices in providing for debts, it is not less the case with me also. With friendly respects"
2 Dec 1828 - Attorney John J. Crittenden has entered the fray, writing to Madison to confirm the details of the case he has been given and confirm that a total of $3000 is still owed by the Tapscott/Bell party, which Madison affirms.
23 Mar 1829 - Carver Willis writes to Madison again. He reports that a neighbor named William Griffith (http://wiki.historyofowensboro.com/index.php?title=William_Ridgely_Griffith) has taken an interest in the case and is trying to negotiate terms with Madison on behalf of Mrs. Tapscott and apparently Mrs. Bell rather than Benjamin Bell himself. The reasons for this become apparent in Griffith's letter.
"This will be handed you by Mr. Wm. R Griffith of Kentucky, a near neighbour and friend of Mrs Tapscott and Mrs. Bell—a gentleman who from letters from them, has taken a lively interest in their welfair—
Mr. Griffiths business carries him to the Bowling Green; he calls on you, with the view of making some arrangment respecting your claims on Mrs. Tapscott, which he flatters himself, may be made satisfactory to you, and advantageous to her—
Knowing nothing of the nature of this business, except, through representations from them, and the very frank and friendly communication from you, in answer to mine some two years since, I can form no opinion in the matter; yet I may be permitted to hope that some thing may be done to prevent the total ruin of the family of my old neighbour and friend, without in any way compromiting the interest of those fore whom you act."
7 Apr 1829 - The letter from Griffith to Madison reports that after a judgement was ordered against Bell and Tapscott's estate, Benjamin Bell fled. Griffith essentially asks Madison to disregard the judgement and allow him to act as an agent to facilitate the sale of enough of the land as to pay off what is owed Madison and his niece and also allow Mrs. Tapscott and Mrs. Bell to retain a portion of the land.
"Judgment has been procured for the balance of the purchase due for the 2000 acres, and the marshall was in our neighbourhood with Executions and actually ran Ben Bell off—who had before I left home descended the Ohio river to settle near the Walnut hills in the Mississippi. Your agent did not cause any thing to be done with Mrs Tapscotts property, which if sold would not sell for One fourth of the debt. There is no possibility to make the purchase money, unless by a sale of the land, which is well worth the money due and many persons are waiting impatiently to become purchasors provided the land can be offered for sale in Convenient Lots say from 200 to 400 acres—which can only be done by private arrangements to be made by your agent
by Coercive measures or legal procedure your Money cannot be made for years to Come you have now got a Judgment at Law, under which the land Cannot be sold as the legal title is in you. Consequently a bill in Chancery must be filed, to Obtain a decree, to sell the land to pay up the purchase Money, which will take at least two years, and when sold in a lump your agent would become the purchasor say in 1831, and then you would Commence private contracts and get your Money immediately say in 1831 & 1832—My wish is to say to you distinctly that, your money can be made Much sooner by arrangements & sales thro an efficient agent, than by Law. I am well acquainted with every foot of the land, & have no hesitancy in declareing that an efficient agent, by joining with the purchasors & dividing the lands & makeing immediate sales. You being bound to make titles to the purchasors, from whom you receive payments—I know of near $3000 all of which would be paid for one thousand acres of the Land in one year provided you can come into an immediate arrangement to join with Mrs Tapscott in sales—It was believed that Bell would never return to Kentucky, and he has not left one cent behind to levy on save the land—Your boy hurries me and I am too much fatigued to overlook what is written
I wish you would write me in the morning your views, and probably if you would send in an agent, I could personally shew the advantage, to both sides to Come to an immediate understanding. I will Cheerfully aid your agent Mr Lee in effecting immediate sales."
16 Apr 1829 - It's unclear if Madison responded to Griffith, but he did forward Griffith's requests for resolution to Lee. "The inclosed letter conveys the information and opinions recd. from Mr. William R. Griffith of your State on the case depending between Mrs. Willis & me, and the purchasers of our land on Panther Creek. From a conversation with Mr. Griffith, he appears to have a thorough knowledge of the law of the case, as well as of every thing affecting the value of the land, and the respective interests of the parties: and tho’ professedly friendly to Mrs. Tapscott, on whose account he called on me, he seems well disposed to promote the just objects of both, which he regards as more than merely compatible. He resides at the Yellow Banks a few miles only from the Spot, and says he will on his return thither, about the last week in May render every aid in his power towards effecting an arrangement that will be at once desireable to Mrs. Tapscott, and ensure a payment of the Balance due to us."
30 Jul 1829 - Lee details to Madison the escape and pursuit and subsequent death of Bell. In the meantime, the Tapscotts had covertly settled William's estate and had all the property conveyed to Ann, not allowing Madison to make claims against it. Unfortunately for Ann, this maneuver would fail as she had entrusted Griffith to help in falsifying William's estate and Griffith was apparently willing to use that fact as leverage in settling this dispute.
"At the last fall term of the [F. B] Court I obtained Judgment against Bell & Tapscotts Exr in your favor I had requested Mr Crittenden to hasten on the Execution, the Marshal shortly after came to my House, we went to Owenboro & so with Bell on the eve of removing to New Orleans, we went in pursuit of the Boat in which Bell had a small amount of furniture; no Negroes or other valuable property the Boat was claimed by a person on Board, we left the furniture in charge of the person, & went in pursuit of some Negroes Bell eluded us & succeeded after night in taking water (with 4 Negroes, all he had remaining) for Orleans. Having failed to make any part of the debt out of Bell, I directed the Execution against Tapscotts Estate, & discovered that the whole of Estate had been conveyed by Mrs T soon after the suit was commenced, I found such a determination here to rescue the property from the payment of this debt, that I conceived I should not be doing you justice without having a personal interview with the Atty employed in the case: I went to Frankfort on the 1st of May & consulted with Mr Crittenden; who concured with me in opinion, that the best course we could pursue would be to commence Suit in Chancery, sell the land under a Decree, purchase for your benefit, & dispose of it to the best advantage—On my return home I recd yours of Apl 17, consequently delayed Suit until Griffiths return to Kentucky: I saw him on the 4 Inst & soon discovered that his promises were entirely delusive, most of the persons whom he designated as purchasers were present, not one of whom had either money or disposition to purchase. You will be no little astonished after Mrs Griffiths friendly overtures to learn that Mr G had exerted himself more than any other person in secreting the property of Ts Estate, & holds a Mortgage on five of the Negroes, for I believe, a very small consideration
I have to day heard of the death of Benjamin Bell at the Mouth of Cumberland, On the 5 Int I wrote to Mr Crittenden, & furnished him with all the information necessary to commence Suit The death of Bell may possible retard the Suit a short time; I have ascertained the names of his Heirs & inclosed them to Mr C."
16 Aug 1829 - Madison writes to Griffith letting him know he is open to Griffith facilitating a resolution between the Tapscott/Bell party and John Lee.
25 Dec 1829 - Griffith writes to Madison detailing the documentation he has uncovered in determining which lands Madison owes and what lands others (not the Bell/Tapscott party, but those in their vicinity) have been false claiming ownership of.
5 Mar 1830 - Crittenden writes to Madison outlining the judgments against the Tapscott and Bell parties. "Upon the bond, given by Bell & Tapscott to yourself & Mrs Willis, & which was some time since placed in my hands for collection, I instituted suits in our Federal court. The death of Tapscott rendered it necessary to bring seperate suits against his executrix, & the surviving obligor, Bell, as they could not lawfully be joined in one action— Judgments were obtained against both, & in both cases executions were issued & proved ineffectual— Bell having removed, with his property, & Mrs Tapscott having as I was informed so disposed of hers as to evade the process of the law—In this State of case, Mr John H Lee acting as your agent, determined, with my advice, to commence proceedings in the court of chancery in the county where he lives, & where the land you sold lies, to subject that & such other property of the parties as could be reached, to sale for the satisfaction of the judgments obtained at law— I forwarded to him during the last year, the papers necessary for the institution of such proceedings, & have no doubt they are now in progress. My professional services in your case have thus been terminated, & I can only regret that they were not more available to you."
12 Nov 1830 - Lee writes to Madison reporting that Mrs. Tapscott and Mrs. Bell are threatening to appeal the judgement against them and say their attorney can keep proceedings in legal limbo for as long as another five years unless Madison is willing to agree to a settlement giving 200 acres to Tapscott and Bell, with the rest of the land returning to the possession of Madison and his niece. Lee and Griffith apparently contend this to be a prudent solution since additional more valuable land will soon become available and the amount he could get for selling this land will only decrease from then out.
"Enclosed you have the answers of Mrs Bell & Tapscott to a Bill in chancery filed in the Daviess Circuit Court, by Mrs Willis & yourself: the death of Bell & non-residence of some of his Hiers precluded you from the F C Court; & I was compelled with great reluctance to institute the Suit in Daviess under the most perfect conviction, that every method would be resorted to, to sustain them in possession as long as possible. You also have the answers of Mrs Willis & yourself, it is necessary they should be signed & sworn to in the presence of a Justice for the County & certified by him; You can discover from the papers taken collectively what is necessary to answer & make any alteration you deem necessary: The defendants say they are determined to appeal when a Decree is had here unless you will convey to them two hundred acres of the surplus land in one of the Tracts; & their Atty assures them he can sustain them in possession at least five year: I make these statements to you that you may determine whether it would be most conducive to your interest, to await the delay of the Suit, or purchase thier silence: the Farms are going very much to decay since they have abandoned the Idea of paying for them: In addition to these circumstances, there will be thrown into market in a short time large tracts of land near the Court House of superior quality, and thier locality more eligible than yours; Wm R Griffith notwithstanding the high estimate he put upon your land, is now offering lands adjoining yours, & of similar quality at $150 pr acre, & I believe would take less."
1 Jan 1831 - Madison writes to Lee, conceding to the terms Lee outlined in his previous letter. Bell and Tapscott would receive 200 acres and the rest of the land would be forfeited back to Madison and his niece. "The inclosed letter expresses Mrs Willis’, concurrence in the expediency of compromizing the dispute with Mrs. Tapscott & Mrs Bell on the condition stated in your letters, and I very readily do the same; the more so as it will relieve both of us from the task if requested of shewing our titles to the land sold by us."
23 Apr 1831 - Lee informs Madison that after much drama, the case has been settled. 200 acres were offered to and accepted by Mrs. Bell and Mrs. Tapscott after an apparent tongue-lashing from Mrs. Tapscott, and the matter appears to be put to bed for good.
"Your letter of January the 1st was not recd until the 15th of Feby, owing I presume to the extreme inclemency of the weather immediately after I had an interview with Mrs Bell & Mrs T. & proposed to deed them 200 acres of Land of a medium value, out of one of the Tracts, if they would withdraw their defence; This proposition only excited the anger of Mrs Tapscott, & after having recd more abuse than I ever heard poured forth from a Female tongue, I succeeded in prevailing with the Ladies to go with me to Town and consult their Attorney on the subject; he stated to them, if he should make no mistake in the business, he could probably sustain them in possession 8 or 10 year, but should he not manage the Suit correctly a Decree might go against them in 12 or 18 months; they still declined acceding to my proposition, & made a variety of proposals, to all of which I disagreed; I then proposed (with an express declaration that I would listen to no further communications from them) that in addition to the 200 acres I would give them the usufruct of the Land the present year if they would withdraw their Bills & Cross Bills; they asked time to consider, & on the 1st of Apl entered in to writing to that effect: The chancellor upon a withdrawal of defence entered up an Interlocutory Decree, in which I am appointed commissioner to sell the Land at three months Credit if the Defendants fail to make payment by July Term of our Court; I shall examine the Land immediately, & ascertain in what manner it can best be divided, having no doubt it will be to your advantage to purchase the Land at the sale, & sell it in such quantities as purchasers may require. You will observe we now lose the compleat controul of the business, I therefore hope for the expression of your wishes as to the future management of it Accept the tender of my best wishes."
This is last reference to Tapscott or Bell in Madison's letters as far as I could ascertain. A Sesquicentennial article from the Owensboro Messenger & Inquirer in 1965 provides some supplemental information and slightly altered interpretation of the events that transpired.
President Madison Owned Land Here: Some Of The Fiercest Litigation In American History Result of Land Owned Here By Third U. S. President
As noted above, you'll see that Howard T. Taylor was among the buyers of the Madison land. I doubt the writer was aware that he was the step-son of Bell. I wonder too if Madison himself was aware of that or not and how that would have played out. Unless the land Taylor bought was simply prime real estate, what he bought from Madison came to about $6 per acre, while Simpson Stout's purchase averaged out to less then $2 per acre.
With this ugly business behind them, the following year the two widows sold the land Madison allowed them to retain to Simpson Stout, meaning Stout then held more than half of that original 2,000 acre tract that Bell and Tapscott tried to buy from Madison.
Daviess County deeds show that on 11 Jul 1833, Nancy Tapscott sold to Simpson Stout 100 acres of the former Ambrose Madison survey for $400. The transaction shows her name as Nancy, but she signs it Ann Tascott; among the witnesses was W. H. Tapscott, her son, and Robert P. Sharp, who we learn is her son-in-law. Deed records further show that on 1 Sep 1833, Frances Bell sold to Simpson Stout 100 acres of the former A. Madison survey for $200. The witnesses were Howard T. Taylor and Allen G. Taylor. So by 1833, both the Bell and Tapscott families had moved on from their original homestead in Daviess County, and by 1834, Howard Taylor would move onto a nearby tract.
Some excellent supplemental information on William Tapscott, as well as his ancestry, can be found on Bob Tapscott's blog: http://tapscottfamilyhistory.blogspot.com/2013/02/william-tapscott-of-berkeley-co.html
Simpson Stout's son Benjamin would go on to sell 160 of those 200 acres to George L. Calhoun in 1860, and I will discuss the significance of that transaction in Part II of this writing.
Frances Graham and Her Ancestry
It having been several years since, I don't recall what initially led me to look into William and Nancy Ann Tapscott's family, but once I did, I realized almost immediately there had to be familial ties between that family and Benjamin Bell's, specifically through Frances Graham Taylor Bell. This was already apparent from Howard's middle name being Tapscott, but names in the Tapscott family further indicated a close connection between the two families.
William Tapscott's will named 6 children: Henry, Frances, Sally, Alcinda, Nancy, and Juliet. I began researching these six children for any connections to my family. Henry was apparently either Henry William or William Henry based on his being named W. H. Tapscott in 1833 when his mother sold her 100 acres to Stout. I could not find anything on Henry after this point. In his book Henry the Immigrant: The First Tapscotts of Virginia (2nd edition), Bob Tapscott posits that Henry may not have been the biological son of Nancy Ann Tapscott, but the youngest child of William Tapscott's previous marriage.
Records concerning his age are inconsistent to say the least. William Tapscott's 1810 household in Berkeley County, Virginia shows two males aged 10-15 in his household. In 1820 in Daviess County, his household shows one male 10-15; my interpretation of this is a male that was born in late 1810/early 1811 after the 1810 Census had been taken, and so was 10 or on the late end of 9 by 1820. In 1830, Nancy's household shows a male 20-30. Bob Tapscott has accessed tax records for Daviess County that show Nancy did not pay taxes on a 21 year old male in 1830, but did in 1831, indicating the 20-30 year old male turned 21 in 1831. This points to Henry having been born in late 1810. Since we do not know when William and Nancy were married, it is difficult to say if Henry is her son. The odds are about 50/50 at this point. Without convincing evidence to the contrary, I consider Henry to be a son of Nancy Ann but am open to being proven incorrect. Unfortunately, no records for Henry have been identified after he witnessed the 1833 sale of land to Stout.
Daviess County marriage records yielded marriages for all five of the daughters. Chronologically they are:
2 Apr 1832 - Frances Tapscott to Robert P. Sharp
13 Dec 1832 - Alcinda Tapscott to Thomas W. Snead
16 May 1833 - Ann G. Tapscott to William G. Slaughter
10 Oct 1833 - Sarah Tapscott to R. F. Bibb
5 Dec 1837 - Juliet L. Tapscott to James Hillyer
Frances was the jackpot. Her headstone actually presents her full name as Frances Graham Tapscott. It would appear she was tied to the Grahams and likely named after Frances Graham herself. In 1850, she is residing with her husband, Robert P. Sharp, and three children with two different surnames: Medora and George W. Slaughter and James Fauntleroy Snead. As you can see from the marriage records above, those would presumably be the children of her sisters Alcinda and Ann.
