SALUTATIONS
Hallelulia - here is TTT! . . . With lots of preliminaries. It’s been a while.
This has been a very slow month - not much information coming
in. Summer takes folks away from computers and into other kinds of
activities. So - much delayed, with regrets for the tardiness
and pleasure that it finally made it - we send Greetings to
all of our Taliaferro/Toliver cousins and wish you a Happy Summer. . .
. though not so happy that you forget to send
information to TTT!
This week, TTT begins redistribution of information about our immigrant
family under a section called “TALIAFERRO REVISITED.” The early presentation
of research undertaken by TTT represents current - often completely
new - research results such as that presented today which contradicts
the research of fifty or a hundred years ago with information that explains
a persistent
family tradition. Since this appeared almost two years ago, we
have welcomed many new subscribers whom we need to acquaint with the updated
research we produced together about two years ago. There seems to
be continuing difficulty with the back issues web site.
Perhaps we need to consider establishing a new back issues web site. I’ll work with anyone who knows how to do this. Let’s hear from some of you on this point. It’s not difficult or time consuming to transfer TTT to a web site, once it’s up and running. Help!
We have left unresolved the question of whether the Toliver/Tolliver line of Ashe and Wilkes Co NC descended from Charles Taliaferro, son of Dr. John of Surry, or if they descended from a John Toliver who came from somewhere in Virginia.
All you Tolivers need to work through this issue. Hope you’re working on it now and we can look forward to some kind of resolution. Please let us hear from you on this point.
We welcome a number of new subscribers - and a couple of old ones who perceived our situation and leaped in to close the information gap. Thanks so much to all of you from all of the rest of us, and a hardy welcome to our new-found cousins!
Hopefully, Julia, our correspondent in Italy, will especially note the
below information sent in by Caroline Faison about Mary Hardin Taliaferro
Lingo. Mary Hardin was the daughter of Richard Taliaferro and Dorcas Perkins,
and granddaughter of Dr. John Taliaferro of Orange Co VA/Surry Co NC/and
Georgia and his wife, Mary Hardin. Some time ago, we solicited information
concerning Taliaferro/Toliver women to aid Julia with her thesis project
at the University of Rome. Here is a prime target for her research.
Hopefully, we will learn more about Mary Hardin Taliaferro Lingo and her
sisters. Caroline, this is a great contribution to our quest of discovering
Taliaferro women to aid Julia’s academic objectives.
In fact all of us want to learn more about the four little daughters of our Revolutionary War hero, Richard Taliaferro of Surry County, North Carolina. If someone has their names, both given names and married names, please send them to share with the rest of us. Do you know the story of Richard Taliaferro? No? Then I’ll run it again soon in honor of our Independence Day celebration.
If we can get the names of these four little Taliaferro girls of Surry
county birth into circulation, we’ll discover entirely new Taliaferro lines!
Elreeta, does the Georgia history publication that carries so much information
about Dr. John Taliaferro report at all on these young women? I
understand that Richard Taliaferro’s wife, Dorcas, and their four daughters
moved to Georgia with Dr. John.
Another new subscriber, David Boyle, has sent some fabulous information
for us which I’ll scan in for the next issue. David and I discovered
that we have multiple lines (in both mine and my husband’s families), particularly
Davies of Bedford County, VA. He informed me of the Davies reunion
in Lynchburg VA in August which I can attend for a few hours on my way
to a
simultaneous reunion in Wythe County where I’m scheduled to speak.
We’ll report to you on our visit -- and will welcome reports
of other Taliaferro family reunions. According to David, this Davies
reunion is heavily slanted toward Taliaferro because of the marriage in
1816 of Mayo Davies to Lucinda Taliaferro, daughter of Benjamin Taliaferro
of Amherst Co VA.
See also, Adam Marder’s information below which contains another Taliaferro/Davies
line, via the Meriwethers. However, this Davies apparently came directly
from Wales. Funny, isn’t it, how we often observe coincidences of
family information being received in separate, seemingly unrelated
circumstances. TTT is almost two years old now, and I don’t think
the Davies name has appeared, except when I mentioned way back at the beginning.
