Submitted by Barbara Taylor; Edited and vetted by Cheri Todd Molter
**About the Picture (click to enlarge): William Cicero Taylor and Rebecca Miller Taylor’s family, taken about 1910/1911 in Peak Creek, North Carolina before they moved to Virginia. The family members are: Back row (left to right): Charles Frank Taylor (about age 10), Myrtle Elizabeth Taylor (about age 18), Ella Mae Taylor (about age 15), Sallie Vena Taylor (about age 13). Front row (left to right): William Cicero Taylor (about age 45) with baby Thelma Hester (about age 1) on his lap, Rebecca Miller Taylor (about age 37), George Everett Taylor (standing, about age 7), Cary Edna Taylor (about age 4). A note on the back of the picture states that two children were born later: William Bryan Taylor and Reba Taylor.**
William Cicero Taylor and Rebecca Miller Taylor
William Cicero Taylor was born May 25, 1865 in Ashe or Alleghany County, North Carolina. William C. Taylor was the son of Hessie Taylor and Horton Blevins (determined from DNA test results as of 2018). With the help of Taylor cousins who had done the research, we found Hessie Taylor’s family lines going back to the Quakers who came from Wales to Pennsylvania in the late 1600s, then moved to North Carolina. Hessie’s father was Charles Taylor (born about 1803– died before Aug 19, 1887 [will probate date, Ashe County, NC]), and he owned a farm and mill along the New River. Hessie’s brother, Callaway Taylor, was eighteen years old when he enlisted in the Confederate Army on May 17, 1861 in Ashe County. He served as a private in Company A, 26th Infantry (North Carolina) and died at the battle at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania on July 1, 1863 (North Carolina Troops 1861-65, A Roster, (1993))
William’s father, Horton Blevins, died around the time William was born (just at the end of the Civil War). Horton’s exact death date is unknown. [What is known is that Horton resided in Ashe County and was twenty-two years old when he enlisted in the Confederate Army on May 17, 1861. He, like Hessie’s brother, Callaway, served in Company A, 26th Infantry (North Carolina). In military records, Horton was listed as a “POW on Mar 14, 1862 at New Berne, NC…Paroled on Mar 25, 1862…Returned on Aug 13, 1862…Wounded on Jul 1, 1863 at Gettysburg, PA…[and] Returned on Nov 30, 1863…Absent on Jan 30, 1864 (In hospital)” (North Carolina Troops 1861-65, A Roster, (1993)). On March 30, 1864, Horton was promoted to “Corporal (Full, Vol).”] A cousin reported that Horton was best man at his sister Joyce’s wedding in March 1866, but we cannot find documentation to prove that.
William’s uncles, Horton Blevins’ brothers—Felix, Albert, and Calvin Blevins—were all soldiers in the war and served at Gettysburg. [Notes on Horton’s brothers: Felix was only seventeen years old when he enlisted on May 17, 1861. On July 3, 1863, he was wounded at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. Military records state that his right foot was amputated as a result of his wound. Albert Blevins was 18 when he enlisted on March 27, 1862, serving in Company A, 26th Infantry (North Carolina). He was also wounded at the Battle of Gettysburg with a gunshot wound to his left leg. Calvin J. Blevins was twenty-eight years old when he joined Company A, 26th Infantry (North Carolina). He was wounded on Feb 5, 1865 “near Petersburg, VA.” His Right leg was amputated as a result of his injury. (North Carolina Troops 1861-65, A Roster, (1993))]
In December 1891, William married Rebecca Miller, who was born on January 19, 1873 in Ennice, North Carolina. She was the daughter of Jacob Miller and Elizabeth Lowman, and apparently both the Millers and Lowmans were families with well-established roots in Ashe County.
