Page:Encyclopedia of Virginia Biography volume 4.djvu/294

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222


MRGIXIA BIOGRAPHY


liam E. Taylor, visited Virginia on a trad- ing voyage from the West India Islands, probably from St. Kits. Being pleased with the country, he decided to settle, but some of his kin. who accompanied him, returned to the West Indies. He settled first at .'^^mithtield, X'irginia. on Pagan creek, not far from Newport News. He subsequently settled at Norfolk and became a merchant, dealing with the West Indies. His shipping interests suffered great loss through the war of 1812. and at his death he left many si)oliation claims unsettled. The family liible gives the date of his birth as May 8, 1749, and his death, October 10. 1826. He married (first) September 26, 1771, in Smithfield, Sarah Barraud. and (second) Ann Ray Fox. There were two sons of the first marriage, Robert Barraud and John, the latter died in the war of 1812. There was one son of the second marriage, namely Archibald Taylor.

The eldest son. RoJDert Barraud Taylor, born March 20, 1774. died April 13, 1834. He was a judge of Norfolk City for many years and was a general in the army during the war of 18 12, commanding the troops around Norfolk. Like all of the family, he was an Episcopalian, and in politics was a Whig. He married, July 28, 1796, Nancy Ritson. who died January 14, 1862, and they were the parents of two sons, Robert E., and William E.

The younger son, William E. Taylor, born February 18. 1809, died 1870. He was edu- cated at the University of Virginia. He was a farmer. He was a member of the Epis- copal church. He was captain of the Nor- folk Light Artillery in early life, was a major of Virginia volunteers before the war, and was a private in the Sixth Virginia Regiment, Confederate States army, in the Army of Northern Mrginia. He was dis- charged from the service on account of ill- ness. He represented Norfolk in the Vir- ginia legislature under the Confederate gov- ernment in 1864-65. He married, Febru- ary 22, 183 1, near Eastville, Northampton county. X'irginia. Margaret .Mice Lvon. a native of that place, daughter of Dr. James and Sally (Eyre) Lyon. Children: Sally E., unmarried ; Ri^bcrt Barraud, whose sketch follows; William Eyre, of whom further.

Captain \\'illiam' Eyre Taylor, junior son of William E. and Margaret Alice (Lyon) Taylor, was born November 22, 1841, in


Norfolk. Lie was a student at Norfolk Academy, and the Virginia Military Insti- tute at Lexington, Virginia. His active life has been devoted to farming. He served as a private in the Norfolk Blues in the Army of Northern Virginia, during the civil war. He is affiliated with the Episcopal church. He is unmarried.

Major Robert Barraud (2) Taylor, father of Robert Barraud (3) Taylor, of Norfolk, was a son of William E. and Margaret .A.lice (Lyon) Taylor, and was born in 1837, died in 1896. He was educated in the public schools, the Virginia Military Institute, and the University of Virginia, graduating from the latter institution with the degree of M. D. He enlisted as a captain in the Sixth Virginia Regiment, Mahone's Brigade, Con- federate States army, serving throughout the civil war, and rising to the rank of major. After the war he located on the eastern shore of Virginia, and engaged in general farming for some years, having a plantation of about two thousand acres. Later he converted this land into a truck farm and continued to produce vegetables for the market until he retired from active life. He was a member of Pickett Buchanan Camp of Confederate Veterans, and for many years a vestryman of Hungars Protestant Episcopal Church of the eastern shore. A very charitable man, he was much esteemed in the locality where he resided. He married Lelia Baker, and they had chil- dren : Robert Barraud, of whom further; Richard Baker, whose sketch follows ; Wil- liam, who died in infancy.

Robert Barraud (3) Taylor, eldest son of Robert Barraud (2) and Lelia (Baker) Tay- lor, was born November 19, 1865, in Nor- folk, and received his early education in the Episcopal High School of that city. He was subsequently a student of the Virginia Mili- tary Institute at Lexington. On leaving school he engaged in farming on the eastern shore of Virginia, and now has about one thousand acres of land under cultivation, in what is known as a truck farm. Like all his ancestors, he is a Democrat in politics, but does not participate in any public move- ments, being especially domestic in his tastes. He married, April 5. 1899. INIargaret (Costin) Duvall, daughter of Robert S. and Catherine (Parker) Costin. Her father is an extensive farmer and plantation owner of