Then, this week, it seems that it’s moment has come! Must have some
special meaning that we’ll have to work to uncover.
NEW MEMBERS
CAROLINE FAISON (gfaison@sugar-land.spc.slb.com) ****I'm looking for information on the following Zacharias Taliaferro. I don't have much to go on except information on his descendants. From looking at where Mary Lang was born, it looks like the family came from South Carolina. Does any of this sound familiar to you? Any help would be greatly appreciated.
I've read that Zacharias(h) Taliaferro was Mary's father but have no further information on him.
Mary Taliaferro m. John (Col. Robert Lang Jr.?) Lang Their Children:
1. Taliaferro Lang
2. Benjamin Tighlman Lang
3. Mary An (Mosley) Lang b. September 5, 1785 in Newberry Co., SC d.
March 31, 1839;
buried in Bethany also called Holt & Schumpert Cem. (Shreveport), LA
married (1st);
Mason Mosley b. 1777 in SC d. July 28, 1806 in Edgefield District,
Barnwell or
Newbery(?) Co., SC (2nd) John A. (Capt.) Scogin b. December
20, 1770 in Edgefield
District, SC, d. September 27, 1844 in Bethany (Shreveport), LA
Child of Mary Lang and Mason Mosley is:
1. Mason Lang Mosley, b. December 5, 1806, SC; d. March 12, 1856,
Evergreen, Conecuh Co., AL; m. Margaret Madison (Martha)(Williamson?)
Jay, December 21, 1830.
Children of Mary Lang and John Scogin are:
1. Benjamin Tighlman Scogin.
2. Martha Maritta Scogin m. (Thomas??) Gamblin.
3. Toliver (Taliaferro) Lang Scogin, b. February 1, 1809, Newberry
Co., SC; d.
July 5, 1867, Keatchie, LA; m. Sarah Caroline Davenport, January 13,
1842,Tuscaloosa, AL.
4. Albert Scogin, b. 1814.
5. Lewis Grasham Scogin, b. 1816; d. 1872; m. Annie E. Hazlewood, October
18,
1855, Caddo Parrish, LA.
6. Permelia Margaret Scogin, b. 1818, Conecuh Co., AL; d. 1874, Harrison
Co., TX, buried in the Old Cemetary, Marshall, TX; m. Gartlington
Coker (Capt.)
Dial, October 21, 1847, Caddo Parrish, LA (or 10/18/1847).
I also have information on some of Elijah Lingo's (m. Mary Hardin Taliaferro) descendants. From my research I've found that my husband's family is a descendant of this couple. Let me know if you are interested in the info. I am interested in finding out more information on Mary H. Taliaferro's ancestors. I have little on her family. All I know is that Richard Taliaferro was her father.
Brief Descendant Line: Elijah Lingo m. Mary Hardin Taliaferro--Elijah
H. Lingo m. Harriet Clements (Harriet's mother was Lucinda Humphries m.
Dr.Allan Clements)
---Richard Taliaferro Lingo (son of Elijah Lingo & Mary Hardin
Taliaferro)
----John Wesley Lingo m. Sallie Ward
-----Annie Lee Lingo m. Harvey Lewis Faison
------Jerry Lone Faison m. Velma Flocine Johnson
Thank You Again for any assistance! --
Caroline Breedlove Faison
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
ADAM MARDER (amarder@apa.org)
**** It has been a great newsletter covering the TALIAFERRO/TOLIVER
TIMES. I
have not written to you for a long time, information regarding the
offspring has been mainly focused on the Taliaferro/Toliver family
name. While it was great getting the information together into one place
and getting any questions/problems cleared up. I wanted to include
a descendent chart to my grandparents. One will notice the bulk is
the Meriwether family. I have included most (if not all) siblings
for every family. I will include brief notes about several parties
in the listing.
Descendants of: Robert Taliaferro
1 Robert Taliaferro b. 14 Nov 1626 d. 1687 m. Katherine Sarah
Dedman b.ABT
1628 d. AFT 1667
2 John Taliaferro b. 1656 d. 21 Jun 1720 m. Sarah Smith
3 Mary Taliaferro b. 1686 m. Francis Thornton II b. 4 Jan 1681/82 d.
ABT 1757
4 Rowland Thornton
4 Alice Thornton
b. 1708
4 Reuben THORNTON
b. 1712
4 Elizabeth
Thornton b. ABT 1713 d. 1765 m. 1735 Thomas Meriwether b. 1714 d.
