TALIAFERRO TIMES Volume I, January 22, 1996 Issue 12
SALUTATIONS
One of the best 'finds' of this study appears in this issue under "European Taliaferros.' It responds to my comment that Anne and Robert Taliaferro were the only children of Francis and Bennett Haie. DONNA HUNTER ( DHunter365)shares information with us that this statement is not correct. I distribute these monologues to attract challenge and correction. If we don't do this, how can we expect to produce accurate information. WELDON ROGERS (New e-mail address: hcfr@mindspring.com) corrected another mistatement of mine. Oh, my romantic mind! He pointed out with reference to the Robert Taliaferro monologue, that King Charles was beheaded in 1649. It was Bonnie Prince Charlie - nearly a century later - who was spirited away by the McDonalds from the Isle of Skye. It was correct that many of the McDonalds and members of their clan had to flee their homeland. They settled in the Cape Fear area of North Carolina.
We are presented with another rich opportunity for discussion, and perhaps
discovery. Two or three of us have been exploring this week the possibility that
there may be another (or other) American Taliaferro line. This line would have
originated with the marriages of Bartholomew Taliaferro's daughter, Elizabeth, to a Gray
or the marriage of Francis Taliaferro's daughter, Anne, to a Gray. This is a very
speculative concept at this time, but if you have any information that may shed some light
on this perspective, please send it to me. I'll try to coordinate this effort and
report back to you. When I explored the site of the Robert Taliaferro Gloucester
land, I was aided by a Mrs. Gray who was a Taliaferro descendant and whose family had once
owned part of this land.
NEW MEMBERS
JOHNEDA TINNIN LEE (jdm1intx@airmail.net)
******
I felt that I had information that I could not use and maybe someon else out there
could. I am not directly a Taliaferro descendant. William Whitley Gilmore (my 2nd
cousin 5 times removed) married Mary Robinette Taliaferro daughter of Robert Brooke
Taliaferro and Cecelia Agnes Ellett February 8, 1841 in Oquaka, Illinois. Source for the
Taliaferro connection was World Family Tree Volume #1, Edition #1, Pedigree #0264. I
do not have a submitter name on this, sometimes you can get submitter information but most
of the time you can't. I have not confirmed this information yet. Too many brick
walls that I am trying to chisel through.
I'd like to know more about this Taliaferro family.
QUERIES
WELDON W. ROGERS (New e-mail address: hcfr@mindspring.com)
******
Does anyone know the descendants of William Harrison? Did he have a son or grandson James?
RESPONSES
BETTY ANN SMIDDY (103107.3363@CompuServe.COM)
******
Here is a lot of stuff regarding the last newsletter. Re. Don Hockaday section: W. B.
McGroarty is William Buckner McGroarty who was a prolific genealogy writer with major
articles on the Chamoe, Taliaferro, Buckner, Battaille etc. families. He is not
always correct, but is generally reliable. In 1934 he published a huge Taliaferro
genealogy chart. William Buckner McGroarty was the son of Elizabeth Jane Buckner and
Patrick McGroarty, a lawyer from Ireland. Elizabeth Jane was the daughter of William
Buckner and Lucy Mary Taliaferro. William Buckner was the son of Philip Buckner, founder
of Augusta and Middletown, Ky. and Lucy was the daughter of Nicholas Taliaferro and Ann
Taliaferro. Ann was daughter of Col. John and Ann Taliaferro. Nicholas was the son
of John Taliaferro of "Snow Creek" who married Mary Catlett. (JOYCE-this is
Nicholas Buckner of whose Rev. War diary I transcribed, the one with the Marshall
connections). William Buckner McGroarty wrote the "Family Register of Nicholas
Taliaferro," Wm. & Mary Quarterly, Vol. 1 #3, July 1921.
Re. Elreeta Weathers on Catlett:
Col. John Catlett was b c 1622, died 1671, came from Sittingbourne, County Kent, Eng and
came to Virginia in 1650. He married in England ?, who probably died before he left
England. He had 2 sons by her: Thomas & Nicholas Catlett, both coming to America as
did Col. Catlett's two half brothers, Ralph and Edward Rowzie and a half sister
Susan/Sarah Rowzie. He married in Virginia, Elizabeth Underwood, sister to Col. William
Underwood. Elizabeth had 4 husbands:
1) Dr. James Taylor, from whom she petitioned the Governor and
Council in March 1654 for a separation
2) Col. Francis Slaughter
3) Col. John Catlett
4) Rev. Amory Butler who she married in 1672.
