James Donaldson -- 1777-1860
Replies: 6
Henry Taylor in Crumrine's
| Terry A. Necciai, RA (View posts) | Posted: 18 Nov 2000 12:00PM GMT |
Classification: Query
Sue,
I can't tell from your posting how deeply you've perused Crumrine's History of Washington County or in what form. The original is a very heavy, large book. Some chapters may have been typed onto web sites for various genealogical purposes. The whole book is also available & searchable online (see below).
I have a photocopied reprint which I purchased about 1990. The book is so large that the reprinters split it into two volumes. (The company that republished it is not listed, though I bought it from a local book dealer whose name I can share with you if you like.) Volume I is a history of the county, theme-by-theme. Volume II is a history of each township, with biographies of key families involved in the settlement of each ntownship, though the two largest towns/cities are listed found at the end of the first volume.
The index to the original printing was not composed with genealogy in mind. It is mostly an index of subjects, towns, churches, etc. The reprint contains an index of names of people (though I will say that I am constantly frustrated that those who re-index books don't seem to care to include other items as well, to help tose who research other local history topics, like architecture, or agriculure, or industry).
The index in the reprinted version contains 34 references to Henry Taylor, plus several to other possible variations on the name, such as H.T. Taylor & Henry M. Taylor. There are also 51 other listings under Taylor with other first names. The Henry Taylor references may not all be to the same individual, though most are clearly to "Judge Henry Taylor."
You can now search (and/or read) the entire book online at "digital.library.pitt.edu". In doing so, you will find 68 references to Henry Taylor, but note that the site says they are found on 36 pages of Crumrine's book, thus there is almost no discrepancy (or perhaps none at all, as the other two pages may be the references to Henry M. Taylor, for instance).
Boyd Crumrine was an attorney. He was very well versed in the history of legal issues, legal documents, and the lives of judges & lawyers. A quick scan through the index in the reprint, for instance, shows only six or seven individuals whom he mentions on 30 or more pages. Of these, most are judges or attorneys, such as the Achesons, Thomas H. Baird, & Alexander Addison.
Upon reviewing most of the 34 references in my reprint, I should say that most references to Judge Taylor are due to the fact that he was a judge, and a prominent, very early judge at that. In fact, Crumrine mentions him in many places not because his name carries special weight so much as because Crumrine is quoting various documents in full that contain Taylor's name or signature.
Setting all of those references aside that are either incidental or purely of legal history importance, the remaining references scattered throughout Volume I (that is the first half of Crumrine's work, as it was broken down for the purpose of reprinting it, the half that does not focus on individual towns or townships or on family histories) are illustrations Crumrine was using to show how the area was settled. He may have chosen Judge Taylor specifically because he knew him better because he was a judge, or it may have been less a conscious decision and more a matter of convenience to use him as an illustration. Judge Taylor, by chance, perhaps a little like "Forest Gump," found himself within the central drama of many important early chapters of the county's historic development. I keep the Judge Taylor illustration pages marked because they help from time to time in my research (my work is is not in genealogy but in early settlement and migration patterns and how they relate architecture and farm layouts).
The first reference to a Henry Taylor is on page 130 when Crumrine is discussing the Sandusky Expedition (an "Indian War" of about 1782).
On page 146, there are 15 references to Henry Taylor, most of them in a long footnote at the bottom of the page. The footnote is clearly intended to serve as an illustration of how a piece of land was "taken up" (claimed) in the early settlement period. Crumrine begins the footnote with the words: "To illustrate by actual instance the method of acquiring titles by what was called 'Tomahawk Improvements'..." Crumrine mentions that he is using this case as an illustration because there are depositions on file at the courthouse detailing all the finer points of the process, due to a case which Taylor filed against a neughbor who was indiscrimately marking trees (as if to lay claim to the land) and thus messing up the boundaries of Taylor's land claim. (At this point it might help you to know that this was during a land rush known as the "New Purchase of 1768"; as a result of the "Treaty of Fort Stanwix" signed in 1768, Pennsylvania opened a land office allowing all the land south of Pittsburgh to be legally settled, plus a narrow swath of land that extends southwest to northeast across the state to the Poconos; Most of this land was claimed in two brief six year windows of time, between 1769 & 1775, & between 1784 & 1790; the hiatus was due to the Revolution; in the first month that the land in the New Purchase was available, there were 3,000 applicants, many whom had already been living in the area illegally; thus it would bed a mistake to take Crumrine's illustration out of context & think that Taylor was a very early, lone wolf settler--he was one of thousands; in fact, according to Crumrine, there was an Indian scare in 1774 that led the entire population of the northwestern part of the county to flee temporarily to the eastern side of the Monongahela River--about 20 miles--and supposedly 10,000 people crossed the river on ferries in a single day). In the depositions, Taylor discusses how the land was marked-off/surveyed, the presence of a white oak "cabban" he had bought and later a cabin he built himself, and potential conflicts with adjoining claims by Virginians (Virginia & Pennsylvania both said the land in what is now Washington County was theirs, until about 1780, & as Virginia allowed claimants to claim much larger tracts of land, there were often Pennsylvanians who were laying claim to pieces of the same tracts, especially those out of site of the cabin). To claim land, one had to clear some of it (it was nearly all forests) & plant an acre or so of corn (which at the time could mean any kind of grain) & harvest it and/or build a cabin to show that you were serious about making your land claim into a farm (otherwise someone else could have it).