1756
5 Nicholas Meriwether b. 7 Sep 1736 d. 19 Dec 1772 m. Margaret
"Peggie" Douglas b. 2 Sep 1737 d. 25 Sep 1812
6 William Douglas Meriwether b. 2 Nov 1761
6 Thomas Meriwether b. 24 Aug 1763 m. 27 Jul 1791 Anne Minor
b. 14 Dec 1771 d. 21 Sep 1820
7 Richard Terell Meriwether b. 11 May 1792
7 Garrett Minor Meriwether b. 25 Apr 1794 d. 26 Sep 1851
m. 28 Sep 1819 Mary Ann Minor b. 1799
8 Lucy Anne Meriwether b. ABT 1820 d. ABT 1820
8 Dabney Minor Meriwether b. ABT 1820
8 Louise Meriwether b. ABT 1821
8 Lucy Anne Meriwether b. 22 May 1822 d. 14 Apr 1844 m. John Hull
8 Minor Meriwether CSA b. 15 Jan 1828 d. 1910 m. 5 Jan 1852 Elizabeth
Avery (see note 1)
9 Avery Meriwether b. 15 Jul 1857 d. 22 Jul 1883
9 Rivers Blythe Meriwether b. 26 Jul 1859 d. 1893 m. 27 Jan 1886 Lula
Norval
10 Susan Lee Meriwether b. 1887 d. 1958 m. John Boogher
10 Elizabeth Meriwether b. 1889 m. Norman McLure
8 Niles Meriwether CSA b. 26 Jan 1831 d. 28 Dec 1900 m.
1855 Lide Parker Smith b. 16 Oct 1829 d. ABT 9 Jan 1903 (see note 1)
9 May Meriwether b. 1856 d. 1866
9 Mattie Meriwether b. 9 Aug 1860 d. ABT Feb 1937 m. Rostan Betts
10 Mattie Meriwether Betts
10 Lucy Virginia Betts b. 1885 m. David Betts Fargason m. 1922
Herbert H. Fielding d. ABT 1970
10 Rostan Betts b. 1887
9 Lucy Virginia Meriwether (see note 3)b. 18 Apr 1862 d. 17 Apr 1949 m.
Aug
1894 Arthur Bowen Davies I (see note 4) b. 26 Sep 1862 d. 23 Oct
1928
10 Niles Meriwether Davies (See note 2)b. 24 Mar 1893 d. Feb 1969 m.
18 Apr 1927 Erica Riepe
10 Arthur David Davies (see note 5)b. 22 Mar 1895 d. 3 May 1946 m. 14
Nov 1922 Mildred Imogene Dunbar (see note 6)b. 20 Mar 1898 d. 5 Apr 1988
10 Sylvia Davies b. 1897
10 Alan Davies b. 1899
8 Robert D. Owen Meriwether b. 8 Jan 1843
7 Peter N. Meriwether b. 7 Feb 1796
7 Mary Minor Meriwether b. 2 Jul 1798
7 Thomas L. Meriwether b. 27 Sep 1799
7 Francis T. Meriwether b. 1801
6 Nicholas Hunter Meriwether b. 9 Jan 1765 d. 1805 m.Rebecca "Becky" Terrell
b.
