JOHN Mc QUEEN TAYLOR (Mc) 1812 - 1887

Narrative by Joyce Taylor Rosenbaum

John McQueen Taylor was born April 24,1812 in Franklin County, Tennessee. Every time I found his signature it was J.Mc.Taylor or John Mc. Taylor. He is wrongly listed in the book on Texas Revolution soldiers , as McTaylor, such as McDonald, McQueen,etc.So I shall refer to him as "Mc" in this narrative.

Mc came to Texas in 1829 at the age of seventeen, with his Father and Mother.

The Mexican Empresario, Lorenzo de Zavalla, brought a group of almost thirty into East Texas. They settled in Bevil's Settlement, now known as Jasper County.

Mc's father, Owen Taylor was one of the earliest residents of Jasper County. He was born in Georgia in 1785. A bricklayer by trade, Owen was given a grant of one league of land. His grant was in two parts. One was on Walnut Run, between Sally Glenn and the Elijah Isaacks' leagues. The other was south of Magnolia Springs. He lived on the Walnut Run.

Mc's mother was Spicy Matilda McQueen Taylor, daughter of John and Nancy Crews McQueen. She was born in 1793 in Madison County, Kentucky. Owen died August 1855 and Spicy died February 7, 1855 in Orange County.

In July 1834 an express arrived from Anahuac, calling for volunteers to dislodge Col. Bradburn, a Mexican Officer stationed there. Eight men from the Bevil's Settlement answered the call. Mc was one of them. Four others who volunteered at the same time were Joseph Grigsley, Jas. Chesher. Duke Gleen and Henry Stagner. They departed immediately, arriving at Liberty on the third day. There, they were under the command of Col. Hugh Blair Johnson. They left the next day for Anahuac. They were called the "Liberty Boys". After the surrender of Bradburn, Col. Johnson disbanded his men and Mc returned home.

In the 1835 East Texas Census, Mc was listed as single man, age 22, living in the household of his parents, in Jasper County.

On the 17th of October,1835, Me entered the Army of the Republic, under Captain James Chesher. They marched twenty days to reach San Antonio. During the time he was there , a call was made by Erasmus (Deaf) Smith for volunteers to reconnoiter and spy out the where abouts of a Mexican force, reported as approaching that place with some 700 convicts. Mc volunteered and was with Deaf Smith some twenty days. His kinsman, Squire Cruise gave an affidavit to this fact, saying Mc did so against his advice. Mc was in the grass fight.

Adam Byerly, a lieutenant in Captain Chesher's Company stated that John Mc Taylor participated with him in the Siege and Battle of San Antonio, A.D. 1835. Mc states in his application for a pension on May 23, 1874, that he served in the Company of Captain James Chesher, under the command of Generals Austin and Burleson, and that he was honorably discharged about December 20, 1835 because of illness.

A letter dated December 27, 1877 from the Comptroller's Office at Austin, states----This certifies that John Mc Taylor of Orange County, Texas has been enrolled as a pensioner under act approved July 28, 1876. The pension from July 1 to September 30, 1877, amount $ 37.50 unpaid. The appropriation being exhausted ---- a warrant cannot issue. *

In Mc's application foe land, he states - he was a single man at the time of the separation of Texas from Mexico - which he has since married. A first class headright Certificate was issued on the 4th of August, 1838 to John M. Taylor. He received three quarters of a league and one labor of land situated, with fronting on the east side of the Nueces River in San Patricio County.

Sometime prior to August 4,1838 he married Nancy Ann She was born April 16, 1820 in Alabama. (I have not been able to find a marriage record for them.) Three daughters and one son were born to this union. In the 1850 Tyler County Census he was listed with wife, Nancy A.P. and four children.

CHILDREN .OF JOHN McQUEEN TAYLOR AND NANCY ANN TAYLOR

1. Elgiva Taylor was born October 13, 1838 in Texas. She died January 28, 1899 in Williamson County. She married I. H. Harris August 15, 1866 in Orange County, Texas. Both are buried in the Presbyterian Cemetery in Georgetown, Williamson County, Texas.

