Taylor Township

Taylor Township

the navigable streams. Their object was to establish themselves in new homes in a new country ; to win from the forests and plains a competence for themselves and their families. They were adventurers only in the highest and best sense of that word. They were not gold seekers, in search of hidden treasures, but were home-seekers and founders of new commonwealths. With courage, with faith, with hope they left their old associations, their kindred, their friends, and went forth to meet hardships and privations in what was to tlicni at tliai time a far-off country. TIkv were a race of men and women whom any nation would be liaj)py to have as citizens.

The Puritan of Xew Kn.tjland, the Cavaher of the south, the Dutch, the i'ln^lish, the Irish, the Scotcli, never to be surpassed by any of the races of the children of men. History is more and more abundantly honoring their noble qualities and great deeds. They triumphed in the east, in securing our independence; they won the west; they traversed the continent, and saved it all for the nation founded by Washington and his compatriots. We shall never weary in recounting their great virtues, their heroic qualities, their lives of noble endeavor and of sacrifice. They were firm in their conviction, self-reliant m their character, and possessed of a fine dignity in their lives.

The Bible and the Declaration of Independence were their religious and civil guides. The church and the schoolhouse were the two institutions first provided for and most highly prized. These nurseries of piety and learning were remote and of difficult access, as must necessarily be the case, in a sparse and widely scattered population. We can now scarcely conceive the difficulties encountered by the men and wotnen who came here with the first wave of emigration. They labored and we enjoy the fruits of their labor. We reap the benefit of their toil and self-denial. To-day the sunshine and shadow may come and go upon the ground where we are assembled. Three generations ago, it was covered with such heavy forest, that the sun could rarely kiss the earth.

To clear away the trees and make room for a home in the virgin forest was indeed a labor. There are those living today, who can remember the dark border of forest trees that lined the narrow strip of road leading from their homes to the then small city of Columbus. And in later years upon their return home in the evening, the way may have been lighted up by the burning logs in the clearings. The heavy fringe of great trees has long since disappeared under the heavy blows of the woodman's ax, the clearing fires have gone out, and the logs were many years ago covered with their ashes.

From the ruins of this first estate, we have the smihng landscape, the green grass, the fertile fields of waving grain. We have the advantages, ease, comfort, conveniences, luxuries of modern civilization. For the generation that first came to this goodly land, and rough-hewed the way there is lasting remembrance and perpetual honor. Tn their lives there was a seriousness of purpose that is not characteristic of the later generation. In the midst of difficulties and dangers there was exhibited to an unusual degree the qualities of fortitude and endurance.

The Indian trails and wilderness roads have disappeared. The horseback riders from New York, Pennsylvania, Connecticut no longer pass along the old highway bordering these grounds. The stage coach, the wonder and admiration of seventy years ago, has ceased to pitch and creak and roll its heavy way eastward and westward. The moving wagons, that so frequently lined this road when Ohio was a new state and Indiana and Illinois almost unknown territory, have passed into a faint tradition. To-day the merchants in Franklinton do not ship their goods over the Alleghany Mountains in a Conestoga wagon.

There are those here to-day in the fifth generation from the first settler. They can daily witness many marvelous things unknown to their forefathers in this country, and beyond the realm of their conception or dreams.

There has been material progress and a marked change in social life. We do not look back with regret to the good old times, rather we rejoice in the good new times, and look forward to an ever changing, and ever better condition of human existence. But when we come to estimate the sterling qualities that make a man or woman, we shall probably never find them in a finer combination, or a higher degree of development, than in the pioneers who located a century ago in Franklin County.

[Edward Livingston Taylor, Sr., was not able to be present on account of illness. The address was read by his son Edward Livingston Taylor, Jr., Prosecuting Attorney for Franklin County.]

generations. Branches ot these families left Scotland lor llie sanie reason (religion), the Livingstons going to Holland and the 'laylors to the north of Ireland; and it so happened that through widely different channels and experiences the branches of these families, whicli settled in Franklin County. Ohio, came and located here about the same time, now a hundred years ago.

