This is our story as we know it, given the evidence we have discovered so far.
This story begins in Norfolk County, Virginia with Joseph Taylor Sr., (keeping in mind that no one is born with the title “Sr.”) We have no absolute proof of anything before Joseph’s name and that place. We have some interesting theories, but they are explained in Taylor Origin Theories.
Norfolk County, Virginia
Norfolk County, Virginia doesn’t exist anymore. It’s been carved up into three independent cities, Norfolk, Portsmouth, & Chesapeake. But when Joseph Taylor “Sr.” was living there the Elizabeth River was the important landmark. This river has three main branches, the Southern, the Western, and the Eastern. It drained what it could of that whole county into the Hampton Roads. (What it couldn’t drain was the Great Dismal Swamp.)
Where was Norfolk County?
We have no y-DNA proofs but our best clues indicate that Joseph was the son of Richard Tailer/Tayler, Cooper, and Dinah___ of the Western Branch of Norfolk County and that he was born about 1730. Our clues are explained in the theories file, mentioned above. The source: Norfolk tithable (taxpayer) records.
Richard Tayler of the Western Branch, husband of Dinah, does not appear in the tithables after 1733. There are missing record years here, but Dinah appears as head of household when the records resume in 1750, because she was widowed. It should be noted that all surviving tithable records show a distinct area called the Western Branch and later the Western Branch Precinct. It was divided into North & South parts after Joseph Sr. left. The Norfolk Tithables inventory of 1753 is the last one in which Joseph Taylor appears.
Richard’s inventory of 1734 and Dinah’s inventory of 1752 are said to show that the family was rather poor compared to Hollywood’s idea of the pre-Civil War South. No powdered wigs, no plantation, etc. However, since we are not in possession of images or transcripts for the inventories or either Richard Taylor or Dinah, we have only Gayle’s word that they showed that Richard did not own a shovel, indicating he was not a farmer, much less a planter. He did have cooper’s tools. Dinah’s inventory did not have the tools, indicating that they went elsewhere. Gayle also said that he had found a deed where Joseph Taylor had sold cooper’s tools. We do not have an image or transcript of this deed. It is also difficult to distinguish between various Richard Taylors and Dinah Taylors mentioned in surviving records of Colonial Virginia.
There is, however, a record found by Bill Linder where a Dinah Taylor of Virginia sold 640 acres of land in Bertie County, North Carolina in 1738. He believed this was our Dinah. A woman would have had to inherit the land in order to be the legal seller. Did she inherit this from her family, a prior husband, or from Richard? No doubt this would have helped her financially during her widowhood.
This report by Bill Linder includes details. It also includes items included in our Theories story that need further study.
Administration was granted to Joseph Taylor on 16 April 1752 for the estate of Dinah Taylor. See the linked reports just above for details. See also Competing Theories. There are follow-ups to the above report.
At the time Joseph was living in Norfolk County, the county was the Elizabeth River Parish of the Church of England, which was supported by the tithables. There was probably a cabin that served as a meeting house in the Western Branch, but the only real church building was in the area now part of the independent city of Norfolk. It would not have been feasible for the people in the Western Branch to cross two branches of the Elizabeth River to get to it every Sunday. The parish would have had a vicar at least part of the time, but there were occasionally lay readers who could read from such religious books as were available. We don’t know that Joseph Taylor had access to a bible, though some settlers had a kind of catechism, a children’s religious primer to study for confirmation. The parish records (baptisms, marriages, and burials) were destroyed when the town of Norfolk was burned during the Revolutionary War. One page remains and was digitized and online, but no Taylors were listed. The vestry books were spared. The shell of St. Paul’s church was also spared and was later restored.
The Clue of the Cooper’s Tools
adapted from Taylor Times Vol. 12 #2
A cooper (barrel maker) was an important craftsman in colonial times, but this occupation has a special importance to our Taylor family because of the tools a cooper used.
Gayle Hix, our most active researcher of Joseph Taylor Sr.’s father, has collected evidence that there were two Richard Taylor households in Norfolk County in the 1700’s, one on Julian Creek of the Southern Branch of the Elizabeth River and one on the Western Branch of the same river. The Southern Branch Richard was more easily found because he owned land, but no Virginia land records or wills were ever found that connected our Joseph Sr. to him. When some of the Norfolk Tithables were found and transcribed the Western Branch Richard finally came to light and also mention of a Joseph Taylor in the same place. They are not listed in the tithables of the same year, however, so here’s where the cooper’s tools come in to determine which is the likely parent.
