Margaret (French) Taliaferro (1690 - 1724)

Born 1690 in Richmond, Henrico, Virginia

Ancestors

Wife of Robert Taliaferro III — married before 7 Aug 1710 in Colony of Virginia, British Colonial America

Descendants

Died 1724 at about age 34 in Essex, Virginia

Problems/Questions Profile managers: James Choma [send private message] and Mary Elizabeth Stewart [send private message]

Biography

This profile is part of the French Name Study.

Margaret was born in 1690 and is the daughter of Hugh French and Margaret Gaines. Her husband, Robert Taliaferro, made a land transfer in Essex county in 1719 without her dower release, so it is possible she died sometime before that, but she was apparently mentioned as the aunt of James Scott in his 1722 will, so the lack of dower release is somewhat puzzling. He had definitely remarried by 1726 when his wife gave her name as Ann.

Name

Name: Margaret/French/^[1]

Virginia Will Records, 1993; reproduced on Broderbund's CD #174 (Virginia Vital Records#1), "Abstracts from Records of Richmond County, Virginia": Will Book No. 2... French, Hugh, 20 Jan, 1699-1700 - 3 Dec. 1701. Of the parish of St. Mary's. Son Hugh, daughter Mary; sons Daniel and Mason; daughter Margaret. Ibid: Order Book No. 4. September 5, 1705 - Petition of Hugh French, son of Hugh French. Margaret, the widow, married secondly John Somervale. Hugh, the son is over 16. Virginia Colonial Abstracts, by Beverley Fleet, 1988, reproduced on Broderbund's CD #503 (Virginia Colonial Records), "Richmond County Records 1704-1724": P. 76-A. The Estate of Sem Cox...To Marg't Taliafero a Gold Ring when she acknowledged the land - L1:00:00...Rec. 6 August 1713. National Genealogical Society Quarterly, Vol. 83, No. 3, Sept 1995, "The Taliaferro-French Connection: Using Deeds to Prove Marriages and Parentage," by Margaret R. Amundson: Robert Taliaferro (1688-1736) of Essex County, Virginia, and Margaret French (circa 1690-1724) of adjacent Richmond County have been assigned spouses other than each other by researchers working on the French and Taliaferro families. Robert is said to have married Margaret Buckner...Hugh French, who is traditionally identified as the father of Margaret, died in Richmond County in 1701. His will bequeaths "one hundred and thirty acres" to his daughter "Margaret French"...On 1 March 1705..."Indenture...between John Fossaker...Gentleman of Richmond County, Virginia and Elizabeth his wife...and Margaret French, Spinster, Daughter of Hugh French, late of County of Richmond deed...(for conveyance of) thirty six acres...binding upon one hundred acres formerly sold by John Fossaker and Elizabeth unto David Darnall deed by parole [i.e., parol - oral] agreement (which land)...David Darnall...sold unto Hugh French by the like agreement...one hundred acres aforesaid adjoining upon the thirty-six acres contained in this Deed...which One hundred acres [sic] of land said Hugh French by his last Will and Testament in writing...bequeathed same unto Margaret French"...Margaret's land subsequently was surveyed on 28 November 1705, at which time the metes and bounds were defined and appended to the deed...In 1710, this Robert Taliaferro and wife "Margrett" executed the following deed of sale: "Robert Taliaferro of St. Mary's Parish...and Margrett his wife...(to) Sem Coxe...One hundred thirty six acres of land..."Although this document does not mention Hugh French or identify Margrett Taliaferro as Margaret French, the matching land descriptions prove that relationship beyond a doubt.

Research Notes

Concealed in the glob of text above, there is a reasonable argument that Margaret was the daughter of Hugh French. It's probably a little much to say "beyond a doubt" though, since lots of things could have happened without us seeing any evidence of it in the records. Robert "is said to have married Margaret Buckner", as the glob points out, but this isn't just some baseless rumor. She is in fact called Margaret Buckner (q.v.) in an Essex County deed book entry,^[2] so this fact needs to be explained somehow. It may be that Margaret was the widow of a Buckner whom she married before Robert Taliaferro, or it could be that Margaret French and Margaret Buckner were two different people and that the land connection happened by some other means. At any rate, it's a fact that can't simply be ignored because of its inconvenience.

Sources

1. ↑ #S82 National Genealogical Society Quarterly Vol. 83, n. 3, pp. 192-198
2. ↑ ESSEX COUNTY DEED BOOK 13, Page 428: 9 August 1711; See also “Taliaferro Family.” The William and Mary Quarterly, vol. 20, no. 4, 1912, pp. 266–271. JSTOR, JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/1919335.

• Source: S82 Title: National Genealogical Society Quarterly; Abbreviation: NGS Quarterly; Page: Margaret R. Amundson, The Taliaferro-French Connection. Vol. 83, n. 3, pp. 192-198
• Ancestral File," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/2:1:M17R-MGQ : accessed 2015-01-30), entry for Margaret French.

Acknowledgements

• WikiTree profile French-635 created through the import of MOORMAN FAMILY.GED on May 31, 2011 by Mary Elizabeth Stewart. See the Changes page for the details of edits by Mary Elizabeth and others.
• WikiTree profile created by James Choma on Tuesday, January 27, 2015.

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