Ohio History Journal

492       Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.

 

From the ruins of this first estate, we have the smiling land-

scape, the green grass, the fertile fields of waving grain. We

have the advantages, ease, comfort, conveniences, luxuries of

modern civilization. For the generation that first came to this

goodly land, and rough-hewed the way there is lasting remem-

brance and perpetual honor. In their lives there was a serious-

ness of purpose that is not characteristic of the later generation.

In the midst of difficulties and dangers there was exhibited to

an unusual degree the qualities of fortitude and endurance.

The Indian trails and wilderness roads have disappeared.

The horseback riders from New York, Pennsylvania, Connecti-

cut no longer pass along the old highway bordering these

grounds. The stage coach, the wonder and admiration of seventy

years ago, has ceased to pitch and creak and roll its heavy way

eastward and westward. The moving wagons, that so frequently

lined this road when Ohio was a new state and Indiana and

Illinois almost unknown territory, have passed into a faint tra-

dition. To-day the merchants in Franklinton do not ship their

goods over the Alleghany Mountains in a Conestoga wagon.

There are those here to-day in the fifth generation from

the first settler. They can daily witness many marvelous things

unknown to their forefathers in this country, and beyond the

realm of their conception or dreams.

There has been material progress and a marked change

in social life. We do not look back with regret to the good

old times, rather we rejoice in the good new times, and look

forward to an ever changing, and ever better condition of

human existence. But when we come to estimate the sterling

qualities that make a man or woman, we shall probably never

find them in a finer combination, or a higher degree of develop-

ment, than in the pioneers who located a century ago in Franklin

County.

ADDRESS BY EDWARD L. TAYLOR, SR.

[Edward Livingston Taylor, Sr., was not able to be present on

account of illness. The address was read by his son Edward Livingston

Taylor, Jr., Prosecuting Attorney for Franklin County.]

The Livingston and Taylor families represented here to-day both

had their origin in Scotland. Their ancestors had lived there for many

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The Taylor-Livingston Centenary, Etc.           493   generations. Branches of these families left Scotland for the same reason (religion), the Livingstons going to Holland and the Taylors to the north of Ireland; and it so happened that through widely different channels and experiences the branches of these families, which settled in Franklin County, Ohio, came and located here about the same time, now a hundred years ago. The common ancestor of the Livingston family in this country was the Rev. John Livingston, who was born in Scotland in 1603, and whose death occurred at Rotterdam, Holland, in 1672. He was a min-

ister in the Scotish church, as had been his father, William Livingston, and grandfather, Alexander Livingston, before him. In 1662 there was passed in England what is konwn as the "New Act of Uniformity," by which the penal laws against dissenters and non-conformists were revived. By this act every minister in England, Scotland and Wales, who received any benefit or support from the government was required to declare his assent to all and everything contained in the "Book of Common Prayer," and no one could hold preferment without Episcopal ordination.  The Rev. John Livingston refused to conform to this act and so, in order to escape its penalties.

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494        Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.

 

was compelled to take refuge in Holland, where he spent the last nine

years of his life.

The Rev. John Livingston had two sons, Robert and William.

They were born in Scotland but went with their father to Holland

where they received much of their education, a part of which was the

learning of the Dutch language which had an important influence upon

their after life.

Robert was born in 1654 and soon after arriving at lawful age came

to America and settled at Albany, N. Y., where there was a colony

or settlement of Hollanders. His acquaintance with the Dutch language

and his preference for the Hollanders determined in no small degree his

location at that place.

In 1683 he was intermarried at Albany, N. Y., with Alida, widow

of Rev. Nicholas Van Rennselaer, whose maiden name was Schuyler,

and through this marriage Robert became the first founder of the Liv-

ingston family in America.

In 1696 he re-visited Scotland and on his return brought with him

a nephew, Robert, Jr., a son of his brother William. He too settled

at Albany, and the uncle and nephew were thereafter known and desig-

nated as Robert, Sr., and Robert, Jr. In 1697 Robert, Jr., was inter-

married at Albany with Margaretta Schuyler, who was a niece of the

wife of Robert, Sr.; so that they were respectively nephew and niece

of Robert, Sr., and his wife, Alida.  From  this marriage sprang the

branch of the Livingston family represented here to-day. Of this mar-

riage there was born in 1709, a son, John Livingston, who, on Septem-

ber 6th, 1739, was married to Catryna Ten Broeck. Of that marriage

there was born three sons, James, Richard and Abraham, all of whom

located in Montreal, Canada, before the breaking out of the Revolu-

tionary War. They were all active and determined sympathizers with

the cause of the colonies and so incurred the displeasure of all sympa-

thizers with and adherents of the cause of Great Britain.