2. Susanna Taylor was born in 1840 in Texas. Death date is not known. She married W.C. Brazee on May 11, 1859 in Orange County, Texas. She was listed in the 1860 Williamson County, Texas Census as the head of a household.

3. Henryetta M. Taylor was born January 14, 1842 in Texas and died September 5, 1899 in Williamson County, Texas. She is buried in the Presbyterian Cemetery in Georgetown, Texas. She married W.S. Keahey on June 17, 1869 in Orange County, Texas. He is not listed in the Presbyterian Cemetery.

4. John McQueen Taylor, II was born January 1, 1848 in Tyler County, Texas and died July 2,1905 in Orange County Texas and is buried in Harris Cemetery in that County.He married Synthia Jane Dunlap on April 18,1872 in Orange. They were the parents of twelve children, seven living to maturity.

CHILDREN OF JOHN McQUEEN TAYLOR,II AND SYNTHIA JANE TAYLOR

1. Washington Thalus Taylor was born March 15, 1873 in Orange County, Texas and died September 27, 1929. He is buried in Jett Cemetery in Orange County. He married Lilly Watson October 23, 1895 in Orange.

2. William LeGrand Taylor was born November 20, 1880 in Williamson County, Texas and died June 13, 1941 in Orange, Texas. He is buried in Evergreen Cemetery in Orange County,Texas. He married Ella Curl on March 23, 1902 in Orange, Texas.

3. Owen Taylor was born October 27, 1882 in Orange, Texas and died April 29, 1955. He is buried in the Evergreen Cemetery in Orange. He married 1) Emma Berwick on November 2, 1904 and2) 011ie Meyers on December 16, 1913. Both marriages were in Orange, Texas.

4. Mary Jane Taylor was born October 22, 1884 in Orange, Texas and died January 1,1922 in Harris County, Texas She is buried in Magnolia Cemetery, Harris County. She married 1) Jim Thompson on June 1, 1902 and 2) Nicco Circo on March 22,1905, and 3) L.F. Vance on March 20, 1911. All three marriages were in Orange, Texas

5. John McQueen Taylor, III was born November 20,1888 at Conway Bayou, Louisiana and died April 7,1973. He is buried in the Harris Cemetery in Orange, Texas. He married 1) Rosa Curl on March 16, 1913, and 2) Sadie Mae Daley Goodyear (nee Berwick). Both marriages were in Orange, Texas.

6. Augustus Taylor was born December 23, 1890 at Conway Bayou, Louisiana. He died September 23, 1942 in Lake Charles, Louisiana and is buried Jett Cemetery, Orange County, Texas. He married Beulah Mae Goodyear on September 21, 1912 in Orange, Texas.

(Joyce Taylor Rosenbaum is the fifth child of this union.)

7. Evalena Taylor was born February 26, 1896 in Orange, Texas. She died February 16, 1971 and is buried in Brookside Cemetery, Harris County, Texas. She married Sherman Dexter Raby on March 24, 1917 in Orange. This family was listed in the 1900 Census in Cameron Parish, Louisiana.

Land Holdings and Public Service of John McQueen Taylor John Mc Taylor had land in Tyler County. The date of the instrument is July 23, 1849. He was the original Grantee. He had sold most of his property , if not all of it, by June 1855. In the book."TEXAS SCHOLASTICS" by Gifford White, Austin, Texas, he was listed as guardian for Elgiva, Susanna, Henryetta and John M. Taylor in the Tyler County school.

He was a Justice of the Peace in Tyler County, last serving in March 1854. In 1860 he was listed in the Orange County census. In 1872 he was Justice of the Peace in Orange County. Prior to 1880, his family moved to Williamson County. It is thought he moved to Orange County, because of the failing health and ensuing death of his parents. He was the administrator of their estates. His mother, Spicy McQueen Taylor was an heir of John McQueen, who had land in Williamson County. In 1859, John McQueen Taylor paid taxes while in Orange County, on the S. M. Taylor Estate in Williamson County, Texas             Abstract # 246, 2900 acres

5

John McQueen Taylor

John McQueen Taylor was listed on the 1880 Williamson County Census. His occupation was listed as farmer.