Frances raising her sisters' children indicated those at least one those sisters had died. I found no records of her sister Alcinda after her marriage. Same goes for Juliet and Sarah as well. I found a reference to Juliet Tapscott having married James Hillyer in an 1882 genealogy of the Hart family; Hillyer was the son of a senior James Hillyer and a Mary Hart. But no further information on him was found, nor on Sarah, who was presumably the "Sally" named in her father's will.
Nancy is named in her father's will as Nancy, but in her marriage record as Ann. This tracks with her mother's naming preferences, as she is listed as both Nancy and Ann almost interchangeably in all the references to her I can find. Ann's marriage indicates a middle initial of G., and according to her son Joseph Slaughter's death certificate that G stood for Graham. His mother's name is given as "Ann Graham Tapscott." She had three children by William G. Slaughter before marrying William L. Crigler on 5 Jul 1841. They had two known children, James R. (1842) and Harriet (1845). She is in the 1850 Census in Daviess County with her second husband and three youngest children, but disappears after that.
A family history of the Snead family also gives Alcinda Tapscott the middle name of Graham, but no record has been found confirming that assertion. But at least two reliable sources tie the Tapscott family to the Graham name. So how did all this fit together? My initial stance--one which Bob Tapscott, Mark Phelps, and others agreed--was that Graham may have actually been the birth surname of the girls, and Tapscott was an adoptive name. It seemed odd that 2 or more siblings would have the same middle name, so I felt it likely that the biological father of at least Frances and Nancy Ann--and possibly the other children--was Graham, and they were adopted by William Tapscott and took that name.
Based on that theory, I surmised that this biological Graham was a brother to Frances Graham Bell. It was also within the realm of possibility that Frances could also be a sibling to the Tapscott children and that our elusive William Graham remarried to Nancy Ann after the death of Frances's mother, and Nancy Ann was therefore Frances's mother-in-law. I could not be sure which--if either--theory was correct, but my inclination was to lean toward Nancy Ann's first husband being a brother to Frances.
I dug around everywhere I possibly could for leads on Nancy Ann's origins and her spousal relationships and I got nowhere. I searched through Jefferson and Berkeley County records to no avail. No marriage record for Nancy Ann and William Tapscott was found, so I could not know when they were married other than it being between 1810 and 1820. Bob Tapscott found that William Tapscott's first wife was still living in 1810 and was apparently deceased by 1812 (see link to his blog above). We know from the Tapscott sisters' ages that they were born between 1810 and 1820, but only one (Frances) lived long enough to appear Census records (as far as we know), so we had no way of knowing when they were born to indicate when Nancy Ann's first husband would have died or when she would has remarried to William Tapscott.
I decided to try and take another step backward in the lineage and hoped that by identifying Frances's father--supposedly named William Graham--that would lead us to his son, the first husband of Nancy Ann Tapscott. But as I said earlier, I struck out. I just could not find William Graham. Amos Riley Taylor's sketch said that William lived in "the Valley of the Rappahannock", so I was looking in Virginia. He supposedly Captained the "Silver Greys" under Washington, so he need to be 40 or older by the time of the American Revolution.
I tried to narrow down the age of Frances Graham Taylor Bell through Census records in hopes that would narrow things down to some extent. We don't know when she married Levi Taylor, but I have presumed the marriage to have occurred circa 1800 since her oldest known son John Taylor turned 21 around 1822, meaning he was born about 1801. I would assume she was at least 18 years old by 1800-1801, though historically that is not a given as sometimes women could be married as young as 15-16 years old. Here is what Census records told me:
1. 1810 Census of Levi Taylor in Jefferson County, Virginia enumerates her in the 26-44 age range, indicating she was born between 1766-1784
2. 1820 Census of Benjamin Bell in Daviess County, Kentucky enumerates her in the same 26-44 age range, which in conjunction with the previous year's age range pushes the time frame to between 1776-1784
3. 1830 Census of Frances Bell in Daviess County, Kentucky enumerates her in the 50-59 age range, which in conjunction with the two previous years' age ranges pushes the time frame to between 1776-1780.
4. 1840 Census of Howard Taylor in Daviess County, Kentucky--PRESUMING (this is not definitive)--that she is the 50-59 year old female enumerated in Howard's household (Elton was too young, Elton's mother was enumerated in her own home, no other close single female relatives have been identified and all but one of Howard's brothers are deceased by this time), this would mean that if she were in the 50-59 age range in both years, give or take a couple months here or there or presuming whoever answered the Census taker may have guessed to some extent in 1830 or 1840, we can assume she was at the bottom of the 50-59 range in 1830 and at the top of it in 1840, indicating she was born about 1780.
If she were born about 1780, she would have been about 20 when she married and about 21 when her first son was born, so that lines up well. Assuming her father was at least 21 years old when she was born would mean he was almost certainly born before 1760. And if he was truly a "Silver Gray" by 1776-1782, then he would have likely been born prior to 1740.
I Googled my heart out, trying to find as many William Grahams in colonial Virginia as I could, especially ones with ties to the Berkeley County area if possible, since I presume that is the area in which Frances Graham married Levi Taylor. I contacted Graham researchers, a Graham descendants society, and Revolutionary War researchers to try and find this "Captain William Graham". But eventually, I exhausted all that I could find and could not identify conclusive evidence that any of the William Grahams I looked into were the father of Frances Graham.
So I was at a brick wall on the Graham line until very recently. This past summer I took a genealogy road trip to Kentucky. I planned for a leg of my trip to be in Owensboro. And while I still got to see some cool things (Camden Riley's house for one), I was reminded of the frustrating fact that I did not know where hardly any of my Riley and Taylor forebears were buried. I was able to get a good lead on a Riley family cemetery before my trip, but made no headway with the Taylors. You can read about this past summer's adventures here: http://thesaltofamerica.blogspot.com/2019/09/2019-genealogy-road-trip-kin-tucky.html
After getting home and writing the above blog, I took it upon myself to redouble my efforts in finding more definitive proof of where my Riley and Taylor ancestors now rest on this Earth. The products of those efforts will be outlined in Part II of this writing, but in conducting this new round of research I AT LAST burst through the brick wall of the Graham family.
Living in Michigan, I have limited means for obtaining genealogical resources in Daviess County. Fortunately, I became acquainted with the world's most helpful librarian, Christina Clary at the Daviess County Library. She works in the genealogy department and has worked tirelessly to help me obtain records related to determining where the Rileys and Taylors could be buried. In the midst of collecting those records (mostly deeds, probate records, a map, and some scattered newspaper articles), Christina found the little clue I needed to connect Frances Bell and the Tapscotts to a Graham family.
I knew from my previous bout of research that when Frances Bell died, a William H. Howard was appointed the executor of her estate on 12 May 1845. Why her son Howard was not appointed her executor, I don't know. Only a $100 bond was placed as security for her estate, indicating she had a small estate. No further information regarding her estate was located. William H. Howard's name was unfamiliar to me. He was in the 1850 Census as having been born in Maryland in 1815; his profession is listed a Physician, which would make him easier to identify in a world of many men named William Howard. He was married by a Reverend James Taylor in 1840 to Emmarine Woolfolk. The Taylor name was interesting, but I did not know who James would be, and I could find little else about William H. Howard. I should have taken more of an interest in William Howard, but on the surface, I found no reason to look into him further. It just appeared he was a friend or neighbor of Frances who ended up being appointed her estate administrator. After all, not every administrator is related to the person whose estate they are appointed to make arrangements for.
But here's where Christina's brilliance came in. In finding what she could about William H. Howard, as the administrator of Frances's estate, she found a brief announcement regarding his death that immediately set off alarm bells for me.
Christina was aware that Joe Slaughter was the son of Nancy Ann Graham Tapscott as she had previously sent me a biographical sketch of Joe Slaughter.
She theorized that since William Howard had married a Woolfolk, and deed records showed the Taylors and Woolfolks doing business regularly, that the familial connection might have been in that realm since the Taylors and Tapscotts were relatives. This was almost certainly the same William Howard as the one in the 1850 Census since they were both physicians, and I believed the one in the 1850 Census was almost certainly the administrator of Frances's estate in 1845. So given William Howard's connection to both Frances Bell and now Joseph Slaughter, I thought I should start looking into William Howard's ancestry to look for a connection.
I quickly found numerous family trees that contained the William H. Howard who was born in Maryland and died in Texas in 1898. The Howard family is well-documented in multiple published genealogies and in D. A. R. records as well. It took very little searching to find the clue I needed: his mother's name--Sarah Fauntleroy Graham. This was perfect. Alcinda Tapscott's son James had the same middle name--Fauntleroy--and there was the name Graham. I quickly connected Sarah F. Graham Howard--again through numerous published genealogies and family trees--as the daughter of a William Graham and Judith Swan Colston Graham. (See Anne Arundel gentry: A Genealogical History of Twenty-Two pioneers of Anne Arundel County, Md., and Their Descendants by Harry Wright Newman [1933] https://archive.org/details/annearundelgentr00newm_0 and this genealogical query from William & Mary Quarterly in 1928 https://www.jstor.org/stable/1916023?seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents)
And how about the name Colston? Colston was the middle name of my uncle Rawleigh Colston Taylor--I knew this HAD to be it. The detail that didn't line up was that according to Genealogies of Virginia Families: From Tyler's Quarterly Historical and Genealogical Magazine, Volume 1 (1981, https://books.google.com/books/about/Genealogies_of_Virginia_Families.html?id=55I38FXWyPgC), William Graham was born in 1750. That meant he could not have been an old man by the Revolutionary War. But he was still old enough to be Frances's father, so I decided to keep digging. The Genealogies of Virginia Families gave William's Graham lineage back multiple generations and proved Judith Swan Colston's parentage, but did not list children for them.
I continued looking for proof of the children of William and Judith Graham and finally found an online family tree with the reference I needed. The tree of Kenneth H. Howard III included a citation that proved to be exactly what I needed. He had an entry in his tree for Henry Howard, the husband of Sarah Fauntleroy Graham (https://www.genealogy.com/ftm/h/o/w/Kenneth-H-Howard-III/GENE2-0010.html). Kenneth wrote of Henry, "His mother-in-law Judith Swann Graham, resided in Montgomery County, and died testate. He was made the executor of her last will and testament on April 25, 1815, with John H. Riggs and H. C. Gaither as his sureties."
I knew that FamilySearch.org had many Maryland probate records, so I searched there for the will of Judith Swan Graham, and what I found was exactly what I needed. (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:33S7-9TBG-S71P?i=99&wc=SNYH-C6N%3A146535001%2C146653901&cc=1803986). Judith Swan Graham made a number of specific bequeaths to her heirs. Among the items in her will are:
"I give and bequeath unto my daughter Ann Tapscott one third part of Benjamin Bell's bond now on demand for fifteen hundred dollars. Also one negro man by the name of Moses to be hired out for her use until the first day of January eighteen hundred and twenty and then to be free...I give and devise to my five grandchildren John Marshall Taylor, Charles William Taylor, Rawleigh Colston Taylor, Howard Tapscott Taylor, and Allen Griffin Taylor, children of my daughter Francis [sic] Bell, one third part of Benjamin Bell's bond now on demand for fifteen hundred dollars to be shared and share alike and to be kept at interest and paid over to them as they arrive at lawful age by my executor. I also give to the before mentioned minors one negro or mulatto man by the name of Adam to be hired out for their use until he arrives at the age of thirty five years and to go free aged now twenty five years. I give and devise to my daughter Sarah Fauntleroy Howard one third part of Benjamin Bell's bond...[more mentions of slaves, when they are to be freed or if they are to be sold] and Henry Howard should pay to my two daughters Ann Tapscott and Frances Bell one third [the value of a slave named Fanny who is to be kept by Howard until she reaches age 35]...[She bequeaths some personal items to her daughters and to her aforementioned grandson Charles William Taylor, including a horse to be sold and the money to be used for Charles's schooling]...[additional bequeaths are made to her granddaughter Alcindia Graham Howard, Frances Bell, Sarah F. Howard, and she gave power to her executor to sell lands owned by the family in Kentucky and the proceeds to be used to pay off any accounts owed by her estate, and the remaining profits to be divided into 1/3 portions for her three daughters.]...I do hereby constitute and appoint my son in law Henry Howard of John to be sole executor of this, my last will and testament."
Obviously, this document proved to be everything I needed to break down this brick wall. This proves that Judith was the mother of sisters Frances, Ann, and Sarah. It shows that Ann Tapscott was not the widow of Frances's brother, but rather Frances's sister. It appears Graham is a common middle name in the family since one of Sarah Howard's daughters also shares that middle name. It still seems strange that two of Ann Tapscott's daughters would share that middle name, but I guess that's just something people did sometimes. It's interesting that my ancestor's name is apparently a combination of the surnames of his uncles: Howard for Henry Howard and Tapscott for William Tapscott to form Howard Tapscott Taylor.
Fortunately for me, the genealogy from here is pretty straight forward. The Graham and Colston families are quite well-documented, having been relatively wealthy families in Colonial Virginia and Maryland. There is documentation linking Judith as the wife of William, and Judith to her parents, and William to his. Breaking this brick wall added several more generations to my family tree. The Early Colonial Settlers of Southern Maryland and Virginia's Northern Neck Counties database gives a very good outline of both Judith's and William's forebears with some accompanying documentation, though not a lot: https://colonial-settlers-md-va.us/getperson.php?personID=I072830&tree=Tree1
That database told me that the Grahams mostly lived in and around Northumberland County, Virginia. I found several references to a William Graham from that county, and even some Revolutionary War references to a Captain William Graham. It is not definitive that they are the same William Graham, however, and even if he was a Captain, it does not appear his unit was made up for "Silver Greys". But based on Amos Riley Taylor's sketch at least giving the name (William Graham) and region of his grandfather's service correct, I am inclined to believe that our William Graham genuinely was a militia Captain in the American Revolution. Here are some of the references to him I have found:
http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~bush22031/Militia.html
This article examines the militia in early Virginia in general and Northumberland County in particular -- the historical tradition from which it stemmed, its structure and operation, its purposes, and the social context of which it was a part.
Table II: Land Holdings and Other Offices of Northumberland County Militia Officers
Rank Name Land Value (1782) Justice Other Offices
Captain William Graham £250 No Surveyor
William Graham: Cpt., 1777-8.
http://files.usgwarchives.net/va/schools/wmmary/quarterly/v20n2/pg127-132.txt
"William Oldham produced a commission from his Excellency the Governor appointing him Ensign
of the Company of militia in this county whereof William Graham is Captain whereupon he took
the usual oaths accordingly."
"14 July 1777.
John Cralle, Junr., Gent., is by the Court appointed to tender the oaths prescribed by an act of the General Assembly passed last session to every free born male person above the age of sixteen years in the precinct of the militia commanded by himself and William Graham's
company agreeable to the said Act."
http://www2.vcdh.virginia.edu/gos/search/relatedAd.php?adFile=vg1790.xml&adId=v1790100028
Fifty Dollars Reward. RAN-AWAY a Negro Man, named PETER, a stout well made black fellow, between 20 and 30 years old, about 5 feet 10 inches high, supposed to weigh two hundred, he has a full face, thick under lip, and stammers in speech generally, but more so when surprized or spoken to suddenly; his clothes uncertain, as it is expected they are changed; he is by trade a Ditcher, but can also hew, and saw at the whip saw or use the sythe in the fields; he is fond of conversing on religion, and professes to be of the Baptist church; is a very cunning artful fellow, and it is probable has changed his name. The said Peter was sold about 3 or 4 years ago by one Harris or Harrison a native of Ireland, to Mr. William Graham of Northumberland county, and some time after by said Graham to William Siffel, of whom the subscriber in December last purchased the said negro Peter, who had some time before absconded from the said Siffel, and was then out, and has not since been heard of. A few months after Peter's elopement, his first mentioned master, Harris or Harrison, the Irishman, also went off in such a manner that no intelligence can be had of him. It is suspected those two fellows have joined themselves together again, and if a second sale has not already taken place, that it is their design for Peter to be sold as often as they find it convenient, and are either of them in want of money. Whoever may take up the said Peter, and will deliver him to the subscriber in Richmond county, state of Virginia, if taken out of the state, shall receive the above reward, but if taken within the state, ten pounds, exclusive of what the law allows. VINCENT REDMAN. N.B. All masters of vessels and others are forewarned harbouring or carrying him off at their peril. Oct. 16, 1790.
http://boards.ancestry.myfamily.com/surnames.croley/232.234/mb.ashx
John Cralle, Jr. security for estate of William Graham 15 April 1794.
The last reference indicates that William Graham died circa 1794. I plan on requesting a copy of his probate records to see if perhaps there were additional children born to William Graham, perhaps by a wife other than Judith, or children that died between William's 1794 death and Judith's 1813 death.