Col. James Livingston, the oldest of these three brothers and from

whom the Livingstons represented here to-day are directly descended,

was born March 27th, 1747, and died November 29th, 1832.

In 1772, at Montreal, Canada, where he was then practicing his

profession as a lawyer, he was married to Elizabeth Simpson, who had

been born at Cork, Ireland, October, 1750, and who died June 20th,

1799. Several children were born of this marriage, but we are to-day

only concerned with Edward Chinn Livingston, who was the third son

and fifth child of that marriage, born in the State of New York, May 23d,

1782. and removed to Franklin County, Ohio, in 1804.

In the year 1775, the public mind throughout the American colonies

and the British provinces had become greatly disturbed and agitated

on account of the bitter controversies between a majority of the people

of the colonies and Great Britain.   A  large majority of those then

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The Taylor-Livingston Centenary, Etc.             495

 

living in what is now the British Provinces of Canada and Nova Scotia

were strong adherents of the cause of Great Britain. They called them-

selves "Loyalists," but were generally known and designated at "Tories."

There was also in Canada a minority who were strongly in favor of

the cause of the colonies as against the cause of the king. The result

was that many Tories fled from the colonies to Canada and induced

the Mohawk Indians and many of the Indians belonging to other tribes of

the Iroquois then living in the state of New York, to join them in

hostilities against the patriots or colonists. These refugees to Canada

and their Indian allies remained in active hostilities to the people of

the colonies throughout the war of the Revolution, during which time

they caused great devastation and destruction of life and property in

almost every part of the State of New York, but particularly through-

out the Mohawk Valley. The operations of these refugees to Canada

and their Indian allies, constitutes the most dreadful chapter in the

history of that war.

On the other hand, those who lived in Canada and sympathized with

the cause of the colonies fled from that country and actively and de-

terminedly espoused the cause of the colnoies against the mother coun-

try. Those who fled from Canada were called "Refugees from Canada;"

and those who fled from the colonies to Canada were called "Refugees

to Canada." Of the refugees from Canada, the three Livingston brothers,

before mentioned, were among the most conspicuous and active in their

efforts in favor of the colonies. They got together in Canada about

three hundred sympathizers and succeeded in the face of great diffi-

culties and dangers in bringing them safely over the border into the

State of New York, where they were merged into a New York regi-

ment, of which James Livingston became the colonel, Richard the lieu-

tenant colonel, and Abraham a captain. This regiment was immedi-

ately assigned to the command then organizing under General Schuyler

and General Richard Montgomery for the invasion of Canada, with the

view of wresting that country from British dominion. General Schuy-

ler's health failing, the command of the expedition devolved upon Gen-

eral Richard Montgomery, whose wife was a near relative of the three

Livingston brothers before mentioned, he having married into the Liv-

ingston family.

General Montgomery very successfully commanded the expedition

and took possession of all the country along the St. Lawrence as far

as Quebec, which stronghold he assaulted on the last night of Decem-

ber, 1775, where he met his death. The command of the invading army

then fell upon Benedict Arnold, who was second in command and who

was then a very active and capable officer of the Colonial army. He

succeeded in withdrawing the American army from Canada, but not with

out great difficulties, hardships and sufferings.

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496        Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.   Col. James Livingston served as colonel of his regiment during the entire seven years war.  The British authorities confiscated his property and estate and declared him to be a rebel and an outlaw and set a heavy price upon his head. He, however, was fortunate enough never to fall into the hands of the Tories and their allies-the Mohawk and other Indians of the Iroquois tribe. After the war was closed he remained with his family in the state of New York and served for eight years in the Legislature of that state and held other positions of trust and honor. He died in 1832 at the advanced age of eighty-six years.

