SALUTATIONS
WELCOME TO 1997. This issue brings bountiful wishes that everyone enjoyed their break from family history, immersed themselves in real family, and returns invigorated to renew the search for family.
Issue No. 9 of TALIAFERRO TIMES is abbreviated, but contains a some
provocative queries from Kathryn Gaven; information, observations, and
questions from Weldon Rogers; a new cemetery listing from Glen Taylor that
raises some questions -- all of which should cause our brain
juices to begin circulating again. Also included is the second part
of the story of the Christmas Season of "Two Hundred Years Ago . . . Plus
Twenty."
QUERIES
KATHRYN GAVEN ( GENEOLGY6)
*****
My husband's 8th and 9th great grandparents are Col. John (the Ranger)
Taliaferro and Robert Taliaferro, born Nov. 11, 1626. Does anyone
know where either of these men and their wives are buried and where
their old home sites and/or homes are standing today? I believe that
Robert Taliaferro died in 1687 and John died June 21, 1720 in Essex, VA.
Any help would be most appreciated.
Also, Martha Taliaferro, the daughter of Richard Taliaferro, married
in 1715 a Mr. Thomas Turner of King George Co. Va. I need the background
of the family of Richard Taliaferro if anyone has it. Who was his
wife and his father and mother? I think I know the parents but really
not sure on the wife.
- - - - - - - - - - -
WELDON W. ROGERS (wwr@netdepot.com)
******
I am very interested in Charles T./Moxley as I have been working on
a paper on the children of John of the Mount and Agatha Hay. I am very
interested in any dates that anyone has on this family - from the parents
William T and Margaret ? Aylett (Who was her father?) to all of the children
who went to Ky and points west. Was this the William who owned 250 acres
of land in Caroline from 1783 to 1814? Was it in St. Mary's? On the Golden
Vale? Do you have dates on him? The best I can do is ca 1740 - after 1814.
Can you help me with this? Did one of his sons, Hay, say that he (Hay)
learned the carriage making trade from his Uncle Charles in Williamsburg?
I've never located the source for this. A suit by Judith Beverley Kenner
against William and his sons in Caroline Co for failure to deliver her
carriage as promised is significant.
My extract of the Essex Deed of 8 Aug 1711 does not include "Buckner".
Only Margaret is given. Robert Taliaferro II died young and his widow,
Sarah Catlett, married twice more: to Samuel Sallis and to Samuel Short.
Robert made several deeds to both. The first references to this 739 acres
are in Old
Rappahannock Co Deeds of 1672 and in Va Patent Book 6:445 Nugent II:123.
Henry G Taliaferro of New York speculates that this deed to her son, not
long after her husband's death, was made by his widow Katherine to protect
her property from creditors of either her deceased husband Robert Taliaferro
or
her second husband, Cadwallader Jones.
Robert sold part of this land to Augustine Smith, then bought it back,
and finally disposed of it in the Buckner deed of 1726 after it had been
in the family for over 50 years. Robert's wife in 1726 was Ann Pitman.
On Richard the Justice cascade: in the family of Zachariah and Mary
Braxton Boutwell: I have some names slightly different: Burkenhead instead
of Burton, Wilson Penn rather than Moses Penn, and a four additional children
and they may just be out of place: I have sons John Boutwell Taliaferro
d Jun 1795
Amherst Co m Betsy Loving; Mary Boutwell Taliaferro m 19 Jan 1789 to
Henley Drummond, Charles Taliaferro, and William Taliaferro c1750-1834
of Fluvanna Co.. He referred to his uncle Peter Taliaferro in one record
and Zach had a William who is often overlooked. He applied for a Rev. Pension
ca 1832 # Dec S-7695 and at that time was destitute, with three dependent
children. Zach had land in that area.
- - - - - - - - -
GLEN TAYLOR (DGT54)
*****
I was at the Virginia Room in Fairfax CCo Library and came across information
about a Taliaferro/Carter Family cemetery. The "Epsom" reference
is clearly a link as the Francis's Taliaferro, et al.... were at
Epsom. Now if I can tie in the others. I have some Benjamin
Taliaferros but none born in 1810 and none married to Louisa Carter Taliaferro.
