My Genealogy Hound

TAYLOR, JOHN, farmer and stock raiser, Sec. 8, P.O. Rockbridge. To some extent we trace back the ancestry of John Taylor. Ambrose Taylor, his father, was a native Kentuckian, where he was born as near as can be ascertained, in 1800. It must have been that he was of an extremely adventurous disposition, for in the year 1819 he wended his way across the prairies to the southern portion of Illinois. He settled at Madison County, Ill., finding employment in breaking the prairie soil but little land being then under cultivation. The following year we find him en route for Greene County, where he was destined to become a successful agriculturist. Here he formed the acquaintance of and married in 1822, Miss Nancy Courtney, a daughter of Wm. Courtney, whose ancestry were Irish; in what is now town 10, range 10, he built a two-story hewed log cabin, a novelty in its day, and one of the best and most substantial buildings erected in Greene County. We naturally suppose that he lived the frugal life of the pioneer for many years, his energetic struggles carried the day in after life, and he became not only a well-to-do farmer, but one who merited the respect of his many friends in this section; he died at the age of 60 years, and was laid at rest on the broad prairies where so many years of his life were passed. Mrs. Taylor survived her husband eighteen years, departing this life at an advanced age. John, from whom this sketch was obtained, grew to mature years, blessed with a hardy vigor and energy, from his earliest years sharing in the hard work of the farm. In 1846 he was married to Miss Mary Jane Dixon, a daughter of Jefferson Dixon, by whom he had eight children, four of whom are living: Allen, Henry J., Jas. F., and Ida J. Mrs. Taylor departed this life on the 22d of March, 1874, and on the 17th of August, 1876, he was married to Mrs. Mahuldah Livingston, a daughter of James Manis, an early settler of this county. John Taylor is the owner of 373 acres of valuable land, and takes a leading position as a farmer and stock raiser.