In celebration of the 250th Anniversary of our country, local members of the National Society Daughters of the American Revolution will highlight the patriots buried in Southeast Missouri.
Benjamin Taylor states in his Revolutionary War pension application that he was born in South Carolina in either 1760 or 1761 but did not know his parents. He further states he was raised by strangers.
Benjamin claims to have lived in North Carolina on the Catawba River about 17 miles from the town of Lincoln. In the spring of 1781, he volunteered as a private for the term of 12 months under Captain Ephraim Perkins in the militia. After being marched down to Frohock’s Mill near Salisbury under command of Colonel McDowell, he asked for and obtained a leave of absence. In September of 1781, he rejoined the army at High Hill on the Santee River in South Carolina with Captain Benjamin Carter’s company in the 2nd Regiment of the North Carolina troops under the command of Colonel Martin Armstrong.
The army crossed the Santee River and marched on to Eutaw Springs. On September 9, 1781, they met the British forces in a battle that became known as the Battle of Eutaw Springs. Taylor states in his pension that during the battle his “gun was shot off at the breach, a bullet lodged in his cartridge box and his canteen bursted as he believed it was hit by grape shot.” After this battle, the army marched back to High Hill where they went into winter quarters. In the spring of 1782, the army marched to Pond Ponds (Pon Pon River), South Carolina, where they remained for a time. The army’s final march was to Bacon’s Bridge and then to the Ashley River where Taylor transferred to the company of Captain Clement Hall and received his discharge.
Benjamin is reported to have married Christina Fulbright, from Pennsylvania, in 1782 in Lincoln County, North Carolina. The Taylors can be found in the 1790, 1800 and 1810 Lincoln County North Carolina census. The 1820 Census lists them in Edgefield County, South Carolina, moving on to the Cape Girardeau County, Missouri, area by 1830 and finally living in Stoddard County, Missouri, in 1840.
The Taylor family consisted of the following known children: Jacob Taylor (married Barbray Drum), Abraham Taylor (married Nancy Tassamy), Isaac Taylor (1st married Nancy Bumgarner, 2nd married Mary Asherbranner), Mary Taylor (married Andrew Cline), Nancy Taylor (married John Link), Elizabeth Taylor (married John Snider), Rachel Taylor (married Thomas Maples), and Susannah Taylor (married William Lorance).
Benjamin died May 22, 1848, in Stoddard County, Missouri, and his wife Christina died in the same year. The place of their burial is only known to be in Stoddard County, Missouri. Many of their children can be found buried in cemeteries across Stoddard County, Missouri.
Benjamin Taylor’s name is on the first plaque dedicated in 1918 by the Missouri State Society Daughter’s of the American Revolution to honor the Revolutionary War Patriots that were buried in Missouri. The plaque can be found in the Capitol in Jefferson City, Missouri.
Compiled by Pamela Johnson, John Guild Chapter, NSDAR.
Sources:
https://www.revwarapps.org/s16000.pdf
Benjamin Taylor Pension Application S16000
Southern Campaigns Revolutionary War Pension Applications & Rosters
https://www.revwarapps.org › ...
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/182801400/benjamin-taylor?
1800 United States Federal Census
https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/7590/records/303791
U.S., Indexed Early Land Ownership and Township Plats, 1785-1898
Missouri, 5th Principal Meridian, N and W R17 T49 - N and W R21 T53
https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/2179 (Benj Taylor)
Abraham Taylor gravesite
https://www.findagrave.com/cemetery/2259272/old-taylor-meniz-cemetery
Nancy Taylor Link gravesite
https://www.findagrave.com/cemetery/29850/link-cemetery
https://mssdar.org/patriots-in-missouri/