I have that John Catlett II, son of the above Col. John Catlett was b 1658 d 1724, m
1) ? Smith, daughter of Major Lawrence Smith of Bacon's Rebellion. Maj. Lawrence Smith
patented land with John & Anthony Buckner and 6,500 acres with Robert
Taliaferro. John Catlett II & ? Smith had 2 children, Lawrence (m Alice
Thornton) and Elizabeth (1689-1781) m Rowland Thornton. John married 2)
Elizabeth Gaines, daughter of Daniel Gaines, an early justice of Rappahannock Co. and
Capt. of the Militia 1680. He was married to Margaret Rowzie, kin of Col. John Catlett .
Re. "Marlfield", Gloucester Co., Va.
Marlfield in upper Gloucester Co., Va. was built by John Buckner. It was there that
he housed the first printing press in America. John Buckner was Clerk of Gloucester Co.
and angered Virginia's governor, Lord Culpepper, for printing the Laws of 1680 without a
license. He was fined in 1682 for this.
Marlfield had a center hall with a room on either side on one end and 2 rooms above then on a second story. The brick house had a total of 4 rooms and two long halls. In 1779/80 the house was owned by Catseby Jones who added a wing, making the building T shaped.
I don't know if this is the same family of Joseph Jones, that in 1767 brought suit against Gen. William Woodford, executor of the will of Nicholas Battaile. Jones was the guardian of John, Lucy, Mary and Nicholas Taliaferro. Nicholas Battalie was their grandfather and Jones was their uncle by marriage. The children received each two hundred pounds.
In 1994 a highway and subdivision, "Marlfield Estates" were built.
RESEARCH
CHARLEEN (hotomy@teleport.com)
*****
As of Dec. 1994 the "Cemeteries of Fairfax Co., VA" lists the
Taliaferro/Carter Family Cemetery as: located in the woods, @200 ft. east of the
first tee on the golf course at Cedar Crest Country Club, 16850 Sudley Rd.,
Centreville, VA. This cemetery is in the burial ground associated with
"Sudley," built c. 1760, which formerly stood 200 yards to the west where the
clubhouse now stands. The remains of a stone wall surround the site, which is
planted in vinca minor. There are seven marble headstones of exceptional workmanship
present, most having been displaced and/or broken, and evidence of 15+ unmarked burials.
The cemetery is overgrown and neglected.
What grabbed my attention was that Louisa C. Taliaferro was the second daughter of Wm. Fitzhugh & E. L. Carter. I have several undated and unmarried Wm. Fitzhughs. If you find out anything about Louisa's parents I'd appreciate knowing. Thanks.
Researching surnames: FITZHUGH, ASVIK, TUURA, MACE, and OERDING
TALIAFERROS OF EUROPE
DONNA HUNTER ( DHunter365)
******
You have mentioned on several occasions that Francis Taliaferro and wife Bennett Haie had
only 2 children - Robert and an older sister Ann. The article "Robert
Taliaferro, The American Immigrant (1626-1671)" also states "that there are no
recordings in the parish records." I have a sheet titled
"Original Parish Register Entries: Taliaferro Family Baptismal Register, St.
Dunstan, Stepney, Middlesex " which was sent to me by another researcher who is now
deceased. It reads as follows:
21 December 1614 Joane, daughter of Francis Taliaferro of Myland
Greene, gentleman, 13 days old
25 January 1615/16 Sara, daughter of Francis Tallefero of Mile
End,yeoman and Bennett his wife, 13 days old.
12 September 1619 Rebecca, daughter of Francis Taliaferoe of
Myleend, yeoman and Bennett his wife, 9 days old.
8 October 1620 Francis, daughter of Francis Taliefero of
Stepney, yeoman and Bennett his wife, 9 days old
9 January 1621/22 Anne, daughter of
Francis Taliafero of Stepney,
yeoman and Bennett his wife being 10 days old.
19 November Robert sonne of Francis
Talafero of Bednalls
Greene, yeoman and his wife at 8 days old.
May 1629 Anne daughter of
Francis Talafero of Bednall
Greene, yeoman and Bennett (age not illegible).
Please comment on this information. Did all children die in childhood except Anne and Robert?
