Family Tree (1710 - 1881) for Elizabeth Taylor (1833 - 1896)

Family Tree (1710 - 1870) for Elizabeth Taylor (1833 - 1896)

Elizabeth Taylor married Edward H Chase.

Her parents,  the Hon. Edmund Taylor and Mary Ann Wilson married in 1828.

Her Father, the Hon. Edmund Taylor, and his Relatives:

Edmund Taylor was born on August 4, 1803 in Allensmore Parish of Herefordshire County, England.  He was the eleventh of 14 children (12 boys and 2 girls) born to John and Sarah Taylor.  He was baptized on October 24, 1803 in Allensmore Parish.

Upon the death of Edmund’s father, Edmund immigrated to the USA in June, 1818, with his mother Sarah and several siblings.  They settled in Wilkes-Barre, PA.

Edmund married Mary Ann Wilson on December 28, 1828, Rev. Samuel Carver officiated.

They had 6 children (Thomas,  Elizabeth, Edmund Jr., Mary Ann and John)(Ellen died at age 1 year.)(Thomas Taylor inherited the Saddle & Harness business from his father.  The copybook of Stephen Wilson was found in his attic.  See October 25, 2015 post.)

Edmund owned and operated at Saddle & Harness business (located at 40 West Market Street)  from 1828 - 1870.  He had a home at the corner of River and Northhampton Streets.

He was commissioned Associate Judge on the Luzerne County Bench, Wilkes-Barre, PA in 1849 and served one 5-year term.  He was elected Treasurer & Assessor in Luzerne County from 1857 - 1859.

He died in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, on February 8, 1881 of a kidney infection.  He and his wife are buried in Hollenbach Cemetery, Wilkes-Barre, PA, along with three of their children (Elizabeth, Ellen and Thomas) and three grandchildren (Samuel, Frances and Frank).

A Eulogy from the Daily Union-Leader can be found below.

Edmund’s father was John Taylor.

John Taylor was born in 1759 and baptized on November 10, 1795 in Allensmore Parish, of Herefordshire County, England.  He became the owner of Moonfield Court in Allensmore Parish.  

Edmund Taylor’s mother, Sarah, was born between 1760 and 1765..  She married John Taylor somewhere between 1785 and 1790 in Allensmore Parish.   Their 12 boys and 2 girls included Elizabeth, Charles, John,  Francis,  Arnold,  Thomas,  William,  Joseph,  Henry,  Robert,  Edmund,  Ann,  Samuel  and Richard III.

John Taylor was with the Bank of England but lost his fortune by endorsing the Notes of  friends about the time of the battle of Waterloo (1815).  When the prices of everything dropped, he lost his fortune and died in 1817 (in Herefordshire, England).

Upon the death of Edmund’s father, Edmund immigrated to the USA in June, 1818, with his mother Sarah and several siblings.  They settled in Wilkes-Barre, PA.  Later, Sarah lived with a daughter in Ohio.

John Taylor’s parents were Richard Taylor II and Elizabeth Barrell.  Richard Taylor II was born around 1730 and married Elizabeth Barrell on November 7, 1758 in Allensmore Parish. Richard Taylor I was born around 1710.  

Sarah Taylor’s parents are not know.

Her Mother,  Mary Ann Wilson and her Relatives:

Mary Ann Wilson was born August 11, 1804 in Kingston (Wilkes-Barre, PA)  and died in Kingston (Wilkes-Barre) on May 2, 1883

She was the child of Elnathan Wilson and Elizabeth Baker.

Mary Wilson Eulogy from the Daily Union-Leader, Wilkes-Barre, PA;  May 2, 1883

The death of Mrs. Judge Taylor, relict of the late Judge Taylor, this morning, was not a surprise to those near her who have been watching her failing condition for some time past.  Mrs. Taylor had reached the advanced at of 78.  She was born in Kingston and had resided in this city nearly all her days.  During the life of her husband, no couple had ever so happily illustrated mutual domestic comfort and contentment as they.  In life, they were constantly together, and in death they have followed each other quite rapidly, as though even that were a privilege both yearned for.

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Elizabeth Baker was born 1782 and died in 1840.  Her brother was John Ledyard, who sailed around the world with Captain Cook and was with Cook when Cook was killed in the Sandwich Islands. (see below)

Elnathan and Elizabeth owned most of the land that is now New London, CT.

Elnathan was born in New London, Connecticut, in 1762 and died in Wilkes-Barre in 1837. (see below). He married Elizabeth Baker in 1798.