26 Feb 1766 d. 1845
6 Dr Charles Meriwether b. 12 Aug 1766
6 Francis Meriwether b. 1768
6 Elizabeth Meriwether b. 24 Feb 1771 d. 17 Apr 1855 m.1788 Thomas Walker
Lewis b. 1763 d. 1807
7 Lydia Laurie Lewis m. Samuel Overton Minor b. 3 Jun 1790 d. 30 Aug 1838
5 Francis Meriwether b. 31 Oct 1737
5 David Meriwether b. 2 Sep 1739
5 Mary Meriwether b. 4 Apr 1742
5 Elizabeth Meriwether b. 3 Mar 1743/44
5 Sarah Meriwether b. 26 Nov 1746
5 Anne Meriwether b. 1 May 1750
5 Lucy Meriwether b. 4 Feb 1751/52 d. 8 Sep 1837 m. William Lewis b. 1752
m. John Marks
6 Reuben Lewis MD
6 Jane Lewis
6 Meriwether Lewis (see note 7) b. 18 Aug 1774 d. 11 Oct 1809
m. Jane Lewis b. 18 Aug 1774
6 John Marks MD
6 Mary Marks
5 Mildred Meriwether b. 25 Jul 1753
5 Thomas Meriwether b. 5 Nov 1755
5 Jane Meriwether b. 3 Apr 1757
4 Francis Thornton
III b. 1714
4 Mary Thornton
b. 1715
4 Colonel John
Thornton b. 1719
4 Sarah Thornton
b. 1719
4 Mildred Thornton
b. 19 Mar 1720/21 d. 16 Nov 1778 m. Dr Thomas Walker (see note
8) b. 25 Jan 1714/ d. 9 Nov 1794 m. Col. Nicholas Lewis m. Nicholas Meriwether
b. 1713
5 Mary "Molly" Walker m. Col. Nicholas Lewis
5 Thomas Walker Lewis b. 1763 d. 1807 m. 1788 Elizabeth Meriwether b. 24
Feb
1771 d. 17 Apr 1855
6 see children above
4 Ann Thornton
b. 1726
4 William "Montpelier"
Thornton b. 1730
4 Lucy Thornton
b. 1733
NOTE 1: Both Elizabeth Avery and Lide Parker Smith worked towards women's
right to vote in Tenn. Both of their husbands were civil engineers
for railroads. Both brothers fought in the Civil War for the CSA.
NOTE 2: Unknown father, was adopted by Arthur Bowen Davies at time
of marriage to Lucy Virginia Meriwether as part of a prenuptial agreement.
Currently working on finding actual father. Due to the fact that
Lucy Virginia Meriwether was a medical doctor, she may have not filled
out a
birth record for this child. But there is a problem, I may have
to search through at least 6,000 birth records. Currently this
is a big family mystery.
Note 3: Then again, Lucy Virginia Meriwether (a well known legendary
doctor in Rockland County after her marriage to Arthur Davies as Docy Davies).
There is road side marker in her name near her home in Congers, New York.
There is one story that occurred towards end of her
life, that a motorist involved in an accident told the state trooper
that he will not go to just any doctor. Saying "Docy Davies sick
is allot better than any doctors well." The state trooper after getting
the patient to Docy, was told she was not taking any patients and
he knew it, but the motorist refused to take any no from anyone.
Thus the last patient treated by Docy Davies. There are numerous
other stories about this doctor. But note, she was one of the earliest
female medical doctor, not only that, she was one of the longest
practicing MDs in New York State, 60+ years. Woman's Infirmary in
New York City was were she started her practice, may be where most of her
deliveries were made. Even if she got her MD in 1887 until
her marriage in 1894 a period of 7 years, even if she delivered a baby
a day for 7 years, that would be about 2,500 babies. That leaves
about 70 babies a year for the next 50 years, since there was a article
saying that during a hurricane of 1944, she delivered her 6,000th baby.
Note 4: Arthur Bowen Davies is known in the art world as one
of the IMMORTAL EIGHT. He was advisor to the Rockefellers in getting
their infamous art collection. Not only that, he got the Impressment
art into America via the1912 Armory show. Currently his art work
is out of favor. [JB Note: Further inquiry to Adam produced
that this Davies apparently has no connection to the Virginia Davies family.
Arthur B. Davies was, it appears, an immigrant from Wales.]
Note 5: Arthur David Davies was apple grower in Rockland
County, New York. Some of the pictures taken during the Great Depression
of people selling apples in New York City could have come from his farm,
since his farm was one of the three largest in Rockland County. He
sat on the Rockland County School Board for several decades. Yet,
he and his half brother Niles would
have occasional fist fights even into his late forties. Why the
fist fights, Niles has done something, that his half brother found out.
If you use the TV show 'Dallas' JR Ewing was Niles and Bobby Ewing was
Arthur and you get the picture.
