The Taylors in America

Upon arrival in Indiana in 1830, John Taylor worked for local farmers, which he recorded in his diary, and his wife Ellis gave birth to two more children Elizabeth in 1832 and George Lockwood in 1834. At some point they obtained a large parcel of land in Manchester Township, Dearborn County, Indiana. Ellis unfortunately passed away in 1834 leaving 5-month-old George to be nursed and cared for by a neighboring family. We don't know the circumstances of Ellis's death, only that her infant son George Lockwood Taylor survived and thrived and returned to his father John who remarried a neighbor Marjorie Darling and had 3 more daughters Anna, Frona, and Hannah Taylor.

Manchester, York, and Miller Townships
Deaborn County Atlas 1875

Plats of land, Manchester Township, Dearborn County Atlas 1875
G.L.Taylor Farm, Section 24 (upper right corner)

George Lockwood Taylor married a local girl Rachel Ursula Smith, who was also of Yorkshire parentage but born in the United States. They built a frame house on the land inherited from John Taylor and raised their family. Of their seven children, only three made it to adulthood. Their house was passed down to their son Bayard Taylor (a farmer) and his wife Edith Devore (a teacher) after they married in 1900.They raised their six children there, one of whom was my Grandad Roger.

Taylor Farmhouse, Circa 1910

Rachel and George Lockwood Taylor, circa 1900

Bayard and Edith Taylor Family, circa 1919
L to R: Elinor, Grace, Bayard, Roger, Lois, Edith, Theresa, Wesley

The Taylor family had lived on their large plot of land (over 800 acres I believe) for four generations until my great-grandfather Bayard passed away in 1939. My Grandad Roger and his brother were young men starting their careers, then entering military service for World War II. Their older sisters had gotten married and moved away or had become teachers. It seems there was no one able to take over the farm and Edith had to sell it.

In the summer of 2016, we had a chance to revisit the Taylor farm thanks to our cousin inquiring with the gracious owners. And it remained much the same as it had been when my Grandad lived there. The house, the barn, the forests, the fields, and even the water pump were all still there. The land was not split up. It was an amazing experience for me and my relatives to walk the land where our family had lived and worked and played from their arrival in 1830 until they left the farm around 1940. I will always treasure that experience, and I have a feeling that this trip to Yorkshire will be just as meaningful for me.

Taylor Farmhouse, July 2016

Taylor Descendants at Taylor Farm, July 2016