I was exhilarated to finally break through the Graham brick wall, and I thanked Christina Clary profusely for her help in providing the clue connecting William Howard and Joseph Slaughter. Without that, it may have been a very long time until I broke down this wall.
Closing Thoughts
Before I move on to Part II of this study, I wanted to bring to light an interesting point that ties into Part II. Now that I have definitive proof that the children of Frances Graham Taylor Bell and Nancy Ann Graham Tapscott were first cousins, does it not seem strange that so many members of this family died so young?
Keeping score, we have:
1. John M. Taylor, circa 1801-circa 1826, so roughly age 25
2. Charles W. Taylor, circa 1802-circa 31 Dec 1834, so roughly age 32
3. Rawleigh C. Taylor, circa 1805-presumably before 1840, so roughly age 35 or younger
4. Allen G. Taylor, circa 1809-1834, so roughly 25
5. James Bell, born between 1816-1820-1840s, so in his 20s or 30s [this is assumed because we find no record of him after 1841, but he could have lived later and we've just never found him]
6. William H. Tapscott, circa 1810-before 1840, so aged 30 or less
7. Sarah F. Tapscott, born between 1810-1815, died unknown but presumably pre-1840
8. Alcinda G. Tapscott, born between 1810-1815, died between 1840-1850, so no older than age 40, and possibly as young as 25
9. Nancy G. Tapscott, circa 1815-before 1860, died between ages 35-45
10. Juliet L. Tapscott, born between 1815-1820, died young, presumably before 1850 as she is never located in Census records, so died between ages 17-35
That is a set of 10 first cousins and siblings--all grandchildren of William and Judith Graham--that died as young or middle-age adults. Undoubtedly some will have met less natural deaths (like Howard) but it makes me wonder if there could be a genetic component to their deaths. Perhaps they all shared a genetic disease or all contracted the same communicable disease, like tuberculosis. It would seem something like that would have to come into play for this many close relatives to die at such young ages and within a timespan of 24 years or less.
Even Howard, who we know died in an accident, was only 43. Only Frances Graham Tapscott Sharp lived to be elderly, dying at age 73. In a cluster of 12, only one making it to even age 45 seems very strange. It is also noteworthy to consider that Howard had the most progeny of all his siblings and Tapscott cousins, and of his 7 known children, 5 of them also died young. We know one, John, died at age 19 fighting in the Civil War. But we do not know why Susan (age 29), Levi (age 40), Richard (age 27), and Howard V. (age 25) all died young as well, plus likely another infant child whose name we do not know. It seems very strange to me.
The Howard children seem to have lived somewhat longer for the most part. A family bible gives us the names and dates of birth and death for the children of Henry and Sarah Graham Howard. Alcinda (named in her grandmother's will) died at age 47. Rebecca Boone Howard died young at age 36. Alexander Asbury Howard died at age 47. Only William H. and Juliet C. Howard lived to old age, dying at ages 81 and 76, respectively. So while it does not seem that the Howards died quite so young as their Taylor/Bell and Tapscott cousins, only two of them made it beyond middle age, meaning only 3 total known grandchildren of William and Judith Graham made it past age 50.
I obviously cannot prove anything regarding any diseases or conditions, but this seemed noteworthy. It's also interesting that whatever affliction may have caused all these young deaths did not appear to effect the daughters of William and Judith Graham. Sarah died in 1878 in St. Louis at age 87. Frances lived to be roughly 65. Nancy Ann seems to have lived until at least age 50, being born around 1780 and dying after 1833. Perhaps some sort of recessive gene was passed onto their children that did not effect them. It's impossible to say what could have caused so many Graham descendants to have died so young, but it was an eyebrow-raising pattern.
Now that I have outlined the lineage of Howard T. Taylor, my goal is to compile information on where he and his family members may be buried. That will be Part II of this essay on Howard T. Taylor.
3. Amos Riley, b. 2 Jan 1842
4. John H., b. circa 1843
5. Mary Alice, b. 7 Jun 1844
6. James Richard, b. circa 1848
7. Howard Victor, b. circa 1852
*The 1840 Census for this family contains two boys under 5, indicating the family had another son probably born about 1838-1839 and died before 1850.
Howard can be found in the 1840 and 1850 Censuses for Daviess County, and it was there that he married Elton Riley on 21 Nov 1833. This is about as far as I had gotten with this family until I found a detailed biographical sketch of my uncle Amos Riley Taylor, one of four published sketches I have found, plus a fifth within a sketch of his son, Francis Howard. Note that the reference to "Howard Taylor of St. Louis" is in regard to this son, who went by his middle name:
"Amos Riley Taylor is the senior partner of the law firm of A. R. and Howard Taylor of St. Louis. He was born January 2nd, 1842, about six miles west of Owensboro, Kentucky on his father's farm. His parents were Howard and Elton (Riley) Taylor. He comes of the same Taylor stock as President Zachary Taylor and in the paternal line is also a descendant of William Graham who as a patriot participated in the Revolutionary war and was captain of a company called Silver Greys.
A.R. Taylor of this review learned much concerning the early history of the family from an old negress who lived to be one hundred and four years of age and who distinctly remembered events of the Revolution, including the raid made by Benedict Arnold into Virginia after his act of treason. She often told Mr. Taylor of hiding in a stack of fodder to escape the British raiders at that time. She also remembered the death of his great-grandfather, who was stricken with apoplexy while at the table.
The Grahams came of an ancestry from western Scotland. William Graham, the great-grandfather of A.R. Taylor, emigrated from Scotland to the new world and was connected with the Montrose family of that country.
Howard Taylor was a farmer by occupation and was accidentally killed while out hunting with friends in 1851. As stated, his wife bore the maiden name of Elton Riley. She was a daughter of Amos Riley, who removed to Kentucky and settled in Daviess county at an early period in its development. His ancestors had been early residents of Maryland. His brother was the owner of the slave, Josiah Henson, made famous as Uncle Tom in Harriet Beecher Stowe's story of Uncle Tom's Cabin. In an interview with Queen Victoria, Josiah Henson, as reported by the London Times in 1884, fully exonerated the Riley family from the charge of cruelty portrayed in the story bu which for the purposes of the narrative Mrs. Stowe had given in the manner indicated. The death of Mrs. Elton Riley Taylor occurred in 1866." (St. Louis: History of the Fourth City 1763-1909, Volume 3 (1911), by Walter B. Stevens (S.J. Clarke Publishing, St. Louis), pages 44-47)
Amos Riley Taylor. Courtesy of his descendant Taylor Walsh.
Another sketch of Amos Riley Taylor contained some supplemental information I thought would be useful: "His father, who was a farmer, was born in Virginia. His paternal great-grandfather, William Graham, raised a company in the valley of the Rappahannock, known as the Silver Grays, which he commanded under Washington, in the times which tried men's souls." (The Bench and Bar of St. Louis, Kansas City, Jefferson City, and Other Missouri cities: Biographical Sketches (1884), by the American Biographical Publishing Company (St. Louis and Chicago), pages 155-156)
The information from these sketches--published while Amos was still alive--gave me clues I needed to continue working backward on this family...but also gave me some false leads. Long story short, there is no connection to the Zachary Taylor family. And based on this sketch, my looking for a William Graham who would have been old enough to be "grey" and living in Virginia ("in the valley of the Rappahannock") at the time of the Revolution ("under Washington") really held up my search for my Graham lineage. Fortunately, I gleaned enough truth from this sketch that it was overall much more helpful than it was frustrating.
So at that point, I felt certain that I had at least one really solid lead: Howard Taylor's grandfather was a William Graham, meaning his mother's maiden name was Graham. But I did not have his mother's first name, so I needed to start digging in records to see what could be found. I tried to find any references to Howard Taylor in Daviess County records I could find in order to try to tie him to other relatives besides his wife, children, and in-laws.
As one might expect, Howard appeared in numerous records with his Riley in-laws, as well as their Phillips relatives. Elton Riley Taylor's mother, Susanna, was a daughter of Jenkin Phillips, and that prolific family largely resided in the area around Owensboro and up to Louisville, with another branch out near New Madrid, Missouri, where some of the Rileys would eventually end up as well. Some of the records I found included:
- 8 Sep 1834 - Howard is named the administrator of the estate of Allen G. Taylor, with John Hathaway among the securities. John was the husband of Martha Riley, a sister of Elton.
- 12 Nov 1838 - Susan and Camden Riley were named co-administrators of the estate of Amos Riley, indicating he is deceased by this time. Howard Taylor, George Riley, and Amos Riley [Jr.] are among the securities.
- Feb 1842 - Numerous actions regarding the Amos Riley estate occurred during this month. Among these records was a reference to a Jonathan G. Taylor being a security to Amos Riley's estate. Myra and William Riley, minor orphans of Amos Riley over the age of 14 years, selected their mother, Susan, as their guardian, with Camden Riley and Howard Taylor acting as securities.
- Aug 1843 - Howard and his brothers-in-law, Camden and William Riley, acted as securities for a cousin named Richard Phillips as Phillips acted as the administrator of the estate of Susanna/Susan Riley, Howard's mother-in-law. Among the men listed as potentially appraisers of the estate was Jonathan G. Taylor.
- Jun 1844 - Howard Taylor applies for an court order that he be appointed to "execute deeds of partition agreeably to the division of lands of Amos Riley, dec'd" on behalf of the children/heirs of George W. Riley, who was apparently deceased by this time. This request was granted by the court.
9 Dec 1850 - Howard T. Taylor one of the securities for the estate of Cynthia Riley. Robert S. Price is administrator. Cynthia was an unmarried daughter of Amos & Susanna Riley. Robert S. Price was the husband of Prudence Riley, daughter of George W. Riley.
There were mentions of Howard as a security for other non-relatives, but these were the most genealogically relevant entries. One land transaction ended up being the key I needed to push this family back another generation. As shown above, in 1834, Howard was named the administrator for the estate of an Allen G. Taylor. Both Taylors, so we should assume they are related, right? Often times--probably most of the time--yes, we would assume that. But I want to take a moment here to indicate how that is NOT always the case.
Above you will also see two references to a Jonathan G. Taylor in regards to dealings with the estates of Amos and Susan Riley. It would be natural to assume Jonathan and Howard are related, right? I have enlisted the help of multiple Daviess County researchers over time who have made the same assumption, as have the owners of multiple online family trees. I, too, assumed they would be close kin. But I'll save everyone a little bit of time. I combed Jonathan's tree and could find no indication of a connection to Howard. I determined quickly they were not brothers and soon after figured out it was unlikely they were cousins. Since then I have 100% determined Howard's Taylor lineage and there is no more overlap between Howard and Jonathan Taylor than there is between Howard and President Zachary Taylor. It's just a coincidence, as it is not an uncommon name. If you have Howard and Jonathan in your family tree as relatives, it is incorrect.
Identifying the Siblings and Parentage of Howard T. Taylor
In the case of Allen G. Taylor, the indication was strong that they were indeed related. Howard was appointed estate administrator, and the following heirs for Allen were identified: Frances Bell, Mildred A. Taylor, Samuel & Lucy Denton, Mary C. Taylor, and James Bell. I don't know the reasons for Howard determining that he himself was not an heir to Allen, but it may be due to his jointly holding the property Allen owned with him or being named his estate administrator gave him a conflict of interest. Regardless, the Commissioner's Deed indenture dated 12 Apr 1841 shows that Allen and Howard owned a 300 acre plot together. Howard and the Commissioner's office divided the land into equally valuable plots of 143 3/4 acres and 156 1/4 acres. Allen's portion was then auctioned and Howard was the highest bidder, so this deed formally passed ownership of Allen's portion from his heirs to Howard.
Owning this plot of land together strongly points to a familial relationship between Allen and Howard. My belief was that Allen and Howard were brothers. So I needed to look into Allen's remaining heirs in order to determine how this family pieced together as a whole.
Samuel Denton married a Lucy Taylor on 2 Sep 1838 in Daviess County. It would be easy to assume Lucy was a sister to Allen, except that on 15 Mar 1830 in Daviess County a Charles Taylor married a Lucy Chambers. Estate records then show a Byrd Chambers being appointed administrator of the estate of Charles Taylor on 12 Jan 1835. It would follow, based on Charles Taylor's widow being an heir of Allen, that Charles and Allen were related. This gave us a potential third brother in the family. In an e-mail exchange with Roger Walker in 2012, he told me that he personally viewed and held the Chambers family bible which gave the names of three children between Charles and Lucy: Mary E. Taylor, John Taylor, and Charles Taylor.
Roger descends from Charles's daughter, Mary. The bible belonged to the parents of Lucy Chambers. he wrote: "I saw this bible in the first year I began to taken an interest in actually pursuing the genealogy of my family. My aunt had the bible. She decided that she must preserve the pages with the genealogical information so she wrapped the pages in Saran Wrap. By the time I saw the pages they were extremely brittle and hard to read. I copied the information down and shortly after the pages disintegrated altogether, like crushed up potato chips. To make matters worse, when she died, the only child had no interest in family history and he sold the bible, along with all of her other possessions at an estate sale. I believe the death date for Charles was also included in the bible, December 31, 1835." Based on Byrd Chambers filing to be administrator of Charles's estate in Jan 1835, the year was more likely 1834.
Mary Taylor Higginson, daughter of Charles W. Taylor. Courtesy of descendant Roger Walker.
Since Allen's probate records mention only Mary and not John or Charles, we can presume both were deceased prior to 1841, and likely prior to 1840 as there is no enumeration for either of them in the 1840 Household of Samuel Denton.
Allen's heir Mildred A. Taylor stumped me for a long time. She married James G. Leman/Leaman on 25 Sep 1841 in Daviess County, and I presumed she was a sister. But death records of her children show her maiden name as Kelly/Kelley, and numerous family trees list Mildred, wife of James Leaman, as a daughter of George Thomas Kelly/Kelley and Jane Field. Unfortunately those trees do no acknowledge the fact that he last name was Taylor when she married Leaman, so determining her relationship to Allen was difficult.
I next believed she was actually the widow of Allen, and that the Mary Taylor listed as Allen's heir was their child together. However, I figured out that Mary was the daughter of Charles Taylor based on her presence in 1850 in the home of his widow Lucy Chambers who was by then married to Samuel Denton. No marriage record for Mildred to any Taylor has been found. I can be confident she was not a wife of Charles, Howard, or John. My thought then became if she was Allen's wife, wouldn't she likely be the sole heir to his property? So that meant she was likely the second wife of Rawleigh Colston Taylor.
As discussed later, his first wife Catherine Winstead is said to have died in 1833 according to a bible in the Winstead family. The 1830 Census indicates that Rawleigh had a daughter under 5 in his household as well. In reviewing court documents concerning Howard Taylor v. Allen Taylor's heirs, I learned that girl's name was Frances, as a guardian was appointed for her and Charles's daughter Mary as well. I believe she may have died before the case was completed because she is not mentioned again among the final heirs of Allen's estate when his land was sold to Howard in 1841. That may not be the case though since at one point John's daughter Levenia (see below) was also an heir of Allen but was not listed among the final heirs. Based on all the information I have, I now believe Mildred was most likely the widow of Rawleigh C. Taylor.
That left us with Frances and James Bell. They were not grouped together in the listing of heirs as a married pair like Lucy and Samuel were, so I did not believe they were married to one another. I could find no further information on James Bell. In fact, to this day I have yet to find a single piece of documentation bearing his name other than this land transaction naming him an heir of Allen and the court records about the case. Those court records do state that both he and Levenia Taylor, daughter of John, were non-residents of Daviess County. That makes sense since no taxes, deeds, census, or other records of any sort have been found for him Daviess County. I don't know for sure how old he is or anything else about him, unfortunately. Luckily, Frances Bell ended up being the person I needed to move back another generation.
I was pretty sure I was looking at at least three brothers (Howard, Allen, and Charles) and needed to figure out how they connected to Frances Bell. This was where my good friend Google came in handy. With a few searches I was able to find out everything I needed. I did not see Frances Bell in the 1840 Census, but she was in Daviess County for the 1830 Census. Prior to that in the 1820 Census there was a Benjamin Bell in Daviess County. I played around on Google looking for connections between this Benjamin Bell and someone named Frances, or the common nicknames for Frances, "Fannie" or "Fanny" until I struck gold in the form of one issue of a newspaper.
The Farmer's Repository was an early newspaper based out of Charles Town, Virginia in Jefferson County, which is today in West Virginia. The 9 Jun 1814 issue included two articles that would at last tie these people together for me, as well as give me some additional relatives to pursue.