Elnathan Wilson was the child of Uriah Wilson.  The Wilson family at one time owned a great part of the land upon which New London, CT, now stands. Uriah was born in New London, Connecticut (date unknown) and died in New London, Connecticut (some sources say Wilkes-Barre, PA)(date unknown).   Uriah had five children (Elizabeth, Elnathan, David, Mary Ann and Uriah Jr.). Ancestry.com states that Uriah can be found on the payroll of the 3rd Connecticut Regiment, 4th Company, serving in the French and Indian War in 1759. Uriah can also found on the 1790 census as living in Norwalk and Stanford, Fairfield County, Connecticut.

Elnathan Wilson’s sister was Elizabeth (“the spy”)(born in New London, CT, in 1757 and died in Canada in 1855).  The copybook of Stephen Wilson tells of her service as a spy to Gen. George Washington when she was 19 years old. As noted below, Elizabeth lived with her second husband, Enoch Homer, near Scranton, PA. Later, they moved to New York state and finally, Canada, where she died at age 98.

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Elnathan Wilson and Elizabeth Baker (his wife)

Elnathan Wilson was born February 23, 1762 in New London, CT, the son of Uriah Wilson.

On February 23, 1778, Elnathan enlisted in the Continental Army (American Revolutionary War)(to read more about his Revolutionary War adventures,  read an account after the Eulogy for Edmund Taylor at the end of this post).

After the war, he moved to Stroudsburg, PA. Then, he moved to Forty Fort in Kingston Township and became the owner and captain of a Durham boat in Wilkes-Barre, PA.  He also built a mercantile store and hotel in Kingston, PA.

He married Elizabeth Baker in May 1798 at the Methodist Church in Wyoming County, PA, with Reverend Anning Owen presiding.

They had ten children;  four daughters and five sons.  Their first child died at one week (sex unknown).  Then came Stephen, Mary Ann,  Esther,  Ann,  William C.,  George C.,  Lyman H.,  Elizabeth and their last child, Thomas. who died at age 2.

Elnathan died in March 1837 in Wilkes-Barre, PA

(Uriah Wilson was born in New London, CT,  married (and lived in White, Plains, NY, in 1776 ?)

He had 5 children  Elizabeth (1757 - 1855)(a spy for Gen. George Washington as a teenager.  She married Mr. Fower first.  After he died, she married Enoch Homer and had 3 children (Benjamin, Amy and Eunice)),  Elnathan,  David (an Orderly Sergeant in the Continental Army), Mary Ann and Uriah Jr. (a Captain in the Continental Army).  

Uriah’s wife and Uriah’s date of death are unknown.) As an aside, Benjamin Homer, son of Elizabeth Wilson, stayed in New York State and married Miss Allsworth in 1811. David Wilson lived to be 106 years of age.

Elizabeth Baker was born December 19, 1782 in Connecticut, the daughter of Stephen Baker and __?__ Ledyard.  She married in May 1798 as noted above.  She had ten children, as noted above.  After the death of her husband, she lived with her son Stephen Wilson (1802 - 1891).   Stephen lived in the old ferry house in Kingston at the end of the Market Street bridge (Wilkes-Barre, PA).  He had a book binding and printing office in Milton, PA and was the editor of a weekly paper called “The Milton Ledger.”  

Elizabeth Baker died October 10, 1840 in Wilkes-Barre, PA

(Elizabeth Baker was the child of Stephen Baker and __?__ Ledyard.  Stephen was born in Connecticut and lived in Kingston, PA (Wilkes-Barre).   They had five children;  Elizabeth,  Hubbard (born 1785), Stephan (born about 1788 and moved to Illinois and farther west), Polly (married George Calhoun)  and Eunice (married Stephan Scott).

Her mother, ___?___ Ledyard, was the sister of the celebrated American traveler, John Ledyard (1751 - 1789).  He was ashore with Captain Cook in the Sandwich Islands when Cook was killed in 1779.  John died in Cairo, Egypt, while on another trip around the world.)

(This information was sent to my mother,  Frances Chase Courtsal, from Mary Baker in Baltimore, Maryland, on March 12, 1996)

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Edmund Taylor Eulogy from the Daily Union-Leader Newspaper,  Wilkes-Barre, PA on February 18, 1881.  Written by H. B. W. in Washington, DC on February 15, 1881.