Note 6. The Dunbar family had two houses on one street
in Watertown, New York. There was one house that sat between the
two Dunbar houses. This house belonged to the Dulles family that
raised John Foster Dulles, Sec of State under John Kennedy.
The Dulles International Airport in Virginia is named for the
same man. My grandmother was about 10-15 years younger than
this John Foster Dulles.
Note 7: This the same Meriwether Lewis of Lewis and Clark
explorers.
Note 8: This Walker was the earliest explorers of Kentucky.
Also he was a MD.
I hope this can be used towards your newsletter for the Taliaferro
descendants.
Happy Rootings, Adam
- - - - - - - - - - - - --
LAWRENCE GLAZE (glaze@moment.net) ****My name is Lawrence Glaze, my
mother was Hallie Taliaferro. I am seeking information on my great
grandfather, John Richard Alexander Taliaferro, born in Tennessee in 1822
- died GlenRose Texas 1891. I know he served in the 3rd
Tennessee cavalry CSA,during the Civil War, but cannot find anything
about his record.
Maybe someone can help me? I have tried to read the Taliaferro times
issues but my computer says the files are not there. What do I do
to read them.
- - - - - - - - - - - -
BRUCE W. FRANZ (Bruce.Franz@ascfb.wpafb.af.mil) ****I just found the TTT and would like to be included on future mailings. The legend and history of the family name is fascinating. I'm relatively new at this genealogy business and appreciate all the effort that goes in to such a project. Thank you!
Maybe someone can help me find my Tolliver roots. My ancestor
is Terry Tolliver from the Appalachian mountains in Kentucky. We
first found him as a 22-year-old on the 1850 census living with his
mother Margaret in Grainger Co. TN. We traced his mother to the 1830
Tennessee census as Margaret Tolliver and identified her children William,
Azariah, Lucretia, Tabitha,
Nancy J, Rhoda Jane, and Terry.
However, we have been unable to tie her to a Tolliver. We know she used what appears to be her maiden name Fry when she married a James Dees in 1830. We've heard that the family came from North Carolina. Documents from William indicate his birth was in NC. Other rumors indicate the father may have gone off with another woman.
The old-time family in Kentucky didn't know where their people came from came from, or maybe didn't talk about it. It's said the only thing they said was they might be of Scotch-Irish descent.
I'd appreciate any advice or assistance in trying to find the rest of my Tolliver ancestors!
Thanks! - - Bruce W. Franz
- - - - - - - - - - -
DAVID BOYLE (d1928@ucla.edu)****Thanks for beginning my subscription
to the TT! I descend from Lt. Col. John T. (the Ranger) and Sarah
Smith:
- Capt. Richard T. and Rose Berryman
--Col.
Charles T. and Isabel McCulloch
---Benjamin F. T. (1770-1846, Amherst Co. VA) and Mildred Taylor Franklin
----Lucinda T. (1797 Amherst Co - 1857 Victoria Co, TX) & Mayo Davies
-----Benjamin Taliaferro Davies (1803 Bedford Co, VA-1903 Los Angeles
CA) & Mary F. Shirkey (1836
Botetourte Co, VA - 1898 Los Angeles
-----Mary Lucinda Davies (1853 Botetourte Co, VA - 1923 Los Angeles,
& Nelson Anderson Thomson
(1839 Baltimore, MD - 1899 Los Angeles, CA)
------Catherine Mary Thomson (1875 Victoria Co, TX - 1953 Los
Angeles) & James
L. Boyle (1866 New Orleans, LA -1928 Los Angeles)
--------James T. Boyle (1897 Los Angeles - 1978 Los Angeles) &
Barbara Simpson (1902 San Francisco - living)--------- James
David Boyle (1928
Los Angeles - ) & Virginia A Davis (1930 Los Angeles)
My interests are in Virginian, English and Medieval genealogy.
I am currently finishing a descendancy of Henry Landon Davies (c.1708-c.1808).
One of these descendants is Addison Taliaferro (1797-1865), son of Col.
Charles Taliaferro, who married Henrianne Davies, and my goal is to find
all of their descendants.
I will be happy to share anything I have.