This issue of the Farmer's Repository can be viewed in full here: http://www.wvgeohistory.org/Portals/0/newspapers/Farmers%20Repository%201814_06_9.PDF
So here in the same paper is a Frances/Fanny TAYLOR marrying a Benjamin BELL. Then another Fanny Taylor referenced as the widow of a Levi Taylor, with five sons listed--including Charles W. and Allen G. The outlier is "Howell" Tapscott Taylor, but it is clear that was a misprint of "Howard". The chances that these were two different Fanny Taylors being referenced in the same newspaper issue was very small. Further, Howard's oldest son was also named Levi. These articles gave me a clear indication that Howard's parents were Levi Taylor and Fanny/Frances, who remarried to Benjamin Bell. Amos Riley Taylor's biographical sketch told me that Fanny's maiden name was Graham. And the second article also proved that Allen and Charles were Howard's brothers and that there were two more--John and Rawleigh.
I started delving into Levi Taylor, Benjamin Bell, Frances/Fanny Graham, John Marshall Taylor, and Rawleigh Colston Taylor as much as I could. I got in touch via Ancestry with Mark Phelps, who was researching Benjamin Bell and he brought to my attention proof that the Fanny Taylor that married Benjamin Bell was the widow of Levi Taylor, father of Howard and his brothers.
From the USGenWeb Archives of Jefferson County, VA/WV [http://files.usgwarchives.net/wv/jefferson/newspapers/bbellgua85gnw.txt]:
Farmer's Repository May 1, 1816
At a Superior Court of Chancery holden at Winchester, the 8th April, 1816. On the petition of Benjamin Bell, guardian of the Infant Def'ts of Levi Taylor, dec'd. praying that he may be authorised and empowered by this court, to make sale of so much of a tract of Land of which said Levi Taylor, died seized in the county of Jefferson, as will be sufficient to pay and discharge the balance of the purchase money pursuant to an act of the General Assembly of Virginia, passed at the last session...The petitioner is to make a particular return of his proceedings therein to the court: whereupon the said Benj. Bell entered into bond with Wm. Tapscott, his security, (who justified upon oath) in the penal sum of fourteen thousand dollars, conditioned as by the said act of assembly is directed, which bond is ordered to be recorded.
So this proved that the Fanny Taylor that married Benjamin Bell was the widow of Levi Taylor, as Benjamin was named the guardian of Levi's sons. This also gave me the name of another important player in this research--William Tapscott. It did not escape notice that Tapscott is Howard T. Taylor's middle name, indicating this man may have had a connection the family that pre-dates Benjamin Bell's joining it. Once I started searching for mentions of Benjamin Bell and William Tapscott, I found a ton of information. Before I get to that though, locating the above transcription from the Farmer's Repository regarding Levi Taylor's estate led me to search the USGenWeb archives again for more related items, and I did find one more that gave me an additional name to search. [http://files.usgwarchives.net/wv/jefferson/newspapers/lanetayl67gnw.txt]
Farmer's Repository February 7, 1812
Public Sale.
Will be sold, on Tuesday the 25th inst. (if the weather permits, or the first fair day afterwards) at the farm belonging to the heirs of Levi Taylor, dec'd, withing 2 1/2 miles of Charlestown, best known in that neighborhood by the name of Fleetwood, on a credit of nine months -- All the farming utensils and stock of every description belonging to said estate, consisting of a waggon and geers, ploughs, and harrows, and every other kind of implements necessary on a farm -- work horses, valuable brood mares, cows, hogs and sheep -- Also, a complete wheat fan(?). Bond and approved security will be required before the property can be removed. The sale to commence at 10 o'clock, A.M. where due
attendance given by
WILLIAM TAYLOR, Adm'or,
FANNIE TAYLOR, Adm'trix.
February 7, 1812.
This shows that Frances (this time with her nickname spelled Fannie, so we are up to three name/spelling variations) was co-administrator of Levi's estate with a William Taylor. But like with Jonathan Gibson Taylor, it's important not to automatically assume people with a shared common surname in close proximity are automatically related to each other. I assumed William to be a brother of Levi, but had nothing that formally spelled out their relationship.
At this point, I was neck-deep in information and leads to pursue. On one hand, I had the name of Howard's father--Levi--which could lead me to Howard's Taylor line. On the other hand, I was still looking for Frances's Graham family as well, and hoped that by looking into Benjamin Bell and other family associates like William Tapscott I might find her family. I ended up trying to tackle both lines at the same time, and while I had almost immediate success with one of these families, the other proved much more difficult until very recently.
Levi Taylor and His Ancestry
As I searched for Levi Taylor in and around Jefferson County, VA, I began to find traces of him in various online genealogical corners. Eventually, I was directed to a book that ended up being exactly what I needed to discover my full Taylor line. I had found that Levi was an heir of a John Taylor, but John Taylor being a ridiculously common name, I could only go so far with him. Fortunately, I discovered a well-researched and well-documented book that would take my Taylor line back generations.
Taylor, Hager, and Related Families by Clara Sesler Genther was referenced in some message board posts regarding the Taylor families around Jefferson and Berkeley County, VA/WV. I found that she was still living in the Cincinnati area, so I called her up. I told her what I knew about Howard and Levi and John, and she told me they were all named in her book. And for the very low (for a genealogy reference book) price of $35 plus $5 shipping, she sent me the hardcover book, and it was everything I could have hoped for. I have since learned that Clara passed away last year at age 101. If you find yourself benefiting from the Taylor information in this post, it would only be fitting for you to leave her flowers on her Find A Grave memorial: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/192496376/clara-genther
The book referenced Levi on pages 130-131. Like me, she found Levi's widow to have been Frances (Fanny) Taylor, though she had not located a marriage record or maiden name for Frances. To date, I have still not located a marriage record for the pair. She abstracted Levi's will, which involved a relatively large estate. Levi's relationship to William is not specified, but a bequeath to a brother named Samuel at the request of his father gave us one relationship for him. After the estate's settlement, ownership of Levi's large farm, called "Fleetwood", passed to Levi's five sons, the aforementioned John, Charles, Rawleigh, Howard, and Allen. This apparently represented Frances's dower, so she and her future spouse Benjamin Bell could make some decisions regarding this property, but could not sell it outright until the Taylor brothers reached the age of majority, which at that time was 21.
Most helpfully, Clara provided citations for the documents she transcribed and abstracted, allowing me to seek copies of the full documents myself. Among the additional documents she cited was an 1815 conveyance from Levi's sons of some of Levi Taylor's land to the heirs of a Bushrod Taylor, dec'd, of Frederick County, Virginia. Bushrod's children were represented by an Eben Taylor. Exactly three years later, that same land was referenced again when Bushrod's widow requested a release of her dower and wished to be granted 1/3 of the land's value, with the other two parts being held by Bushrod's heirs and a Griffin Taylor. So all of this gave us the names of Bushrod, Eben, and Griffin Taylor. Allen Taylor's middle name being Griffin could indicate some sort of relationship, but no relationship between these parties is ever spelled out.
Clara assumed that Bushrod was another son of Levi, but from everything I have found online since, Bushrod was approximately the same age as Levi and his children were approximately the same age as Levi's, so it is unlikely Bushrod was the son of Levi Taylor. I have found numerous references to Bushrod during his lifetime and after his death, and some references to Eben and Griffin Taylor as well, but I had not established their parentage. Bushrod is not listed as an heir to Levi, nor an heir to Levi's father, so his relationship, if any, remaied un-established. Once again, just because two people with the same common name live in the same place and conduct business together does not mean they are related. We wouldn't automatically assume two Smiths, Johnsons, or Williamses doing business together were related, and I think at least in this time period, we have to lump the name Taylor in with those.
The book Descendants of Capt. Thomas J. Taylor Born 1571 England and Margaret Swinder, which is available online indicates Bushrod was a son of a Nathaniel Taylor. That Taylor family was also from Jefferson County, VA, and interestingly--if Bushrod does belong to this family--his sister, Mary, had a daughter named Courtney Figg who eventually ended up in Daviess County, KY of all places. The book Some Virginia Families: Being Genealogies of the Kinney, Stribling, Trout, McIlhany, Milton, Rogers, Tate, Snickers, Taylor, McCormick, and Other Families of Virginia, available via Google Books, shows a Taylor family from Virginia made up of multiple Griffins and Bushrods. Now, when I look into Eben Taylor, a FamilySearch tree shows he, Griffin, and Bushrod to be among the sons of a Captain William Taylor: https://ancestors.familysearch.org/en/KDM2-NB2/eben-taylor-1763-1810. At least one Virginia Chancery Court case references all three men: https://www.lva.virginia.gov/chancery/case_detail.asp?CFN=069-1833-138.
What all of this indicates is that if the Levi Taylor and Bushrod Taylor families were related (and none of the above-cited genealogy indicates an intersection between the two families), it was not a close relation. So despite what Clara's book asserts, Bushrod was not a son of Levi. Other than that conclusion, I agree with everything else she presents.
Clara also shared two deed abstracts involving Levi's sons. One was between Charles and a John Moore and the other between Allen and the same John Moore. It appears that these showed that Charles and Allen had reached the age of majority (in 1823 and 1830, respectively) and were selling their ownership stakes in Fleetwood to the man who presumably had been leasing or farming the property all this time while the family lived in Kentucky. Both documents list Charles and Allen as residents of "Davison" (sic) County, Kentucky. Such a county does not exist, but was obviously meant to be Daviess County. To get as complete information as I could, I decided to send off for copies of the full deeds from Jefferson County.
Fortunately for me, Jefferson County made it really easy to order documents from them, and they have a great system with all their old records indexed. So I was able to order every document that involved Levi, Frances, John, Charles, Rawleigh, Howard, and Allen Taylor all at once. Their handy database can be accessed here: http://documents.jeffersoncountywv.org/. I will discuss those records further later on. In an interesting coincidence, the man assigned to collect these record copies for me was a native of the town I was living in--Adrian, Michigan. This was back in 2012, and I have since moved to Oklahoma and back to Adrian, and he has moved back to Adrian from West Virginia. He is a local stand-up comic these days.
Clara also found the will of the John Taylor with sons Levi and Samuel, and with a son William as well, who was likely the William that was co-administrator of Levi's estate with Fanny. According to Clara's research, John resided near Harper's Ferry in Berkeley County, VA. He had a large estate in Virginia as well as land in Clark County, Kentucky; it is said he accompanied Captain William Morgan to survey Kentucky in 1779. Clara provided a transcription of John's will in full, which explicitly named 8 children: Mary Brown, William Taylor, John Taylor, Levi/Levy Taylor, Samuel Taylor, Sarah Taylor, Susannah Hendricks, and Jean Morgan. Mary was the wife of John Brown, Susannah the wife of William Hendricks (they migrated to Champaign County, Ohio), and Jean the wife of Richard Morgan. Sarah later married David Osborne.
Clara did not give a maiden name for John's wife, but found her first name to be Blanche, who apparently pre-deceased the writing of John's will as she is not mentioned. She asserted that he had been married previously to an unknown first wife, an assertion of which I have not yet found evidence. She did research John's Taylor line several generations back, which I won't go into complete detail with here. I will give a brief outline of his direct line, and recommend that anyone who wishes to see Clara's accompanying documentation should locate a copy of Clara's book; it is available in numerous repositories, including the Fort Wayne Library. John was the son of:
Samuel Taylor, who died 1762. His will was dated 2 Nov 1760 and recorded 4 Aug 1762 in Frederick County, VA. He married three times, first to Patience Wright, second to an unknown woman, and third to Rachel. He was the son of:
Israel Taylor, b. 27 Jan 1660 in Otley, Yorkshire, England, d. 17 Nov 1725 at Tinicum Island, Pennsylvania. Married to an unknown Hendricks, possibly. He was the son of:
Christopher Taylor, b. circa 1623 at or near Skipton, Yorkshire, England, d. 26 Jun 1686 at Philadelphia, PA. Married Isabel and Frances. He came to America with William Penn. He was the son of:
Christopher Taylor, d. 2 Oct 1644 near Skipton, Yorkshire, England. Married thrice to Ann Hodgson, Haworth, and Maudlen Wage.
Although Clara did not identify the maiden name of John Taylor's wife Blanche, Google provided answers fairly easily. Various documents show John Taylor's wife as a daughter of John Lemen. John Taylor was a witness of John Lemen's will which was written 2 Apr 1774 and proved 16 Aug 1774. [https://sites.google.com/site/sjzscertainfolksandevents/edward-mercer-d-1783-berkeley-co-va] The book History of the Lemen Family, of Illinois, Virginia, and Elsewhere by F. B. Leman (1898) on pages 530-531 shows one of John Lemen's daughters was the wife of John Taylor. Further solidifying the relationship was the will of John's son James Lemen. He reportedly died in the Battle of Brandywine in 1777. In his will, he conveyed land to his wife and daughter, and then legacies to select apparent favorite nieces and nephews. Among those nephews was Levy Taylor, son of John Taylor. I don't know if this was purely a "favorites" game, or if perhaps Clara was correct in asserting that John Taylor married twice, perhaps Levi was the only child born of Blanche at the time James Lemen died.
At this point, I began earnestly seeking my Graham lineage. My research returned to Howard and his siblings with the intention of finding more about them and working backwards in order to find further maternal connections now that I had worked out his paternal family. I had learned all I could about Charles and Allen, but now I had John and Rawleigh. I also finally received several documents I ordered from Jefferson County which I will summarize.
I believe John Marshall Taylor was the oldest child of Levi and Frances because he was the first of his brothers to sell his portion of Fleetwood, which as I stated earlier appeared to happen when each brother came of age. He sold his portion in 1823, indicating he was born circa 1801. That may also indicate that Levi and Frances were married circa 1799-1800 based on the quick succession in which they had their sons. That same year on 20 Feb 1823 in Daviess County John married to Ruth Bell, daughter of Benjamin Bell and therefore John's step-sister. Benjamin had previously been married to Margaret Southwood, based on inheritance that Ruth and her siblings received from Margaret's father, Edward Southwood.
Ruth Bell Taylor then remarried to George Bast on 4 Jan 1827 in Daviess County, indicating that John had died. I found no other records of John after his marriage. Probate records for Daviess County did not yield anything for John, but while some records exist back to 1812, some were lost in an 1865 fire. (https://www.familysearch.org/wiki/en/Daviess_County,_Kentucky_Genealogy). So in my tree, I list John as having been born circa 1801 and died circa 1826. Thanks to Bell-descendant Mark Phelps, I learned that John and Ruth had a child: Levenia Taylor. Levenia is the feminized version of Levi, so she was named for John's father. She later migrated to Missouri, where she married Thomas Price in 1841. She died in 1915 in Lafayette County, MO; her death certificate shows her father John Taylor and her birthplace as Owensboro, Kentucky.
Ruth Bell, daughter of Benjamin Bell, wife of John M. Taylor. Courtesy of Ancestry user TEHodges2.
Levenia Taylor, daughter of John M. Taylor. Courtesy of Ancestry user TEHodges2.
Rawleigh Colston Taylor appears to have been the 3rd of the five Taylor brothers, as he sold his portion of Fleetwood in 1826, after Charles and before Howard. He is listed as "Raleigh Cotton" Taylor in the Daviess County marriage index; he married Catherine Winstead on 2 Aug 1827. She was the daughter of Stephen Hall Winstead and Martha McFarland. Online I found a reference to her dying on 23 May 1833 according to a family bible that belonged to her parents. I contacted the owner of the bible, Joe Craig, who checked the bible for any references to Rawleigh. He reported that Catherine's information was actually written on the pages of another bible that had been torn out and placed into the Winstead family bible. She is listed as Catherine Taylor, but no reference to her husband is made.
Rawleigh is listed as "Colson Tailor" in the 1830 Census in Daviess County. In addition to his wife, there is one female under 5 in the household, who court records indicate was named Frances Taylor. Unfortunately, this is the last record I can locate of Rawleigh other than his wife's name in that bible up until Allen's death; the court records for that case prove he had died by then. The bible had no additional Taylor entries, including Catherine's apparent daughter. Rawleigh is not listed in any Daviess County probate records of his own.
The copies of original documents I received from Jefferson County are chronologically as follows:
3 Apr 1802 - Deed from heirs of John Taylor to John Donaldson of Clarke County, Kentucky. Heirs of John Taylor given as "John Taylor and Catharine his wife, William Taylor and Ann his wife, William Hendricks and Susannah his wife, Levi Taylor and Fanny his wife, David Osborn [sic], and Richard Morgan, the said John Taylor, William Taylor, Levi Taylor, and Susannah Hendricks being children heirs and representatives of John Taylor deceased and the said David Osborne and Richard Morgan being sons in law of the said John Taylor dec'd their wives being dead, all of Jefferson County, late a part of Berkeley County in the state of Virginia". Donaldson paid 58 pounds for 127 acres of land in Clarke County.