In 1801 the Congress of the United States passed an act intended in part to remunerate the "Refugees from Canada" whose property had been confiscated or destroyed on account of their loyalty to the Ameri- can cause. Under the provisions of that act there was set off to Col. James Livingston land to the amount of 1,280 acres to be located on the "Refugee Tract," on a part of Which the city of Columbus now stands. The patents for a part of these lands were turned over to his son, Edward Chinn Livingston, who was then a young man just out of college and who soon thereafter (1804) came to Ohio and took pos- session of the lands given him by his father. All the lands granted

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The Taylor-Livingston Centenary, Etc.            497

 

to Col. James Livingston were in what is known in law and history as the

"Refugee Tract." They were all located along Alum creek, just east of

the city of Columbus.

The "Refugee Tract," as set apart by the government for the special

purpose before mentioned, was a strip of land four and a half miles

wide from north to south and about fifty miles from east to west,

extending from the east bank of the Scioto river to near the Muskingum

river. The city of Columbus is situated on the west end of this tract

and what is now Fifth Avenue was the north line of the tract, and what

is now Steelton was the south boundary. The whole contained about

136,000 acres. All that part of the Refugee Tract which lies in Franklin

County was embraced in Montgomery and Truro townships. To Ed-

ward Chinn Livingston was given the honor of naming Montgomery

township, after General Richard Montgomery, with whom his father

had been associated in the Revolutionary war, and who was with him

at the time he fell at Quebec. A similar honor was granted to Robert

Taylor, in giving him the privilege of naming Truro township after

the town of Truro in the Province of Nova Scotia, from whence

he came.

There was at the time of his coming to this country no sign of

the city of Columbus beyond a few log cabins a half mile west of the

Scioto river on what is now called West Broad street, and at that

time called Franklinton.  Letters in my possession, written before the

location of Columbus was settled, show that Judge Edward C. Livingston

was very anxious to have the state capital established on the east side of

the Scioto River and that he used every influence possible to bring about

that result.

When Judge Livingston came to the county the Nelson family, the

White family and the Moobery family were the only residents along

Alum  creek in that neighborhood.  The Nelson family, the White

family and the Livingston family still own and occupy portions of these

lands after the passing of a hundred years. The Moobery family have

no representatives now living in the country, in so far as we are aware.

On March 17th, 1807, Edward Chinn Livingston was married to

Martha Nelson.  There were born of that marriage children as fol-

lows: James, Margaret, Edward, Caroline, Adaline, Angelica, Robert

and Martha. James was the oldest son, who, when he was yet a young

man, located in Livingston county, in north Missouri, where he died about

the year 1850. Margaret (my mother), the oldest daughter, was born

November 2, 1809, and was married to my father, David Taylor May 16th,

1836, and died February 12th, 1895. Edward, the second son lived until

his death some thirty years ago, on a part of his father's land, which

some of his children still own and occupy. Caroline and Angelica died

childless more than thirty years ago. Adaline (Mrs. Elijah Marion),

Vol. XIII -32.

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498        Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.

 

Robert and Martha are still living. Robert owns and occupies the lands

where he was born almost eighty years ago.

Under the date of December 14th, 1810, Edward C. Livingston

was appointed colonel of the 2nd Regiment, 4th Brigade and 2nd Di-

vision of Militia of Ohio, by Return Jonathan Meigs, governor.

During the war of 1812 he assembled the regiment to be in readi-

ness for service in the war then in progress against Tecumseh and his

Indians and Proctor and his British soldiers, but the regiment was not

called on for active service. He also served as one of the associate

judges for Franklin county from   1821 to 1829. His death occurred

November 13, 1843.

TAYLOR FAMILY.

The Taylor family, as stated before, had its origin in Argyle, Scot-

land, from whence they removed to the north of Ireland in 1620. They

remained in and about the city of Londonderry until 1720, when Matthew

Taylor, the progenitor of this branch of the Taylor family in America,

came in a colony from Londonderry, Ireland, to New Hampshire. The

colony was composed entirely of what is known as Scotch-Irish people.

The governor of Massachusetts alloted to them lands on which this

colony settled and which they began to improve when it was found that

the land was in fact over the line in New Hampshire. The governor

of New Hampshire, however, confirmed the grant and the colony re-

mained in that location. They gave to the settlement the name of Lon-

donderry, which has since been changed to and is now known as Derry,

New Hampshire. This location was then the very frontier of civili-

zation. All beyond to the north and west was a wilderness and the

home of the Algonquin Indians. It was here that Matthew Taylor, Jr.,

was born on October 30th, 1727. While living at this place he was

married to Miss Archibald, and of this marriage there were born six

sons and two daughters. The fourth son was named Robert. The date

of his birth was April 11th, 1759.