Perhaps someone can fill in the blanks. The cemetery is/was (info
as of 1988 and not confirmed by myself) located west of Centreville,
Fairfax Co., Va. It is reported that there is evidence of 15+unmarked
burials and that the cemetery is overgrown and neglected. I intend
on following this up.
The listings on the headstones were:
1) In memory of John Carter who departed this life on the 2nd of March 1838 aged 65 years.
2) Sacred to the memory of Dr. Benjamin F. Taliaferro Born at Epsom Spotsylvania County, Va Sept. 19th 1810 Died at Mountain View Fairfax County, Va. January 20th 1855 I loved thee on earth May I meet thee in Heaven.
3) Sacred to the memory of Louisa C. Taliaferro second daughter of Wm. Fitzhugh & E.L. Carter and wife of Dr. Benjamin Taliaferro of Mount Sharon Orange Co. Born Oct. 4, 1818 Died March 19, 1876
4) Sacred to the memory of Elizabeth L. Carter born at Nomini Hall Westmoreland Co., Va on the - of August 1791 and died Mountain View on the - day of January 1855.
5) Sacred to the memory of Dr. Cassius Carter Born at Mountain View Fairfax Co., Va November 28th 1825 Died at Mount Sharon Orange Co., Va July 22d 1856 Though lost to us on earth, we hope to meet again in Heaven Mark the perfect man and behold the upright for the end of that man is peace.
6) Sacred to the memory of John S. Carter Born 3rd Dec. 1807 Died 13th Jan. 1825
7) Sacred to the memory of Courtney Carter died at Woodland, Feb.
11th, 1841, in the 53rd year or her age.
MISCELLANY
"TWO HUNDRED YEARS AGO . . . PLUS TWENTY"
(Continued)
NEW YEAR'S DAY, 1777 . . .
The American Commander assembled his newly reinforced army on New Year's Day. He could count a complement of 5,000 men, including Bland's Regiment of Virginia Horse. Recently, a British officer had called the colonial army "a flock of animated scarecrows." Nevertheless, this was the largest battle ready force the General had ever been able to count at one time.
JANUARY 2, 1777 . . .
During the day, the wind shifted again, now bearing down on them from the northwest. As darkness fell, sleet glazed the roads and dampness seeped into the powder and flint; but the American Commander was confident that this army could reprise its Christmas Day victory. The time was right, he felt, to venture across the Delaware again. As he prepared to lead them across the river, ice had already formed. Shivering soldiers waded into the frigid water and chopped away the ice at a low water point. Wagons placed end to end and fitted with boards formed a bridge for the troops. On the west side of th Delaware, they set up a camp near Trenton. Before midnight, the mercury began spiraling into the teens.
JANUARY 3, 1777, 1:00 AM . . .
A party of 400 remained at the Trenton campsite keeping the fires burning to give the appearance of an occupied camp. The main body of the colonial army began a quiet march along a back road which lay to the east of Princeton. This route would bring them behind the British line by dawn. The American army crossed Quaker Creek, still maintaining quiet on this murky night, and marched to Princeton along a now frozen road.
The words of those who were there on this midnight night march describe it best:
. . . About 1:00 AM, the march began, leaving
fires burning
[at the campsite] and muffling the artillery
wheels . . .
. . . The horses were without shoes and would
slide in every
direction on the ice.
. . . The morning was bright, serene, and extremely
cold.
Hoar frost be speckled every object. At daylight
it was noted
that the ground was marked by the blood of
the soldier's feet. . .
When the forward British troops awoke near Trenton the next morning, they found an empty American camp facing them.
About sunrise, General Mercer's leading continental brigade, crested the summit of a hill and received enemy fire. Soon the British were reinforced and General Mercer ordered a retreat to avoid further casualties. His soldiers scattered frantically into the woods.
Then . . . out of nowhere it seemed . . . the American Commander appeared in their midst, exhorting them:
There is but a handful of the enemy and we
will have them directly. . . The day will be ours.
-- George Washington
Accompanied by Bland's Virginia Horse, the Commander of the American Army turned his Army toward the British and led a bayonet charge which broke their line. Outflanked and out-generaled, the British fled. A few trapped in Nassau Hall surrendered.
