from “Family History of the Joseph Taylor, Jr. & Sarah Best Family”
by Shari H. Franke
Charlotte Taylor was the twelfth and last child of Joseph Taylor, Jr. and Sarah Best. She was born 8 October 1805 at Edgecombe County, North Carolina. She was only about 2 1/2 years of age when her family left their lovely home in North Carolina in search of a new home in Warren County, Kentucky. She probably could not even remember living in North Carolina. Being the baby in such a large family had many advantages and disadvantages. She was probably picked on by older brothers and sisters, and spoiled a little bit by Mom and Dad. Charlotte was nicknamed “Lottie” by her family.
Charlotte grew up on the lovely old Taylor Homeplace on the land by the many springs near Richardsville, Warren, Kentucky. Her parents were farmers and raised livestock. When Charlotte was only 13 years old, her father died. That must have been very hard for her. On 9 October 1823, Charlotte was married to William Lawson White, at Warren County, Kentucky. She was only 18 years of age, and he was 22 years of age. Her mother Sally Taylor gave consent. Her brother Allen Taylor was bondsman.
Charlotte and William Lawson were the parents of 13 children. They could have also helped to raise William Hudnall, son of Charlotte’s sister, Sarah Best Taylor Hudnall, who had died. He was age 21 on the 1850 Census of Warren County, Kentucky. The years passed quickly, and they were very busy raising such a large family. Charlotte was a devoted wife and mother, and loved by all her children. According to direct descendant, R. Spencer Drake of Bowling Green, Kentucky, “Charlotte White got water for the family in what was a unique way of the mid-1850’s. A spring was dammed and William White used a crude turbine to force the water through a pipe up into the yard.” William L. was pretty ingenious. Charlotte died at the age of 61 years, on 5 June 1867. She was buried at the Maxey Graveyard which is on top of a bluff on Stone Creek, on the farm now owned by Hyman Willis, in Warren County, Kentucky.
William Lawson White was born 31 January 1801 near Lynchburg, Campbell, Virginia. He was the son of William White (b. 24 Nov 1767, d. 19 Jan. 1840) and Margaret B. Maxey. The Whites came from Bedford County, Virginia. He farmed and raised livestock in Warren County. “White took up trading from his father, going from farm to farm buying or trading for their produce, which then was sold on a commission basis to captains of river boats towing rafts or barges to the larger towns downstream”, according to R. Spencer Drake. William L. and Charlotte owned approximately 265 acres of land on the Barren River near the mouth of Little Muddy Creek in Warren County, Kentucky. In July of 1867, William sold additional property at Clay Lick which his father had owned before.
Nora Young Ferguson said about the White family, “The White children were energetic and enterprising. They married Spencers, Coles and Hills. They were large land owneres. Many of the Whites moved to Oklahoma and even farther to the West.”
William Lawson White and Charlotte Taylor’s children were: Hezekiah, Mary Ann, Sarah M. (Sallie), William Allen, Samuel David, John H., Chesterfield, Margaret jane, Houston C., Cynthia A., Joseph W., Morgan and Melvina E.
William Lawson White married (2) 22 November 1868, Martha J. Tarrence (Jones), at Warren County, Kentucky. She was a widow. They had two children: Calpernia Ann and Mary Cornelia.
William Lawson White died 19 December 1876 at Warren County, Kentucky. He was buried near Charlotte Taylor at the Maxey Cemetery near Riverside, Warren, Kentucky. William Lawson White had a Will dated 1870, and a Codicil dated 28 November 1876, Warren County, Kentucky. He named Calpernia Ann White and Mary Cornelia White in his Will. His son Hezekiah White was the Executor.
Martha J. Tarrence (Jones) was born in 1843 in Kentucky. She was the daughter of Larry Tarrence. She married (1) 16 December 1861, John C. Jones at Warren County. (John C. Jones must have died about 1867.) They had three children: James Emanuel Jones (White), Grundy Jones (White) and John C. Jones, Jr, (White). Apparently, these three children also went by the name of stepfather, William Lawson White.
