Richard Taylor (abt. 1770 - 1830)

Born about 1770 in Virginia [uncertain]

Ancestors

Husband of Mary Ann (Martin) Taylor — married 12 Mar 1801 in Winchester, Clark, Kentucky, United States

Descendants

Died 16 Jul 1830 at about age 60 in Frankfort, Franklin, Kentucky, United States

Problems/Questions Profile manager: Fred Prisley [send private message]

Biography

Richard Taylor was Wounded in Action during the French and Indian War.

Richard was born about 1770 in Virginia, the son of Richard Taylor, Sr. and an unknown woman, who was not his wife. He married Mary Ann (Martin) Buckner ^[1] and they had children: ^[2]

1. Lewis Martin, b. abt. 1802? never married
2. James Wilkinson, b. abt. 1804? m. Louisiana Simms/Symmes ^{[3] [4]}
3. Catherine, b. abt. 1806, m. Moses B. Morrison
4. Matilda, b. abt. 1808? died young

Richard's father Richard Taylor, Sr. had two sons named Richard. This Richard -- his eldest -- was born before Richard, Sr.'s marriage to Catherine Davis, who reportedly saved the child from a dying mother and reared him as her own. Seven years later, Richard-the-elder's half-brother was born and named "Richard, Jr." They were each known and identified through the community and through their lives by their unusual nicknames.

Richard, Jr. was called “Black Dick" owing to his darker, somewhat swarthy complexion, while Richard the elder was called “Hopping Dick" in reference to his peculiar gait that resulted from a rifle ball that passed through his thigh. It was a war wound from the last major frontier battle with the Indians in the summer of 1794 known as Fallen Timbers. Some have credited action in the War of 1812 with the injury, but facts are confirmed by the 1805 Committee of Claims Report. ^[5]

Richard the elder, then 24, was one of hundreds of Kentucky long riflemen under General “Mad Anthony” Wayne. Enemies were closely matched with about 2,000 on each side. Indians under Little Turtle, who had been more in favor of negotiations with whites, were routed in this battle of Fallen Timbers near Lake Erie. General William Henry Harrison, also in the battle, said “If I wanted a man to storm the gates of hell, I would send Dick Taylor,” whom he also called “the bravest of the brave.”

Richard was Sergeant-at-Arms for many years in the Court of Appeals, he was also owner and proprietor of the fashionable “Mansion House” inn in Frankfort. Mary Willis Woodson wrote that Richard "Hopping Dick" Taylor "built a nice brick residence near a very fine spring and called his place Belle Font" (presumably near Frankfort). ^[6]

Sources

1. ↑ "Kentucky, County Marriages, 1797-1954," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:FW1S-6QS : 17 May 2018), Richard Taylor and Mary Ann Buchner, 12 Mar 1801; citing Marriage, Winchester, Clark, Kentucky, United States, district clerk, court clerk, county clerk and register offices from various counties; FHL microfilm 1,943,687.
2. ↑ Genealogy of the Lewis Family in America, by Wm. Terrell Lewis. Louisville, Ky.: Courier-Journal Job Printing Co., 1893, p. 362-365
3. ↑ "Ohio, County Marriages, 1789-2013," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XZDC-SY5 : 26 August 2019), James W. Taylor and Louisiana Symmes, 12 Jul 1832; citing Marriage, Butler, Ohio, United States, v 1 p 316, Franklin County Genealogical & Historical Society, Columbus; FHL microfilm.
4. ↑ Genealogy Of The Lewis Family In America, From The Middle of The Seventeenth Century Down To The Present Time, by William Terrell Lewis, Read Books Ltd, 2016, #E.4. and E.5.
5. ↑ Rise of the American Nation, by Lewis Paul Todd. New York: Harcourt, Brace and World, 1971, p. 215
6. ↑ "History of the Lee Family", by Mrs. Mary Willis Woodson, published in Register of the Kentucky State Historical Society, Vol. 1, No. 3, Frankfort: Kentucky State Historical Society, 1903, p. 80

See also:

• "United States Census, 1830," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XHPB-28P : 12 August 2017), Richard Taylor, Southern Division, Franklin, Kentucky, United States; citing 147, NARA microfilm publication M19, (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.), roll 36; FHL microfilm 7,815.
• Oysterville: Roads to Grandpa's Village, by Willard R. Espy. New York: Clarkson N. Potter, Inc., 1977, pp. 228-229
• Genealogy of the Lewis Family in America, by Wm. Terrell Lewis. Louisville, Ky.: Courier-Journal Job Printing Co., 1893, p. 362-365
• The Buckners of Virginia and the allied families of Strother and Ashby, by William Armstrong Crozier. New York: The Genealogical Association, 1907, p. 293
• The Papers of Henry Clay: Secretary of State 1827, Vol. 6, ed. by Mary W. M. Hargreaves and James F. Hopkins. Lexington: University Press of Kentucky, 1959, pp. 197, 391
• Rootsweb: Richard "Hopping Dick" Taylor, by Harry Owen, 25 Aug 2012