The common ancestor of the Livingston family in this country was the Rev. John Livingston, who was horn in Scotland in KiiJ.'J, and whose death occurnd at Rotterdam, Holland, in ItlT'J. He was a min-

In l<j(i2 there was passed in England what is konwn as the "New Act of Uniformity," by which the penal laws against dissenters and non-conformists were revived. By this act every minister in England. Scotland and Wales, who received any benefit or support from the government was required to declare his assent to all and everything contained in the "Book of Common Prayer," and no one could hold preferment without Episcopal ordination. The Rev. John Livingston refused to conform to this act and so, in order to escape its penalties,

The Rev. John Livingston had two sons, Robert and William. They were born in Scotland but went with their father to Holland where they received much of their education, a part of which was the learning of the Dutch language which had an important influence upon their after life.

Robert was born in 1654 and soon after arriving at lawful age came to America and settled at Albany, N. Y., where there was a colony or settlement of Hollanders. His acquaintance with the Dutch language and his preference for the Hollanders determined in no small degree his location at that place.

In 1683 he was intermarried at Albany, N. Y., with Alida, widow of Rev. Nicholas Van Rennselaer, whose maiden name was Schuyler, and through this marriage Robert became the first founder of the Livingston family in America.

In 1696 he re-visited Scotland and on his return brought with him a nephew, Robert, Jr., a son of his brother AVfilia^'' He too settled at Albany, and the uncle and nephew v/ere thereafter known and designated as Robert, Sr., and Robert, Jr. In 1697 Robert, Jr., was intermarried at Albany with Margaretta Schuyler, who was a niece of the wife of Robert, Sr. ; so that they were respectively nephew and niece of Robert, Sr., and his wife, Alida. From this marriage sprang the branch of the Livingston family represented here to-day. Of this marriage there was born in 1709, a son, John Livingston, who, on September 6th, 1739, was married to Catryna Ten Broeck. Of that marriage there was born three sons, James, Richard and Abraham, all of whom located in Montreal, Canada, before the breaking out of the Revolutionary War. They were all active and determined sympathizers with the cause of the colonies and so incurred the displeasure of all sympathizers with and adherents of the cause of Great Britain.

Col. James Livingston, the oldest of these three brothers and from whom the Livingstons represented here to-day are directly descended, was born March 27th, 1747, and died November 29th, 1832.

In 1772, at Montreal, Canada, where he was then practicing his profession as a lawyer, he was married to Elizabeth Simpson, who had been born at Cork, Ireland, October, 1750, and who died June 20th, 1799. Several children were born of this marriage, but we are to-day only concerned with Edward Chinn Livingston, who was the third son and fifth child of that marriage, born in the State of New York, May 23d, 1782. and removed to Franklin County, Ohio, in 1804.

In the year 1775, the public mind throughout the American colonies and the British provinces had become greatly disturbed and agitated on account of the bitter controversies between a majority of the people of the colonies and Great Britain. A large majority of those then living in what is now the Britisli Provinces of Canada and Nova Scotia were strong adherents of the cause of Great Britain. They called themselves "Loyalists," but were generally known and designated at "Tories." There was also in Canada a minority who were strongly in favor of the cause of the colonies as against the cause of the king. The result was that many Tories fled from the colonies to Canada and induced the Mohawk Indians and many of the Indians belonging to other tribes of the Iroquois then living in the state of New '^'ork, to join them in hostilities against the patriots or colonists. These refugees to Canada and their Indian allies remained in active hostilities to the people of the colonies throughout the war of the Revolution, during which time they caused great devastation and destruction of life and property in almost every part of the State of New York, but particularly throughout the Mohawk Valley. The operations of these refugeres to Canada and their Indian allies, constitutes the most dreadful chapter in the history of that war.

On the other hand, those who lived in Canada and sympathized with the cause of the colonies fled from that country and actively and determinedly espoused the cause of the colnoies against the mother country. Those who fled from Canada were called "Refugees from Canada;" and those who fled from the colonies to Canada were called "Refugees to Canada." Of the refugees from Canada, the three Livingston brothers, before mentioned, were among the most conspicuous and active in their eflForts in favor of the colonies. They got together in Canada about three hundred sympathizers and succeeded in the face of great difficulties and dangers in bringing them safely over the border into the State of New York, where they were merged into a New York regiment, of which James Livingston became the colonel, Richard the lieutenant colonel, and Abraham a captain. This regiment was immediately assigned to the command then organizing under General Schuyler and General Richard Montgomery for the invasion of Canada, with the view of wresting that country from British dominion. General Schuyler's health failing, the command of the expedition devolved upon General Richard Montgomery, whose wife was a near relative of the three Livingston brothers before mentioned, he having married into the Livingston family.