10 Dec 1802 - Deed between "John Baker of Jefferson County and state of Virginia, Obediah Clifford of Loudoun County and state aforesaid and John Taylor of Jeferson County Virginia aforesaid of the one part and Levy Taylor of the last mentioned place of the other part. Whereas the said Levy Taylor and Franney [sic] his wife did by Deed of trust bearing date the 14th day of May 1800 sale [sic] and convey to the said [Baker, Clifford, and John Taylor] in trust a certain tract or parcel of land situated lying and being then in Berkeley County and state aforesaid but now in Jefferson county and state aforesaid containing two hundred and one acres..."
1 Mar 1807 - Deed between William and Nancy Taylor of Jefferson County and Levi Taylor of Jefferson County. Levi paid William one dollar for 14 acres of land.
6 Jun 1810 - Agreement between Henry Bedinger and Samuel B. Harris regarding purchased by Bedinger from Abel Westfall that is now in the possession of Harris, a total of roughly 305 acres in Jefferson County. Included in that land were 8 acres patented to John Taylor and bequeathed to his sons William and Levi Taylor.
2 Mar 1811 - Deed between Levi and Frances Taylor of Jefferson County and Bernard Wesinall [sic]. Wesinall paid $6,910.92 to Levi and Frances for a tract of land about three miles from Shepherds Town in Jefferson County containing 177 and 3/4 acres of land, including the 14 acres Levi bought from his brother William in 1807.
4 Mar 1811 - "Deed of Martyr [sic?]" between Bernard Wisenall and Levi Taylor. The agreement states Wisenall is in debt to Taylor in the sum of $1,910.92--indicating he could only pay $5,000 of the purchase price for the above-mentioned 177 acre plot. Wisenall agrees to pay Taylor a total of $477.73 on the first day of March for several years beginning 1 Mar 1813 and concluding on 1 Mar 1816.
1 Mar 1817 - Deed between Benjamin and Frances Bell of Jefferson County and Anthony Rosenberger of Berkeley County. The Bells were paid $24,000 for 338 acres of land in Jefferson County.
1 Apr 1818 - Deed between Benjamin Bell and William P. Craighill. Benjamin Bell was acting as the guardian of the "Orphans of Levi Taylor, dec'd", namely John M. Taylor, Charles Taylor, Howard T. Taylor, Allen G. Taylor, and Raleigh [sic] C. Taylor, and "as tenant in right of his wife's dower". he transaction was in regards to Levi's homestead "Fleetwood", containing roughly 500 acres. The deed says that 150 acres of the tract was sold by order of the Chancery Court, but that the remaining land was to be leased and farmed by Craighill. What this all indicated was that the Levi's sons and widow retained ownership of roughly 350 acres of Fleetwood but were not residing there and were allowing Craighill to farm this land. Frances owns roughly 175 acres (half of the remaining 350) and the remaining 175 was divided between the five Taylor brothers, so roughly 35 acres apiece. One of the witnesses to this agreement was William Tapscott. I do not have the Chancery Court order where the estate of Levi Taylor sold 150 acres of Fleetwood, but it is referenced in multiple other deeds below.
[Day left blank] May 1818 - Deed between Benjamin Bell and William P. Craighill. The aforementioned Chancery Court case was referenced again, stating that in the April term of 1816 [not sure this is correct as a later deed says the order was from Apr 1818 and I don't know why they would wait two years to complete this transaction], a suit between the heirs of Levi Taylor and Griffin Taylor et. al. resulted in Benjamin Bell being authorized to sell a portion of Fleetwood to pay for the purchase of land by Levi's heirs from Griffin and Bushrod Taylor. Bell and Craighill agreed to a price of $48 per acre, and therefore Craighill paid $6830 for 142 1/2 acres. That allowed Bell to pay Griffin and Bushrod Taylor's heirs the money owed to them. That is what reduced the remaining part of Fleetwood still owned by the Taylors.
That is my best interpretation of these records, and it seems to be supported by this information from the Journal of the House of Delegates of the Commonwealth of Virginia:
Page 25 of the Journal of the House of Delegates of the Commonwealth of Virginia (1815). Courtesy of Google Books.
14 May 1818 - Deed between Griffin Taylor and Mary his wife and the heirs of Levi Taylor. Named are John, Charles, Rawleigh, Howard, and Allen. "By a Decree of the Superior Court of Chancery" dated 17 Apr 1818, Griffin Taylor was ordered to convey to the heirs of Levi Taylor roughly 500 acres in Jefferson County for a total of $6020.05.
14 May 1818 - Deed between Eben Taylor as guardian of the infant heirs of Bushrod Taylor, namely George W. Taylor, Emily B. Taylor, Louisa T. Taylor, Sarah E. Taylor, Mary C. Taylor, Adison B. Taylor, and Bushrod S. Taylor of Frederick County, VA of the one part and the heirs of Levi Taylor of the second part (I'm not going to list them again). Acting by the same "Decree of the Superior Court of Chancery", Eben Taylor conveyed a total of 900 acres (separate adjoining tracts of roughly 400 and 500 acres) to Levi's heirs, with the land remaining subject to the dower right of Frances Bell, mother of the parties of the second part. I could not locate a dollar amount for this transaction.
14 May 1818 - Deed between Martha P. Taylor, widow of Bushrod, and the heirs of Levi. She released her dower rights to the property that was held jointly by Bushrod and Griffin that was conveyed to them by Fairfax Washington and wife. She was entitled to one third of one half of the money paid to Griffin by the heirs of Levi Taylor for her dower rights.
23 Nov 1819 - An account of Levi Taylor's estate submitted by William Taylor and Frances and Benjamin Bell. They submitted a settlement of Levi's estate, showing debts paid and debts owed the estate. The payments from Bernard Wisenall are referenced, with a remaining balance due of $340.17. It also showed a payment by "Mrs. F. Taylor, now Mrs. F. Bell, the admin'r to Griffin & Bushrod Taylor crediting of the estate", indicating that Bushrod's debt to the estate had been settled. The only remaining outstanding debt owed the estate was the $340.17 owed by Wisenall. A portion of that would be paid to William Taylor as co-administrator, and the rest would be paid to Frances.
11 Nov 1822 - Deed from John M. Taylor to John Moore. Says both are of Jefferson County, VA. Perhaps John moved back but the 1820 Census shows the Benjamin Bell family had moved to Daviess County by this time, so it may have been an error. Moore paid John $2002 for his portion of Fleetwood; the Taylor heirs owned a total of 357 acres. Deed also shows Frances Bell releasing her dower rights to the land, giving one fifth or her retained rights to the land to John, meaning the transaction was for a total of roughly 71.5 acres.
It would appear Moore had taken over Fleetwood from Craighill at some point in the years up to 1822.
6 Oct 1823 - Deed from Charles W. Taylor to John Moore. Charles is listed as a resident of "Davis" County, Kentucky. $2002 was again paid to Charles from Moore for his 71.5 acre portion of the 357 acres of Fleetwood still owned by the Taylor brothers.
20 Dec 1823 - Apparently it had not been formally recorded that Frances was releasing her dower rights to Fleetwood, essentially giving 1/5 of her half-ownership of the 357 acres to her sons. This deed formally recognized that Benjamin and Frances Bell for the total of $1 was giving John and Charles the right to sell (or already sold technically) the 35+ acre portions of Fleetwood she was giving each son.
22 Sep 1826 - Deed from Rawleigh Colston Taylor [of Daviess County] to John Moore. $1500 paid from Moore to Rawleigh for his portion of Fleetwood, namely 71 and 1/5 of an acre. No reference to Frances Bell's dower is made, but it would appear that like with John and Charles she was releasing her down to allow Rawleigh to sell her portion. It may have been recorded in a separate transaction and I didn't get a copy of it.
15 Jun 1829 - Deed from Howard T. Taylor of "Daves" County to John Moore. $1423.60 from Moore to Howard for his 1/5 portion of his father's estate. The acreage is not specified, only that it is 1/5 of 357 acres, so presumably it is around 71 acres like his brothers'.
21 Jul 1829 - Deed from Frances Bell, widow of the late Benjamin Bell deceased, to John Moore. Rather than outright relinquishing her dower rights to Howard's portion like she did with John and Charles, Frances sold her dower rights to the portion Moore bought from Howard for $100.
20 Aug 1830 - Deed from Allen Griffin Taylor of Daviess County to John Moore. $1430 dollars from Moore to Allen for his portion of his father's estate. This time, it is specified that Allen was selling 35 1/2 acres to Mr. Moore, and in a subsequent transaction the remaining portion held by his mother's dower was sold.
20 Aug 1830 - Deed from Frances Bell, widow of the late Benjamin Bell, to John Moore. She relinquished her dower rights to the remaining 35 1/2 acres that were part Allen's portion of Levi's estate to John Moore for another $500 from Moore to Allen.
The first two deeds show that where the Taylors lived was in Berkeley County until Jefferson County was formed in 1801. The later deeds prove conclusively that the Taylor brothers were in Daviess County by 1823, but almost certainly earlier because, as mentioned, Benjamin Bell is enumerated in the 1820 Census in Daviess County. In his household, enough males were enumerated to account for all of the Taylor brothers, though if the 1822 deed is correct, perhaps John did not reside with them. Two of the last three deeds prove that Benjamin Bell was deceased by July, 1829. This is would be as good as any transition for us to discuss the interesting case of Benjamin Bell and his friend/brother-in-law, William Tapscott.
Benjamin Bell, William Tapscott, and President James Madison
Much of my research surrounding Benjamin Bell and William Tapscott occurred in 2011 and 2012. I was greatly assisted by the efforts of two other researchers: Benjamin Bell descendant Mark Phelps and Tapscott family authority Bob Tapscott. What made Bell and Tapscott so interesting was not just their ties to my family, but their roles in a minor scandal.
Bell and Tapscott jointly purchased 2,000 acres of land from none other than then-retired President James Madison and Madison's nieces. This land was situated in Daviess County, Kentucky, so that is what brought my family (Bell being Howard Taylor's step-father) to Kentucky from Jefferson County, Virginia. They made a down payment and had an arrangement to make a number of additional payments to Madison in subsequent years to pay off their purchase of this land.
President James Madison. Courtesy of Wikipedia.org.
The long and the short of it is that things did not go as planned for any of the parties involved. It appears Tapscott made one additional payment after the families' removal to Kentucky, but Bell never made another payment. Letters from an increasingly-impatient Madison survive to this day, giving us a good deal of detail on the matter, at least from the perspective of Madison and his confidants.
The "Founders Online" collection from the National Archives provides outlines of numerous letters to and from Madison that have been documented, along with some supplemental background on the incident that transpired.
To Benjamin Bell
Montpellier Decr. 22. 1817
Sir
I have but just recd. your letter of the 1st. inst. My niece is disposed to part with the land in question; and I shall acquiesce in the sale on the terms to which you refer. It remains with you therefore to come down & close the bargain. Accept my respects
James Madison
https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Madison/04-01-02-0161
Supplemental information provided by the National Archives: Benjamin Bell and William Tapscott of Jefferson County, Virginia (now West Virginia), purchased 3,000 acres [sic, should be 2,000] of Kentucky land owned by JM and his niece and ward, Nelly Conway Madison Willis, on 10 Apr. 1818. The land was part of a large parcel at Panther Creek purchased in the 1780s by JM and his brother Ambrose. The 1818 sale was for $6,000, with $2,000 to be paid immediately and the rest to follow in two equal annual installments. The down payment was made as promised, but over the succeeding years, despite several dunning letters from JM, only $1,000 of the remaining sum was voluntarily paid. A host of complications ensued.
In 1823, Bell informed JM of competing claims on his title to part of the land, though JM was assured by his friend and agent, Hubbard Taylor, that these were not serious and were being used as an excuse for nonpayment. His patience at an end and in dire need of ready money, JM engaged attorney John H. Lee to pursue legal remedies. Lee procured a court judgement against Bell and Tapscott, but the deaths of Tapscott by 1827 and Bell by 1829 drew out the proceedings. A judgement against Bell and Mrs. Tapscott in federal court in 1828, pursued by John J. Crittenden who acted as JM’s attorney, proved equally useless, as did recourse to the chancery court in Daviess County, Kentucky. Finally JM empowered Lee to arrange a settlement with, by now, the widows of Bell and Tapscott, which gave them title to some of the land in exchange for JM’s right to sell the rest for the benefit of himself and Mrs. Willis. This Lee was able to do, and JM and his niece received $1,650 in 1832 and an additional $1,200 in 1833.
All of the letters to/from Madison regarding William Tapscott and Benjamin Bell can be found here: https://founders.archives.gov/?q=Project%3A%22Madison%20Papers%22%20Tapscott&s=1511211111&r=1. I am providing my own outline of the letters with information of particular interest, with original letter spellings remain in place as provided in their transcriptions:
15 Apr 1819 - Tapscott makes his first scheduled payment; Bell does not.
19 Jan 1823 - Madison writes Bell and Tapscott asking for payment. "It is so very long since payments were due from both particularly one of you for the land purchased of Mrs. Willis & myself1 without our having recd. even a line on the subject from either, that you cannot be surprized at being now reminded of your obligations, and called to discharge them."
22 Apr 1823 - Bell has written back to Madison; Tapscott has not. Bell apparently claimed that there were others claiming they owned the land that Bell was purchasing from Madison. "I am very sorry that any difficulties shd. have arisen in the case of the land sold to you by Mrs. Willis & myself.2 All that I had learnt relating to it, had left me under the impression, that no interfering claims existed that could invalidate our conveyance: and I trust that such will be found to be the case. You will of course take the proper steps for obtaining the necessary information, and maintaining the proper defences."
25 Apr 1823 - Madison enlists the help of a Hubbard Taylor (no relation to Levi Taylor and sons), who resides in Lexington, Kentucky to help resolve the issue. "The two tracts of land containing 1000 acres each on Panthers Creek belonging to my Neice Mrs. Willis and myself, ware sold several years ago to Mr Ben: Bell, & Mr Tapscott, who are settled on them. I just lern by a letter from the former, who holds the lower tract, that interfering claims backed by a recent running of lines are set up in behalf of adjoining proprietors; which if not rightly met, may have the effect of delaying payment, if not mutilating the premises."
26 May 1823 - A report from Hubbard Taylor to Madison states that competing claims against the lands could not be ascertained. "I am acquainted both with Bell and Tapscott. I am inclined to believe that the object of the information to you is, an excuse for non-payment, for I cannot believe there can be any serious expectations of a recovery of any part of those tracts by the owners of the adverse ones."
4 Apr 1825 - A letter two years later from Madison to Hubbard Taylor. "I have delayed thanking you for your obliging letter of Decr. 19. 1823,1 partly from a hope that information might be recd. from Bell & Tabscott that wd. enable me at the same time to put an end to the trouble their defaults have occasioned you; but principally of late from a despair of your being able to render any service in the actual State of things in Kentucky. From Bell I have heard nothing; and from Tapscott nothing but apologies & promises which have lost their value."
29 Jul 1826 - Another year has passed, and Madison continues to plead with Tapscott to pay what is due to him, regardless of whatever troubles Tapscott has reported to Madison; Madison too, among many other prominent men of this time, was experiencing financial difficulties, and he needed the money owed him. "Your last letter expressed so much concern for the failure in paying for the land purchased by you & Mr. Bell, and so much anxiety to make first, that I have been in constant hopes of hearing from you satisfactorily on the subject. Being wholly disappointed, I am at length obliged by pressing circumstances to renew my earnest application for the discharge of what is due. It is particularly necessary that I should receive the whole or the greatest part by the middle of December, and I trust, that after the long forbearance, that before that date, the remittances will arrive. I am not unaware that difficulties may have existed where you are; but they are felt from other causes, here also; and the many years which have elapsed since the last payments, must have enabled you both to be in some condition now to do what is required & expected. No plea of interfering claims on a part of the land, can be admitted in this case."
29 Jul 1826 - A letter written the same day from Madison to Taylor points to Tapscott's and presumably Bell's economical issues being a statewide issue. "As a consequence I make another appeal to Tapscott & thro’ him to Bell, and beg the favor of you after sealing perusal to seal & to forward it, by mail, or otherwise as you may think best. I hope Kentucky is by this time emerging from the difficulties & misfortunes which have so long oppressed her. Altho’ exempt here from her peculiar ones, the situation of the Country is truly distressing, short crops & low prices obliging many to sell, and leaving none able to buy. I have myself been particularly unfortunate, having made but one favorable crop of Tobo. & Wheat since my reestablishment on my farm; and the current prospect, owing to insects & drought, at one time, and floods at another, promises no amends for past failures."