An inventory was taken of a Richard Taylor’s possessions in 1734. He hadn’t made a will but the inventory listed cooper’s materials and cooper’s tools. Considering that Richard owned no land and didn’t even own a shovel, it’s pretty clear just how he’d spent his time. When his widow Dinah passed away in 1752, no cooper’s tools appeared in her inventory, which should be no surprise. Women lacked the strength to build barrels with hand tools and the cooper’s tools would have been too valuable to allow to rust. So, when Joseph Taylor Sr. sells a cooper’s tool in 1805, according to Gayle, it seems likely that he (Joseph Sr.) got it from the inventory of Richard Taylor. This is more evidence that Richard Taylor, the cooper, was Joseph Sr.’s father.
We have purchased four small books on the cooper’s trade and colonial tools in general for the Taylor Association’s archives and have scanned some drawings of cooper’s tools of the period. According to these books, these tools were quite specialized. Because of the curves needed, a different set of tools would be needed for each size of barrel manufactured.
We have no idea how many such tools were in Richard’s inventory or how many Joseph took to North Carolina but they would have had great value to their owner if he were skilled in the trade or someone who didn’t plan to use them could have easily converted them to money.
An Edgecombe County North Carolina agricultural report from 1811 says the county annually exported about 6,325 barrels corn, 2,042 barrels pork, 9,413 barrels naval stores, 145 barrels brandy, 73 barrels flour, and 101 barrels black lead (whatever that last means–tar, perhaps?). Barrels were emptied, repaired, and reused, but that’s still a lot of work for coopers and their tools!
These drawings have been separated out of sketches in A Museum of Early American Tools by Eric Sloane, reprinted by Dover Press. In some cases Richard may have had an earlier version of the tools pictured. We don’t know exactly what he had.
Visiting Virginia Taylor Sites Today
The Western Branch area where we believe Joseph Taylor Sr. grew up, and where he probably was born, is now located in the independent city of Chesapeake. Maps can be found here. Note the landmarks with Taylor, Hodges, & Bruce names.
The Western Branch – A 2021 Update
North Carolina
Joseph Moves to North Carolina
Neighbor Study – Norfolk, then NC
Land and tithables records show that just a few people in the Western Branch owned most of the land so it’s no surprise that a group of Joseph’s neighbors decided to move to North Carolina where the Earl of Granville was making property available.
If our guesses are correct, Joseph was probably influenced by his friends, to apply for a Granville Grant as the best way to better himself. We do not know what Joseph had in the way of money to put toward this application.
Joseph applied for the grant in 1756. We do not have the details of this record. The survey was dated 23 Jun 1760 & the Warrant issued 27 Aug 1760, four years later. (File #86, Tyrrell Co., NC)
Gayle Hix, CG outlined the steps Joseph would have had to follow to obtain this grant. We do not have an image for Joseph’s application
Colonial North Carolina Land Grants
It seems certain that Joseph actually moved to the land before the final issuing of the grant. He may have moved to North Carolina with a neighbor after 1753, to be near the adjacent property they suggested he apply for. This was apparently a common practice due to the delays and problems with the process. (The interesting history of the Granville Grants is available in several places online.)
The original grant was located in Tyrrell County until 1774, in Martin County until 1793, and in Edgecombe County after that.
https://taylorassociation.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/Thorndale-2004-Maps.pdf
Additional land was added to the Taylor properties in October 1783, after the Revolutionary War. This land was part of the Earl of Granville’s property before the Revolution, but British-owned lands were obviously confiscated. (Was this bounty land for Joseph Taylor Jr.? See Revolutionary War section below.)
Joseph Taylor & also John Taylor served as chain carriers to assist in the survey.
Gayle Hix, CG, attempted to map the locations of these parcels using Deed Mapper software, but his efforts show the difficulties in plotting around various early land surveys and old deeds.
William Thorndale, CG also drew maps of the Coneto Creek neighborhood, included in his 27-page report.
https://taylorassociation.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/Thorndale-1978.pdf
It should be pointed out that the Taylor’s tributary to Coneto (Coneghta) Creek later was named Crisp Creek, after a neighboring family, to distinguish it from other tributaries.
Details about this map can be found here:
A 1700’s Map of the Area of the Grant
What Can You Do With A Swamp?
See the map for the Great Coneto Pocoson above. Most of Joseph Taylor Sr’s land was in or adjacent to this swamp. As you consider the terrain, put your imagination to work on what the family did for a living.