[Note from Editor: Does anyone have access to a published copy of the Stepney Parish Register? I have the Vestry Minutes in which Francis Taliaferro is not referenced until 1637, but this does not contain the Register. If any of these young daughters died - certainly Anne, baptised in 1621 - then their burials would also be listed. If they lived, then could there be other unknown Taliaferro lines through the daughters? The births of these five young daughters explains why Robert and Anne Taliaferro were not born until 15 years after their parent's marriage. ]
COLONIAL TALLIAFERROS
(Continued from Issue 10)
It is believed that, the Robert and Katherine Taliaferro moved their family to
Taliaferro's Mount, but this is not been confirmed, although other factors make it seem
plausible. In the cellar of the house presently standing on Taliaferro's Mount, the
outlines of a much earlier structure are visible. The land is privately owned and was
purchased in 1984/5 by a new owner who planned extensive renovations and research of the
property and structures. A little distance from the old house stood the grove of
cedars with periwinkle lacing the ground - obviously the site of an old family graveyard
though no graves or stones were apparent. Local Taliaferros report that the
gravestone of an early Francis Taliaferro was used for years as a stepping stone at the
back door of the house. In the year 1666, in partnership with Lawrence Smith, Robert
Taliaferro obtained a patent for 6,300 acres in Essex County VA (later Caroline
County). This property was 4 miles in length and lay between Ware Creek and Snow
Creek. A year later, in 1667, Robert Taliaferro purchased two tracts of land
totaling 1,000 acres from Richard White in Essex County (later Caroline County).
This is the tract of land through which Mount Creek flows. On the west side of Mount
Creek, a high promontory rises and juts out above the Rappahannock River. It is
still known as Taliaferro's Mount. Before it became Taliaferro land, this high
elevation was used by the Indians as a lookout. Over two hundred years later, it was
used again as Rappahannock residents gathered there to watch the thunderous bombardment of
Fredericksburg twenty-five miles upstream. Indian incursions in this frontier area
of Virginia were not infrequent during this period of Virginia history. A fort was
built at Port Royal, a few miles downstream from Taliaferro's Mount. It was at or near
this fort that Capt. John Catlett is reported to have been killed during an Indian raid in
1670. In view of Col. Catlett's death near
Taliaferro's Mount, researchers believe that Robert Taliaferro, the elder, may also have
been present when the raid occurred and that he may have died soon after from injuries
which he sustained. It is certain that he was deceased by 25 November 1671 when orders of
the General Court of Virginia were given to preserve the estate of his
orphans. Robert Taliaferro was only 45 years old. His oldest child at the time
of his death was Robert, Jr. who was approaching his twentieth birthday. His
youngest child, Charles, was barely five years old. It appears that Robert
Taliaferro died unexpectedly and without the comfort of being able to arrange his affairs
and write a Last Will and Testament. Katherine Taliaferro, mother to at least six
Taliaferro children, married again in 1650 to one Dedman or Debnam. Her Taliaferro
children who became the ancestors of this large Virginia family were:
Robert, Jr., b. 1652 ~ Francis, b. 1654 ~
John, b. 1656 ~ Richard,
b. 1662 ~
Catherine, b. 1664 ~ Charles, b. 1669
The Taliaferro sons followed their father's example and assumed roles of leadership in
their home counties and in the colony. This is a Virginia family which traces its
heritage back to the founding of American liberty, the exciting days of new world
discovery, and the golden years of Venice, Italy. At
the time of his death, Robert Taliaferro held estates in both Gloucester and Essex
Counties in Virginia. In Gloucester he owned the original home plantation of 800
acres In the growing new county of Essex, America's frontier at the time of his
death in 1671, he owned his half of the Taliaferro-Smith patent, 3,150 acres, 1500 acres
he purchased from Richard White, 600 acres inherited in right of his wife on Mount Creek,
and another 600 acres she inherited from her mother on Peumensend's Creek, also in Essex
County. All but the original Gloucester land now lies within Caroline County
VA. The Grimes land on Peumensend's Creek became the cradle of many Taliaferro
babies.
Joyce Browning - 1985
MISCELLANY
When we contemplate the move of the Taliaferro family from Gloucester County to "Old" Rappahannock County (later Essex and Caroline Counties) in the late 1660s, we gain insight into the resilience of the young Taliaferro family for they had moved to a new frontier. The sight of Indians and the abundance of deer and other animals was common. Roadways were paths through the woods or the shining river. The Rappahannock River was known for the size and abundance of its fish. Rappahannock, in the language of the native Indians, is roughly translated as "rise and fall of waters."
Abstracted From: "Settlers, Southerners, Americans, The History of Essex
County, VA," by James B. Slaughter, 1985.