15 Jan 1827 - William Tapscott has apparently died, and with his death his debts have passed onto his family as they reside on land they owe a large amount of money on. They have enlisted a Mr. Carver Willis, a military Captain during the War of 1812 from Jefferson County and later a Virginia state senator, to negotiate a deal with Madison on their behalf.:
"I received a letter a few days since; from the widow of my old friend, and former neighbour Mr. William Tapscott: who in conjunction with Mr. Benjn. Bell, purchased of you, 2000. acres of land in Davis County Kentucky, prior to their removal from Jefferson Virginia, to that State, at three dollars p acre, $2000. paid in hand, and the balance in two anual payments of $2000. each, for which they gave their joint bonds. On one of these bonds, Mr. Tapscott paid $1000. the balance is still due you—I am earnestly injoined, by Mrs. Tapscott, to make known to you, the destressed situation, in which herself, and her children are plased; and further, to present to you, her several propositions; either of which if exsepted, she thinks, may release her from the impendent ruin, that awaits her and her children—In the first plase then she proposes; that she may be released from the joint contract, upon paying up the remaining $1000. due, as her deceased husbands one half of the purchase money. And to enable her to do so, asks as a special favour, that you would take back so much of the land, as is now unpaid fore; or if this is thought unreasonable, that you would, through an Agent, put it in her power to sell as much of the land, as will pay the balance due from her deced husband; and deed the remainder to herself and her children—Mrs. Tapscott further states, that the Land was originally in two tracts, one in your name, the other in that, of Ambrose Madison; that the land had been divided, by consent of parties, and that her husband at his death, was in possession of the tract patentd. in your name; Mr Bell of course in possession of the other—
I have thus Sir, put you in possession of Mrs. Tapscotts views, and wishes in this matter; with no other motive I assure you, than that, of performing a duty, required of me, by the unhappy, and distressed Widow of an old, esteemd and valued friend—Before I conclude, permit me to remark; That I know Mr. Tapscott left funds in Virginia, to pay his part of the purchase which I think I informed you of by letter, some years ago—But from the difficulties he had to encounter; in setling in a new country, on land heavily timbered; he was compelled, contrary to his first intention, to draw on those funds for the immediate support and comfort of his family, consisting of a wife, a son, and four daughters
This prevented your being paid, his half of the purchase money, as soon as collected—
I shall be happy to receive any communication, you may think proper to make, that I may immediately convey it to Mrs. Tapscott—with sentiments of my sincere regard and respect I am yours."
20 Jan 1827 - Madison's response to Willis indicates Tapscott had died a few months prior, based on his having received a letter from Tapscott's widow previously. Madison was clearly trying to accommodate the Tapscott/Bell party to some extent, but still needed to be paid as soon as possible.
"I have received your letter of the 15th. instant. I had received several months ago, from Mrs. Tapscott herself, a letter on the subject of hers to you, and stated the obstacles to her wishes, for which due sympathy & respect were felt. The land in question was sold by my widow niece Mrs Willis & myself tenants in common, for reasons which made punctuality in the purchasers very expedient, and, unfortunately, as it has turned out, without requiring any pledge to be left within the State they were removing from. Of Mr. T. most was known, and of course on him, most reliance was placed. If his partner has been the greater defaulter, he also disappointed us. With every allowance for a peculiarity of circumstances, there is far more ground for complaint, on our side, than for claims of indulgence on the other. All that could be said to Mrs Tapscott was that partial deeds would be made for partial payments as might be adjusted between her & Mr. Bell; with an expectation that every exertion would be used to shorten the delays of payment. I give you due credit for the interest you have taken in the case of a widow, a former neighbor & a friend, tendering you at the same time my respects, and my good wishes, with a request that they may be extended with the addition of Mrs. M’s, to Mrs. Willis & your family."
I'll be honest that at this point, despite my familial ties to the Tapscott/Bell party, I am siding with Madison on this. He has been waiting years to be paid for this land--money they agreed to pay him, and if they're experiencing financial difficulties, Madison should not be punished for it. Tapscott and Bell owned slaves and surely other assets they could sell to come up with funds, but apparently were unwilling to do so. Perhaps my perception is skewed because we're only really seeing Madison's side of this (not being able to read Bell's, Tapscott's, or Mrs. Tapscott's letters), but this seems a pretty cut and dry case to me.
4 Apr 1827 - John Lee has been enlisted by Madison to resolve the issue. He meets with the Bells and Tapscotts and reports to Madison.
"I some time since had an interview with Mr Bell and Mrs Tapscott on the subject of your business; thier letter to you was the result. In your letter to Mrs Tapscott you observe you are willing to make partial Deeds for partial Payments. I advised Mrs Tapscott only to ask of you Deeds for so much land as Mr Tapscott had sold; with this she appeared, at that time to be satisfied; but she has to day written me and requests me to urge you to make her Deeds for 666 2/3 acers; I will now give every information I have been able to obtain of the situation of both Bell and Tapscotts Estate; It is believed here that Bell owes money to the amt of 6 or 7000 $ exclusive of your demand against him, he has in possession 15 Negroes; and some personal property; this information I derive from Mrs Tapscott; Tapscotts Estates has in possession 18 Negroes; and small Tracts of Land on Cumberland River some personal Estate; and owe but little money. If you should not feel a willingness to make her title to the amt of her payment Deeds to 250 acres; which Tapscott sold would relieve her for the present; I cannot flatter you with the prospect of receiving money from either of them in any given time
Suits have been commenced vs Tapscotts Estate for the titles; on money paid by the purchasers of 250 acres; lands have fallen in value in this County & I believe: the holders of Tapscotts Bond would much prefer the money to Deeds; altho the purchas cost them much less than Tapscott agree’d to pay you for the land—I feel very confident it would be to Mrs Tapscott interest that you should commence suit on the agreement, before Bells Estate is entirely absorbed by his other creditors, some of whom threaten immediate suit; I have only further to add it will afford me much pleasure to aid you in the final setttlement of this business. With much respect I am Sir your obt Svt"
Bell is deep in debt to Madison and others, and the Tapscott estate owes considerably less and are willing to give back some of the land that has not been paid for and retain some of which has been paid for. Both parties have assets they are able to part with but are apparently unwilling to. Mrs. Tapscott seems to just want to default and give back the land to Madison except what William Tapscott has already made payments on.
28 Jan 1828 - Eight months later, the issues apparently remain unresolved, and so John H. Lee given power of attorney to represent Madison and his niece Nelly Willis in their lawsuits against the Tapscott estate and Benjamin Bell.
27 Feb 1828 - Madison responds to a letter from Ann Tapscott deferring to Lee in resolving their dispute. Madison remains tactful and respectful in his dealings with Mrs. Tapscott. "I tender you Madam my respects & my friendly sympathies."
25 Apr 1828 - Another letter from Madison to Ann Tapscott. It does not appear that Ann is too keen on dealing with Lee on these matters, but Madison again defers to his attorney. "I have recd. your letter of the 9th. inst: & every disposition is felt to relieve you from the anxiety you express. But not being sure of the bearing of your proposition on the general security for the debt under the Covenant with Mr. Tapscott & Mr. Bell, I have communicated your letter to Mr. J H Lee who will be disposed to afford every accommodation that the case will admit. With this reference to him, I tender you my respects & good wishes."
6 Aug 1828 - Again, Madison refers Ann Tapscott to Lee, and reminds her that economic woes are not exclusive to residents of Kentucky and that at times we must make sacrifices to take of what needs to be done, a position I wholeheartedly agree with. "Your two letters of June 2[.] & July 18. have been recd. and renew the sympathy heretofore expressed for your situation. I know not however that I can do more on the occasion, than refer you again to Mr. J. H Lee, who has the power to manage our claims under the Covenant with Mr. Tapscott & Mr Bell & will I am sure concur in any arrangements that are reasonable; of which he is a much better judge, than we can be at this distance. In justice to myself, I must be permitted to remark, that in all that relates to pecuniary distress, the State of things here is little different from that in Kentucky & that if you are threatened with sacrifices in providing for debts, it is not less the case with me also. With friendly respects"
2 Dec 1828 - Attorney John J. Crittenden has entered the fray, writing to Madison to confirm the details of the case he has been given and confirm that a total of $3000 is still owed by the Tapscott/Bell party, which Madison affirms.
23 Mar 1829 - Carver Willis writes to Madison again. He reports that a neighbor named William Griffith (http://wiki.historyofowensboro.com/index.php?title=William_Ridgely_Griffith) has taken an interest in the case and is trying to negotiate terms with Madison on behalf of Mrs. Tapscott and apparently Mrs. Bell rather than Benjamin Bell himself. The reasons for this become apparent in Griffith's letter.
"This will be handed you by Mr. Wm. R Griffith of Kentucky, a near neighbour and friend of Mrs Tapscott and Mrs. Bell—a gentleman who from letters from them, has taken a lively interest in their welfair—
Mr. Griffiths business carries him to the Bowling Green; he calls on you, with the view of making some arrangment respecting your claims on Mrs. Tapscott, which he flatters himself, may be made satisfactory to you, and advantageous to her—
Knowing nothing of the nature of this business, except, through representations from them, and the very frank and friendly communication from you, in answer to mine some two years since, I can form no opinion in the matter; yet I may be permitted to hope that some thing may be done to prevent the total ruin of the family of my old neighbour and friend, without in any way compromiting the interest of those fore whom you act."
7 Apr 1829 - The letter from Griffith to Madison reports that after a judgement was ordered against Bell and Tapscott's estate, Benjamin Bell fled. Griffith essentially asks Madison to disregard the judgement and allow him to act as an agent to facilitate the sale of enough of the land as to pay off what is owed Madison and his niece and also allow Mrs. Tapscott and Mrs. Bell to retain a portion of the land.
"Judgment has been procured for the balance of the purchase due for the 2000 acres, and the marshall was in our neighbourhood with Executions and actually ran Ben Bell off—who had before I left home descended the Ohio river to settle near the Walnut hills in the Mississippi. Your agent did not cause any thing to be done with Mrs Tapscotts property, which if sold would not sell for One fourth of the debt. There is no possibility to make the purchase money, unless by a sale of the land, which is well worth the money due and many persons are waiting impatiently to become purchasors provided the land can be offered for sale in Convenient Lots say from 200 to 400 acres—which can only be done by private arrangements to be made by your agent
by Coercive measures or legal procedure your Money cannot be made for years to Come you have now got a Judgment at Law, under which the land Cannot be sold as the legal title is in you. Consequently a bill in Chancery must be filed, to Obtain a decree, to sell the land to pay up the purchase Money, which will take at least two years, and when sold in a lump your agent would become the purchasor say in 1831, and then you would Commence private contracts and get your Money immediately say in 1831 & 1832—My wish is to say to you distinctly that, your money can be made Much sooner by arrangements & sales thro an efficient agent, than by Law. I am well acquainted with every foot of the land, & have no hesitancy in declareing that an efficient agent, by joining with the purchasors & dividing the lands & makeing immediate sales. You being bound to make titles to the purchasors, from whom you receive payments—I know of near $3000 all of which would be paid for one thousand acres of the Land in one year provided you can come into an immediate arrangement to join with Mrs Tapscott in sales—It was believed that Bell would never return to Kentucky, and he has not left one cent behind to levy on save the land—Your boy hurries me and I am too much fatigued to overlook what is written
I wish you would write me in the morning your views, and probably if you would send in an agent, I could personally shew the advantage, to both sides to Come to an immediate understanding. I will Cheerfully aid your agent Mr Lee in effecting immediate sales."
16 Apr 1829 - It's unclear if Madison responded to Griffith, but he did forward Griffith's requests for resolution to Lee. "The inclosed letter conveys the information and opinions recd. from Mr. William R. Griffith of your State on the case depending between Mrs. Willis & me, and the purchasers of our land on Panther Creek. From a conversation with Mr. Griffith, he appears to have a thorough knowledge of the law of the case, as well as of every thing affecting the value of the land, and the respective interests of the parties: and tho’ professedly friendly to Mrs. Tapscott, on whose account he called on me, he seems well disposed to promote the just objects of both, which he regards as more than merely compatible. He resides at the Yellow Banks a few miles only from the Spot, and says he will on his return thither, about the last week in May render every aid in his power towards effecting an arrangement that will be at once desireable to Mrs. Tapscott, and ensure a payment of the Balance due to us."
30 Jul 1829 - Lee details to Madison the escape and pursuit and subsequent death of Bell. In the meantime, the Tapscotts had covertly settled William's estate and had all the property conveyed to Ann, not allowing Madison to make claims against it. Unfortunately for Ann, this maneuver would fail as she had entrusted Griffith to help in falsifying William's estate and Griffith was apparently willing to use that fact as leverage in settling this dispute.
"At the last fall term of the [F. B] Court I obtained Judgment against Bell & Tapscotts Exr in your favor I had requested Mr Crittenden to hasten on the Execution, the Marshal shortly after came to my House, we went to Owenboro & so with Bell on the eve of removing to New Orleans, we went in pursuit of the Boat in which Bell had a small amount of furniture; no Negroes or other valuable property the Boat was claimed by a person on Board, we left the furniture in charge of the person, & went in pursuit of some Negroes Bell eluded us & succeeded after night in taking water (with 4 Negroes, all he had remaining) for Orleans. Having failed to make any part of the debt out of Bell, I directed the Execution against Tapscotts Estate, & discovered that the whole of Estate had been conveyed by Mrs T soon after the suit was commenced, I found such a determination here to rescue the property from the payment of this debt, that I conceived I should not be doing you justice without having a personal interview with the Atty employed in the case: I went to Frankfort on the 1st of May & consulted with Mr Crittenden; who concured with me in opinion, that the best course we could pursue would be to commence Suit in Chancery, sell the land under a Decree, purchase for your benefit, & dispose of it to the best advantage—On my return home I recd yours of Apl 17, consequently delayed Suit until Griffiths return to Kentucky: I saw him on the 4 Inst & soon discovered that his promises were entirely delusive, most of the persons whom he designated as purchasers were present, not one of whom had either money or disposition to purchase. You will be no little astonished after Mrs Griffiths friendly overtures to learn that Mr G had exerted himself more than any other person in secreting the property of Ts Estate, & holds a Mortgage on five of the Negroes, for I believe, a very small consideration
I have to day heard of the death of Benjamin Bell at the Mouth of Cumberland, On the 5 Int I wrote to Mr Crittenden, & furnished him with all the information necessary to commence Suit The death of Bell may possible retard the Suit a short time; I have ascertained the names of his Heirs & inclosed them to Mr C."
16 Aug 1829 - Madison writes to Griffith letting him know he is open to Griffith facilitating a resolution between the Tapscott/Bell party and John Lee.
25 Dec 1829 - Griffith writes to Madison detailing the documentation he has uncovered in determining which lands Madison owes and what lands others (not the Bell/Tapscott party, but those in their vicinity) have been false claiming ownership of.
5 Mar 1830 - Crittenden writes to Madison outlining the judgments against the Tapscott and Bell parties. "Upon the bond, given by Bell & Tapscott to yourself & Mrs Willis, & which was some time since placed in my hands for collection, I instituted suits in our Federal court. The death of Tapscott rendered it necessary to bring seperate suits against his executrix, & the surviving obligor, Bell, as they could not lawfully be joined in one action— Judgments were obtained against both, & in both cases executions were issued & proved ineffectual— Bell having removed, with his property, & Mrs Tapscott having as I was informed so disposed of hers as to evade the process of the law—In this State of case, Mr John H Lee acting as your agent, determined, with my advice, to commence proceedings in the court of chancery in the county where he lives, & where the land you sold lies, to subject that & such other property of the parties as could be reached, to sale for the satisfaction of the judgments obtained at law— I forwarded to him during the last year, the papers necessary for the institution of such proceedings, & have no doubt they are now in progress. My professional services in your case have thus been terminated, & I can only regret that they were not more available to you."
12 Nov 1830 - Lee writes to Madison reporting that Mrs. Tapscott and Mrs. Bell are threatening to appeal the judgement against them and say their attorney can keep proceedings in legal limbo for as long as another five years unless Madison is willing to agree to a settlement giving 200 acres to Tapscott and Bell, with the rest of the land returning to the possession of Madison and his niece. Lee and Griffith apparently contend this to be a prudent solution since additional more valuable land will soon become available and the amount he could get for selling this land will only decrease from then out.