William and Rebecca lived on Laurel Springs Road in Peak Creek, North Carolina at the time of the 1910 census (April 23, 1910). Their neighbors, according to that census, were Albert Cicero and Emma Miller Williams and their children and Rebecca’s parents, Jacob and Elizabeth Miller. Rebecca’s sister, Emma Jane, was married to Albert Cicero Williams. William and Rebecca had nine children: Myrtle, Ella Mae, Sallie Vena, Charles, George, Cary Edna, Thelma, William Bryan, and Reba. Myrtle Elizabeth Taylor was born on Dec 31, 1892 in Laurel Springs, North Carolina and died on Oct 20, 1963 in Piper’s Gap, Virginia. Ella Mae Taylor was born April 26, 1895 in Ennice, North Carolina and died on May 1, 1919 in Glade Creek, North Carolina. Sallie Vena Taylor was born Oct 29, 1897 in Laurel Springs, North Carolina and died on Jan 15, 1991 in Beltsville, Maryland. Charles Frank Taylor was born March 15, 1900 in Laurel Springs, North Carolina and died December 22, 1977 in Riverdale, Maryland. George Everett Taylor was born Feb. 13, 1903 in North Carolina and died Jun 6, 1991 in Virginia. Cary Edna Taylor was born on Feb. 8, 1906 in North Carolina and died May 11, 1989 in Charlottesville, Virginia. Thelma Hester Taylor was born Oct. 18, 1909 in Laurel Springs, North Carolina and died July 23, 1999 in Charlottesville, Virginia. William Bryan Taylor was born Sept. 7, 1912 in Whitehead, North Carolina and died Feb. 14, 1973 in Albemarle County, Virginia. Reba Taylor was born July 30, 1917 in Galax, Virginia and died Sep 5, 2004 in Loudoun County, Virginia. The Taylor family moved to Virginia sometime after September 1912, which was when William Bryan was born, but before their last child, Reba was born in 1917. (Based on the contents of William Cicero Taylor & Rebecca Miller’s Family Bible, owned by Sally Vena Taylor Woody)
In 2011, after I retired, I started working on our family history. When I ordered a birth certificate for my father-in-law, Charles Frank Taylor, I noticed that it was a delayed certificate and one of the pieces of evidence used was a family Bible held by his sister, Mrs. S. J. Woody [born Sallie Vena Taylor]. I started asking questions about where the Bible was and was told that it had not been seen since Aunt Vena died. There was a rumor that a “cousin Fred in Baltimore” might know where it was. Since Dan Taylor, my ex-husband, has 56 first cousins and hundreds of other cousins, I had no clue of who “cousin Fred” might be. In 2015, after the release of some new collections on Ancestry.com, I found a son of Dan’s Aunt Myrtle Taylor Lineberry, Robert Fred Lineberry, who had lived in Baltimore and died in 1994. I wrote to his family at Fred’s last known address, asking if they had ever seen or heard of the Taylor family’s Bible. A few weeks later, I received a phone call that the Bible had been found by his daughter, who still lives in her father’s house in Bel Air, Maryland. Apparently, Fred helped Aunt Vena in the later years of her life, and she must have given him the Bible at some point for safe keeping. We can only guess since Fred never mentioned the Bible to his family, so they were very surprised to find it after receiving my letter. As of September 2015, the Bible was in the custody of Barbara Lineberry Tester of Bel Air, Maryland, daughter of Robert Fred Lineberry, who was the son of Myrtle Taylor, mentioned in the Bible.
Copies of the family pages were sent to Barbara Taylor, niece–in-law of Vena, who scanned them and transcribed them (below) in September 2015. Images of the Bible pages are posted on Barbara’s public family tree on Ancestry.com https://trees.ancestry.com/tree/23614830/family. Barbara’s additions and edits are added in [brackets]. The Bible contains the following:
Page 1 — FAMILY REGISTER Samuel J. Woody and Sally V. Taylor was united in Holy Matrimony on Dec. the 28th day of 1921 at Palmyra, VA.