Matthew Taylor, Jr., continued to reside at Derry, New Hamp-

shire, with his family until after the close of the "old French war"

(1764), when by the terms of peace the province of Nova Scotia came

under British dominion. Shortly after that event Matthew Taylor, Jr.,

and his family, with other families of the original New Hampshire

colony, migrated from Derry, New Hampshire, to Nova Scotia and set-

tled in the town of Truro on the Bay of Fundy. On December 6th,

1781, at Truro, Robert was married to Mehetabel Wilson, whose parents

were also Scotch-Irish people. There were born of that marriage four

sons, and three daughters, David being the youngest of the brothers and

the youngest of the family, except one sister, Susan. He was born at

Truro, Nova Scotia, July 24th, 1801. The older sons were named re-

spectively Vinton, Matthew and James. The entire family came to Chil-

licothe, Ohio, in September, 1806. They came by sea to Philadelphia,

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The Taylor-Livingston Centenary, Etc.            499   where they purchased teams and wagons and passed through Pennsyl- vania and over the Alleghany mountains to the town of Wheeling, at which place the family, except the two older brothers, with the most of their effects, were placed on a keel boat and floated down the Ohio river to Portsmouth at the mouth of the Scioto. The two older sons, Vin- ton and Matthew, brought the wagons through the wilderness from Wheeling to Chillicothe. While living in Chillicothe, Robert Taylor, the head of the family, determined to settle upon the lands situated in what is now Truro town- ship, Franklin county, and with that view he constructed a frame house

on his lands, which the family came to occupy in March, 1808. This was the fourth house constructed in what has since become and is now Truro township.  The other three were primitive log cabins and they and their tenants have long since disappeared. David Taylor lived with his father's family in this house until 1826, when he was intermarried with Nancy T. Nelson, who died in 1832, leaving two children, Eliza and Robert N. At the time of his marriage he constructed his first residence on the south portion of the

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500        Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.

 

farm about a mile from this spot. That house is still standing as is

also the house constructed by his father, Robert Taylor, in 1807-8. These

houses and lands are still owned by members of his family.

On the 16th day of May, 1836, he was intermarried with Margaret

Livingston, oldest daughter of Judge Edward Chinn Livingston. Of this

marriage there were born six children, all of whom are living.

This house, where we are assembled to-day, was built by David

Taylor in 1843, and all my life has been associated with it and the

farm. My father continued to reside here until April 1, 1858, when he

took up his residence on East Broad street in the city of Columbus, where

he lived until the 29th day of July, 1889, when he died at the age of

eighty-eight years.

When my grandfather, Robert Taylor, took possession of his land,

there had been for many years an Indian camp for fall and winter

hunting maintained on the spot where he desired to build his house.

There were fine springs at that place and it was evident that it was a

favorite spot for occupation of the Indians, as it probably had been

for the races which preceded them, and this presumption is strengthened

by the fact that the Mound Builders constructed a considerable mound

at this point.

When Robert Taylor desired to build his house by these springs,

the Indians moved their camp north about a mile and established it

at the mouth of the first ravine north from where we are now as-

sembled. These hunting camps were only used by the Indians for

hunting purposes and only during the fall and winter months. They

were of the Wyandot tribe and belonged to the linguistic family of the

Iroquois. In the spring of the year they went back to their Indian

villages, which were mostly situated along the Sandusky river and

about Lake Erie. They occupied this new camp for about ten years.

and hunted and trapped at will in the vicinity. Practically the same

Indians came to occupy that camp from year to year and were very friendly

with the Taylor family, from whom they often obtained salt and bread

and other provisions in exchange for which they would quietly deposit

an abundance of game on the porch or in some conspicuous place near

by. There was never any contracting or bargaining indulged in. Each

gave what they had to spare.