"Enclosed you have the answers of Mrs Bell & Tapscott to a Bill in chancery filed in the Daviess Circuit Court, by Mrs Willis & yourself: the death of Bell & non-residence of some of his Hiers precluded you from the F C Court; & I was compelled with great reluctance to institute the Suit in Daviess under the most perfect conviction, that every method would be resorted to, to sustain them in possession as long as possible. You also have the answers of Mrs Willis & yourself, it is necessary they should be signed & sworn to in the presence of a Justice for the County & certified by him; You can discover from the papers taken collectively what is necessary to answer & make any alteration you deem necessary: The defendants say they are determined to appeal when a Decree is had here unless you will convey to them two hundred acres of the surplus land in one of the Tracts; & their Atty assures them he can sustain them in possession at least five year: I make these statements to you that you may determine whether it would be most conducive to your interest, to await the delay of the Suit, or purchase thier silence: the Farms are going very much to decay since they have abandoned the Idea of paying for them: In addition to these circumstances, there will be thrown into market in a short time large tracts of land near the Court House of superior quality, and thier locality more eligible than yours; Wm R Griffith notwithstanding the high estimate he put upon your land, is now offering lands adjoining yours, & of similar quality at $150 pr acre, & I believe would take less."
1 Jan 1831 - Madison writes to Lee, conceding to the terms Lee outlined in his previous letter. Bell and Tapscott would receive 200 acres and the rest of the land would be forfeited back to Madison and his niece. "The inclosed letter expresses Mrs Willis’, concurrence in the expediency of compromizing the dispute with Mrs. Tapscott & Mrs Bell on the condition stated in your letters, and I very readily do the same; the more so as it will relieve both of us from the task if requested of shewing our titles to the land sold by us."
23 Apr 1831 - Lee informs Madison that after much drama, the case has been settled. 200 acres were offered to and accepted by Mrs. Bell and Mrs. Tapscott after an apparent tongue-lashing from Mrs. Tapscott, and the matter appears to be put to bed for good.
"Your letter of January the 1st was not recd until the 15th of Feby, owing I presume to the extreme inclemency of the weather immediately after I had an interview with Mrs Bell & Mrs T. & proposed to deed them 200 acres of Land of a medium value, out of one of the Tracts, if they would withdraw their defence; This proposition only excited the anger of Mrs Tapscott, & after having recd more abuse than I ever heard poured forth from a Female tongue, I succeeded in prevailing with the Ladies to go with me to Town and consult their Attorney on the subject; he stated to them, if he should make no mistake in the business, he could probably sustain them in possession 8 or 10 year, but should he not manage the Suit correctly a Decree might go against them in 12 or 18 months; they still declined acceding to my proposition, & made a variety of proposals, to all of which I disagreed; I then proposed (with an express declaration that I would listen to no further communications from them) that in addition to the 200 acres I would give them the usufruct of the Land the present year if they would withdraw their Bills & Cross Bills; they asked time to consider, & on the 1st of Apl entered in to writing to that effect: The chancellor upon a withdrawal of defence entered up an Interlocutory Decree, in which I am appointed commissioner to sell the Land at three months Credit if the Defendants fail to make payment by July Term of our Court; I shall examine the Land immediately, & ascertain in what manner it can best be divided, having no doubt it will be to your advantage to purchase the Land at the sale, & sell it in such quantities as purchasers may require. You will observe we now lose the compleat controul of the business, I therefore hope for the expression of your wishes as to the future management of it Accept the tender of my best wishes."
This is last reference to Tapscott or Bell in Madison's letters as far as I could ascertain. A Sesquicentennial article from the Owensboro Messenger & Inquirer in 1965 provides some supplemental information and slightly altered interpretation of the events that transpired.
President Madison Owned Land Here: Some Of The Fiercest Litigation In American History Result of Land Owned Here By Third U. S. President
James Madison, third President of the United States, once
owned land in Daviess County which was the object of some of the fiercest
litigation in American history.
The complicated story has been partly clarified in a recent
six-volume scholarly biography of Madison by historian Irving Brant.
Combining Brant’s account with extensive records which
survive at the Daviess County Courthouse, many facts, along with a few contradictions
and uncertainties, emerge.
[Note: The first section of the article is devoted to how
Madison came to obtain land in Daviess County. In 1789, Hancock Lee surveyed
thousands of acres for George Mason, William Moore, and James Madison Sr., the
future president’s father. The land was located in what is today Daviess
County. Eventually Madison Sr.’s land would pass to his heirs. A competing
claim by Joseph Hamilton Daviess caused prolonged litigation and feuding
between the two. While all this was playing out, James Jr. and his brother
Ambrose purchased additional large tracts of land in Kentucky.
Per the article, Madison and his brother bought “3,000 poor
and hilly acres on Sandy River, 1,000 acres on Elk Creek, 1,000 acres opposite
Rough Creek, and 2,000 acres in what is now Daviess County on Panther Creek. The
Panther Creek lands were almost opposite the 10,000 acres which the Madison
family had just lost to Joseph Hamilton Daviess.”]
Although his brother died in the meantime, Madison continued
to hold ownership of the Panther Creek property throughout his term as
President of the United States from 1809 to 1817.
In 1818, however, Madison sold the 2,000-acre area to
Benjamin Bell, who took the 1,000 acres below Panther Creek, and William
Tapscott, who assumed control of an equal amount of land on the upper side of
the creek.
Both men paid part of the purchase price when the deal was
closed, but neither paid very much after that. Tapscott, in fact, died, leaving
a widow, several children, and some slaves; Bell remained much alive, but
unwilling to satisfy his creditor.
Legal action was initiated by Madison, and in 1828 he named
his kinsman, John H. Lee, attorney in the case. Laster a second power of
attorney was granted Lee, following the discovery that Dolly Madison, James
Madison’s famous wife, had neglected to affix her name to the first document.
The error, however was corrected, and Daviess circuit court
rendered judgement in favor of the Madisons. Bell was ordered to pay or submit
to a sale of the land.
While it is not perfectly clear why he acted as he did, Bell
nevertheless chose to flee. He gathered his household onto a boat and floated
down the Ohio River, headed for New Orleans, and died on the way.
In the meantime, according to Brant, it was discovered that
Tapscott’s property had been collusively conveyed to the widow Tapscott, necessitating
another lawsuit.
At this juncture a Daviess Countian named William R.
Griffith visited Madison saying that he had a plan to handle the claims against
Bell and Mrs. Tapscott. “He appears to have a thorough knowledge of the law…and
the respective interests of the parties,” Madison wrote to his lawyer here.
Griffith, Lee replied, held a collusive mortgage on Mrs.
Tapscott’s slaves. She, after giving Lee “more abuse than I ever heard poured
forth from a female tongue,” was persuaded to make a settlement out of court.
Circuit court records, however, do not entirely support the
story of an out-of-court settlement.
According to surviving records of Madison vs. Tapscott and
Bell, the court ordered a public auction of lands in 1831. The buyer was John
H. Lee, the legal representative of James and Dolly Madison; he paid $2,500.
On the other hand, some out-of-court maneuvering seems
probable, for shortly after the date of the public sale was an entry in the
deed book notes that 200 acres of land were transferred from the Madisons to
Mrs. Tapscott and Mrs. Bell for the token price of $10.
Whatever the actual details may be, it is a fact that by
1832 the Panther Creek land was once again in the possession of James and Dolly
Madison. Immediately they began to sell it in smaller tracts.
Four hundred twenty-five acres went to James Rafferty at a
price of $850 in 1832, and two years later 512 acres were sold to William
Harrel for $750.
Also in 1834, 200 acres were deeded to Howard T. Taylor for
$1,200, and the largest tract, 995 acres, went to Simpson Stout for $1,720.
The money helped the Madisons make their annual purchase of
pork from David Weaver, a farmer, who assured them that his hogs were fed on
Indian corn and if they “ante as money as you want I can git you more. [The article continues with more supplemental information on
James and Dolly Madison.]"
As noted above, you'll see that Howard T. Taylor was among the buyers of the Madison land. I doubt the writer was aware that he was the step-son of Bell. I wonder too if Madison himself was aware of that or not and how that would have played out. Unless the land Taylor bought was simply prime real estate, what he bought from Madison came to about $6 per acre, while Simpson Stout's purchase averaged out to less then $2 per acre.
With this ugly business behind them, the following year the two widows sold the land Madison allowed them to retain to Simpson Stout, meaning Stout then held more than half of that original 2,000 acre tract that Bell and Tapscott tried to buy from Madison.
Daviess County deeds show that on 11 Jul 1833, Nancy Tapscott sold to Simpson Stout 100 acres of the former Ambrose Madison survey for $400. The transaction shows her name as Nancy, but she signs it Ann Tascott; among the witnesses was W. H. Tapscott, her son, and Robert P. Sharp, who we learn is her son-in-law. Deed records further show that on 1 Sep 1833, Frances Bell sold to Simpson Stout 100 acres of the former A. Madison survey for $200. The witnesses were Howard T. Taylor and Allen G. Taylor. So by 1833, both the Bell and Tapscott families had moved on from their original homestead in Daviess County, and by 1834, Howard Taylor would move onto a nearby tract.
Some excellent supplemental information on William Tapscott, as well as his ancestry, can be found on Bob Tapscott's blog: http://tapscottfamilyhistory.blogspot.com/2013/02/william-tapscott-of-berkeley-co.html
Simpson Stout's son Benjamin would go on to sell 160 of those 200 acres to George L. Calhoun in 1860, and I will discuss the significance of that transaction in Part II of this writing.
Frances Graham and Her Ancestry
It having been several years since, I don't recall what initially led me to look into William and Nancy Ann Tapscott's family, but once I did, I realized almost immediately there had to be familial ties between that family and Benjamin Bell's, specifically through Frances Graham Taylor Bell. This was already apparent from Howard's middle name being Tapscott, but names in the Tapscott family further indicated a close connection between the two families.
William Tapscott's will named 6 children: Henry, Frances, Sally, Alcinda, Nancy, and Juliet. I began researching these six children for any connections to my family. Henry was apparently either Henry William or William Henry based on his being named W. H. Tapscott in 1833 when his mother sold her 100 acres to Stout. I could not find anything on Henry after this point. In his book Henry the Immigrant: The First Tapscotts of Virginia (2nd edition), Bob Tapscott posits that Henry may not have been the biological son of Nancy Ann Tapscott, but the youngest child of William Tapscott's previous marriage.
Records concerning his age are inconsistent to say the least. William Tapscott's 1810 household in Berkeley County, Virginia shows two males aged 10-15 in his household. In 1820 in Daviess County, his household shows one male 10-15; my interpretation of this is a male that was born in late 1810/early 1811 after the 1810 Census had been taken, and so was 10 or on the late end of 9 by 1820. In 1830, Nancy's household shows a male 20-30. Bob Tapscott has accessed tax records for Daviess County that show Nancy did not pay taxes on a 21 year old male in 1830, but did in 1831, indicating the 20-30 year old male turned 21 in 1831. This points to Henry having been born in late 1810. Since we do not know when William and Nancy were married, it is difficult to say if Henry is her son. The odds are about 50/50 at this point. Without convincing evidence to the contrary, I consider Henry to be a son of Nancy Ann but am open to being proven incorrect. Unfortunately, no records for Henry have been identified after he witnessed the 1833 sale of land to Stout.
Daviess County marriage records yielded marriages for all five of the daughters. Chronologically they are:
2 Apr 1832 - Frances Tapscott to Robert P. Sharp
13 Dec 1832 - Alcinda Tapscott to Thomas W. Snead
16 May 1833 - Ann G. Tapscott to William G. Slaughter
10 Oct 1833 - Sarah Tapscott to R. F. Bibb
5 Dec 1837 - Juliet L. Tapscott to James Hillyer
Frances was the jackpot. Her headstone actually presents her full name as Frances Graham Tapscott. It would appear she was tied to the Grahams and likely named after Frances Graham herself. In 1850, she is residing with her husband, Robert P. Sharp, and three children with two different surnames: Medora and George W. Slaughter and James Fauntleroy Snead. As you can see from the marriage records above, those would presumably be the children of her sisters Alcinda and Ann.
Headstone of Frances Graham Tapscott Sharp, daughter of William and Nancy Ann Tapscott. Courtesy of Find A Grave contributor cawatkins and originally uploaded to FindAGrave.com.
Frances raising her sisters' children indicated those at least one those sisters had died. I found no records of her sister Alcinda after her marriage. Same goes for Juliet and Sarah as well. I found a reference to Juliet Tapscott having married James Hillyer in an 1882 genealogy of the Hart family; Hillyer was the son of a senior James Hillyer and a Mary Hart. But no further information on him was found, nor on Sarah, who was presumably the "Sally" named in her father's will.
Nancy is named in her father's will as Nancy, but in her marriage record as Ann. This tracks with her mother's naming preferences, as she is listed as both Nancy and Ann almost interchangeably in all the references to her I can find. Ann's marriage indicates a middle initial of G., and according to her son Joseph Slaughter's death certificate that G stood for Graham. His mother's name is given as "Ann Graham Tapscott." She had three children by William G. Slaughter before marrying William L. Crigler on 5 Jul 1841. They had two known children, James R. (1842) and Harriet (1845). She is in the 1850 Census in Daviess County with her second husband and three youngest children, but disappears after that.
A family history of the Snead family also gives Alcinda Tapscott the middle name of Graham, but no record has been found confirming that assertion. But at least two reliable sources tie the Tapscott family to the Graham name. So how did all this fit together? My initial stance--one which Bob Tapscott, Mark Phelps, and others agreed--was that Graham may have actually been the birth surname of the girls, and Tapscott was an adoptive name. It seemed odd that 2 or more siblings would have the same middle name, so I felt it likely that the biological father of at least Frances and Nancy Ann--and possibly the other children--was Graham, and they were adopted by William Tapscott and took that name.
Based on that theory, I surmised that this biological Graham was a brother to Frances Graham Bell. It was also within the realm of possibility that Frances could also be a sibling to the Tapscott children and that our elusive William Graham remarried to Nancy Ann after the death of Frances's mother, and Nancy Ann was therefore Frances's mother-in-law. I could not be sure which--if either--theory was correct, but my inclination was to lean toward Nancy Ann's first husband being a brother to Frances.
I dug around everywhere I possibly could for leads on Nancy Ann's origins and her spousal relationships and I got nowhere. I searched through Jefferson and Berkeley County records to no avail. No marriage record for Nancy Ann and William Tapscott was found, so I could not know when they were married other than it being between 1810 and 1820. Bob Tapscott found that William Tapscott's first wife was still living in 1810 and was apparently deceased by 1812 (see link to his blog above). We know from the Tapscott sisters' ages that they were born between 1810 and 1820, but only one (Frances) lived long enough to appear Census records (as far as we know), so we had no way of knowing when they were born to indicate when Nancy Ann's first husband would have died or when she would has remarried to William Tapscott.
I decided to try and take another step backward in the lineage and hoped that by identifying Frances's father--supposedly named William Graham--that would lead us to his son, the first husband of Nancy Ann Tapscott. But as I said earlier, I struck out. I just could not find William Graham. Amos Riley Taylor's sketch said that William lived in "the Valley of the Rappahannock", so I was looking in Virginia. He supposedly Captained the "Silver Greys" under Washington, so he need to be 40 or older by the time of the American Revolution.
I tried to narrow down the age of Frances Graham Taylor Bell through Census records in hopes that would narrow things down to some extent. We don't know when she married Levi Taylor, but I have presumed the marriage to have occurred circa 1800 since her oldest known son John Taylor turned 21 around 1822, meaning he was born about 1801. I would assume she was at least 18 years old by 1800-1801, though historically that is not a given as sometimes women could be married as young as 15-16 years old. Here is what Census records told me:
1. 1810 Census of Levi Taylor in Jefferson County, Virginia enumerates her in the 26-44 age range, indicating she was born between 1766-1784
2. 1820 Census of Benjamin Bell in Daviess County, Kentucky enumerates her in the same 26-44 age range, which in conjunction with the previous year's age range pushes the time frame to between 1776-1784
3. 1830 Census of Frances Bell in Daviess County, Kentucky enumerates her in the 50-59 age range, which in conjunction with the two previous years' age ranges pushes the time frame to between 1776-1780.
4. 1840 Census of Howard Taylor in Daviess County, Kentucky--PRESUMING (this is not definitive)--that she is the 50-59 year old female enumerated in Howard's household (Elton was too young, Elton's mother was enumerated in her own home, no other close single female relatives have been identified and all but one of Howard's brothers are deceased by this time), this would mean that if she were in the 50-59 age range in both years, give or take a couple months here or there or presuming whoever answered the Census taker may have guessed to some extent in 1830 or 1840, we can assume she was at the bottom of the 50-59 range in 1830 and at the top of it in 1840, indicating she was born about 1780.
