TALIAFERRO TIMES Volume I, January 15, 1997 Issue 11
SALUTATIONS
Included in this issue is a great example of partnering taking place between DAVID WISDOM and ELREETA WEATHERS who find they each have information to share with the other on a Taliaferro related family. Their discussion also includes an excellent profile of Capt. John Catlett, a very close associate of Robert Taliaferro, and who became the ancestor of the several Taliaferro lines. Capt. John Catlett was killed in 1670 while defending the fort at Port Royal, Caroline County, VA, not far from Taliaferro's Mount. It is believed that Robert Taliaferro may have received wounds in this battle which took his life a few months later. The portion of the Catlett story in today's issue concerns the son of Capt. John Catlett - the 2nd John Catlett.
NEW MEMBERS
LEA DOWD (lea@gnat.net)
Descendants of Adrai Adeline Taliaferro
Source: Letter from Alma Moss Wells to R. Edith Moss; Tombstone in Oakland
Cemetery, Atlanta, GA;
1. Adrai Adeline TALIAFERRO b: 21 May 1818 Monroe Co., GA, d: 20 Sep 1884.
Buried in Oakland Cem. Atlanta, GA
.. +Alexander FREEMAN, Sr. m: 30 Jul 1833
. 2 Alexander FREEMAN, Jr.
. 2 Kate C. FREEMAN , b: 23 Feb 1842; d: 29 Mar 1883
..... +E.T. ENGLAND b: Abt 1845; d: 11 Apr 1926
*2nd Husband of Adrai Adeline
Taliaferro:
.. +Abraham BONNELL m: 09 Jan 1842 .
2 Caroline
BONNELL b: 1842
. 2 William BONNELL b: 1844
. 2 Thomas BONNELL b: 1844; d: 1883
. 2 Sarah BONNELL b: 1846
. 2 Adrai Adeline BONNELL b: 09 Nov 1847; d: 11 Jul 1883 in Atlanta, Ga
..... +Andrew Jackson MOSS b: 11 Dec 1847 Gafney, York Co., SC; m: 16 Apr 1872; d: 06 Mar
1927 in Atlanta, Ga, Father: Gilbert MOSS Mother: Frances "Fannie" MOSS
. 2 Richard BONNELL b: 1849
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ROBERT GALE FENDER (dragon96@i-d.com)
******
After reading the latest edition, I really got a great picture of the emigrant Robert.
Consider this little bit of family tale also please. My grandmother, Francis Clinton
Kenner, granddaughter of Sarah (Sallie) Taliaferro, daughter of Dickinson, son of Charles,
son of Dr. John, son of Richard, son of John, son of Robert, son of Francis, son of
Bartholomew claims that Robert Taliaferro HAD to leave England due to certain political
views expressed by Robert that were not very popular in England at the time in the King's
court. This is supposed to have been the same or similar reason for Bartholomew to have to
leave Italy. I have never seen mention of this fact anywhere until now, but it definitely
fits!!!!
Also, I have read somewhere, but I can't quite find the notes, that said Bartholomew was a musician in the King's court and this is where Robert had gotten access to certain nobles there to get himself into "hot water" so to speak. Mind you, this is only hearsay and word of mouth, but it would definitely match with the conditions of his leaving England and arrival in America with something other than the "shirt on his back".
I look forward with great anticipation to future editions of this newsletter. I really
would like to get more on the Italian connections if it is available, but then I've waited
30 years to get this far, a little more can't hurt.
------
host to Pawnee county, Oklahoma and Floyd and Whitfield counties
Georgia home pages:
http://users.rootsweb.com/~okpawnee/pawnee.htm
http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Plains/3242/floyd.htm
http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Plains/3242/whtfld.htm
[Editor's Note 1: Maybe this message will stimulate interest in new research in England and Italy about our Taliaferro/Lanier family. Someone among us must have good access to Italian sources - whether at a Library or LDS Church, or by using internet research skills. For instance, I've heard that Bartholomew Taliaferro was not from Venice at all (irrespective of his documentation to the English government), but from another Italian province. Even a search of modern Italian phone books would expand our knowledge are there concentrations of Taliaferros in Italy now? Someone with good www skills should make an internet search and share it with us. If information is in Italian, maybe someone else has a friend who can translate. JB]
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DON HOCKADAY (Hockaday @panam.edu)
******
A new subscriber to TALIAFERRO TIMES, I am a descendant of EdmundHockaday and Margaret
Taliaferro. The following was compiled from McGroarty,W.B. (date?). Taliaferro: A Letter
Written by Lucien Beckner. Genealogy ofVirginia Families, Vol V. pp 379-382.