Page 147 explains Taylor's claim a little more succinctly, mentioning that Taylor was from Cecil Co. Md. & that he had briefly left his farm here & gone back there, & mentioning that at the time Pa. considered the area part of Cumberland Co.
On page 152, we have a discussion of some of the first roads, & Taylor's name found among the names mentioned in the Westmoreland Co. records, the Pa. Co. that covered the area at that time.
On page 153, Taylor is appointed to help plan a new road. There are several other references to Taylor being appointed to "view" new roads on other pages.
On page 193, the boundaries of a farm that Taylor acquired from Virginian Richard Yeates after the Pa./Va. land dispute was settled, is shown. This is the only land survey shown in drawing form as an illustration in Crumrine's.
On page 241 (among other places), Crumrine discusses Taylor's appointment as a judge, & adds a footnote about Taylor's family & about the brick house he later built.
These are the references I had in mind, especially those on pages 146b & 193, as they are the main illustrations in Crumrine's of how a farm tract was claimed, delineated, separated from conflicts with its neighbors, etc.
Perhaps you can help me with a question. There were settlers in Washington County from Morris Twp. New Jersey, from Princeton, N.J., from the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia, and from Quaker, German, & Scotch-Irish communities that came here together as small groups. These groups established specific settlements (southcentral was nearly all claimed by the Morris Co., N.J. group, the Princeton people went to Finlreyville, Monongahela, & Donora, but especially across the river from these towns, the Quakers settled the southeastern corner of the county & a few smaller areas, & the Germans settled west of the Quakers). But those from Cecil County Md. for whom Cecil Twp. is named appear to especially scattered across the county. Were there long-standing connections between the various Cecil Co. Md. families? Were they generally inter-related? Did they all come from the same part of Cecil Co. Md.? Is there a nearly complete list of these familues anywhere?
Hope all this is helpful.
Terry A. Necciai
I can't tell from your posting how deeply you've perused Crumrine's History of Washington County or in what form. The original is a very heavy, large book. Some chapters may have been typed onto web sites for various genealogical purposes. The whole book is also available & searchable online (see below).
I have a photocopied reprint which I purchased about 1990. The book is so large that the reprinters split it into two volumes. (The company that republished it is not listed, though I bought it from a local book dealer whose name I can share with you if you like.) Volume I is a history of the county, theme-by-theme. Volume II is a history of each township, with biographies of key families involved in the settlement of each ntownship, though the two largest towns/cities are listed found at the end of the first volume.
The index to the original printing was not composed with genealogy in mind. It is mostly an index of subjects, towns, churches, etc. The reprint contains an index of names of people (though I will say that I am constantly frustrated that those who re-index books don't seem to care to include other items as well, to help tose who research other local history topics, like architecture, or agriculure, or industry).
The index in the reprinted version contains 34 references to Henry Taylor, plus several to other possible variations on the name, such as H.T. Taylor & Henry M. Taylor. There are also 51 other listings under Taylor with other first names. The Henry Taylor references may not all be to the same individual, though most are clearly to "Judge Henry Taylor."
You can now search (and/or read) the entire book online at "digital.library.pitt.edu". In doing so, you will find 68 references to Henry Taylor, but note that the site says they are found on 36 pages of Crumrine's book, thus there is almost no discrepancy (or perhaps none at all, as the other two pages may be the references to Henry M. Taylor, for instance).
Boyd Crumrine was an attorney. He was very well versed in the history of legal issues, legal documents, and the lives of judges & lawyers. A quick scan through the index in the reprint, for instance, shows only six or seven individuals whom he mentions on 30 or more pages. Of these, most are judges or attorneys, such as the Achesons, Thomas H. Baird, & Alexander Addison.
Upon reviewing most of the 34 references in my reprint, I should say that most references to Judge Taylor are due to the fact that he was a judge, and a prominent, very early judge at that. In fact, Crumrine mentions him in many places not because his name carries special weight so much as because Crumrine is quoting various documents in full that contain Taylor's name or signature.