General Montgomery very successfully commanded the expedition and took possession of all the country along the St. Lawrence as far as Quebec, which stronghold he assaulted on the last night of December, 1775, where he met his death. The command of the invading army then fell upon Benedict Arnold, who was second in command and who was then a very active and capable officer of the Colonial army. He succeeded "in withdrawing the American army from Canada, but not with' out great difficulties, hardships and sufferings.

Col. James Livingston served as colonel of his regiment during the entire seven years war. The British authorities confiscated his property and estate and declared him to be a rebel and an outlaw and set a heavy price upon his head. He, however, was fortunate enough never to fall into the hands of the Tories and their allies - the Mohawk and other Indians of the Iroquois tribe.

After the war was closed he remained with his family in the state of New York and served for eight years in the Legislature of that state and held other positions of trust and honor. He died in 1832 at the advanced age of eighty-six years.

In 1801 the Congress of the United States passed an act intended in part to remunerate the "Refugees from Canada" whose property had been confiscated or destroyed on account of their loyalty to the American cause. Under the provisions of that act there was set off to Col. James Livingston land to the amount of 1,280 acres to be located on the "Refugee Tract," on a part of which the city of Columbus now stands. The patents for a part of these lands were turned over to his son, Edward Chinn Livingston, who was then a young man just out of college and who soon thereafter (1804) came to Ohio and took possession of the lands given him by his father. All the lands granted vo Col. James Livingston were in ulial is known in law and history as the "Refugee Tract." Tiicy were all located along Alum creek, just east of the city of Columbus.

The "Refugee Tract," as set apart by the government for the special purpose before mentioned, was a strip of land four and a half miles wide from north to south and about fifty miles from cast to west, extending from the east bank of the Scioto river to near the Muskingum river. The city of Columbus is situated on the west end of this tract and what is now Fifth Avenue was the north line of the tract, and what is now Stcelton was the south boundary. The whole contained about 136,U00 acres. All that part of the Refugee Tract which lies in Franklin Countj'^ was embraced in Montgomery and Truro townships. To Edward Chinn Livingston was given the honor of naming Montgomery township, after General Richard Montgomery, with whom his father had been associated in the Revolutionary war, and who was with him at the time he fell at Quebec. A similar honor w;>s granted to Robert Taylor, in giving him the privilege of naming Truro township after the town of Truro in tlie Province of Nova Scotia, from whence he came.

There was at the time of his coming to this country no sign of the city of Columbus beyond a few log cabins a half mile west of the Scioto river on what is now called West Broad street, and at that time called Franklinton. Letters in my possession, written before the location of Columbus was settled, show that Judge Edward C. Livingston was very anxious to have the state capital established on the east side of the Scioto River and that he used every influence possible to bring about that result.

When Judge Livingston came to the county the Nelson family, the White family and the Moobery family were the only residents along Alum creek in that neighborhood. The Nelson family, the White family and the Livingston family still own and occupy portions of these lands after the passing of a hundred years. The Moobery family have no representatives now living in the country, in so far as we are aware.

On March 17th, 1807, Edward Chinn Livingston was married to Martha Nelson. There were born of that marriage children as follows : James, Margaret, Edward, Caroline. Adaline, Angelica. Robert and Martha. James was the oldest son, who, when he was yet a young man, located in Livingston county, in north Missouri, where he died about the year 1850. Margaret (my mother), the oldest daughter, was botn November 2, 1809, and was married to my father, David Taylor May l»3th. 1836, and died February 12th, 1805. Edward, the second son lived tmtil his death some thirty years ago, on a part of his father's land, which ^ome of his children still own and occupy. Caroline and .-\ngclica died childless more than thirty years ago. Adaline (Mrs. Elijah Marion),

Under the date of December 14th, 1810, Edward C. Livingston was appointed colonel of the 2nd Regiment, 4th Brigade and 2nd Division of Militia of Ohio, by Return Jonathan Meigs, governor.

During the war of 1812 he assembled the regiment to be in readiness for service in the war then in progress against Tecumseh and his Indians and Proctor and his British soldiers, but the regiment was not called on for active service. He also served as one of the associate judges for Franklin county from 1821 to 1829. His death occurred November 13, 1843.