Only the lines with Hockaday marriages are followed here:
1. William Taliaferro m. Margretta Aylett
2. Charles Taliaferro m Susan Moxley (3 children)
2. Lucy Taliaferro m Thomas Dillard
3. Taliaferro Dillard
3. Thomas Dillard
3. Mary Hay Dillard
3. Isabella Dillard
- 3. Margaret Aylett Dillard m James Hockaday
- 3. William Dillard (Dr.) m. (1)
Martha Hockaday (2) Mrs. Hughes
3. Franklin Dillard
3. James Dillard
2. Hay Taliaferro m Elizabeth Tutt
3. Charles Taliaferro
3. Mary Taliaferro
3. Ann Hay Taliaferro
- 3. Margaret Aylett Taliaferro m
Edmund Hockaday
3. John Taliaferro (Maj.)
3. William Aylett Taliaferro
3. Robert Taliaferro
2. William Taliaferro m Nancy Tutt (7 children)
2. Robert Taliaferro (Dr.) m (1) Nancy Taylor (2) America Arnold
(7 children)
Note: Nancy and Elizabeth Tutt were sisters. Tutt is an uncommon name
and,strangely enough, a Mary Gail Tutt is a researcher into my mother's line:Jordan ( SC,
AL, AR ). She published a biography of my 2nd gr-grandfather,Garrett JORDAN, in
1982. I will try to learn whether she is still active in genealogy.
RESPONSES
JEAN KYRLACH (jkyrlach@aol.com)
*****
I've been "into" genealogy for over 12 years now, researching Colonial New
England as well as Colonial VA. However I'm very new to electronic searching, and as
a grandmother I have much to learn.
A response to Paul Phipps: As to the Toliver spelling, to me it seems entirely natural. It was pronounced "Toliver:" when Robert immigrated from England. In 1851 my 3rd great grandfather, Jones Taliaferro, applied for a pension for service in the War of 1812. A deposition was given by a fellow soldier in his regiment and states: "Jones Taliaferro whose name is written on the Role....that he was always called Toliver but written by himself Jones Taliaferro."
Early census and tax role takers very often spelled phonetically. Since there are Tolivers all over the South, it was probably easier to adapt to that spelling, especially since it was still probably being pronounced "Toliver". In Il it was spelled both ways in Clay Co. in the 1850 census. In MO in 1860 my line spelled it Taliaferro. My grandmother pronounced it sort of like "Tolahferro".
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ELREETA WEATHERS (rrq@htcomp.net)
******
Thank you, DAVID WISDOM, for the Gibson leads. One of my great-aunts who related
family data during the last year of her life in the mid 1940's, told that Jane/Jenny
Gibson McGlothlin lived at Ohio, KY, on the banks of the Ohio River--northern border
of KY. We have proved many of the tales she related, and to this point have
found few errors. I have not had time to look up the location of Harlan County, Ky.
......................................................
From DAVID WISDOM: Mary Gibson (TMHY21A@prodigy.com) on September 11, 1996,
tells of Reuben Gibson and wife Henritta, listed on the Harlan County, Kentucky census of
1830. She thinks these are the parents of Henry, JESSE, Reuben and William. Reuben Sr.
died before 1830. She is unsure because some of the Gibsons of Kentucky came from Ireland
in the late 1700s. She says another group went to New Kent, Virginia in the
1600s. I found 15 Gibson immigrants during the 1600s, on the passenger lists to
Virginia. I think she has some basis with the 1830 census. A hundred years
earlier, the 1740 records of Virginia show a William Gibson in Lancaster county. You
should also check the Revolutionary War records for a Reuben, to see which county he is
from. Then you can check the 1790 census. Also look for Parmley.
I have Rachel Gibson as the daughter of immigrant Jonathan Gibson who died about 1730, in
Orange County, VA. of accidental poising. His parents as Jonathan Edmund Gibson and
Jane Langhorne.
His father was James Thomas Gibson who maybe from Isle of Sky, Scotland whose father was
Thomas Gibson from probably the Clan Lord Durie of 1500s Ireland and then back to Scotland
and then from Scandinavia in the 1100s. So Jonathan's wife was Margaret Catlett,
daughter of John Catlett, b. about 1675 and wife Elizabeth Taliaferro?
...................................
From ELREETA WEATHERS: [The small Roman numerals denote the generation of the
many John Catletts.] Margaret Catlett, according to my sources was the daughter of Col.
John Catlett, Jr. (v) and his second wife, Elizabeth Gaines.