Judge Taylor, in his life and habits, was a true type of English character, stripped of English bigotry, English prejudice and English vanity.  His ideas,  his habits and his treatment of me and things were all American.  He left English customs and political theories behind him when he planted his foot upon the emigrant ship, and in his new home, though still in boyhood, he put on the American mantle, and he wore it to the end of his mortal career.

His watchword was success-success, fairly, honestly won, by individual energy and untiring labor.  He did not speculate upon the chances which sometimes attend those who engage in them with sudden fortune.  What he had acquired was the result of years of labor and toil.  To this he held on with tenacity and an iron will.  In this cautious way he made provision for his children;  he educated them;  he  trained them to become useful and respectable people.  He did this at some personal sacrifice to himself.  Had he looked more to his own comforts than the proper education of his children, it would have been selfishness.  Selfishness, however, was no part of Judge Taylor’s character.

He was a man of fine social qualities;  of an even and placid temper.  I am not aware that I ever saw him in anger.  I never knew him to be guilty of a falsehood.  He envied no man who had been more successful in the acquisition of money, or the attainment of place, than himself.  He was kind and indulgent to a fault;  liberal in the political and religious opinions, very respectful of others and honest in word and deed.  What more may be said of human character ?  I am not aware that he had any faults;  nor do I believe that he leaves an enemy behind him.  

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Elnathan Wilson and the American Revolution

The day Elnathan turned 16 years of age, February 23, 1778, he enlisted in the Continental Army.  A few days later, his squad of 12 men were detailed to guard a crossroad where an old school house stood.  His squad made their night quarters there.  After stationing one of their men at the corner of the road to look out for any straggling enemy that might happen to pass that way, the rest of the squad slept on the hard floor.  Elnathan was not yet hardened to that kind of bed;  he was restless and could not sleep.  He got up just before daybreak and told the sentinel that he would relieve him.  The sentinel gave him his old musket that would not go off and went into the school house.  He had not stood long at his post when he heard the clatter of horse’s feet and soon discovered a horseman coming towards him.  When he came up within a few rods, it was just light enough to see that the rider, who was jogging slowly along, had on the uniform of a British officer, who seemed more asleep than awake.  Mr. Wilson stood behind a post and the officer did not see him till he sprang right before the horse.  He grabbed the bridle rein and shouted to the astonished red-coat to halt, dismount and surrender or he would blow him through and then pulled the officer off the horse.  The men in the school house rushed out and escorted the prisoner into their quarters.  Mr. Wilson was very proud of his first success in war.  The horse and trappings were valued at $180.00, which according to the usage belonged to him, but he never received a penny.  The prisoner in a few hours made his escape, probably by the connivance of some of the men who might have been Tories and willing to take any fee the officer might give for permission to escape.

In 1787, Elnathan left his native state of Connecticut and moved to Stroudsburg, PA, where he remained for four or five years and then moved to Fourty Fort, PA.  He employed himself at any labor that presented a chance of making money and always had something to do.  In those primitive times, the village of Wilkes-Barre, PA, had no better way of getting their salt, sugar, molasses and heavy articles of household use than to send down the river by boats to pick up their supplies from lower river towns.  They used a river craft called Durham boats.  They were long, slim low boats with running planks on each side from stem to stern.  The boats were propelled by three or four polemen on each side, walking backward and forward the whole length of the boat with the ends of their long ask poles against their shoulders, pushing in a bent position with all their might when loaded and coming up river in swift water.  Mr. Wilson had an interest in one of these boats for a time and went with it as Captain.

About the time Mr. Wilson was engaged in the boating business, a family by the name of Baker moved from Connecticut and settled in Fourty Fort, PA.  As early as 1793, the Bakers lived on the old road between Fourty Fort and Wilkes-Barre on what is now called Church Place.  Elizabeth Baker and Elnathan were married in May 1798.

In 1811, Mr. Wilson leased the old ferry house with five acres of land and the ferry with its equipment of flats and skiffs for $100 per year.  He also kept a hotel.  He then built a storehouse and dwelling in Kingston, PA, and commenced the mercantile business.

In 1815, he disposed of his goods and built a large hotel in Kingston.  He sold his store and dwelling to Gilbert Lewis.  Afterwards, he sold his hotel and other real estate in Kingston and moved to the Wilkes-Barre bridge-house where he lived until his death.

(This information was sent to my mother,  Frances Chase Courtsal, from Mary Baker in Baltimore, Maryland, on March 12, 1996)