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Capt. George Taylor (1754-1832) of Catskill, Greene Co., NY, and Capt. George Taylor (1784-1841) of Saugerties, Ulster Co., NY. Could these two George Taylors be father and son?
1. Buried in Mountain View Cemetery, Saugerties, Ulster Co., NY, is this couple:
675. Taylor, Capt. George, d. Jan. 31, 1841, Aged 56-9-1. [Thus born circa 30 April 1784]
676. Taylor, Catharine, w. of Capt. George Taylor, d. April 6, 1850, Aged 58-4-25. [Thus born circa 11 November 1791]
2. The children of this Capt. George & Catharine Taylor included, at least, these three:
a. Taylor, Mary A., b March 1819 in NY; d. 16 May 1885 in San Francisco,CA.
In the 12 June 1880 US Census for Bolinas, Marin Co., CA, Mary A. Taylor was enumerated as Mary A. BRANDOW, age 61, Widow, b NY, father b CT, mother b NY, and as the ?Aunt? of Wm. Penfield Taylor [son of Samuel Penfield Taylor]. She was thus the sister of Samuel Penfield Taylor. In the 6 September 1850 US Census for Catskill, Greene Co., NY, Mary is listed as the wife of Nelson BRANDOW; the children are George N., Mary, & Frances. After the death of her husband, Mrs. Mary A. Taylor BRANDOW moved to San Francisco and lived with her celebrated brother, Samuel Penfield Taylor, a successful gold prospector, business entrepreneur, and pioneer in Marin County, CA, who built the first paper mill on the west coast of the U.S.
b. Taylor, Naomi, b 1825 in NY, d 1897 in San Francisco, CA. Naomi Taylor married Abraham WORDELL ca 1856-57, this couple was enumerated in the 24 Aug 1850 US Census for Fall River, Bristol Co., MA, as Abraham & Naomi ?WADDELL.? In the 6 July 1860, 24 June 1870, and 14 June 1880 US Census for San Francisco, CA, the couple was listed as Abraham or as Abram & Naomi WORDELL, together with their daughter, Ida WORDELL (b 1858 in CA, married Dr. James STARK in 1892 in CA). Abram Wordell was a Teamster in San Francisco, working for Samuel Penfield Taylor.
c. Samuel Penfield Taylor, b 9 Oct 1827 in Saugerties, Ulster Co., NY, d 22 January 1886 in Taylorville, Marin Co., CA; buried in Samuel Penfield Taylor State Park, Marin Co., CA. On 26 March 1855 Samuel Penfield Taylor married Sarah Washington Irving in Fall River, Bristol Co., MA. The Fall River, MA, Marriage Record of this couple states that Samuel Penfield Taylor was born in Saugerties NY, and was the son of Capt. George Taylor & Catherine Taylor.
3. Each of the above three children told the 1880 Census enumerator that they were born in NY, that their mother was born in NY, and that their father, [the younger Capt. George Taylor, 1784-1841] was born in CT. As it happens, CT lies only about 30 miles east of the Hudson River towns of Catskill and Saugerties NY.
4. Family naming patterns may provide additional clues to the background of this family.
a. The given name, Naomi, of one of the daughters may provide a clue, and Naomi may have been a significant name within this family.
b. The fact that Samuel Penfield Taylor may have been named for Samuel Lewis Penfield (1790/CT?1851/NY), a Presbyterian and prominent citizen of Catskill, NY, may provide another clue. On 6 April 1812 Samuel Lewis Penfield married Ximena [often mis-read or mis-spelled as Escimena, Ecsimens, Gimena] Taylor (1794-1867), and at least one published genealogical study, "The Genealogy of Samuel Penfield," states that "Ximena Taylor was from N.Y.C. She was the daughter of George and Naomi Taylor." Naomi's maiden name may have been "Sayre". She died 4 October 1795 and is buried at Thomson Street Cemetery, in Catskill, N.Y.
c. An newspaper obituary in "The Catskill Packet," dated 18 October 1795, reported the recent death of "Naomi Taylor, aged 31 years, the 'consort' of Capt. George Taylor." It would appear that Naomi TAYLOR predeceased her husband. Is this Naomi Taylor (1764-1795), in fact, buried in the Thomson Street Cemetery in Catskill, and is her "consort," Capt. George Taylor (the elder, 1754-1831) also buried there?
d. Another newspaper obituary from The Catskill Recorder, dated 7 July 1831, noted the death "At New York, Capt. George Taylor, aged 77, [thus born circa 1754] formerly of this village and a patriot of the Revolution. Remains interred here."
e. Yet another newspaper obituary from The Albany Argus, dated 4 July 1831, reported the death of Capt. George Taylor and noted that he had two sons, George & Isaac.
f. Still another newspaper obituary from The Catskill Examiner reported the death of yet another Naomi Taylor: "Taylor, Naomi, dau. of the late George Taylor, d. in N.Y. of cholera July 24, 1832." This Naomi is clearly the daughter of the elder Capt. George Taylor (1754-1831) rather than the younger Capt. George Taylor (1784-1841).