**********
In the 1660s, hostile northern Indians raided the Rappahannock frontier, creating havoc
among the settlers and the Virginia Indians. White attitudes toward all Indians
worsened. Rappahannock County complained to Jamestown, and Governor Berkeley
declared war against the northern Indians "to their utter destruction and
ruin." . . .
Cooperation between Indians and whites occasionally occurred. When the colonists explored the west, they sought Indian help to blaze the train. In August of 1670, nine colonists and five Indians left Rappahannock County to investigate the unmapped wilderness west of latter-day Fredericksburg. Among the explorers were Rappahannock Justice John Catlett from Occupacia Creek and the journey's leader, a twenty-seven-year-old German immigrant named John Lederer. [Note: It is a Taliaferro tradition that young John Taliaferro, aged 16, was one of those who made this journey, hence he is known today as "John the Ranger."]
Six days of hard travel brought the explorers to the Blue Ridge Mountains. Catlett, the Rappahannock County surveyor, was known as a "good mathematician," and took observations from the top of a mountain. The explorers were disappointed that they did not see any rivers running into the Pacific Ocean. After drinking to the King's health with brandy, the adventurers headed back to Rappahannock County. This "Lederer Expedition" was probably the first group of Europeans to reach the Blue Ridge. . .
...The smoldering grievances [in the 1670s] of Virginia's small planters erupted in America's first civil war. Bacon's Rebellion of 1676. Indian troubles in the mid-1670s sparked the uprising. In 1675, a trade dispute escalated into a small war between Virgniia frontiersmen and Maryland Indians. One thousand Westmoreland and Stafford County planters crossed the Potomac River and attacked all Indians indiscriminately. The Maryland Indians retaliated with raids along the entire Virginia frontier, from the Potomac to the James. . . .
. . . Rappahannock County suffered heavily for its role in the rebellion. Numerous rebels were executed, imprisoned, banished, fined heavily, or humiliated. A diverse group of Rappahannock County gentlemen had sided with Bacon. Thomas Gordon, Minister of Farnham Parish was ordered to repent on his knees and never again hold church office. . .
. . . Northern Indians devastated the Rappahannock frontier during Bacon's Rebellion of 1776. As the colonists waged civil war, the Indians exacted the heaviest casualties on settlers since the 1644 war. The Virginia Indians were brought under even tighter control at the end of the Rebellion. Some captured Rappahannock Indian women were sold as indentured servants. The 1677 treaty required each tribe to pay an annual tribute tax of beaver skins to the Governor of Virginia. Permanent patrols were stationed around the falls of the Rappahannock [near Fredericksburg] to guard against northern Indians.
The local Indians became more dependent on the English after the Rebellion. Rappahannock County consolidated some of the surviving tribes in the postwar years. In 1684, the County transported the Rappahannocks (living on the southside of the river) upriver to join the Portobagos. The Portobagos lived on the Rappahannock in the northern corner of (present) Essex, an area still known as Portobago Bay. The County sought to combine the tribes for better protection against hostile Indians. Benevolence such as this was rare, yet showed that the colonists felt some responsibility for the plight of the Indians. [Portobago where the Indians were resettled in the 1680s is east of Taliaferro's Mount where the Taliaferro family lived.)
(Next week: Excerpts from the diary of a French Huguenot who visited the area in 1686.)
OLD CODGER'S CORNER
WELDON W. ROGERS (New e-mail address: hcfr@mindspring.com)
********
Relative to TT/10:
P 4: Elizabeth Stribling was d/o of Francis Taliaferro and Eliz. Catlett and a g/d
of the immigrant. Proved by her brother Robert's (of Stafford) Will. They had 5 known
children and George Stribling of Aiken SC is a descendant.
The only known General in the family is Major Gen Wm Booth T 1822-1898, the ggg gs of William T of King and Queen, son of John the Ranger and Sarah Smith. His wife is said in some accounts to be Katherine Hay but no record has been found of such a person. We know all the children of John Hay & Ann Robinson. No Katherine. William has a record in the Caroline COB indicating that the wife of his late-born children was probably Mary.
P 5: The parents of Andrew Toliver are most likely to be William Toliver III and Susannah Reeves.
Re: Richard the Pirate. The Wingfield family association has materials indicating his association for personal gain with some suspected pirates in the Bahamas. See George King's Marriages of Richmond County for comments on Thomas Turner Sr.
P. 9: Charles I (not II) was beheaded in 1749.
========================================================================
TALIAFERRO TIMES: Compiled from email and other sources
Distributed by Joyce Browning
cJBrown7169@AOL.com
27 January 1996