John Mc.Taylor died on March 14,1887 in Williamson County. He is buried in the Presbyterian Cemetery in Georgetown, next to his Wife, Nancy, who preceded him in death on November 5, 1881.

PRESBYTERIAN CEMETERY 200 East 20th Street

Georgetown, Texas 78626

These graves are located near the west fence in the south west corner of the one block square cemetery.

J.Mc.TAYLOR           NANCY A.TAYLOR

            BORN BORN

APR. 24.1812 AUG 1820

            DIED   DIED

MAR. 14, 1887           NOV. 1881

With footstones
            J.M.T. N.A.T.

Fraternal Affiliation   (from additional research)

John Mc.Taylor was a member of Madison Lodge A.F. & A.M., Orange County, Texas. He was raised to Master Mason, September 25,1859.

Returns to Grand Lodge of Texas by Madison Lodge No.126 held at Orange,

for the year ending December 27, 1863. Listed among the members is "Taylor, J. Mc". On the page listing members for the year 1889, on line 46,is this notation,

"This line was left to hear from Mc.Taylor. He was reported dead."

Mr. Loren P. LeBlanc, Past Master and Historian, Madison Lodge No.126,A.F.& A.M. Grand Lodge OF Texas Library and Museum, P.O. Box 446, Waco,Texas.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

1. Assessor & Collector Records for Orange County, Texas.

2. Original Copies are at the Sam Houston Research Center, Liberty, Texas

3. Orange County Courthouse

4. Tyler County Courthouse

5. "First To Arrive", by Mrs. Charles Martin".

6. "Some Early Southeast Texas Families", by T.A. Wilson.

7. "Eras of Silsbee History" , Newspaper, "Texas Illustrated", Liberty, Texas

8. "Handbook Of Texas" (Hugh Blair Johnson)

9. "Narrative Of The Anahuac or Opening Campaign Of The Texas Revolution". TEXAS ALMANAC,1859

10. Jean and Price Daniel History Collection Sam Houston Regional Library and Research Center, Liberty, Texas.

11. General Land Office, Number 133. Austin, Texas

12. Holdings of the Texas State Archives (Pension Claim of John McQueen Taylor)

13. Census Records of 1835 to 1900

14. Family Bible of John McQueen Taylor, II ----now in possession of Melbourn Raby, 6615 Navagation BlBlvd, Houston, Texas

15. Grand Lodge of Texas Library and Museum--Mr.Loren P.LeBlanc,Past Master, Historian,Madison Lodge No.126,A.F.& A.A.M., Orange, Texas

Library and Museum, P.O. Box 44446, Waco, Texas

John McQueen Taylor - - narrative  #2

By Myreta Matthews

The Williamson County Historical Commission and his descendants, under the leadership of Joyce Taylor Rosinbaum, wish to honor the memory of John McQueen Ttaaylor1812 - 1887) by placing an Official Texas Historical Marker at his grave in the Presbyterian Cemetery in the City of Georgetown, Williamson County, Texas.

We believe his service to Texas, in its fight for freedom from Mexico, merits this recognition. He was seventeen years of age when he came to Texas with his parents in 1829.The family was among the earliest settlers of frontier, colonial Texas in what. is now Jasper County and helped develop that area.

In July 1834, John Mc Taylor was one of eight volunteers to go from his community, first to Liberty, Texas and then to Anahuac to dislodge Col. John Bradburn, a Mexican Officer stationed there. In October 1835 he enlisted in the army of the Provisional Government

of the Republic of Texas. He marched twenty days to reach San Antonio and there participated in the siege and battle of San Antonio de Bexar.

He volunteered to go with "Deaf" Smith on reconnoiter and was gone twenty days and is credited with participating in the "grass fight". In civilian life he served his community as Justice of the Peace in Tyler County in 1354 and after moving to Orange County served in the same capacity in 1872.

A member of the Madison Masonic Lodge No.126 in Orange, he was made a Master Mason in 1859.