Crisp October air, sunshine, farmland, rivers and lakes as far as the eye can see! Home! My thoughts exactly as I drove down Blaine (and Badin Lake) Road after visiting with my uncle, whom I had the privilege of showing where his great grandparents, Willis Martin Dennis and Susan Hearne were buried at the Henderson Cemetery in Eldorado Township and in exchange he showed me where our Morris and Dennis ancestors lived in Uwharrie Township on River Road. I had just been on an adventure with a Morris cousin but he was not sure which of the three tracts of land John Coon Morris, my great grandfather, lived on. So, I enlisted the help of my Morris uncle to help answer that question. A story for another blog post coming soon.
It was a beautiful day and as I drove around the area I crossed the county lines where Davidson and Montgomery met and I could not help but think of Thomas Taylor and Priscilla Harris who lived in this area in the mid-1800s.
Theirs was a wedding to remember!
Priscilla Harris was born 12 May 1812 to Littleton Harris and Temperance Williamson of Montgomery County, North Carolina. She married Thomas Taylor, son of Edward and Elizabeth Taylor, in October of 1839. Their wedding went down in history, recorded in the Supreme Court of North Carolina case 38 N.C. 91 (N.C. 1843), Crump v. Morgan. While the wedding bells were still ringing at the Harris house, the father of the bride, Littleton Harris, was receiving the dreaded news that his lunatic ward, Letitia Lindsay Crump, had married Henry Morgan.
In the years that followed, while Priscilla and Thomas built a home and family in Davidson County, W. R. D. Lindsay, the brother of Letitia Lindsay, was fighting for his lunatic sister’s marriage to be annulled.
Following are excerpts from the Supreme Court of North Carolina case 38 N.C. 91 (N.C. 1843)
“He [Letitia’s brother, William R. D. Lindsay) after taking Letitia to Guilford County for several months in hopes of renewing her mind and memory took her again to Montgomery [because being in Guilford County only seemed to make her condition worse] and placed her in the family and under the care of Mr. Littleton Harris, a respectable person, and the friend and executor of her late husband.”
“that in October, 1839, Mr. Harris, expecting a large company for some days at his house upon the occasion of the marriage of one of his children (that would be Priscilla), placed Mrs. Crump under the care of a family in his neighborhood, named Palmer, of good reputation, that she might be duly attended to during the festivities in his own family; that on the succeeding Sunday Mrs. Palmer, having occasion to leave home for the day, took Mrs. Crump and her servant to the house of Charles Morgan, the father of the present defendant (Henry Morgan), who resided near, and requested that she might be received and kept out of harm; and she was accordingly so received by Mrs. Morgan and the family;”
“when Mrs. Palmer went for Mrs. Crump (her business being accomplished); was refused access to her and could only see her through the window of a room in which she was shut up. That lady sent immediately to Mr. [Littleton] Harris to advise him of her suspicions, and he hastened to the scene of action, but did not arrive until the marriage had been just concluded.”
After their wedding, Thomas and Priscilla settled down in Davidson County, North Carolina and began their life and family together. In 1850 the couple lived next door to Thomas’s mother, Elizabeth and several family members.
Daughters of Thomas and Priscilla, Julia was born about 1841 and Margaret, about 1843.
Thomas Taylor’s father died before 1841 as his estate file dated for that year can be found in Davidson County, North Carolina showing Elizabeth filed for her dower in her husband’s two tracts of land. One tract being on the waters of Gar Creek joining the lands of John Loftin, Ed Hopkins, Wm (?), Silas Kearns, and John Reed and the other tract bounded by Butler Taylor Sr. and the Montgomery County line on the waters of Beaverdam.
In 1860 Thomas and Priscilla were still living in Davidson County. Thomas, now 46 and Priscilla, 48. Daughters, Julia, age 19 and Margaret, age 17 still living at home. Daughter Mary was born about 1851.
Julia Taylor and her husband, William Henderson, made their home in Eldorado, Montgomery County. Julia died in 1924 and was buried at the Henderson Family Cemetery, the same cemetery I visited with my uncle to see the graves of Willis Dennis and Susan Hearne, his great grandparents.
In March of 1866, Margaret Taylor, daughter of Thomas and Priscilla Harris Taylor, married William Sills, the son of James and Melissa Redwine Sills. The couple made their home in Davidson County where Margaret died in 1923 at the age of 80 years.
The 1870 Census shows that Thomas and Priscilla Harris Taylor resided in Alleghany, Davidson County, North Carolina. Mary, now age 20, is still residing at home with her parents.
Mary and husband, Montford made their home in Eldorado, Montgomery County, where Mary died in 1910. She is buried at Lanes Chapel in Montgomery County.
1880 finds Thomas and Priscilla Harris Taylor still living in Alleghany, Davidson County. Thomas is 66 and Priscilla is 68.
1900 is an interesting Census as it shows the number of children born and living to a mother. Priscilla has 3 children born and 3 living, so her only children are her daughters, Julia, Margaret, and Mary. The 1900 Census also shows how many years a couple has been married and Thomas and Priscilla claim they have been married for 60 years. An incredible milestone to live to see!
Thomas Taylor died on 9 Jan 1901, his wife, Priscilla Harris Taylor following 10 days later, on 19 Jan 1901. They are buried at Chandlers Grove Church Cemetery in Montgomery County, North Carolina.
