William H Taylor (1815 - 1904)

Born 26 Apr 1815 in Georgetown, Madison, New York, United States

Ancestors

Descendants

Died 1904 at about age 88 in Turtlepoint, Annin Township, McKean, Pennsylvania, United States

Problems/Questions Profile manager: Amie Ploss [send private message]

Biography

William was born in 1815. He passed away in 1904. The marker is difficult to read in the photo, but appears to read W.H. Taylor. While census records are not perfect, it should be noted that the name in the 1850 Census looks like either Willard or William; in the 1860 Census he is W.H. Taylor; in the 1870, 1880 and 1900 Census he is Willard. Incidentally, the 1900 Census also indicates that he after the death of his first wife, he remarried an Amanda in or about 1896 (married 4 years at the time of the 1900 Census). He had a son Nathan who carries the middle name Willard. ____

WILLIAM H. TAYLOR, retired, Turtle Point, was born in Georgetown, Madison Co., N. Y., April 26, 1815, a son of Reuben and Achsah (Alderman) Taylor, who settled in Allegany county, N. Y., in 1818. In 1834 they moved with their family to Ceres township, this county, and to Annin township in 1844, later to Potter county, same State, where they died. They had four children: William H., Norman, Riley (killed in the Mexican war) and Jane (Mrs. Harrison Ruby). William H. Taylor, the subject of this sketch, came to Ceres township in 1834, where he bought a farm on Bell's run, six miles in the woods. Here he built a log house covered with stakes, with floors made of split timber, a coverlet hung up for a door, and greased newspapers tacked up for windows. In those early days, deer, bears, wolves, and all kinds of game were plentiful; and Mr. Taylor having a good rifle, and being a keen sportsman and a crack shot, enjoyed many a day's good sport. So there was always plenty of meat in the cabin, but flour was $16 per barrel, corn $1.50 per bushel, potatoes $1, calico and shirting each twenty-five cents per yard, and other things in proportion. Mr. Taylor cleared here a fine farm, which, however, he sold and then moved into Annin township where he bought the Annin farm, once owned by William Annin (after whom the creek and township were named), who was murdered near Pittsburgh for his money. Mr. Taylor cut a road through the bush, and moved in on an ox-sled. This farm was located on the Allegheny river, and there was no road, neither up nor down the river, nor was there any neighbor within five miles. Mr. Taylor at once set to work to clear his farm, and immediately put up the necessary buildings. Deer was plentiful, and he says he has killed as many as six in one day, and on one occasion he killed two deer and a bear-pretty good sport! He erected the first saw-mill, and put in the first shingle machine ever used in McKean county. He was the first to discover bituminous coal in this region, and he opened the vein in Liberty township, his interest in which he sold for $2,500. He also built two saw-mills, one hotel, two dry goods stores and fifteen other buildings for renting purposes; in fact, there is not a man living who has contributed more toward the advancement of his township and county. There was a time when he knew every man in the county, and every man knew him, and his reminiscences of olden times are most interesting. Speaking of the county generally, he says land was $1 per acre when he came into it; timber was pine in abundance, hemlock and hardwood; the smaller streams were filled with trout, and the Allegheny river with shad, suckers, bass, and pike weighing twenty-eight pounds each. The first murder was committed, in 1845, by Uzza Robbins, two miles above Port Allegany, for which he was executed at Smethport; the third night after his burial his body was dug up and his head cut off by young Burrows. The next murder was the deed committed by "Old Aunt Betty," who cut her brother's head off and then put him under the bed, but the jury returned a verdict of "not guilty." Next followed August 4, 1874, the murder at Port Allegany of Calvin H. Hobar by one Crow, for which crime the murderer got one year in the State prison. The next was the shooting of Miss Riley by her cousin, for which he was executed; then came the murder of John Yohe by a man named Thompson, in 1886, for which he got twelve years in the State prison, and then, in 1889, came the killing of Henry Robertson or Robinson by Anson or Anderson. Many more interesting events Mr. Taylor could narrate. Mr. Taylor was married in 1835 to Martha, daughter of John and Jane (Gibson) Rountree, of County Cavan, Ireland, and they have reared eight children-six boys and two girls, viz.: George W., Benjamin, William H., Nathan, Charles, James, Harriet (Mrs. George Helmig) and Mary J. (Mrs. George Campbell). The six sons are model men, using neither whisky nor tobacco, and never allowing profane language to cross their lips. They are well to do, and own farms with good buildings within sight of Turtle Point. George W., the eldest, carries on a dry goods store at Turtle Point, along with his brother Nathan. The parents are yet living-the father in his seventy-fifth year and the mother in her seventy-eighth-both highly respected. In politics Mr. Taylor is a Republican.

[Source: "History of the Counties of McKean, Elk, Cameron and Potter, Penn..." vol. 1; J.H. Beers & Co., publishers; 1890]

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Sources

1. ↑ Unsourced family tree handed down to Amie (Taylor) Ploss.

• https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/114158208/william-h-taylor

http://genealogytrails.com/penn/mckean/bios/bios10.html?fbclid=IwAR1vfrybdwLIK7KjcWV3gw4SzLSGm-kz66wprgMImr9YlEibzfkAXncxZcg#CERES