Setting all of those references aside that are either incidental or purely of legal history importance, the remaining references scattered throughout Volume I (that is the first half of Crumrine's work, as it was broken down for the purpose of reprinting it, the half that does not focus on individual towns or townships or on family histories) are illustrations Crumrine was using to show how the area was settled. He may have chosen Judge Taylor specifically because he knew him better because he was a judge, or it may have been less a conscious decision and more a matter of convenience to use him as an illustration. Judge Taylor, by chance, perhaps a little like "Forest Gump," found himself within the central drama of many important early chapters of the county's historic development. I keep the Judge Taylor illustration pages marked because they help from time to time in my research (my work is is not in genealogy but in early settlement and migration patterns and how they relate architecture and farm layouts).
The first reference to a Henry Taylor is on page 130 when Crumrine is discussing the Sandusky Expedition (an "Indian War" of about 1782).
On page 146, there are 15 references to Henry Taylor, most of them in a long footnote at the bottom of the page. The footnote is clearly intended to serve as an illustration of how a piece of land was "taken up" (claimed) in the early settlement period. Crumrine begins the footnote with the words: "To illustrate by actual instance the method of acquiring titles by what was called 'Tomahawk Improvements'..." Crumrine mentions that he is using this case as an illustration because there are depositions on file at the courthouse detailing all the finer points of the process, due to a case which Taylor filed against a neughbor who was indiscrimately marking trees (as if to lay claim to the land) and thus messing up the boundaries of Taylor's land claim. (At this point it might help you to know that this was during a land rush known as the "New Purchase of 1768"; as a result of the "Treaty of Fort Stanwix" signed in 1768, Pennsylvania opened a land office allowing all the land south of Pittsburgh to be legally settled, plus a narrow swath of land that extends southwest to northeast across the state to the Poconos; Most of this land was claimed in two brief six year windows of time, between 1769 & 1775, & between 1784 & 1790; the hiatus was due to the Revolution; in the first month that the land in the New Purchase was available, there were 3,000 applicants, many whom had already been living in the area illegally; thus it would bed a mistake to take Crumrine's illustration out of context & think that Taylor was a very early, lone wolf settler--he was one of thousands; in fact, according to Crumrine, there was an Indian scare in 1774 that led the entire population of the northwestern part of the county to flee temporarily to the eastern side of the Monongahela River--about 20 miles--and supposedly 10,000 people crossed the river on ferries in a single day). In the depositions, Taylor discusses how the land was marked-off/surveyed, the presence of a white oak "cabban" he had bought and later a cabin he built himself, and potential conflicts with adjoining claims by Virginians (Virginia & Pennsylvania both said the land in what is now Washington County was theirs, until about 1780, & as Virginia allowed claimants to claim much larger tracts of land, there were often Pennsylvanians who were laying claim to pieces of the same tracts, especially those out of site of the cabin). To claim land, one had to clear some of it (it was nearly all forests) & plant an acre or so of corn (which at the time could mean any kind of grain) & harvest it and/or build a cabin to show that you were serious about making your land claim into a farm (otherwise someone else could have it).
Page 147 explains Taylor's claim a little more succinctly, mentioning that Taylor was from Cecil Co. Md. & that he had briefly left his farm here & gone back there, & mentioning that at the time Pa. considered the area part of Cumberland Co.
On page 152, we have a discussion of some of the first roads, & Taylor's name found among the names mentioned in the Westmoreland Co. records, the Pa. Co. that covered the area at that time.
On page 153, Taylor is appointed to help plan a new road. There are several other references to Taylor being appointed to "view" new roads on other pages.
On page 193, the boundaries of a farm that Taylor acquired from Virginian Richard Yeates after the Pa./Va. land dispute was settled, is shown. This is the only land survey shown in drawing form as an illustration in Crumrine's.
On page 241 (among other places), Crumrine discusses Taylor's appointment as a judge, & adds a footnote about Taylor's family & about the brick house he later built.
These are the references I had in mind, especially those on pages 146b & 193, as they are the main illustrations in Crumrine's of how a farm tract was claimed, delineated, separated from conflicts with its neighbors, etc.
Perhaps you can help me with a question. There were settlers in Washington County from Morris Twp. New Jersey, from Princeton, N.J., from the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia, and from Quaker, German, & Scotch-Irish communities that came here together as small groups. These groups established specific settlements (southcentral was nearly all claimed by the Morris Co., N.J. group, the Princeton people went to Finlreyville, Monongahela, & Donora, but especially across the river from these towns, the Quakers settled the southeastern corner of the county & a few smaller areas, & the Germans settled west of the Quakers). But those from Cecil County Md. for whom Cecil Twp. is named appear to especially scattered across the county. Were there long-standing connections between the various Cecil Co. Md. families? Were they generally inter-related? Did they all come from the same part of Cecil Co. Md.? Is there a nearly complete list of these familues anywhere?
Hope all this is helpful.
Terry A. Necciai