It was in December, 1843, that the family came to occupy this

house. I was then between four and five years old and well remem-

ber that event and many of the conditions and environments which

obtained at that time. At that time I had never known the use of a

friction match. Fire was the great agency by which the forest was

cleared away and the soil opened up for cultivation, and it was often

necessary to build fires at remote points on the farm and this need

was met by the use of a small copper tea kettle, which had become

useless for its original purpose and was brought from the old house to

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The Taylor-Livingston Centenary, Etc.          501   the new and was used for several years thereafter for carrying fire be- fore matches came into use. Sometimes also it was loaned to neigh- bors in whose houses the fires had from neglect or absence from home become extinguished, and still much more frequently was it used to enable "movers" who were traveling along the National road and who might happen to camp for the night near the house. Before the introduction of matches, a common method of producing fire was by "steel, flint and punk." This method of producing fire had come into use after the French, Hollanders and English had introduced steel into this country. The combination of steel, flint and punk was called "fire," and was usually carried by persons who were much abroad in the forest and open air, and liable to exposure.

About 1834 the National Road was constructed by the general gov- ernment past this point and it at once became a great thoroughfare for all methods of travel between the east and west. It was over this highway that the central portions of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois and the southern part of Iowa and the northern part of Missouri were mostly populated. The most picturesque and prominent feature of the National Road was the great mail and passenger coaches drawn by four horses, scheduled to make ten miles an hour. Everything had to give way to these coaches, as they carried the United States mail.. In the spring and fall of the year this highway was literally white with moving wagons covered with white canvass, going to establish homes in the western states. There were also numerous persons both on foot and on horseback traveling along this highway. There were also many heavy freight wagons, drawn some by two, some by four and some by

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502        Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.   six horses, carrying freight and merchandise from the eastern cities to points in the west. With the construction of this highway there sprang up every few miles along it, "wayside inns," commonly called "taverns." These taverns were not used by persons moving to the west. They always camped for the night by the side of the road, at convenient places for procur- ing fire and water and food for their teams. They usually slept in and under their wagons.   The patronage which these "taverns" re- ceived was from persons traveling on foot and on horseback, and from the teamsters who were engaged in carrying merchandise over the road. Sometimes it would happen that a jolly party of these travelers

and teamsters would stop for the night at the same tavern and make the evening merry with their songs and stories. This is still within the recollection of many persons now living, some of whom are present to-day. Yet, the stage coaches and the heavy six-horse wagons with the jolly team- sters, the caravans or moving wagons, the travelers on foot and on horseback, and the numerous wayside inns, where they were wont to find good cheer and repose have all long since disappeared and are not known to the present generation. In their place we have the swift moving electric car and the much dreaded and too often deadly, automobile. I learned from my father an incident which may be of interest to many persons pre- sent to-day. The   early  settlers introduced hogs into the country, which were allowed to run at large in the woods. They lived mostly on "mast," which consisted of hickory nuts, walnuts, beech nuts and acorns. In a favorable season for "mast" the hogs became fat and suitable for market, but there was no way to

get them to market, as there were no railroads or highways of any kind and no markets west of the Atlantic cities, and these it was impossible to reach. About 1825 the hogs had multiplied and became quite plentiful in the woods and there being no market for them, they became very cheap. About that time a man by the name of Reynolds (as I now re- call the name) came into the neighborhood and contracted with the people in the vicinity for their pork to be delivered when the season was favorable for killing and curing the same. He built a flat boat on Walnut creek, one-half mile south from this spot on which he loaded his pork and waited for the spring freshets to furnish an abundance of

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The Taylor-Livingston Centenary, Etc.           503   water so that he could safely launch his boat thereon. He employed a regular crew to go with the boat to New Orleans and a number of young men in the neighborhood, including my father, volunteered to assist as far as the confluence of Alum creek and Black Lick with Big Walnut Creek, beyond which point their assistance was not needed. The flat boat was successfully floated to New Orleans, where the cargo was sold to be shipped to European markets. Thus this immediate neigh- borhood, which was then the center of the Ohio forest, remote from the markets of the world, came to furnish to the people of the old world, a part of their food supply. When grandfather, Robert Taylor, built his house in 1808, there were no Indian camps between here and the Ohio river. The white man came into southern and eastern Ohio mostly from Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia and Kentucky, and about 1820 game had become scarce and all the Indian hunting camps in southern and central Ohio were abandoned. A few years later by treaties, by purchases, etc., the Ohio Indians were removed to the west of the Mississippi river, and thus the territory of Ohio, after centuries of occupancy by them, ceased forever to be the home of the Indian.

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