This John, in his day was called "the 2nd John." He was a Burgess (1693-1702);
Justice of the peace (1692); coroner (1700); President of the Court; Sheriff (1705); in
Essex Co., VA. In 1701 he gave power of attorney to John Mumford of London to sell all of
his lands at Sittingbourne, County Kent, Eng., and at Radwischeim, which he inherited from
his father. His last will is recorded in Essex Co., VA, Wills, Bonds, Inv. #4
(1722-1730) Part 1, p. 84. His will is very long because he was a very wealthy man
with much land, slaves, silver, etc.
The first wife of Col. John Catlett, Jr. (v) was __?__ Smith, who was believed to be the
daughter of Maj. Lawrence Smith because there are deeds recorded in Spotsylvania Co., VA,
to Jno Catlett, Jr. and Richd. Buckner in 1772 from Augustine Smith, the son of Maj.
Lawrence Smith. The Catletts owned a large estate at the mouth of Golden Vale
Creek in present Caroline Co., VA.
Elizabeth Gaines Catlett, mother of Margaret, was the daughter of Capt. Daniel Gaines
and Margaret Rowzie. Elizabeth Underwood (Taylor) (Slaughter) (Catlett) Butler in
her will named Daniel Gaines, Edward Rowzie, and Thomas Hawkins as overseers of her
children. Before the death of Rev. Amory Butler, these overseers gained control of
Elizabeth's minor children. The mother of Col. John Catlett, Sr. was Sarah Hawkins
who married a Rowzie after the death of her husband, John Catlett, ye younger(iii)
(b.1596/99---d.1624/25).
The marriage of Col. John Catlett, Jr.(v) and Elizabeth Gaines has not been
"proved" but it is widely accepted by writers and genealogists. In 1706
MARY Catlett released her dower when her husband, John sold lands.....SO her name could
have been MARY, not ELIZABETH. No original documents are available to prove the name
"Elizabeth." (from Elreeta--maybe it was Mary Elizabeth?)
COLONIAL TALLIAFERROS
(Continued from Issue 10)
Was Robert Taliaferro so closely associated with the Royalist cause that he had to flee
for his safety? Did he leave England two days after his father's burial because he
had to avoid becoming a target for Puritan retribution? Recalling that his Grandmother's
family may have been close to the monarchy, it is not improbable that this was his
circumstance; and it is certain that his traveling companion, Robert Lee, was among those
who considered it 'prudent' to be absent from England for a while. Robert Lee's
brother, Richard Lee, was a well known Loyalist and had already settled in America. In
fact, he invited King Charles to come to Virginia after his escape was perfected by the
McDonald Clan of the Isle of Skye. Richard Lee was vocal in his confidence that
Virginia would welcome King Charles with open arms.
Robert Taliaferro and Robert Lee witnessed the will of Robert Meeks (or Week) on 1 November 1647, and it was probated three days later in York County, Virginia. So, by November 4 in that far away year, young Robert Taliaferro had landed at the port of York Towne in Virginia.
1647 was a notable year in Virginia. Captain William Claiborne had recently led an expedition against the Indians of the York basin and defeated them. The treaty negotiated with them opened the fruitful lands of the Middle Neck (the land between the York and Rappahannock Rivers) for English colonization. Thus, it was that young Robert Taliaferro and his friends, Richard and Robert Lee, looked to the north side of the York River when they searched out the land where they would build their homes.
Four years after landing at York Towne, Robert Taliaferro registered his first land patent. It was for 800 acres and was taken up in partnership with Samuel Sallate (Sallis) in the county of Gloucester on the southeast side of the Poropotanke River near the head of Attapotomoys Creek, and adjacent to the land of Oliver Green and Isaac Richardson. The Poropotanke is a tributary of the York River. Robert Taliaferro and Samuel Sallis probably selected their land, blazed their trees, and advertised it as theirs, and probably even occupied their land, a number of years before surveying and patenting process took place.
This was a period of upheaval and uncertainty in the Virginia Colony. The
government in England was in disarray as Puritan leadership worked its way through the
early stages of establishing governance in the person of Oliver Cromwell. In
Virginia, there was a great conflict with the Indians, followed by its own period of
adjustment to changes in the English government. It was not until 1651 that Richard
Bennett and William Claiborne were selected by the Cromwell government to govern the
Colonies during an interim period. In fact, their primary task was to "subdue"
the Colonies. One of their first tasks was to require colonial citizens to sign an
Oath of Loyalty.