If she were born about 1780, she would have been about 20 when she married and about 21 when her first son was born, so that lines up well. Assuming her father was at least 21 years old when she was born would mean he was almost certainly born before 1760. And if he was truly a "Silver Gray" by 1776-1782, then he would have likely been born prior to 1740.
I Googled my heart out, trying to find as many William Grahams in colonial Virginia as I could, especially ones with ties to the Berkeley County area if possible, since I presume that is the area in which Frances Graham married Levi Taylor. I contacted Graham researchers, a Graham descendants society, and Revolutionary War researchers to try and find this "Captain William Graham". But eventually, I exhausted all that I could find and could not identify conclusive evidence that any of the William Grahams I looked into were the father of Frances Graham.
So I was at a brick wall on the Graham line until very recently. This past summer I took a genealogy road trip to Kentucky. I planned for a leg of my trip to be in Owensboro. And while I still got to see some cool things (Camden Riley's house for one), I was reminded of the frustrating fact that I did not know where hardly any of my Riley and Taylor forebears were buried. I was able to get a good lead on a Riley family cemetery before my trip, but made no headway with the Taylors. You can read about this past summer's adventures here: http://thesaltofamerica.blogspot.com/2019/09/2019-genealogy-road-trip-kin-tucky.html
After getting home and writing the above blog, I took it upon myself to redouble my efforts in finding more definitive proof of where my Riley and Taylor ancestors now rest on this Earth. The products of those efforts will be outlined in Part II of this writing, but in conducting this new round of research I AT LAST burst through the brick wall of the Graham family.
Living in Michigan, I have limited means for obtaining genealogical resources in Daviess County. Fortunately, I became acquainted with the world's most helpful librarian, Christina Clary at the Daviess County Library. She works in the genealogy department and has worked tirelessly to help me obtain records related to determining where the Rileys and Taylors could be buried. In the midst of collecting those records (mostly deeds, probate records, a map, and some scattered newspaper articles), Christina found the little clue I needed to connect Frances Bell and the Tapscotts to a Graham family.
I knew from my previous bout of research that when Frances Bell died, a William H. Howard was appointed the executor of her estate on 12 May 1845. Why her son Howard was not appointed her executor, I don't know. Only a $100 bond was placed as security for her estate, indicating she had a small estate. No further information regarding her estate was located. William H. Howard's name was unfamiliar to me. He was in the 1850 Census as having been born in Maryland in 1815; his profession is listed a Physician, which would make him easier to identify in a world of many men named William Howard. He was married by a Reverend James Taylor in 1840 to Emmarine Woolfolk. The Taylor name was interesting, but I did not know who James would be, and I could find little else about William H. Howard. I should have taken more of an interest in William Howard, but on the surface, I found no reason to look into him further. It just appeared he was a friend or neighbor of Frances who ended up being appointed her estate administrator. After all, not every administrator is related to the person whose estate they are appointed to make arrangements for.
But here's where Christina's brilliance came in. In finding what she could about William H. Howard, as the administrator of Frances's estate, she found a brief announcement regarding his death that immediately set off alarm bells for me.
Courtesy of Christina Clary, Daviess County Library. From the Owensboro Messenger, 1 Sep 1898.
Christina was aware that Joe Slaughter was the son of Nancy Ann Graham Tapscott as she had previously sent me a biographical sketch of Joe Slaughter.
Courtesy of Christina Clary, Daviess County Library. From page 490 of the History of Daviess County (1883).
She theorized that since William Howard had married a Woolfolk, and deed records showed the Taylors and Woolfolks doing business regularly, that the familial connection might have been in that realm since the Taylors and Tapscotts were relatives. This was almost certainly the same William Howard as the one in the 1850 Census since they were both physicians, and I believed the one in the 1850 Census was almost certainly the administrator of Frances's estate in 1845. So given William Howard's connection to both Frances Bell and now Joseph Slaughter, I thought I should start looking into William Howard's ancestry to look for a connection.
I quickly found numerous family trees that contained the William H. Howard who was born in Maryland and died in Texas in 1898. The Howard family is well-documented in multiple published genealogies and in D. A. R. records as well. It took very little searching to find the clue I needed: his mother's name--Sarah Fauntleroy Graham. This was perfect. Alcinda Tapscott's son James had the same middle name--Fauntleroy--and there was the name Graham. I quickly connected Sarah F. Graham Howard--again through numerous published genealogies and family trees--as the daughter of a William Graham and Judith Swan Colston Graham. (See Anne Arundel gentry: A Genealogical History of Twenty-Two pioneers of Anne Arundel County, Md., and Their Descendants by Harry Wright Newman [1933] https://archive.org/details/annearundelgentr00newm_0 and this genealogical query from William & Mary Quarterly in 1928 https://www.jstor.org/stable/1916023?seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents)
And how about the name Colston? Colston was the middle name of my uncle Rawleigh Colston Taylor--I knew this HAD to be it. The detail that didn't line up was that according to Genealogies of Virginia Families: From Tyler's Quarterly Historical and Genealogical Magazine, Volume 1 (1981, https://books.google.com/books/about/Genealogies_of_Virginia_Families.html?id=55I38FXWyPgC), William Graham was born in 1750. That meant he could not have been an old man by the Revolutionary War. But he was still old enough to be Frances's father, so I decided to keep digging. The Genealogies of Virginia Families gave William's Graham lineage back multiple generations and proved Judith Swan Colston's parentage, but did not list children for them.
I continued looking for proof of the children of William and Judith Graham and finally found an online family tree with the reference I needed. The tree of Kenneth H. Howard III included a citation that proved to be exactly what I needed. He had an entry in his tree for Henry Howard, the husband of Sarah Fauntleroy Graham (https://www.genealogy.com/ftm/h/o/w/Kenneth-H-Howard-III/GENE2-0010.html). Kenneth wrote of Henry, "His mother-in-law Judith Swann Graham, resided in Montgomery County, and died testate. He was made the executor of her last will and testament on April 25, 1815, with John H. Riggs and H. C. Gaither as his sureties."
I knew that FamilySearch.org had many Maryland probate records, so I searched there for the will of Judith Swan Graham, and what I found was exactly what I needed. (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:33S7-9TBG-S71P?i=99&wc=SNYH-C6N%3A146535001%2C146653901&cc=1803986). Judith Swan Graham made a number of specific bequeaths to her heirs. Among the items in her will are:
"I give and bequeath unto my daughter Ann Tapscott one third part of Benjamin Bell's bond now on demand for fifteen hundred dollars. Also one negro man by the name of Moses to be hired out for her use until the first day of January eighteen hundred and twenty and then to be free...I give and devise to my five grandchildren John Marshall Taylor, Charles William Taylor, Rawleigh Colston Taylor, Howard Tapscott Taylor, and Allen Griffin Taylor, children of my daughter Francis [sic] Bell, one third part of Benjamin Bell's bond now on demand for fifteen hundred dollars to be shared and share alike and to be kept at interest and paid over to them as they arrive at lawful age by my executor. I also give to the before mentioned minors one negro or mulatto man by the name of Adam to be hired out for their use until he arrives at the age of thirty five years and to go free aged now twenty five years. I give and devise to my daughter Sarah Fauntleroy Howard one third part of Benjamin Bell's bond...[more mentions of slaves, when they are to be freed or if they are to be sold] and Henry Howard should pay to my two daughters Ann Tapscott and Frances Bell one third [the value of a slave named Fanny who is to be kept by Howard until she reaches age 35]...[She bequeaths some personal items to her daughters and to her aforementioned grandson Charles William Taylor, including a horse to be sold and the money to be used for Charles's schooling]...[additional bequeaths are made to her granddaughter Alcindia Graham Howard, Frances Bell, Sarah F. Howard, and she gave power to her executor to sell lands owned by the family in Kentucky and the proceeds to be used to pay off any accounts owed by her estate, and the remaining profits to be divided into 1/3 portions for her three daughters.]...I do hereby constitute and appoint my son in law Henry Howard of John to be sole executor of this, my last will and testament."
Obviously, this document proved to be everything I needed to break down this brick wall. This proves that Judith was the mother of sisters Frances, Ann, and Sarah. It shows that Ann Tapscott was not the widow of Frances's brother, but rather Frances's sister. It appears Graham is a common middle name in the family since one of Sarah Howard's daughters also shares that middle name. It still seems strange that two of Ann Tapscott's daughters would share that middle name, but I guess that's just something people did sometimes. It's interesting that my ancestor's name is apparently a combination of the surnames of his uncles: Howard for Henry Howard and Tapscott for William Tapscott to form Howard Tapscott Taylor.
Fortunately for me, the genealogy from here is pretty straight forward. The Graham and Colston families are quite well-documented, having been relatively wealthy families in Colonial Virginia and Maryland. There is documentation linking Judith as the wife of William, and Judith to her parents, and William to his. Breaking this brick wall added several more generations to my family tree. The Early Colonial Settlers of Southern Maryland and Virginia's Northern Neck Counties database gives a very good outline of both Judith's and William's forebears with some accompanying documentation, though not a lot: https://colonial-settlers-md-va.us/getperson.php?personID=I072830&tree=Tree1
That database told me that the Grahams mostly lived in and around Northumberland County, Virginia. I found several references to a William Graham from that county, and even some Revolutionary War references to a Captain William Graham. It is not definitive that they are the same William Graham, however, and even if he was a Captain, it does not appear his unit was made up for "Silver Greys". But based on Amos Riley Taylor's sketch at least giving the name (William Graham) and region of his grandfather's service correct, I am inclined to believe that our William Graham genuinely was a militia Captain in the American Revolution. Here are some of the references to him I have found:
http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~bush22031/Militia.html
This article examines the militia in early Virginia in general and Northumberland County in particular -- the historical tradition from which it stemmed, its structure and operation, its purposes, and the social context of which it was a part.
Table II: Land Holdings and Other Offices of Northumberland County Militia Officers
Rank Name Land Value (1782) Justice Other Offices
Captain William Graham £250 No Surveyor
William Graham: Cpt., 1777-8.
http://files.usgwarchives.net/va/schools/wmmary/quarterly/v20n2/pg127-132.txt
"William Oldham produced a commission from his Excellency the Governor appointing him Ensign
of the Company of militia in this county whereof William Graham is Captain whereupon he took
the usual oaths accordingly."
"14 July 1777.
John Cralle, Junr., Gent., is by the Court appointed to tender the oaths prescribed by an act of the General Assembly passed last session to every free born male person above the age of sixteen years in the precinct of the militia commanded by himself and William Graham's
company agreeable to the said Act."
http://www2.vcdh.virginia.edu/gos/search/relatedAd.php?adFile=vg1790.xml&adId=v1790100028
Fifty Dollars Reward. RAN-AWAY a Negro Man, named PETER, a stout well made black fellow, between 20 and 30 years old, about 5 feet 10 inches high, supposed to weigh two hundred, he has a full face, thick under lip, and stammers in speech generally, but more so when surprized or spoken to suddenly; his clothes uncertain, as it is expected they are changed; he is by trade a Ditcher, but can also hew, and saw at the whip saw or use the sythe in the fields; he is fond of conversing on religion, and professes to be of the Baptist church; is a very cunning artful fellow, and it is probable has changed his name. The said Peter was sold about 3 or 4 years ago by one Harris or Harrison a native of Ireland, to Mr. William Graham of Northumberland county, and some time after by said Graham to William Siffel, of whom the subscriber in December last purchased the said negro Peter, who had some time before absconded from the said Siffel, and was then out, and has not since been heard of. A few months after Peter's elopement, his first mentioned master, Harris or Harrison, the Irishman, also went off in such a manner that no intelligence can be had of him. It is suspected those two fellows have joined themselves together again, and if a second sale has not already taken place, that it is their design for Peter to be sold as often as they find it convenient, and are either of them in want of money. Whoever may take up the said Peter, and will deliver him to the subscriber in Richmond county, state of Virginia, if taken out of the state, shall receive the above reward, but if taken within the state, ten pounds, exclusive of what the law allows. VINCENT REDMAN. N.B. All masters of vessels and others are forewarned harbouring or carrying him off at their peril. Oct. 16, 1790.
http://boards.ancestry.myfamily.com/surnames.croley/232.234/mb.ashx
John Cralle, Jr. security for estate of William Graham 15 April 1794.
The last reference indicates that William Graham died circa 1794. I plan on requesting a copy of his probate records to see if perhaps there were additional children born to William Graham, perhaps by a wife other than Judith, or children that died between William's 1794 death and Judith's 1813 death.
I was exhilarated to finally break through the Graham brick wall, and I thanked Christina Clary profusely for her help in providing the clue connecting William Howard and Joseph Slaughter. Without that, it may have been a very long time until I broke down this wall.
Closing Thoughts
Before I move on to Part II of this study, I wanted to bring to light an interesting point that ties into Part II. Now that I have definitive proof that the children of Frances Graham Taylor Bell and Nancy Ann Graham Tapscott were first cousins, does it not seem strange that so many members of this family died so young?
Keeping score, we have:
1. John M. Taylor, circa 1801-circa 1826, so roughly age 25
2. Charles W. Taylor, circa 1802-circa 31 Dec 1834, so roughly age 32
3. Rawleigh C. Taylor, circa 1805-presumably before 1840, so roughly age 35 or younger
4. Allen G. Taylor, circa 1809-1834, so roughly 25
5. James Bell, born between 1816-1820-1840s, so in his 20s or 30s [this is assumed because we find no record of him after 1841, but he could have lived later and we've just never found him]
6. William H. Tapscott, circa 1810-before 1840, so aged 30 or less
7. Sarah F. Tapscott, born between 1810-1815, died unknown but presumably pre-1840
8. Alcinda G. Tapscott, born between 1810-1815, died between 1840-1850, so no older than age 40, and possibly as young as 25
9. Nancy G. Tapscott, circa 1815-before 1860, died between ages 35-45
10. Juliet L. Tapscott, born between 1815-1820, died young, presumably before 1850 as she is never located in Census records, so died between ages 17-35
That is a set of 10 first cousins and siblings--all grandchildren of William and Judith Graham--that died as young or middle-age adults. Undoubtedly some will have met less natural deaths (like Howard) but it makes me wonder if there could be a genetic component to their deaths. Perhaps they all shared a genetic disease or all contracted the same communicable disease, like tuberculosis. It would seem something like that would have to come into play for this many close relatives to die at such young ages and within a timespan of 24 years or less.
Even Howard, who we know died in an accident, was only 43. Only Frances Graham Tapscott Sharp lived to be elderly, dying at age 73. In a cluster of 12, only one making it to even age 45 seems very strange. It is also noteworthy to consider that Howard had the most progeny of all his siblings and Tapscott cousins, and of his 7 known children, 5 of them also died young. We know one, John, died at age 19 fighting in the Civil War. But we do not know why Susan (age 29), Levi (age 40), Richard (age 27), and Howard V. (age 25) all died young as well, plus likely another infant child whose name we do not know. It seems very strange to me.
The Howard children seem to have lived somewhat longer for the most part. A family bible gives us the names and dates of birth and death for the children of Henry and Sarah Graham Howard. Alcinda (named in her grandmother's will) died at age 47. Rebecca Boone Howard died young at age 36. Alexander Asbury Howard died at age 47. Only William H. and Juliet C. Howard lived to old age, dying at ages 81 and 76, respectively. So while it does not seem that the Howards died quite so young as their Taylor/Bell and Tapscott cousins, only two of them made it beyond middle age, meaning only 3 total known grandchildren of William and Judith Graham made it past age 50.
Juliet Howard, daughter of Sarah Fauntleroy Howard, and husband William Cowper Woodson. Courtesy of Paul Skipper on Find A Grave; original tintype possessed by Juliet Dudley.
I obviously cannot prove anything regarding any diseases or conditions, but this seemed noteworthy. It's also interesting that whatever affliction may have caused all these young deaths did not appear to effect the daughters of William and Judith Graham. Sarah died in 1878 in St. Louis at age 87. Frances lived to be roughly 65. Nancy Ann seems to have lived until at least age 50, being born around 1780 and dying after 1833. Perhaps some sort of recessive gene was passed onto their children that did not effect them. It's impossible to say what could have caused so many Graham descendants to have died so young, but it was an eyebrow-raising pattern.
Now that I have outlined the lineage of Howard T. Taylor, my goal is to compile information on where he and his family members may be buried. That will be Part II of this essay on Howard T. Taylor.