Taylor Family

The Taylor family, as stated before, had its origin in Argyle, Scotland, from whence they removed to the north of Ireland in 1620. They remained in and about the city of Londonderry until 1720, when Matthew Taylor, the progenitor of this branch of the Taylor family in America, came in a colony from Londonderry, Ireland, to New Hampshire. The colony was composed entirely of what is known as Scotch-Irish people. The governor of Massachusetts alloted to them lands on which this colony settled and which they began to improve when it was found that the land was in fact over the line in New Hampshire. The governor of New Hampshire, however, confirmed the grant and the colony remained in that location. They gave to the settlement the name of Londonderry, which has since been changed to and is now known as Derry, New Hampshire. This location was then the very frontier of civilization. All beyond to the north and west was a wilderness and the home of the Algonquin Indians. It was here that Matthew Taylor, Jr., was born on October 30th, 1727. While living at this place he was married to Miss Archibald, and of this marriage there were born six sons and two daughters. The fourth son was named Robert. The date of his birth was April 11th, 1759.

Matthew Taylor, Jr., continued to reside at Derry, New Hampshire, with his family until after the close of the "old French war" (1764), when by the terms of peace the province of Nova Scotia came under British dominion. Shortly after that event Matthew Taylor, Jr., and his family, with other families of the original New Hampshire colony, migrated from Derry, New Hampshire, to Nova Scotia and settled in the town of Truro on the Bay of Fundy. On December 6th, 1781, at Truro, Robert was married to Mehetabel Wilson, whose parents were also Scotch-Irish people. There were born of that marriage four sons and three daughters, David being the youngest of the brothers and the youngest of the family, except one sister, Susan. He was born at Truro, Nova Scotia, July 24th, 1801. The older sons were named respectively Vinton, Matthew and James. The entire family came to Chil- Hcothe, Ohio, in September, 1806. They cam'e by sea to Philadelphia, where they piirchas^jd teams and wagons and passed throiiRh Pennsylvania and over the Alleghany mountains to the town of Wheeling, at which place the family, except the two older brothers, with the most of their effects, were placed on a keel boat and floated down the Ohio river to Portsmouth at the mouth of the Scioto. The two older sons, Vinton and Matthew, brought the wagons through the wilderness from Wheeling to Chillicothe.

While living in Chillicothe, Robert Taylor, the head of the family, determined to settle upon the lands situated in wOiat is now Truro township, Franklin county, and with that view he constructed a frame house on his land,>, wliicii the family came to occupy in March, 180S. This was the fourth house constructed in wliat has since become and is now Truro township. The other three were primitive log cabins and they and their tenants have long since disappeared.

David Taylor lived with his father's family in this house until 1826, when he was intermarried with Nancy T. Nelson, who died in \R^2. leaving two children, Eliza and Robert N. .At the time of his marriage he constructed his first residence on the south portion of the farm about a mile from this spot. That house is still standing as is also the house constructed by his father, Robert Taylor, in 1807-8. These houses and lands are still owned by members of his family.

On the IGth day of May, 1836, he was intermarried with Margaret Livingston, oldest daughter of Judge Edward Chinn Livingston. Of this marriage there were born six children, all of whom are living.

This house, where we are assembled to-day, was built by David Taylor in 1843, and all my life has been associated with it and the farm. My father continued to reside here until April 1, 1858, when he took up his residence on East Broad street in the city of Columbus, where he lived until the '29th day of July, 1889, when he died at the age of eighty-eight years.

When my grandfather, Robert Taylor, took possession of his land, there had been for many years an Indian camp for fall and winter hunting maintained on the spot where he desired to build his house. There were fine springs at that place and it was 'evident that it was a favorite spot for occupation of the Indians, as it probably had been for the races which preceded them, and this presumption is strengthened by the fact that the Mound Builders constructed a considerable mound at this point.

When Robert Taylor desired to build his house by these springs, the Indians moved their camp north about a mile and established it at the mouth of the first ravine north from where we are now assembled. These hunting camps were only used by the Indians for - hunting purposes and only during the fall and winter months. They were of the Wyandot tribe and belonged to the linguistic family of the Iroquois. In the spring of the year they went back to their Indian ullages, which were mostly situated along the Sandusky river and about Lake Erie. They occupied this new camp for about ten years and hunted and trapped at will in the vicinity. Practically the same Indians came to occupy that camp from year to year and were very friendly with the Taylor family, from whom they often obtained salt and bread and other provisions in exchange for which they would quietly deposit an abundance of game on the porch or in some conspicuous place near by. There was never any contracting or bargaining indulged in. Each gave what they had to spare.

