16

[16] 1
COLONEL GEORGE TAYLOR
of Orange County Virginia.
(Father of the Diarist and generally designated as "G.T." or "G.Taylor"
in the diaries) Was fifth child, third son of James Taylor "2nd, "and his
wife, Martha Thompson; and grandson of James Taylor, who emigrated from Car-
lisle, England, about 1660 or 1667 and settled in the Southerly part of Caro-
line County (then New Kent) on the Mattapony River. His grand-mother, the
first wife of James Taylor, the emigrant, was named Frances, but her surname
is unknown to us. His mother, Martha Thompson, a woman of extraordinary beau-
ty of person, exalted character and remarkable courage, was daughter of Col.
William Thompson, an officer in the British Army, who lived in affluence at
Blackwell Neck, in Hanover County, Va. and who was a son of Sir Roger Thompson
of England.

James Taylor 2nd, the father of Col. George, was also a Colonel and did
active duty in the Indian Wars of that early period. He was also a member of
the House of Burgesses from King and Queen Co. and was one of the aides of
Govenor Spottswood when he made the famous Tramontaine expedition to the
Shenandoah and Swift Run Gap in the Blue Ridge Mountains.

Col. George Taylor was born in Caroline Co.Va. February 11, 1711. He had
three brothers, viz: James 3rd, Zachary and Erasmus; and five sisters, viz:
Frances, Martha, Tabitha, Hannah and Mildred, all of whom married, and will
be mentioned hereafter. He was married twice, 1st, on February 28th, 1738,
to Rachel Gibson (born May 4, 1717,-died Feb.16,1761), daughter of Jonathan
Gibson of Orange Co. and his wife, Margaret Catlett, and by her he had eleven
children, all boys;- and 2nd, in 1767, to Mrs. Sarah Taliaferro Conway (born Oct.
8, 1727,-died Jan.17,1784), widow of Captain Francis Conway and daughter of
Col. John Taliaferro and Sarah Smith, his wife, and by her he had one son, com-
pleting his dozen.

Jonathan Gibson, father of Rachel, the first wife of Col. Geo. Taylor, was
one of the earliest Clerks of Orange Co. He had lived previously in Caroline
Co. and had been its representative in the Va. House of Burgesses. He was
said to have been brother of Edmund Gibson, Bishop of London and son of Ed-
mund and Jane Langhorn Gibson, but we are unable to say upon what authority.

Margaret Catlett Gibson, the mother of Rachel, was daughter of John Cat-
lett and grand-daughter of Col. John Catlett of "Greenmount" at Port Royal,
Caroline Co. (then Essex Co.), who was killed by the Indians when attacking
the fort there in 1670.

The Catlett family emigrated to Va., from Sittenbourne Parish, Kent Co.
England.

Col. George Taylor was a Vestryman of the Church of England in Orange Co;
a Justice of the Peace; Clerk of Orange Co. 1750-1772, succeeding Jonathan
Gibson, and succeeded by his son, James, who in turn was succeeded by his
brother George Conway Taylor. He was also a member of the House of Burgesses
of Va. representing Orange Co. 1748-1758. Governor Dinwiddie commissioned
him July 18, 1755 Colonel of the Orange Co. Militia, and he served in the
French and Indian Wars. About the year 1720 his father moved to Orange Co.
from Caroline, "took up" 10,000 acres of land and established a home, which he
called "Bloomsbury". The house he built is still standing and in good con-
dition. There Col. George Taylor passed his youth and early manhood, until
his marriage, which occurred in his 28th year. The writer does not know with
certainty where Col. George Taylor lived during the lifetime of his two wives,
but, in all probability, it was in the same location where he in 1786 built a
new house, the first two story (full) one in that part of Orange Co. viz:
about two miles East of Orange C.H., at the Westerly base of Quarles Mountain.
From the [Taylor Diary #1907-Z] in the Southern Historical Collection,
University of North Carolina Library, Chapel Hill. FOR REFERENCE ONLY: PERMISSION TO
PUBLISH MUST BE REQUESTED. WARNING: MOST MANUSCRIPTS ARE PROTECTED BY COPYRIGHT