*****
I am looking forward to the Browning descendants, if you ever free up the time. We both have Capt. Richard Taliaferro as an ancestor! Mildred Franklin remains confusing to me. My elders (cousin Catherine Davies Taliaferro) thought she was the daughter of Maj. James Franklin (confusing her with Ann Cooper Franklin,who married Dr. Henry Landon Davies), the daughter of Maj. James Franklin. Cousin Sally Ambler identified her mistakenly in 1933. Some of the family refer to her as "Mildred Taylor Franklin" and others as "Mildred Franklin".
An abstract of Amherst Co Marriage Bonds identifies her as "Mildred Taylor" with "Bondsman = James Franklin.” Sweeney's Amherst Co, VA Records as quoted by my great aunt shows "Taliaferro, Benjamin, bachelor, and Mildred Taylor, spinster, Jan. 23, 1793. John Taliaferro, Surety. Consent of her Father, James Franklin". [I have not seen the original page and need to do so.]
My aunt thought she had a double name, her the last name --Franklin-- being left off the marriage record inadvertently. She was 17 when married and would have needed the consent of her father [or guardian] to marry. Taylor was unlikely, at her age, to have been name as a widow of an earlier marriage.
I have a copy of a letter from Patrick Rose Taliaferro written in 1917 at age 80, grandson of Mildred, in which he says, "yet I know little of the Franklin family. The Father of my Grandmother was a Major in the Continental Army and beyond this fact I know nothing. [Maj. Franklin was in the 10th VA Continental Line].
Finally, I quote from a typed copy of Benjamin Taliaferro's Bible [DAR
Vertical Files], notarized: (p.677--Benjamin Taliaferro was married to
Mildred Taylor Franklin on the 2nd Feb. 1792. (p.679, under BIRTHS:
Mildred Taylor born 14th February 1775 and married to Benjamin, [etc.],
and under DEATHS, Mildred Taylor Taliaferro departed this life on the 31st
October
1853 about 10 Oclock A.M. age 78 years 7 months and ... days.
Her administrator's
bond was in the name of Mildred T. Taliaferro.
I am puzzled by her surname of Franklin not being used in the retrospective entry in the Bible [1815 printing] record, unless her younger family did not know or recall her surname, although it is in the retrospective Bible marriage entry, but not in the courthouse marriage record. Could she have been an illegitimate daughter of the Major? Why was James the Bondsman?
Your interesting clue to the Franklins and Surry Co has rekindled an interest in me, and a hope that all is not lost with search for Mildred's parents. I hope we can share something on this.
I have only limited Taliaferro documents, but do have the above, and
also a copy of a 1756 Taliaferro Bible in the possession of Mrs. Thelma
Kirby Williams of Monroe, LA (again, from the DAR Vertical Files).
It belonged to Charles and has retrospective entries, his and Isabell McCulloch's
birth, and even Richard's birth and his children (e.g. your John, born
the 7th of
April 1733). An interesting feature is a handwritten manuscript
by Chief Justice (of LA) James Govern Taliaferro (b.1798), giving his recollection
of the Taliaferro ancestry and a descendancy of Charles' children and some
grandchildren. He wrote it on the flyleaf, Apocrypha, and any available
blank space. The negative photostat is hard to read, but I gradually
pieced it out into a clean typed copy. If any of this would be of
interest to you (or the TT), it would be a pleasure to send it.
TALIAFERRO REVISITED
Source: TALIAFERRO TIMES, VOL. I - No. 2, 16 November
1996.
****I promised I would present a new perspective to the persistent
tradition that Bartholomew Taliaferro was a court musician. Certainly,
it would not be surprising to discover that this Renaissance Italian was
an artist. English records, however, as we have been able to discover,
do not support this tradition.
In presenting the proposition below, I do so with the hope that others will challenge it and produce conflicting information so that we can come to a comfortable acceptance of the source of this very strong Taliaferro tradition.
In inviting conflicting information, I am not calling for a litany of
published, but unsubtantiated, reports that Bartholomew Taliaferro was
a musician, but ligitimate information to support or deny the tradition.