Joseph was known to have possession of some cooper’s tools and best evidence indicates he was the son of Richard Taylor, a Norfolk cooper (barrel maker). As such, he would have been rather poor, but he likely had skills at barrel making. However, each size of barrel required its own set of tools. Joseph did not have enough tools to make many different kinds of barrels.
We know Joseph had humble beginnings, because he is apparently not mentioned in anyone’s will, and because we know he “squatted” on the land for an unspecified time before completing the ownership papers for the Granville Grant. This was a common practice at the time—the longer you took before closing on the purchase, the longer you could delay paying quitrents (property taxes). Joseph probably needed time to make some money off the land before he could pay any taxes.
What could a poor man do? He couldn’t afford the labor & materials to drain the swamp. All the neighbors together couldn’t accomplish that, mostly due to the lack of sufficient slope to the nearest river. He couldn’t grow tobacco, the best crop for getting rich in Virginia where he’d lived before, as the land wasn’t suitable and he had little or no money for slaves, anyhow.
Thorndale’s Map of the Conetoe Creek Area. It shows four shipwrights living right around Joseph Taylor, three of whom are known to have come from Norfolk. It should be noted that a shipwright was sometimes referred to as a ship’s “carpenter,” which brings you down from any exalted ideas you might have been thinking. We’re not talking great clipper ships here! But what do ship carpenters and coopers have in common? Shaping and curving wood.
Next, look at the black blob at the left of the map. That was Tarboro, a settlement just getting started when Joseph arrived. The stream hugging it is the Tar River, a partly navigable stream, except in dry times. Why the name Tar? Other than a possible Indian name, the little settlement (in 1720) was possibly so named because, according to History of Edgecombe County North Carolina, “…the forests yielded an abundant supply of tar, pitch, turpentine, staves, and raw products for export.” Tar, pitch, and staves? This was the perfect opportunity for Joseph Taylor.
It’s likely that the Taylors learned to farm, at least for their own use. They must have had a vegetable patch. We know they eventually had some animals. Their children grew to an age where they could help. They could have bartered a number of products for those things they couldn’t produce themselves. They also had some prosperous connections. All told, they did well enough. Becoming a land owner was a real step up for Joseph.
See the link below for the 1811 report on the agriculture of Edgecombe County. It’s interesting to note that tobacco is only mentioned a couple of times in the report. It was not a major crop in Edgecombe in 1811. If Joseph’s cooper tools were best suited for tobacco barrels, that might explain why he sold them.
Joseph Jr. and Sarah Best Taylor would have gone to Kentucky by 1811 but Joseph Sr. and his wife would have learned about the many trees and plants and what could be made from them. You can get some really great ideas of what to consider and look for while you’re standing on the edge of this ancestral wetland if you’ve got a copy of that 1811 report.
What could you do with a swamp in Joseph’s day? The History of Edgecombe says “The houses were hardly ever larger than 25 x 15 feet, one room sufficing for a sleeping and cooking apartment for the entire family.” The aforementioned report says that a number of “islands,” or higher, drier spots existed in the Conetoe Swamp. Joseph would likely have built his cabin on one of them. If our Taylor Association could attract enough members to pay the costs to do ground penetrating radar research on the property, it might be interesting to see if a small island and cabin site of this size might be found, using the kind of technology that located the Jamestown fort and is now finding many other primitive structures heretofore lost to memory.
The local farmers of this generation did not build elegant mansions. Read this:
A breed of cattle popular in colonial times:
This was an all-around breed, gentle of disposition (a good thing, since they had horns) able to subsist well on grass, and good for both milk and beef. An ideal breed for families with only a small herd, since some breeds are good for only one or the other. If our Taylors did not own a Devon Red, no doubt some of their neighbors did.
Edgecombe County at the Time the Taylors left for the west:
This is an 1811 Agricultural Report by Jeremiah Battle. It gives a picture of life in more ways than just agriculture and debunks the idea that the Taylors were living the picture-book lifestyle of wealthy Southern planters.
Visiting Joseph Taylor’s land in North Carolina today:
Finding the Taylor Land Grants in NC Today
The Revolutionary War
This was the most important event in the history of this area while Joseph Taylors Sr. and Jr. lived there.
Here is a timeline of events affecting the Taylors as we have have learned so far. You may be surprised to see that the Taylors were not united in their hopes for the outcome of this conflict, at least at first.