Samuel Sallis first appears in York County records in 1646, so he, too, may have been a
Royalist during England's Civil War. Judging by his early records he resided
initially on the south side of the York River consistent with the division of land between
white settlers and the native population at that time. He and Robert Taliaferro
probably quickly selected their land and made it known after the Treaty with the Indians
was signed. Richard and Robert Lee took up patents nearby.
The tract of land selected by young Robert Taliaferro and his partner was occupied by some of the principal villages of the native population in 1610 when Capt. John Smith and his band of soldiers pushed off from Jamestown to explore the Chesapeake and its rivers. Not far from the land where young Robert Taliaferro brought his young wife, Katherine Grymes, and they raised their children, Pocahuntas grew to young womanhood beside the streams that watered Virginia's Gloucester County. The area is rich in Indian lore. The natives bestowed the gift of their language to color its landscape: Mattapony ... Cappahosic ... Poropotank ... Attapotomoys Creek ... Romancoke ... Pamunkey ... Chesapeake,"Mother of Waters." Not far away, only a few miles up the Pamunky River in King William County, lies the land that was set aside for the natives in that Treaty of 1646. It is still reserved and occupied even today by a small Indian population. So intrigued and impressed by English ingenuity, Chief Powhatan asked his white neighbors to build him an English style stone chimney. Indeed a very old chimney rises above the landscape like a sentinel. Many that this is Chief Powhatan's chimney.
Robert Taliaferro and Samuel Sallis renewed the registration of their patent under the Cromwellian government in 1755, and Samuel Sallis patented an additional 352 acres in his own name. In a matter of a few years, Samuel Sallis enlarged his patent; and Robert Taliaferro repatented the original tract of land in his own name.
There seems to have been general misunderstanding among the various researchers of the Taliaferro family that the Robert Taliaferro's patent was located in the eastern part of Gloucester County where a later Taliaferro generation was seated. In fact, the original patent was near the western border of present Gloucester County, and positioned well inland from the Chesapeake and the York River. The northern boundary of the Taliaferro's patent was the Attapotomoys (Appomattox) Creek. Its southern boundary was the patent of Richard Lee. Both were bounded on the west by the Poropotank River.
Looking at these two water courses today, and knowing that any successful colonial planter had to have access to navigable water, one wonders why Robert Taliaferro and Richard Lee picked these properties which appear to be almost landlocked. Without the original description of the land, the surveyor might never surmise that the dry ravine at the edge of the property was once the Attapotomoys Creek and the marshy, grassy area to the west was once defined as a river. Silting of Virginia creeks and rivers is a legacy of the intensive tobacco culture that demanded fields of fresh, nutritious soil as old ones wore out. Stands of virgin tobacco in eastern Virginia are a rare sight. The virgin timber was burned out or felled to make way for new tobacco fields. In time the worn out soil washed into the creeks and rivers during centuries of rain and snow storms. Three hundred and fifty years ago, these streams were open and active. Colonial vessels and shallops sailed to and from the plantations that lined these Gloucester streams, thence to the port at York Towne and the Chesapeake, gateway to the Atlantic.
The land of the first Taliaferro home is high and not vulnerable to flooding, it is
fertile, and could be defended easily whether the enemy approached in a Spanish galleon or
massed canoes. There was also need for protection from pirates, and uneasiness about
future relations with England to consider.
Selection of these protected acres reveals men of intelligence and astute judgment,
qualities that marked the lives of both Robert Taliaferro and Richard Lee. Much of
this property is now contained within a parcel of land known as "Marlfield" and
owned by a local corporation. A local Taliaferro descendant, whose family once owned
"Marlfield," helped me locate this early Taliaferro land by using maps printed
by the forestry service in Gloucester in combination with the original patents.
Discovery of the details of Robert Taliaferro's life in Gloucester County VA is greatly impeded by the loss of the early county court house records. However, from other counties and from colonial government records, we can glean some information which assists us.
Robert Taliaferro married Katherine Grimes, the step-daughter of Charles Grimes.
He was Rector of a Church of England parish on the south side of the York river in his
early years, and later moved to the parish in present Middlesex County VA. Robert
Taliaferro's home was located in Petsworth Parish in Gloucester Co, yet one searches in
vain for references to the early Taliaferro family in the well preserved and published
records of this parish. The Taliaferros lived fairly near the parish where Katherine
Grimes Taliaferro's father ministered, so they probably carried out the baptisms of their
children and fulfilled their other religious obligations at his church in Middlesex.
__________________________________________________
TALIAFERRO TIMES: Compiled from email and other sources
Distributed by Joyce Browning
cJBrown7169@AOL.com
15 January 1997