HERITAGE TREE
On this page you will find the current state of the Taylor Family tree. Like many family trees it is somewhat incomplete, depending on the age and availability of details. It will be updated as further details are known, although the risk of spoilers does complicate matters.
Notes ...
From time to time notes on family members will be added.
Matthew Taylor - Reached New York in June of 1760; the only son of William to emigrate.
James Taylor & Lara Proulx - Both perished in winter epidemic of 1847.
Daniel Thomas Taylor - Was 18 years old when he went to Ohio with his parents Matthew & Elizabeth in 1779.
Lucas Taylor - Visited nephew Matthew in Manhattan in 1762.
Geoffrey Taylor - Inherited the family farm; farmer.
Edward Taylor - School teacher
John Taylor - Served in His Majesty's Navy; visited Matthew & Elizabeth in NY in 1763.
A Tale of Two Brothers
RICHARD TAYLOR ran the Taylors' Ohio family farm for several years after the death of his parents, James and Lara in 1847. The farm was not as successful under his management, and in 1852 he sold it and headed East looking for a change and further education. He attended a business college in Boston and upon graduating he worked for a mining company. In Boston, at this time, he met Caroline Hastings.
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Still thinking that he was suited to working on the land, Richard dreamed of owning his own ranch and running it, now armed with proven business acumen.
Richard and Caroline married in 1858. They eventually settled in Montana and ranched until 1874. They had two children: a son, Ben, and a daughter, Tressa.
But Richard struggled at realizing his ranching dream. Despite giving it everything he had to give, he realized it was time to move on. It was during the latter and less happy years on the ranch that his interest in mining resurfaced.
He moved his family to Omaha 1874 and set up Taylor Mining Company - Aurora. He excelled at this and the business thrived. However, a harsh man, his tyrannical approach to marriage and family life made things difficult and not always happy for his family.
The rift between himself and his brother Morgan which began with their rival ideologies as youths, widened as Morgan was given the cherished Sons of Liberty ring that once belonged to Matthew Taylor, and broke down irrevocably when Morgan left for Texas and did not return.
Disillusioned with his whole Liberty & Property heritage, Richard deprived his children of it and drove a wedge between himself and his offspring while they sought it out for themselves. This 'North & South' rift between the two sons of James and Lara Taylor saw older sibling Richard abandon any responsibility he should have felt towards his younger brother's family on Morgan's tragic death in 1869.
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MORGAN TAYLOR left his family and went to Texas in 1846. Between 1850 – 1854 he and partner Ethan Benchley set up Diamond Bend on the Red River. Morgan married Sara Mortensen, then 18, in 1854 at the age of 28. With Sara he had two children, a daughter, Katrine, and a son, Luke.
Morgan fought in the Confederate Army during the Civil War. He and Ethan fought at Vicksburg in 1863 and were taken as prisoners of war, paroled and returned to battle.
On returning home in the fall of '64, they took stock of the devastation and resolved to rise again.
In 1866 Morgan and Ethan undertook their first long cattle drive along the Sedalia Trail to Sedalia, Missouri; they repeated their success the following year.
In 1868 Morgan Taylor and his family, together with Ethan Benchley and his family, migrated to Wyoming. His daughter Katrine perished in an Indian attack en route. Tragedy struck within months of their arrival when Morgan was caught in a cattle stampede in a thunderstorm and died of his injuries in 1869.
Much more of the brothers' stories emerges with each installment of the grand saga, with great secrets and difficult details; the epic consequences of their bitter relationship are played out in the complex lives and struggles of their families. Unfortunately, I can't reveal any more than this. You will have to read the books!