******
On March 4, 1562, in London, Bartholomew Taliaferro received Letters
of Denization (naturalization) which identified him as a subject of the
Duke of Venice and a citizen of London. The following year,
1563, in a London census, he is identified as a Merchant. This is not new
information. It has been known for over 25 years.
So - one wonders - why has this tradition persisted hundreds of years, in spite of what preserved records tell us. Where did it start? What is the truth? What power formed this Taliaferro family tradition and sustained this totally inaccurate tradition for so many years?
I wanted to find some justification for a tradition which has been so
stubbornly persistent. Surely, we must give cognizance to the strength
of the tradition. So, I began looking around, not for reasons
to deny that the family had unusual musical talent and ability, but to
substantiate it and I
believe I found the truth.
Bartholomew Taliaferro probably was what the record say he was
-- a Merchant. England was Venice’s biggest fan and supporter in
the mid 1500s. There was a great deal of commerce between the two markets.
Bartholomew married Joane Lane on January 1, 1584 at St. Michael’s
Church, Cornhill, London. I believe that we will find superlative
musical gifts in her family. Gifts that they were worthy to be summoned
by the Monarch and designated Musicians to the Queen of England.
No will has survived for the person I presume is Joane Lane’s father, and
he was not listed in the marriage record. However, facts seem to
lead us to John Lanye/Laniere who did not leave a will that has been found,
so information regarding his descendants is speculative. Given the
variety of ways the name was spelled by scribes and clerks who wrote what
they heard spoken to them, no doubt
with an accent, it is no great leap forward to suppose that Joane Lane
was a member of this family.
John Lanye arrived in London the same year that Bartholomew Taliaferro received his papers of denization,1562. Both men were quickly granted denization.
In 1571, under the name John Laninell, he is described as a Frenchman,
a native of Rouen, and a musician, with a wife and two children.
He stated that he had been in the country for ten years. In a later
record he is living in Hart Street, London. Researchers of this London
family (believed
to be ancestors of the Virginia Lanier family) have discovered that
the family originated in Northern Italy, until one of them moved
to Gascony in southern France, from whence John Lanye immigrated to London.
Hereafter, I will use the modern spelling of the name, Lanier.
John Lanier, the emigrant and court musician, is believed to be the father of John Lanier who married Frances Galliardo, daughter of Marc Anthony Galliardo of Italy, also a court musician. King Henry VIII sent to Italy for Galliardo, and the Italian musician remained in court favor into the reign of Queen Elizabeth. John Lanier II was owner of a considerable amount of property in the Parish of St. Olave, Hart Street, at a time when it was the most exclusive section of the city.
Bartholomew and Joane Taliaferro were also residents of Hart Street and parishioners at St. Olave’s. It is not a long street, so it is supposed that they were near neighbors of John Lanier.
Nicholas Lanier, another son of the emigrant, was also a man of means. He owned much of East Greenwich, Blackearth, and the surrounding countryside. This area was south of the Thames about 12 miles east of the Tower.
A second Nicholas Lanier, son of John Lanier II (of Hart Street) and
grandson of the emigrant, became the most distinguished member of this
talented family. He was baptized September 10, 1588 (presumably at
St. Olave’s Hart Street), son of John Lannyer, Musician to her Majesty.
He became a composer and musician in the court of James I, successor to
Queen Elizabeth. Among
his compositions is the music for Ben Johnson’s “Lovers Made Men,”
and he merits frequent mention in the diaries of Samuel Pepys, also a parishioner
at St. Olave’s. Pepys wrote of Nicholas Lanier, “his music puts me
in an extacy.”
Nicholas Lanier found his greatest fame during the reign of Charles
I who began sending Lanier abroad as his emissary to seek out and purchase
paintings and statues for a Royal Collection. The King’s emissary was one
of the first connoisseurs to appreciate the value of the old Masters.
He
spent three years in Italy acquiring treasures to send to the King
of England. At the outbreak of the Civil War, Nicholas Lanier followed
the Stuarts into Exile, and much of the art he acquired was sold.
Food for Thought
It is appropriate to note another important fact which has bearing
on our quest. Our ancestor, Robert Taliaferro, left England shortly
before his 21st birthday. He boarded the ship ‘Honor’ at the Stepney
docks only two days after his father, Francis Taliaferro, died and was
buried. He left his older sister, Anne, to act as Administrator of
their Father’s estate.