It was in December, 1843, that the family came to occupy this house. I was then between four and five years old and well remember that event and many of the conditions and environments which obtained at that time. At that time I had never known the use of a friction match. Fire was the great agency by which the forest was cleared away and the soil opened up for cultivation, and it was often necessary to build fires at remote points on the farm and this need was met by the use of a small copper tea kettle, which had become useless for its original purpose and was brought from the old house to the new and was used for several years thereafter for carrying fire before matches came into use. Sometimes also it was loaned to neighbors in whose houses the fires had from neglect or absence from home become extinguished, and still much more frequently was it used to enable "movers" who were traveling along the National road and who might happen to camp for the night near the house.

Before the introduction of matches, a common method of producing fire was by "steel, lliiit and punk." This method of producing fire had come into use after the French, Hollanders and English had introduced steel into this country. The combination of steel, Hint and punk was called "fire," and was usually carried by persons who were much abroad in the forest and open air, and liable to exposure.

Mrs. Henry C. Taylor

About 1834 the National Road was constructed by the general government past this point and it at once became a great thoroughfare for all methods of travel between the east and west. It was over this highway that the central portions of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois and the southern part of Iowa and the northern part of Missouri were mostly populated. The most picturesque and prominent feature of the National Road was the great mail and passenger coaches drawn by four horses, scheduled to make ten miles an hour. Everything had to give way to these coaches, as they carried the United States mail..

In the spring and fall of the year this highway was literally white with moving wagons covered with white canvass, going to establish homes in the western states. There were also numerous persons both on foot and on horseback traveling along this highway. There were also many heavy freight wagons, drawn some by two, some by four and some by

With the construction of this highway there sprang up every few miles along it, "wayside inns," commonly called "taverns." These taverns were not used by persons moving to the west. They always camped for the night by the side of the road, at convenient places for procuring fire and water and food for their teams. They usually slept in and under their wagons. The patronage which these "taverns" received was from persons traveling on foot and on horseback, and from the teamsters who were engaged in carrying merchandise over the road. Sometimes it would happen that a jolly party of these travelers

This is still within the recollection of many persons now living, some of whom are present to-day. Yet, the stage coaches and the heavy six-horse wagons with the jolly teamsters, the caravans or moving wagons, the travelers on foot and on horseback, and the numerous wayside inns, where they were wont to find good cheer and repose have all long since disappeared and are not known to the present generation. In their place we have thfi swift moving electric car and the much dreaded and too often deadly, automobile.

I learned from my father an incident which may be of interest to many persons present to-day. The early settlers introduced hogs into the country, which were allowed to run at large in the woods. They lived mostly on "mast," which consisted of hickory nuts, walnuts, beech nuts and acorns. In a favorable season for "mast" the hogs became fat and suitable for market, but there was no way to get them to market, as there were no railroads or highways of any kind and no markets west of the Atlantic cities, and these it was impossible to reach. About 1825 the hogs had multiplied and became quite plentiful in the woods and there being no market for them, they became very cheap. About that time a man by the name of Reynolds (as I now recall the name) came into the neighborhood and contracted with the people in the vicinity for their pork to be delivered when the season was favorable for killing and curing the same. He built a flat boat on Walnut creek, one-half mile south from this spot on which he loaded his pork and waited for the spring freshets to furnish an abundance of water so tliat he could safely launch his boat thereon. lie employed a regular crew to go with the boat to New Orleans and a number of young men in the neighborhood, including my father, volunteered to assist as far as the confluence of Alum creek and Rlack Lick with Rig Walnut Creek, beyond which point their assistance was not needed. The flat boat was successfully floated to New Orleans, where tlie cargo was sold to be shipped to European markets. Thus this immediate neighborhood, whicli was then the center of the Ohio forest, remote from the markets of the world, came to furnish to the people of the old world, a part of their food supply.

When grandfather, Robert Taylor, built his house in 1808, there were no Indian camps between here and the Ohio river. The white man came into southern and eastern Ohio mostly from Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia and Kentucky, and about 1820 game had become scarce and all the Indian hunting camps in southern and central Ohio were abandoned. A few years later by treaties, by purchases, etc., the Ohio Indians were removed tn the west of the Mississippi river, and thus the territory of Ohio, after centuries of occupancy by them, ceased forever lo be the home of the Indian.