Sarah (Smith) Taliaferro (1659 - abt. 1720)

Born 10 Jun 1659 in York, Virginia

Ancestors

Wife of John Taliaferro Sr. — married about 1682 (to about 1720) in Essex, Virginia, British Colonial America

Descendants

Died about 1720 at about age 60 in Essex County, Virginia

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Biography

Sarah and President George Washington are 2nd cousins, twice removed.

She was born between 1659 to 1661 in Gloucester County, Virginia ^{[citation needed]} and her parents were Mary and Lawrence Smith, Sr.

Sarah Smith married John Taliaferro about 1682 in St. Mary's Parish, Essex County, Virginia ^{[1] [2]} ...

John married Sarah, daughter of Major Lawrence Smith of Gloucester County, Virginia (see deed of Francis Taliaferro to brother, John, who is about to marry Sarah Smith, 1682). ^[3]

Her husband was a large land holder in Essex County, Virginia and the bricks for building his beautiful home, "Powhattan," were brought over from England.

Her husband made his last Will on 01 June 1715. He died in 1720 and his Will was proved on 21 June 1720 in Essex County, Virginia. ^[4]

She died after 1720 in Virginia.

NOTE: a new Find a Grave memorial has been found for Sarah (Smith) Taliaferro and needs to be reconciled with the information in this biography.^[5] See the Research Notes section for the information listed under the old memorial number.

Mother Mary

Sarah Smith's mother was Mary Debnam, or Mary Hictchon, or Mary Shanks.

Sarah Smith's above FindAGrave memorial was created in 2011 and states her mother was Find A Grave: Memorial #131467541 for mother, Mary Hitchon with a source of Rootsweb tree by Elaine Hensley.

However that family tree favors a mother named Mary Debnam. That same family tree also mentions a mother's name of Mary Shanks.

GenForum message introduces the list of Smith children with "Children of Major Lawrence Smith and Mary Hitchen/Hitchon, born 1639, married on September 28, 1651, in Lancashire, England, and/or Mary Debnam/Deadman, born 1631, in Glouchester County, Virginia, married between 1652 and 1661 in Virginia".

Smiths Helen Glenn Court's web page has ...

"Major Lawrence Smith, born 29 March 1629 Stonirakes, Lancashire, later of Abington Parish, Gloucester Co., died August 1700 in England.

m1: 28 Sep 1652 in Gloucester,

Mary Debnam, b: c 1635, d: c1675 VA

m2: Mary Hitchon, born c 1631.

source: McCurdy, "The Towneleys and Warners," p361, note#151; Virginia Magazine of History and Biography v81.

Geni family tree states ...

Col. Lawrence Smith ... married Mary Debnam;

Note: The following is from the article entitled Thomas Smith of Fairfax County, Virginia, The Virginia Genealogist v40 #1,(Jan-Mar 1996), by Henry G. Taliaferro ...

"Several sources, including Gary Boyd Roberts, The Royal Descent of 500 Immigrants to the American Colonies or the United States (Baltimore 1983), give the name of Lawrence Smith's wife as Mary Hitchin. I am satisfied that she was Mary Debnam; see Mary Burton Derrickson McCurdy, "The Towneleys and Warners of Virginia and their English Connections," The Virginia Magazine of History and Biography, v81 p361 note#151 & J. B. C. Nicklin, ibid., v56 p208-210. Nicklin erred, however, in assuming that Mary Debnam and her sisters were the daughters of "Henry Deadman" of Rappahannock River, Virginia. They were the issue of William and Catherine Debnam of York and Gloucester counties. After the death of William Debnam in 1657, his widow married the Rev. Charles Grymes of Gloucester County (ibid., v81 p360)." [end of Taliaferro article quote].1 He died after 08 August 1700."

Children named in his Will ^[4]

1. Zachariah Taliaferro
2. Lawrence Taliaferro
3. John Taliaferro
4. Mary Taliaferro
5. Elizabeth Taliaferro
6. Charles Taliaferro
7. Robert Taliaferro
8. Catherine Taliaferro
9. Richard Taliaferro
10. William Taliaferro
11. Sarah Taliaferro.

They are also said to have had a daughter named Jane. ^{[citation needed]}

Research Notes

16 Oct 2020 - The following Find a Grave memorial (82218210) for Sarah (Smith) Taliaferro has been removed from Find a Grave. A new Find a Grave memorial (Find A Grave: Memorial #195876330) for Sarah (Smith) Taliaferro has been found.

From Findagrave.com

Memorial (82218210) has been removed for

Sarah (Smith) Taliaferro ...

b: 01 Jan 1659 York County, Virginia;

d: 1720 Essex County, Virginia;

burial unknown;

parents: Lawrence Smith (1629-1700)

& Mary Hitchon (1631-1728);

m: 1680 Essex County, Virginia to John Taliaferro (1656-1720)

siblings:

Charles Smith (1655-1720),

Lawrence Smith (1660-1739);

half siblings: William Smith (1680-1734);

Children ...

Lawrence Taliaferro (1683-1726)

Mary (Taliaferro) Thornton (1685-1741)

John Taliaferro (1687-1744)

Robert Taliaferro (1689-1728)

Charles Taliaferro (1690-1721)

Catherine (Taliaferro) Bronaughm (1697-1748) :Richard Taliaferro (1703-1748).

Sources

https://www.towneleyhallsociety.co.uk/Towneley.pdf

1. ↑ Headley, Robert K., "Married Well and Often": Marriages of the Northern Neck of Virginia, 1649–1800. Baltimore, MD, USA: Genealogical Publishing Co., 2003
2. ↑ U.S. and International Marriage Records 1560-1900 compiled by Yates Publishing on ancestry.com
3. ↑ "Taliaferro Family" published in The William and Mary Quarterly, v20 #4 (Apr 1912) p266-271 (see p269-270) (Omohundro Institute of Early American History & Culture; DOI: 10.2307/1919335)
4. ↑ ^{4.0 4.1} from husband's profile bio John Taliaferro (27 Aug 2016)
5. ↑ Find a Grave, database and images (accessed 16 October 2020), memorial page for Sarah Smith Taliaferro (1661–1720), Find A Grave: Memorial #195876330; Maintained by KarMor79 (contributor 48128589) Burial Details Unknown.

See Also:

• Ancestors and Descendants of Smiths by Linda G. Clark 1987; isbn#0-89308-622-3; p144 (I will do look-ups in this book by request Kitty Smith)

• Chalkley, Lyman. Chronicles of the Scotch-Irish Settlement in Virginia, 1745-1800. Extracted from the Original Court Records of Augusta County; originally published in 1912 & reprinted in 1965 by Genealogical Publishing Co. of Baltimore, MD

• Crozier, William Armstrong, ed. Virginia County Records - Spotsylvania County Records, 1721-1800. Being transcriptions from the original files at the County Court House of wills, deeds, administrators' and guardians' bonds, marriage licenses and lists of revolutionary pensioners. New York, NY: Fox, Duffield & Co., 1905

• "Ancestry of John Taliaferro" manuscript by Willie Catherine Ivey of Tennille, GA in 1936

Acknowledgments

• Smith-8675 was created on 13 Mar 2011 by Reba (Logue) McMillan through the import of Reba Family Tree_2011-03-12.ged