The date, August 1646, the likelihood that his uncle was a close adherent
of the deposed King, and the haste of his departure in company of
Robert Lee, seems to signal that Robert Taliaferro fled England in the
wake of the defeat of King Charles I by the Parliamentary forces.
Soon after he arrived in Virginia, he took up a patent adjacent to the
earlier patent of Richard Lee, progenitor of Virginia’s famous Lee family
and a known Royalist. Richard Lee invited King Charles to take refuge in
Virginia where he would be welcomed.
Editor’s Note, 6/29/98: it’s been almost two years now, and no
one has challenged this proposition; and in fact the passing of time has
reinforced it. Current research supports it because the name” Nicholas
Lanier,” the famous connoisseur of Europoean art, appears to have been
carried forward in the person of Nicholas Lanier (b. about 1690) of Brunswick
County VA, as
follows:
1746 26
Sep Nicholas
Lanier
I, Nicholas Lanier of Brunswick
Co, for divers services, grant to my well beloved son
Nicholas Shepherd Lanier, one
certain tract of 369 acs of land on the south side of
Sturgeon Creek, and bounded by
Gabriel Harrison. The land was patented to William
Read in 1726, and purchased of
him by me. Witnesses William Hill, Thos. Laniar.
Recorded 5 Feb 1746. [Source:
Brunswick County, Virginia, Deeds, 1745-1749. T.L.C.
Genealogy. 1991.]
RESEARCH
Early Marriages, Wills and Some Revolutionary War Records, Botetourt
Co VA. Lowry Worrell. 1975
“At a meeting of the field officers this thirty-first day of
August, 1782, for the county of Botetourt, for the purpose of carrying
into Execution this state’s quota of Troops to serve the United States
Army for the Term of three years, or during the War. Present:
George Skillern, Co. Lt.; Hugh
Crocket, Colo; Wm. McClenechan, Lt. Col; Patr. Lockhart, Major; James
Breckenridge
appointed Clerk who took the Oath by Law required. Adam Peck
appointed Martial.
. . . That Toliver Craig, William Johnson, Saml. McElhaney, Pierce
Daniel, Eson Hannon, Nathan Scott, William Crawford, Thomas Crawford, Hugh
Crawford, Jonathan Tosh, John Terry, Miles Terry, William Horton ----n
Craig, Joel Richardson of Capt. Neele’s Company be considered as the Thirteenth
District.”
- - - - - - - - - - -
Editor’s Note: One of us is looking for Toliver Craig, prompting
the above entry. In 1782 Botetourt was a very large county from which
many western Virginia and West Virginia counties were formed. Almost
fifty of these small military units were established in this action.
Perhaps the surname Craig relates to the famous father of Presbyterians
in western Virginia and eastern Tennessee. Here’s a quote from a
recently completed manuscript of mine which described the early Wilderness
Trail, the confluence of tracks which led over the mountains to the land
of the ‘western waters’ described in an early patent as in the “County
of Augusta on the waters of the Mississippi.” Actually, the land
being described in that 1749 patent was more relative to the New River
(present Virginia) and the Holston (present east Tennessee).
****Following close behind the great flood of Scotch-Irish journeying south and west along the Wilderness Trail was their Presbyterian faith. Before 1800, the great patriot, the Rev. John Craig, visited his compatriots along the New River and the Holston. The Synod in Philadelphia questioned him about the quality and quantity of elders he appointed, to which he responded:
"When I cudna get hewn stones, I tuk dornaks." [Source: "Before the Gates of the Wilderness Road.." Judge Lyman Chalkley. Virginia Magazine of History and Biography, Vol. 30. Virginia Historical Society. 1968.]
Wherever they established a church or meeting house, the Presbyterians established a school, bringing their faith and education to this distant country. ***]
_____________________________
TALIAFERRO TIMES is compiled from email contributions and other sources.
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should be sent to the individual submitter. The editor reserves the
right to edit for brevity and clarity.
Distributed by Joyce Browning
JBrown7169@AOL.com
5 Jun 1998
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