g. [Died] "April 6 [1850] in this village, Catherine, widow of the late Capt. George Taylor.? From The Saugerties Telegraph, 13 April 1850. [Audrey M. Klinkenberg, Obituaries, Death Notices, and Genealogical Gleanings from the Saugerties Telegraph]
5. A reminiscence of the elder Capt. George TAYLOR (1754-1831), written and published in January 1863 by one of his Masonic Lodge brothers, gives considerably more insight into his life and family, and is taken from the Harmony Lodge Papers, No. 5, 1 January 1863. It notes that the elder Capt. George Taylor left Catskill and removed to New York City, where--by 1818--he had established a 'boarding house in Water Street, near the Coenties Boat Slip, where the Catskill sloops and most of the other North River vessels laid up in those days." The author of this reminiscence sojourned with Capt. George Taylor at his Water Street Boarding House ca 1818, and later at another facility on Pearl Street, and still later with Taylor's family on Broad Street, "where they remained until the Cholera of 1832 swept nearly all of them to the grave." The author then discusses Taylor's family: "With perhaps one exception, I believe the children of [the elder] George Taylor are all dead. The two sons, JAMES and GEORGE [possibly the younger Capt. George Taylor], died many years ago [this was published on 1 January 1863]; EVELINE, who married GEORGE H. COOK, MARY and NAOMI were all, I think, victims of the cholera, as before stated, and Mrs. FRANCIS SAYRE has recently died in your Village. [Susan Taylor died in Catskill on 5 Oct 1861; on 15 Feb 1810 she had married Francis Sayre, 1784-1868.] Mrs. PENFIELD [Ximena Taylor later died in 1867], widow of the late esteemed SAMUEL L. PENFIELD, is the only survivor [as of January 1863] of the many immediate descendants of Captain Taylor."
6. It is not clear just how the younger Capt. George Taylor (1784-1841) derived his title, "Capt" or whether this was a military or nautical usage. The death notice of the elder Capt. George Taylor (1754-1831) stated that he was "formerly of this village [Catskill NY] and a patriot of the Revolution." The elder Capt. George Taylor was similarly included on a 1932 list of "Men of Greene County in the American Revolution," prepared by the local On-ti-ora Chapter of the DAR. How did the elder Capt. George Taylor acquire his title as a "Patriot" and "Captain" and in which part of the Continental Line or any State Militia did he serve?
7. Samuel Penfield Taylor told the 1880 Census enumerator that his father, Capt. George Taylor (the younger, 1784-1841) had been born in CT. The question remains, where was George Taylor, the elder (1754-1832) born? Did he come to Catskill NY from CT with his good friend, Samuel Lewis Penfield?
8. Descendants of Samuel Penfield Taylor have a family tradition that Samuel Penfield Taylor was somehow descended from the George Taylor (1716-1781) who was one of nine PA signatories of the Declaration of Independence. On the face of it this assertion would seem to be no more than a coincidence of names. The PA George Taylor was not a military Captain in the Revolution but was nonetheless considered a Patriot due to having signed the Declaration. This George Taylor, the signatory (b in County Cork, Ireland, in 1716, and died in Easton, Bucks Co., PA, in 1781) married a Mrs. Ann Savage (she died in 1768), the widow of his employer. Their only son, James, never married and had no children. However, this same George Taylor, the PA signatory, also had five other children as a result of an affair with his housekeeper, whose name was Naomi Smith. Is this just another coincidence of names, or is it possible that this is the same Naomi Taylor (1764-1795) whose death was reported in the 18 October 1795 Catskill Packett, and who was identified not as wife but as "consort" of Capt. George Taylor?
9. These two George Taylors, whom I suspect may have been father and son, were distinguished citizens. The elder George was a Patriot and one of the founding fathers of Catskill; he and most of his family appear to have been tragic victims of the great cholera epidemic of 1831. The younger George appears to have removed to and is buried in Saugerties. Samuel Penfield Taylor, a descendant of these prominent men, left NY for Fall River in Bristol County MA, pooled resources with a group of young adventurers, bought an old sloop, and sailed in 1849 from Boston around Cape Horn to San Francisco. He panned enough gold to establish himself as a businessman and entrepreneur in San Francisco, before returning to Fall River, MA, in 1855 to marry a teacher, Sarah Washington Irving. Samuel Taylor's father, Capt. George Taylor (the younger, 1784-1841), reportedly operated, owned or worked at a Hudson River paper mill in Catskill, and Samuel drew on this experience in determining to construct the first paper mill on the west coast of the United States, in Marin County. He became a very successful and prominent man in both San Francisco and in Marin County, CA. His California estate is now Samuel Penfield State Park.
10. It is difficult, from the remove of Maryland, for me to disentangle the families of these two George Taylors, both reputed to be Captains, particularly without access to the local records, repositories, and expertise of genealogists and historians in Catskill and in Saugerties, NY. The above synthesis reflects all that I have been able to do from this distance. The story of this remarkable family deserves to be told and I am writing to solicit your help in better understanding the New York part of their history, in Catskill and in Saugerties. I will be most grateful for whatever assistance, referrals, or suggestions you are able to share.
-- George
7 January 2009
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