Page 2 — BIRTHS William Taylor was born May 25, 1866 [William Cicero Taylor was born in Ashe County, North Carolina. His middle name is listed in the birth records for several of his children. William’s gravestone says he was born in 1865, which agrees with the 1880 census for his age 15 at the time. William’s mother was Hester “Hessie” Taylor (born about 1838 – died before Dec 8, 1891 when William was married); William’s father was Horton Blevins, determined by DNA in 2018.] Rebecca Taylor was born Jan. 19, 1873 [Rebecca Miller was the daughter of Jacob Miller (July 30, 1847 – Jan. 31, 1923) & Elisabeth Lowman (Sept. 15, 1839 – Dec. 31, 1904)] Myrtle Taylor was born Dec. 31, 1892 May Taylor was born April 26,1895 Sally Taylor was born Oct 29, 1897 Charlie Taylor was born March 15, 1900 George Taylor was born Feb. 13, 1903 Edna Taylor was born Feb. 8, 1906 Selma Taylor was born Oct 18, 1909 [Thelma Hester Taylor was born in Laurel Springs, North Carolina, according to his birth records. According to Thelma’s son, Rob Davis, the children at school had a hard time pronouncing her birth name Selma Hessie, so they started calling her Thelma Hester.] Willie B Taylor was born Sept 7. 1912 Reba Taylor was born July 30, 1917 Fred Taylor was born Jan. 13, 1916 [Robert Fred Taylor, son of Myrtle Taylor was born in Galax, Virginia according to Social Security records. He later changed his name to Robert Fred Lineberry after his mother married.]
Page 3 — MARRIAGES: May Taylor and Walter Carpenter was married June 5, 1914 [Ella Mae Taylor and Walter Wilborn Carpenter were married in Glade Creek, North Carolina.] Myrtle Taylor and Kinnie Lineberry was married ______ [ no date in bible. Myrtle Elizabeth Taylor and Alton Kenley “Kenny” Lineberry were married July 3, 1920 in Glade Creek, North Carolina.] Vena Taylor and Jeff Woody was married Dec. 28, 1921 [Sallie Vena Taylor and Samuel Jefferson “Jeff” Woody were married in Palmyra, Virginia, according to the bible’s Family Register page. Jeff was the brother of Frank Taylor’s wife Eva.] Frank Taylor and Eva Woody was married July 4,1922 [Charles Frank Taylor married Evelyn “Eva” Woody, who was the brother of Vena Taylor’s husband Jeff Woody. Eva’s parents were Nelson P “Napoleon” Woody (Feb 17, 1866 – Feb 14, 1955) and Angelina L “Annie” Kidd (April 5, 1877 – May 26, 1951); Nelson and Annie were 1st cousins.] Edna Taylor and George Henry was married Dec. 27, 1924 Thelma Taylor and Bernie Chisholm was married March 1, 1928 [Thelma Hester Taylor married Bernard “Bernie” Edward Chisholm Sr. in Albemarle County, Virginia.] Bryan Taylor and Margaret Henry was married July 12, 1933
Page 4 — MARRIAGE Handwritten note on another bible page after “End of Old Testament”: Reba Taylor and Clarence Kirby was married Oct. 19, 1935 [Reba Clyde Taylor married Clarence Edward Kirby in Charlottesville, Virginia.]
Page 5 — DEATHS: Mae Carpenter died May 2, 1919 [Ella Mae (Taylor) Carpenter, age 24, died in Glade Creek, North Carolina. She died a couple days after giving birth to twin girls due to “premature labor after influenza A” (North Carolina death certificate). Her twins died at birth. She and the twins are buried at the Saddle Mountain Baptist Church Cemetery, Ennice, North Carolina.] William C Taylor died Aug 9, 1933 [William Cicero Taylor, age 68, died in Cunningham, Virginia; he was buried at the Fluvanna Baptist Church at Kidds Store, Virginia.] Rebecca Taylor died Oct 21, 1951 [Rebecca (Miller) Taylor died in Rio, Virginia; she is buried with her husband at the Fluvanna Baptist Church at Kidds Store, Virginia.]