How would it have felt to have been there on that cold winter's day in 1777? When the furor of the battle was over and there was time to rest and reflect, was there any way these young Virginia soldiers could comprehend the enormity of what they had just done? Most were but 17 or 18 years old, yet they had ridden into their first battle, one of the quintessential events of American history, with their Commander, the most beloved figure in American history.
A New Jersey farmer left an account of the post-battle mood.
Immediately after the battle, General Washington and his men came into our house. Though they were both hungry and thirsty, none of them but showed joy in the countenance. It animated my old blood with love to see those men but a few minutes ago had been courageously looking death in the face in ravages of a bold and daring enemy.
Sometimes, the most informative accounts of a battle are left by the enemy as in the case of these descriptions of British officers:
. . . I never saw men look so furious as they did when they charged with their bayonets. . .
. . . They seem to be ignorant of the precision and order, and even
of the principles by which large bodies are moved, yet they possess some
of the requisites for making good troops, such as extreme cunning, great
industry . . . and a spirit of enterprise upon any advantage. It was
once the fashion to treat them in the most contemptible light, they
are now become a formidable enemy. . .
. . . We intended to renew the battle at daybreak, but Washington spared
us the trouble. This clever man, who did not doubt that Lord Cornwallis
would realize his mistake. . .made such a forced march under cover of darkness
that he arrived at daybreak at Princetown, where he overwhelmed the corps
under General Leslie, took six 6-pounders and a part of the baggage,
and withdrew past Rocky Hill into the mountains. At daybreak on the morning
of the 3rd, we suddenly learned that Washington had abandoned his position.
At the same time we heard a heavy cannonade in our rear, which surprised
everyone. Instantly we marched back at quick step to Princetown, where
we found the entire field of action . . . covered with corpses.
This brilliant coup which Washington performed against Lord Cornwallis,
which raised so much hubbub and sensation in the world and gave Washington
the reputation of an excellent general, derived simply and solely from
Lord Cornwallis' mistake of not marching in two columns from Trenton. Several
days later it was learned that after the coup at Princetown, General Washington
and
his army had camped in the woods at Rocky Hill, two hours from Princetown,
until the morning of the 4th - completely exhausted, without ammunition
and provisions - and only then had resumed the march past Bound Brook and
Basking Ridge to the mountains of Morristown where the army had a
main depot.
-- Captain Johann Ewald, "Journal
of a Hessian Soldier"
Read, too, the account of the American General who had just out-foxed England's General Cornwallis, who had indeed made a serious mistake when he equated the Colonial Commander with a fox ready to be bagged.
Difficulty crossing Delaware on account of ice made our passage
over tedious. Our situation most critical and our strength small.
On the second occasion to my expectation, the enemy began to advance and
after some skirmishing reached Trenton, but finding the fords guarded,
halted and kindled their fires. Having
discerned that the enemy were greatly superior in number and that their
drift was to surround us, I ordered all our baggage be removed silently
after dark. At 12:00 after renewing our fires and leaving some guards at
the bridge in Trenton and other passes, marched by a round about road to
Princeton that we might by a
fortunate stroke withdraw General Howe from Trenton, give some repute
to our arms; happily we succeeded. We found Princeton about sunrise,
their 3 Regiments made a gallant resistance, but they must have lost upwards
of 500 men killed, wounded, prisoners. There are 300 prisoners, 14 of which
are officers.
-- George Washington to the Continental
Congress, January 5, 1777
Weary, but jubilant, the victorious American Army followed their General back across the Delaware to their camp in Morristown. At the end of Christmas Season 1776, the "old fox" and his "flock of animated scarecrows" had saved Philadelphia and forced the British to give up 60 miles of their extended line. Their gallantry and ingenuity finally earned them the reluctant respect of their enemy.
Thirty years after that Christmas of 1776, Edmund Randolph of Virginia recalled the impact of these two Christmas victories:
The successes. . . at Trenton and Princeton were not insulated events
but formed an epoch from which the reputation and safety of America may
take a new date. The intelligence shot through America with electrical
rapidity and scattered wonder in its train how these brilliant acts
could have been achieved.
-- Edmund Randolph, "History of Virginia"
__________________________________________________
TALIAFERRO TIMES: Compiled from email and other sources
Distributed by Joyce Browning
cJBrown7169@AOL.com
1 January 1997