Windal William Taylor (1840 - 1925)

Born 16 Sep 1840 in Covington County, Alabama

Ancestors

Descendants

Died 27 Oct 1925 at age 85 in Rose Hill, Covington, Alabama

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Biography

See transcription of "personal memoir" below. Add any additional Biography --here--, not in the Personal Memoir section below.

Personal Memoir

DO NOT ADD TO THE PERSONAL MEMOIR SECTION. This is a transcription of a personal memoir published in 1893 in Memorial Record of Alabama.^[1] This was originally published as one long paragraph. Paragraph breaks and headings are inserted in the transcription to aid with readability.

"WINDAL W. TAYLOR, a farmer and miller of Beat No. 4, was born in what is now Crenshaw county, then Covington county, in 1840.

Parents: John and Rebecca (Carter) Taylor
He is a son of John and Rebecca (Carter) Taylor, the former born in North Carolina in 1806, the latter in South Carolina, 1808. While yet young their parents took them to Georgia, and in 1824 to Alabama. Here they married in what is now Crenshaw county, and when our subject was a small boy came to what is now Covington county, and spent the rest of their lives near where the subject now resides. He always worked hard, was kind hearted, liberal and generous, and never accumulated much of this world's goods. He was conservative and reserved regarding public matters, and was in religion a member of the Primitive Baptist church.

Paternal grandparents: Windal Taylor and "not named in memoir"
His father, Windal Taylor, was probably born in North Carolina, but was one of the first settlers in southern Alabama. He settled in what is now Crenshaw county, while the woods were full of Indians, wolves and bears. He was a farmer, raised a large family, and died before the subject's recollection. His widow died at a great age, just before the war.

Maternal grandparents: Silas Carter and "not named in memoir"
The maternal grandfather of Windal W., Silas Carter, was also one of the first settlers of southern Alabama, and both he and his wife died before the recollection of our subject.

Mother and siblings
The mother of Windal W. Taylor died in 1888, and was the mother of six children who reached mature years, viz.:

• Elizabeth, deceased wife of Samuel Rogers, of Texas
• William, joined the army, but was rejected, and was killed during the war on a train near Mobile
• Mary, wife of Allen Driskell, of Clarke county
• Windal W.
• Washington, a private soldier in the Forty-second Alabama infantry, who took sick and died during the siege of Vicksburg
• John J., who was in the service a short time

Spouses and children, includes 1st spouse's parents
In March, 1861 our subject married Matilda A., daughter of John W. and Eliza Jones, who were early settlers in Covington county, where they still live. Mr. Jones was all through the war, a private soldier in the Forty-second Alabama infantry. Mrs. Taylor was born in Covington county, and died in October, 1889. She was the mother of eleven children, ten of whom are living, viz.:

• John W.
• Florence, wife of William Caton
• Mary, wife of J. T. Hardidge
• Rebecca, wife of James Dunn
• William Windal
• James
• Samuel T., deceased
• Augusta
• Alonzo
• Hughey
• Matilda Alice.

Mr. Taylor was married, in 1890, to Nancy Wiggins, who has borne him one child,:

• Viney Lee.

Civil War Service
Soon after his first marriage, Mr. Taylor joined company B, Eighteenth Alabama infantry, recruited at Auburn, and spent the first few months on the coast at Mobile. He was sent to Mobile, fought all the way down to Atlanta in front of Sherman, back with Hood to Tennessee, and on the retreat to Mississippi, and at Fort Blakely, and at Spanish Fort, where he surrendered, in the spring of 1865. He was not wounded nor captured until the final surrender, and saw nearly four years of hard service.

From 1865 until "time of interview"
After the war he resumed farming and milling. He purchased the mill of his father on the farm on which he now lives. His present grist mill he built about twenty years ago. He owns over 400 acres of land, all of which he himself acquired by his industry and energy. He was county commissioner, in the third district, for ten years just prior to 1888. He is a member of the Primitive Baptist church, and ranks among the best citizens of Covington county.

PERSONAL MEMOIR ENDS HERE.

Research Notes

Census Records

Sources

1. ↑ "Memorial record of Alabama"
   Original data: Memorial record of Alabama : a concise account of the state's political, military, professional and industrial progress, together with the personal memoirs of many of its people.. Madison, Wis.: Brant & Fuller, 1893, p 765ff, Personal Memoir: Windal W. Taylor.
   Ancestry Sharing Link - Ancestry Record 26201 #733 (accessed 6 October 2023)

• "United States Census, 1850," database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MHPB-XC5 : 19 December 2020), Wendal Taylor in household of John A Taylor, Montezuma, Covington, Alabama, United States; citing family , NARA microfilm publication (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.).

• "United States Census, 1860", database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MHD6-R1Z : 18 February 2021), Windal Taylor in entry for John A Taylor, 1860.

• "United States Census, 1870", database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MHK9-QGC : 28 May 2021), W W Taylor, 1870.

• "United States Census, 1880," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:M4J8-DK6 : 19 February 2021), Windol Taylor, Rose Hill, Covington, Alabama, United States; citing enumeration district ED 53, sheet 336A, NARA microfilm publication T9 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.), FHL microfilm 1,254,009.

• "United States Census, 1900," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:M98C-MVP : accessed 24 August 2021), Wendelle W Taylor, Precincts 4-5 Rose Hill, Shirley, Covington, Alabama, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) 37, sheet 1A, family 3, NARA microfilm publication T623 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1972.); FHL microfilm 1,240,011.

• "United States Census, 1910," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MKQ4-V8W : accessed 24 August 2021), Wendel W Taylor, Rose Hill, Covington, Alabama, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) ED 50, sheet 10B, family 175, NARA microfilm publication T624 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1982), roll 9; FHL microfilm 1,374,022.

• "United States Census, 1920", database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MXZC-VZD : 31 January 2021), Windal W Taylar, 1920.

• "Alabama Deaths, 1908-1974", database, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:JDVB-DS7 : 11 January 2021), Wendell W. Taylor, 1925.

• Memorial: Find a Grave (has image)
  Find A Grave: Memorial #44230326 (accessed 6 October 2023)
  Memorial page for Windal William Taylor (16 Sep 1840-27 Oct 1925), citing Feagin Graveyard, Rose Hill, Covington County, Alabama, USA; Maintained by KatT (contributor 47356835).