Time Line for Revolutionary War and the Taylors:
1776- Joseph Taylor Jr. (26 and single) enlists in the continental army as a private. “Capt Blount, Col Ed Buncombe, 5th NC Regiment. Furnished supplies.” Source: DAR database record. Ancestor #: A112678.
1776-07-04 Declaration of Independence signed
1776-12 North Carolina’s Fifth Provincial Congress’ constitution removes the Anglican Church’s privilege as the colony’s established church. It is modeled after the constitutions of Virginia, Pennsylvania, Delaware & New Jersey and advice from John Adams of Massachusetts and certain county leaders, and adopted by the legislature without further input from the people of the state. This gave rise to a movement later dubbed “The Llewelyn Conspiracy” chiefly because many felt that this was an attack on the protestant religion that had been the moral backbone and chief defense against “popery.” They feared a proposed alliance with Catholic France. David Taylor later deposes Joseph Taylor Sr. as swearing “if the popish Religion was brought into the land that they were to take up arms to oppose them that brought it.” (A study of the Spanish Inquisition will explain feelings like Joseph’s.)
1777-03 John Llewelyn/Llewellyn/Lewelling (a Taylor neighbor) & James Rawlins (Anglican lay preacher) produce a “constitution” and seek recruits. They plan to aid Continental Army deserters and draft resisters. Llewelyn plans to go further: Capture Governor Richard Caswell and the state magazine (arsenal), assassinate certain neighbors, and to distract the authorities with a slave revolt.
Mark J. Taylor has taken up the research project for this conspiracy, and his report (4 pages) has many details not found in Wikipedia and the Encyclopedia of North Carolina. See:
Mark has also found a book The Brethren: A story of Faith: Conspiracy in Revolutionary America, by Brendan McConville (Cambridge: Harvard University Press 2021) A summary of Taylor listings is found here (3 pages):
1777-05 Rawlins recruits David Taylor (brother to Joseph Taylor Sr.) who is a “slave patroller” (overseer?) and proposes a slave revolt to draw away the army who is guarding the arsenal.
1777-06-04 Some plans are leaked to revolutionary leaders.
1777-06-18? (2 weeks later) William May gives more information and names William Tyler, who is arrested while in possession of violent-plan papers. (“Tyler” is not considered a spelling variant of “Taylor” and we have no reason to think he is a connection.)
1777-07 David Taylor and Joseph Taylor Sr. are opposed to the idea of a slave revolt and related violence and inform the authorities. They learn that the conspiracy is already known.
About 30 conspirators are arrested while attempting to attack Tarboro and release May from jail. Soon after, more conspirators gave up, about 90 conspirators in all.
1777- Trials at Edenton of 18 conspirators. Most made depositions to the court, agreed to take the state loyalty oath and submit to militia service.
1777- Joseph Taylor [Sr.] signs loyalty oath. David Taylor also signs.
“According to historical information found by Mrs. Doris Wilson, Martin County historian, others involved in this plot with John Llewellyn included our own Joseph Taylor Sr., his son David Taylor, Thomas Best III, William Wallace, Daniel Leggett, along with 90 or more people recruited from Martin, Edgecombe, Bertie, and Halifax Counties, North Carolina! Richard Taylor Sr. was also mentioned in a deposition given by James Rawlins, dated 12 Aug 1777 at New Bern, Craven, North Carolina to the effect that John Llewellyn had told Richard, Sr. of some of his intentions. There is no indication, however, that Richard Sr. actually took part in the conspiracy.” Source: Shari Franke’s Family History…, Vol 1.
1777-09 Llewelyn convicted of treason. Later pardoned. Col. Nathan Mayo, a neighbor who was an intended target spoke in favor of the pardon.
It has been stated that this conspiracy was more a matter of dissent over religion and continental politics than a desire to fight against independence. This might explain why Joseph Taylor Sr. would be willing to take part in protests while his son was fighting in the Continental Army.
1779-01-30 Joseph Taylor [Jr.] discharged. Service 2 ½ years. Source: Roster of Soldiers from North Carolina in the American Revolution.
1779-08-31 Joseph Taylor gains land. “The Warrant Bears Date 31 August 1779” No warrant found, but plot described as 125 acres. Source: Image in North Carolina section (above). Actually surveyed 22 Sep 1783, as stated in description. (Was this awarded to Joseph Jr. for his service in the Continental Army?)
1779-10 Joseph Taylor [Jr.] joins NC Militia as a gunsmith.
1780-09 Lord Charles Cornwallis and British Army arrive in the South.
