Robert Taliaferro III (abt. 1688 - abt. 1768)

Born about 1688 in Rappahannock, Virginia

Ancestors

Husband of Margaret (French) Taliaferro — married before 7 Aug 1710 in Colony of Virginia, British Colonial America

Husband of Ann (Pittman) Taliaferro — married 1726 in Virginia

Descendants

Died about 1768 at about age 80 in Caroline, Virginia

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This profile is part of the Taliaferro Name Study.

Biography

Robert Taliaferro III was the third in the line of Robert Taliaferros of Virginia. He seems to have lived most of his life in what eventually became Essex and then Caroline Co. Virginia. His father died in 1688, either before or not long after he was born, so he had no full brothers (by his own account), and it is unlikely he could have had more than one sister, if any. His life is relatively well documented by land records, though the date of his death is still obscure, partly due to persistent confusion with two similarly aged and contemporary first cousins who were also named Robert Taliaferro and lived in the same part of Virginia, namely Robert (d. 1726) the son of Francis Taliaferro and Robert (d. 1728) the son of John Taliaferro.

Dower releases when he sold land show that he was married at least twice, first to a woman named Margaret (who was probably the mother of his daughters) and then later to an Anne. Sources conflict as to whether Margaret was born Margaret French or Margaret Buckner (see discussion below). No evidence for Ann's maiden name is known.

He seems to be mentioned in a 1730 Caroline Co. land survey.^[1]

Birth

Date: 1688^[2]

Death

Date: 1736

Place: Essex County, Virginia^[3]

Research Notes

The idea that Robert's wife was Margaret Buckner is probably based on the following Essex Co. deed.

ESSEX COUNTY DEED BOOK 13, Page 428: 9 August 1711.

Conveyance of Robert Taliaferro to Samuel Short. 40 pounds sterling. Tract of 100 acres, part of land formerly granted to Robert Taliaferro, deceased, father of Robert Taliaferro, containing 739 acres by patent of 17 March 1673 which is bounded as follows: a marked cedar tree by the riverside near mouth of a gut next above plantation where Samuel Short lives, running up gut E 110 poles to large birch close to the stream, N 14 degrees, E 127 poles to large oak standing in sight of plantation called Short's Quarters, N 69 degrees, W 68 poles to oak standing by pocosin or sunken land, through pocosin to river, then up river to place it began. Includes all houses, outhouses. Dower release by Margaret Buckner recorded.

This is somewhat problematic because she is called "Margaret Buckner" rather than "Margaret Taliaferro" but release of dower rather clearly indicates that Margaret had dower rights. Other references to Margaret Taliaferro as Robert's wife are known, so it seems likely that this is his wife and that her name must have been Buckner before they were married. The use here could perhaps be attributed to her being more familiar to the court by her previous name. It has been argued that she was born Margaret French, so the only two possible conclusions are that she was not in fact the same person as Margaret French or that Margaret French married a Buckner who then died sometime between the last known mention of Margaret French in 1705 and Margaret Taliaferro's first appearance in 1710, which also indicates that they were married by 7 Aug 1710.^[4] There are unfortunately no known male Buckners in Virginia who died in this time frame, so the question remains open. Another somewhat remote possibility is that Margaret Buckner was the widow of Robert's father, since she could also have had an outstanding dower right, but this seems unlikely.

Several similar deeds are found in the Essex deed books^[5]:

ESSEX COUNTY DEED BOOK 16, PAGE 246: 3 SEPTEMBER 1719 Conveyance of Robert Taliaferro to Samuel Short. 14 pounds. Tract of 25 acres, part of land granted to Robert Taliaferro, dcd, father of Robert Taliaferro, containing 739 acres by patent of 17 March 1673. Beginning at a cedar tree by the river near mouth of a gutt (beginning at the point where previously sold land began) the up said gutt to the fork, up the fork next the plantation to the of Grimes, then SW by Grimes to land of Corbin, then down several courses of Corbins's to the river, then down river to the beginning, including all houses, outhouses.

ESSEX COUNTY DEED BOOK 18, Page 218: 20 April 1726 Robert Taliaferro to Richard Buckner. 600 pounds. Tract whereon said Taliaferro lives normally called the Church Neck, being 600 acres, the remainder of a patent of 739 acres to Robert Taliaferro, son of Robert Taliaferro, now deceased, the other part sold to Samuel Short; includes all houses, outhouses. Dower release by Ann Taliaferro.

One should also note that the Robert Taliaferro in the above deeds was the son of a Robert Taliaferro who received the 739 acre grant (certainly Robert Taliaferro II) who was then deceased (1711 or earlier) so the father clearly could not the the Robert Taliaferro whose will was probated in Spotsylvania county in 1728. It would seem more likely that the 1728 will belongs to the present Robert Taliaferro, since his last Essex deed is from 1726. The 1726 deed, which included the old Mount Church and what was later called "Buckner's Neck" also included the "tract whereon said Taliaferro lives" so it seems likely the Robert moved somewhere else after 1726, which might be why he was in Spotsylvania in 1728. The 1768 death date proposed above also appears to be unrealistically late, considering the high risk of mortality of the era.

There is, though, a statement in an issue of William and Mary Quarterly that Robert Taliaferro made a bond to Augustine Smith in 1711/2 (primary source unclear) stating that he was "the only son and heir of Robert Taliaferro deceased".^[6] WMQ attributes this bond (wrongly) to Robert Taliaferro II, though obviously he had been dead for over 20 years at that point, so this is probably the present RT III (who seems to regularly mention that his father was deceased in contemporary records). If this is authentic, then the 1728 Spotsylvania will has to be for a different Robert Taliaferro, since that RT had two brothers. It should be no surprise that Robert was an only son though, since his father was only married to Sarah Catlett for a year or two before he died (also conveniently pinning Robert III's birth year down fairly closely; he might have even been posthumous). Thus, the date of death of our present Robert is unclear, though it certainly had to be after the 1726 deed. Later Caroline Co. records will probably shed more light on this, as that part of Essex would become part of Caroline in 1727-1728.

In the 1719 deed, there was no dower release, so Margaret (whatever her maiden surname) was perhaps dead by then. By 1726, an Ann Taliaferro is making the dower release, so probably Robert married her after Margaret's death.

Born in Rappahannock, Virginia, USA on 1683 to Robert Taliaferro and Sarah Catlett. Robert married Margaret French and had a child. Robert married Margaret Buckner and had 3 children. Robert married Ann Pittman. He passed away on 1734 in Virginia, USA.

Robert was born about 1688. He passed away about 1768.

Sources

1. ↑ Beckner, Lewis. "Caroline County Survey Book." The William and Mary Quarterly 19, no. 3 (1911): 168-73. doi:10.2307/1915596.
2. ↑ Source: #S82 Margaret R. Amundson, The Taliaferro-French Connection. Vol. 83, n. 3, pp. 192-198
3. ↑ Source: #S82 Margaret R. Amundson, The Taliaferro-French Connection. Vol. 83, n. 3, pp. 192-198
4. ↑ 1708-1711 Richmond Co VA Deed Book 5, Antient Press p. 258
5. ↑ See transcriptions from Johnson and Fisher Family
6. ↑ "Taliaferro Family", The William and Mary Quarterly, Volume 20, Institute of Early American History and Culture, 1912, pp. 266-267 [1]

• Source: S16 Ivey, Willie Catherine. Ancestry of John Taliaferro... Tennille, GA: manuscript, 1936
• Source: S82 National Genealogical Society Quarterly
• FamilySearch Family Tree. GeniWorld Family Tree.
• Many Mini Biographies profile for the Robert Taliaferro who married Margaret French.

Acknowledgements

• WIkiTree profile Taliaferro-72 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.
• http://records.ancestry.com/robert_taliaferro_records.ashx?pid=1400970

] Amundson, Margaret R., CG, article "Who Did Elizabeth Taliaferro, Daughter of Margaret French and Robert Taliaferro, Marry?" "The Virginia Genealogist", Jan/March 1997--- Identifies 2nd wife of Robert III as Ann Pittman.