1781-03-15 Battle of Guilford Courthouse. Joseph is wounded. British won the battle, but at such a cost that they did not pursue their enemies and were later unable to evacuate the troops from the South, thus having to fight again at Yorktown.
1783-06-16 Joseph Taylor Jr. discharged from NC militia.
1783-09-03 Treaty in Paris ends the war.
1783-09-22 Actual survey date of warrant (missing) issued 1779-08-31 “Sworn chain Carriers Joseph Taylor __ [Illegible, looks like Suner.] & Daniel Buntin. [Could this piece be a bounty to Joseph Jr. for his army service?]
1783-10-01 “State of North Carolina. William Williams, Entry Officer of Claims for Lands in the County of Martin…” requires the surveyor of “said County” to lay off and survey for Joseph Taylor 200 acre, lying in said county, Beginning at his own corner…” Source: image in Taylor family story online. 140 acres plotted in one section. Chain Carriers: John Taylor, Joseph Taylor [Senior or Junior not specified] [This sounds like land for Joseph Sr.]
1788 Acts passed by U.S. Government issues Revolutionary War Bounty Land Warrants. Also 1803 and 1806. Ancestry.com has a collection: U.S. War Bounty Land Warrants, 1789-1838. (It includes the War of 1812.) Some early warrants were lost in fires, but there is no record found of a Warrant for Joseph Taylor for 100 acres, unless the 125 acres above. (If he was actually offered a later warrant and did not claim it, the record would not be in this database.) Original data source:
- U.S. Revolutionary War Bounty Land Warrants Used in the U.S. Military District of Ohio and Relating Papers (Acts of 1788, 1803, and 1806), 1788-1806; Microfilm Publication M829, 16 rolls; ARC ID: 635444. Records of the Bureau of Land Management, Record Group 49; National Archives at Washington, D.C.
1793 North Carolina reserved land in Tennessee for North Carolina Troops. Joseph Taylor Jr. received bounty land from this area, but the Warrant says Sumner County, Tennessee as Stewart County was not official when the Taylors moved west. (See Warrant images in Tennessee section.)
1818 Pension laws begin to be enacted. No record is known of any application from Joseph Taylor or Sarah Best. Additional Revolutionary War records are found online at https://www.archives.gov/research/military/american-revolution
Moving West
Moving West has been the biggest migration pattern in the early history of the new nation, The United States of America, and many of the Taylors followed this pattern. It was the chance of land that motivated people to leave the familiar places and endure the hardships of travel and “starting over” in a new, unfamiliar place.
Tennessee was created from the original territory assigned to North Carolina but the easiest way to get to it with wagons was to go by way of Virginia and Kentucky through the Cumberland Pass. Daniel Boone was famous for his trail blazing in 1775 as part of what became this Wilderness Road.
We have only begun to collect images of land records that will help to define who went where and why, but some of the Taylor family remained in North Carolina and the families of Joseph Taylor Jr. came west and some settled in Tennessee and some in Kentucky.
Tennessee
Jesse Leonard Warner in his book The Coneto Creek Taylors; Provo, UT; J. Grant Stevenson, states that Joseph Taylor first went to Tennessee, not to Kentucky where he later settled. This idea is supported by the Bounty Land Warrant from the State of North Carolina. Further research is needed to determine where these bounty lands actually were sited within the lands reserved for the soldiers. The survey error that gave Tennessee lands above the 36 30′ line and the compromise to let Kentucky have the right to issue grants and collect fees have not been searched for mentions of Joseph Taylor.
Here are the images we have found so far:
Jim Long, a descendant of Amy Taylor, has given us the general location of these properties. He says:
“Of the 3 images you sent, two are on Obed River, which is on the Cumberland Plateau in present-day Cumberland County. The third references the Holston River, which flows out of upper east TN southwesterly, ending at Knoxville.“
Here are some images from Google Maps that hint at what the area around these rivers probably was like:
These areas not not match any location where Joseph Taylor Jr. or any of his children are known to have settled. They seem to be more suited to hunting than farming. The area is still “wild” today, but popular for recreation. Since Joseph ultimately settled in Warren County, KY he must have sold these properties to raise capital to buy land in Kentucky. Further research is needed here, along with transcriptions. The 1807 date may represent the completion of the transaction.
Kentucky
(This part of the story will have much more added. We have added the directions to the Taylor Cemetery ahead of the rest for the benefit of Taylors traveling this summer (2022) ahead of the rest of the website project.)
Visiting the Taylor and Hudnall cemeteries today: