Taliaferro Toliver Craig

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    From: Bill Davis <wmadavis@gmail.com>
    Subject: [CRAIG] Taliaferro Craig's Parentage
    Date: Tue, 17 Jun 2008 00:05:22 -0400
    
    This is my old article about Taliaferro Craig's Parentage.
    
    Generation I (Immigrant), Jane Craig
    John Craig Jr.? (1650-1704) or __Taliaferro? and Jane Taliaferro [ or Craig?] (1670/80-1705/10)
    
    The Craig family is said to be from "Craig Ellachie, a rocky eminence in Scotland," not far from Aberdeen[see Craig site].
    Jane is said to have emigrated to VA with brothers, Robert & James. No evidence has been found of either.
    Family tradition says Jane was married in Scotland around 1703 to John Craig, Jr, descended (grandson?) from John Craig, a Dominican Friar who read John Calvin around 1600, was condemned to burn at the stake for heresy, but managed to escape with the help of a soldier friend (see Railey, copy of his life). He presumably died before his wife came to Virginia.
    However, Francis Craig, Toliver's grandson, said his grandfather told him that he was the illegitimate son of Jane Craig, daughter of John Craig, by a Taliaferro who brought her and her two brothers from Scotland to Virginia. [document in Filson library?] An autobiographical sketch written by Toliver Craig III begins with "My grandfather was the illegitimate son of Jane Craig who was from Scotland and he married Mary Hawkins by whom he had Twelve Children." However, the word "illegitimate" was erased before it was sent to H. L. Craig, a family genealogist.
    Certainly the Taliaferro family, descended from Robert Taliaferro, coming to VA in 1645, was long established in the Spotsylvania County area and had several sons who would have roughly been Jane Craig's contemporaries Francis (1654-1710); John (1656-1720); Charles (1663-); Richard (1665-), and Robert (1667-); they also had sons. One son, Richard, was a sea-captain at this time (and already married) and he had some interesting dealings with at least one successful pirate in Bermuda! Francis Craig also said that Jane Craig "sustained an unblemished character through life", so she may not have died immediately after her son's birth. Could she have been a sister of Dr. Andrew Craig (who was closely associated with the Taliaferro family in Spotsylvania)? On the other hand, in April, 2004, a male Craig descendant had his DNA compared with a male Taliaferro descendant; there was not a match. That would not preclude his mother being a Taliaferro, however. Also, his Craig DNA matched rather closely a Freeman from Henrico County. Hmmm....! The plot thickens.
    At any rate, even if there isn't a "real" connection , the stories about "Maister John Craig" of St. Giles' Church are fascinating and worth retelling. Born in 1512 (father slain at Flodden) in Edinburgh, he was educated at St. Andrews, joined the order of St. Dominic and went to Bolgna. He married very late in life--to a 15 year old girl--and had one son, William, who taught theology in France at the beginning of the 17th century at the Huguenot University of Saumur.(but did he marry and have children? I can find no evidence of this.) A colleague of John Knox, John Craig was considered more tolerant and compromising. His widow often told the story of his "salvation" by the dog with a purse. A plaque recounting his accomplishment (and a picture of the dog) is on a column in St. Giles, Edinburg.
    Generation 2, Toliver Craig
    Taliaferro (Toliver) Craig (1704- 2/05/1795) and Mary (Polly) Hawkins (1716 King William Co-1/6/1804), married 1730 VA.
    
    They probably married in King William County (records are burned). Mary seems to have inherited land from her father on Terry's Run in Spotsylvania, 200 acres of which they sold to her brother in 1747. Taliaferro Craig had a land grant as well: It is dated 26 March 1739, for 400 acres on the North side of Robinson Run, on a large branch of the Mattapony River, adj. to Col. John Robinson and Mr. John Anderson (Patent Book 18, p. 283). They probably lived here.
    
    He seems to have been an illiterate farmer, and his sons' illiteracy caused some problems when they began preaching. His many land transactions and gifts of land to his family suggest that he was both very shrewd and generous. They lived in Spotsylvania (now Orange) Co., VA. He and his sons were converted to the (Separatist) Baptist faith in 1765/6 by David Thomas and Samuel Harris, though Thomas discouraged "such weak, illiterate persons' [Lewis, Elijah] attempting to teach."(Spencer, A History of Kentucky Baptists). His sons founded Craig's Church [near intersections of 606 and 608 s. of Spotsylvania Courthouse Battlefield]. He traveled to Kentucky with sons John and Jeremiah in 1778. [See Daniel Boon's account of this time in Kentucky to see what it must have been like.] He sold Wm. Wiatt 50 [one source says 500] acres in Berkeley Parish for 20,000 currency 7/19/1781. Then he moved with the "traveling church" to Fayette Co. near Lexington in the Virginia frontier, later KY, patenting 41483 acres in Woodford Co. on the Kentucky River in 1794. [See Kincaid's account in The Wilderness Road.] He and his family were present at Bryan Station when they were attacked by the British and Indians. Both are said to be buried near Georgetown KY at the Great Crossings Church (now under a parking lot) at Stamping Ground; Polly's tomb was marked "The Mother of Many Faithful." Here's a portrait which is said to be of Mary Hawkins.
    Children:
    
    John Hawkins, 1730 Spotsylvania Co. VA--15/8/1815 Boone Co, KY, m. Sarah (Sallie) Page (1738-1835); both died in Boone County, KY
    Children:
    i John Hawkins (1763-1852) m. Sally Snelling
    ii Elijah (1764/5-1812, killed in Battle of River Thames) m.Ann McAfee
    iii Elizabeth (1766-1833) m. 1784 Cave Johnson [1760-1850, of Wm. Johnson and Elizabeth Cave]
    iv Lewis (1769-1836) m. Kittie Cox
    v Sarah m. John Bush
    vi Mary (Polly) m. John Cave [of Richard Cave & Betsy Craig]
    vii Benjamin m.1 Elizabeth Cave [of Wm. Cave & Mary Mallory], m2 Betsy Green, m3 Henrietta McBee
    viii Francis (1777-1852) m1 . Matilda Kirtley & m2 Nancy Ryle
    ix Philip (1779-1831) m1 T. M. Brehtis, m2 Polly Percival
    x Nancy (1780-1865) m1 Francois Bartholomey [divorced him ], m2. Tom Prentice (4 other sons died in infancy)
    
    John Craig was deeded 87 acres in Spotsylvania Co. by his parents in 6/1760. He served as Captain of Spotsylvania Militia during early years of the Revolution, then commanded Bryan Station during the 1782 seige. He sold 471 acres on Robinson Run for 35,000 pounds curr. paper 8/15/1781. He founded Craig's Station in Woodford Co. KY, was elected to the KY legislature 1796 (the first representative sent by KY to the VA Assembly). Thomas Clark writes in The Kentucky that "he could not meet a man on the road but he rammed a text down his throat" (a quote that Spencer says originated from the prosecuting attorney in Lewis Craig's Virginia trial). Evidently he owned more than 150,000 acres in Gallatin County at his death (and before 1790, held 346,000 acres), when he was incapacitated mentally. His will freed his slave Jim and stipulated that all of his slaves were to be emancipated upon the death of his wife. Craig's Creek, below Warsaw, was named for him. His wife, Sallie, is said to have walked 50 miles to meet her ill son, Philip! More than 100 years later 231 descendants were contacted as inheritors of property missed by his executors: 40,000 acres in Pike Co., hills full of coal [court records are extensive]
    
    Joyce, 1732-1812, m. 1746 John Faulconer (Faulkner, 1722-1794; of Nicholas Faulconer and Eliz Newton), d. at 80 "with all her teeth"
    Children:
    i William (1748-88), m Priscilla Johnston.
    ii Jane (Apr 05 1750-Sep 27 1823), m Andrew Johnson (Jan 25 1750-Jan 25 1826) Scott County, Kentucky.
    iii Mary Polly (1752-?) m bef 1779, in Virginia, Andrew Hampton.
    iv John (ca. 1754-1826) m (1) Jan 16 1775, in Orange County, Virginia, Margaret Morrison, m (2) Elizabeth Nuttle [Orange County, Va].
    v Joseph (Nov  5 1757-Jun 26 1833, Fayette County, KY), m Sep 12 1776, in Virginia, Frances Nelson.
    vi Sarah "Sally" (Jul 15 1760-Aug 10 1831), married Oct ?? 1780, in Boonesborough, Kentucky, Daniel Wilcoxson.
    vii Frances (1763-1829), married Sep 12 1782, in Lincoln Co., Kentucky, Henry Wilson (1754, Augusta County, Virginia-Nov 01 1848, Nicholas County, KY).
    viii Martha (Mar 17 1767-1833), m Mar 21 1785, in Ky, John Stephens,  (Jun 30 1763, Orange County, Virginia, son of Benjamin Stephens and Dorothy Jemima Waller-Mar 31 1842).
    ix Ann (28 Oct 1769-Jan 1835), m 1786, in Fayette County, KY, William Juett, born Virginia, died 1835, Harrison County, Kentucky.
    x Lewis (Oct 29 1776-Feb. 26 1857, Lexington KY), m (1) Dec 22 1797, Susannah Nelson (Oct 22 1797-Jul 00 1828,  Lexington, Kentucky), married (2) Harriet ?.
    
    Jane, 1735-1786, m. John Sanders (Saunders; son of Hugh Sanders & Catherine Hoskins)
    Children:
    i Polly (1763-), m Apr 20 1784, Gilbert Creek Joseph Bledsoe (1745-befo 1801, son of William Bledsoe Jr. and Elizabeth Zachary), Bledsoe Cemetery, Ghent, KY
    ii Betty (1765-), Virginia, m. James Smith.
    iii Lydia (-- 1768), m. Hugh Sanders Gatewood (1767, son of  Peter Gatewood & Sarah "Sally" Sanders?) {Elijah's daughter Polly was his second marriage?].
    iv John (1774-before 1815), m. Nancy Samuel.
    v Samuel (1775/77-), m. Nancy Smith.
    vi Lewis (1781, Virginia-1961, Carroll Co, KY) married (1) Apr 05 1807, in Kentucky, Anne Nicholas, (daughter of George Nicholas and Mary Smith) married (2) Adelaide Dumesnil.  Subject of book SANDERS FAMILY OF GRASS HILLS, by Anna V. Parker (1966).
    vii Catherine (1784-)
    viii Nathaniel Sanders m. Sally Sanders (daughter of Nathaniel Sanders and Sally Pattie).
    
    Toliver [Jr], 1736-1819 , m. Elizabeth Johnson (1738-1808 Scott Co. KY), daughter of Peter Johnston and Margaret Games
    Children:
    i Johnson
    ii Mary (1760-1825), m. Francis Gholson 1782
    iii William [m. Polly Suggett], d. 1839 Bedford Co, TN
    iv John (1761-1829), m. Alice Todd
    v Toliver III (1764-1832, Callaway Co, MO) m. Patsy Wright (1768-1823, Scott Co, KY)
    vi Nancy, m. James Bell
    vii Elijah (1775-1842 Scott Co, KY), m. Agnes Hawkins (1774-1833)
    viii Nathaniel (1780-1833), m. Polly Elley/Sally Davis]
    ix Margaret, m. Frank Ghoulson
    
    Toliver Jr. lived in Orange Co. as a young adult, moved to Botetourt Co 1779, then to KY, and was at Bryan Station with wife, six children in 1782; eventually he settled in Scott County KY and represented it in the Kentucky legislature in 1795 and 1797. He was the largest distiller of whisky in Scott CO, having to pay back taxes in 1794 on 13,000 gallons.
    
    Lewis, 1737-1825, m. Elizabeth Sanders (Saunders; 1740-1825) dau of Hugh Sanders and Catherine Hoskins
    Children:
    i Whitfield T. (1765-1807, Minerva KY), m. Charlotte Lambkin
    ii Lewis (1769-1839) m. Dorcas Noble
    iii Elijah (1771-?), 1. Catherine Polly Hargate [dau. Peter Hargate & Abby Sanders], m2 Mary Davis]
    iv John (1768-before 1838, Mason Co., KY) m. Catherine Pattie [dau of John Pattie & Anna Sanders]
    v Elizabeth (1733-1811), m. Wm. Bledsoe [Joseph Bledsoe & Elizabeth Miller]
    vi Sally [Sarah] (1775-?)
    vii Frances (1776-1834 Mason Co), m. David Chiles
    viii Catherine (1777-?), m1 Philemon Hawkins, m 2. Rev. John King
    ix Mary (1781-1847, LA) m. Gen. Philemon Thomas [son of Richard Thomas and Frances Hawkins]
    x John Lewis Craig (1783 VA-?)
    
    Lewis Craig was deeded 276 acres in Spotsylvania Co. in 6/1760 by his parents. Converted (from Church of England) by David Thomas and/or Samuell Harris, he was baptized into Upper Spotsylvania Church in 1767 and ordained 1770, serving as minister of this first Separate Baptist Church established between the James and Rappahannock Rivers. (This church, known also as Craig's Church, was at Paytes, VA) He was jailed in Fredericksburg in 1768 for preaching without a license from the Episcopal Church. He preached through the bars to crowds gathered around the jail, to the great discomfiture of public officials. Family tradition says he was defended at his trial by Patrick Henry. He is celebrated on a plaque on the Baptist Church in Fredericksburg. He and the other Baptist began petitioning for religious freeman and abolishing of slavery in 1770. In 1781 he led the Upper Spotsylvania "traveling church" of about 400 (others say 600) persons, slaves, and livestock some 600 miles west and three months' journey (stopping to sing hymns and pray every hour) to Kentucky through the Cumberland Gap (establishing a church on the Holsten River en route), having purchased land from discharged soldiers. They stopped in Dec. at Craig's Station on the Dix River; 600 are said to have been in the party when they left in the spring.The Craigs were prominent in the defense of Bryan Station against a band of 500 Indians on August 15 17, 1782 and are listed on a monument there. He settled at Craig's Station on Gilberts Creek in Garrard Co., moved to Fayette Co. and the South Elkhorn church under 1792, then lived in Minerva in Mason Co. until his death, pastoring and building a substantial church. He established a number of churches and worked also as a stonemason or architect. He built the first church, the first school house, and the first courthouse (in Washington) in Kentucky. He was said to have had a musical voice, placid disposition, and a speculative turn of mind. He was very philanthrophic, doing much to assist families settling on farms in Kentucky. John Taylor said "As an expositor of the Scriptures, he was not very skillful, but dealt closely with the heart. He was better acquainted with men than with books. He never dwelt much on doctrine, but mostly on experimental and practical godliness...perhaps there was never found in Kentucky, so great a gift of exhortation as in Lewis Craig." Spencer says he was "of middle statue, rather stoop shouldered, his hair black, thick set, and somewhat curled, a pleasant countenance, free spoken, and his company very interesting, a great peace maker among contending parties."
    
    Elijah, 11/15/1738-5/18/1808, m. (1) Frances Smith (dau of George "Noblet" Smith Sr. and Elizabeth Hawkins, d. 1802, Scott County) ; m. (2)1804 Margaret Kay or Tabb [Gatewood](b. Essex Co, VA, d. 1828-29)>Hugh Gatewood m. Mary (Polly) Craig, daughter of Elijah by his first marriage. Sources differ on the name of her first husband: Hugh, Peter, or Andrew.
    Children: by (1)
    i Lydia m. Samuel Grant/then Samuel Herndon
    ii Lucy (-1815) m. Josiah Pitts
    iii Simeon m. J. Buckner
    iv Joel m. Elizabeth Putman
    v Polly (Mary), m. Hugh Gatewood [was his second wife]
    vi John Dyer m. Mary Ann Tarleton
    vii Elijah Craig Jr.
    
    Elijah Craig, converted by David Thomas, was licensed to preach in 1770, establishing the Blue Run Church (halfway between Barboursville and Liberty Mills) and in the 1770's was jailed for preaching without Episcopal ordination: "They sent the sheriff and posse after him, when at his plough. He was taken and carried before three magistrates of Culpeper. They, without hearing arguments, pro or con, ordered him to jail....Mr. Craig says, 'they were fed on rye bread and water, to the injury of their health.' After staying there one month, preaching to all who came, he gave bond for good behavior and came out." In 1774 he and Aaron Bledsoe established the North Pamunky church.
    He emigrated to KY in 1786/7, purchasing 1000 acres in Scott County near Georgetown and laying out the town (then called Lebanon). He established the first classical school in Kentucky; his advertisement in The Kentucky Gazette reads: "Education. Notice is hereby given that on Monday, 28th of January next, a school will be opened by Messrs. Jones and Worley, at the Royal Spring in Lebanon Town, Fayette County, where a commodious house, sufficient to contain fifty or sixty scholars, will be prepared. They will teach the Latin and Greek languages, together with such branches of the sciences as are usually taught in public seminaries, at twenty five shillings a quarter for each scholar. One half to be paid in cash, the other half in produce at cash prices. There will be a vacation of a month in the spring, and another in the fall, at the close of each of which it is expected that such payments as are due in cash will be made. For diet, washing and house room for a year, each scholar pays L3 in cash, or 500 weight of pork on entrace, and L3 cash on the beginning of the third quarter. It is desired that, as many as can, would furnish themselves with beds; such as cannot may be provided for here, to the number of eight or ten boys, at 35s a year for each bed. ELIJAH CRAIG. LEBANON, December 27, 1787." (History of Bourdon, Scott, Harrison and Nicholas Counties Kentucky, Henry Perrin) The school was later linked to the Rittenhouse Academy and its successor, Georgetown College. Perrin also states that he, Joseph, and Lewis were "made famous in Virginia by religious intolerance and persecution. They all removed to Kentucky, and Elijah settled here. He was a man of decided character, a good speaker, an acceptable preacher, and of very considerable business qualifications, accumulating a large property."
    Elijah seems to have enjoyed religious controversy. He began preaching at the Great Crossing Baptist Church (where many of the Traveling Church joined, especially the Johnson family, after adopting the Philadelphia Confession of Faith) until the church decided that they preferred the services of Joseph Redding. Craig left with 30 members to organize the McConnell's Run Baptist Church. Toliver Sr. and Elizabeth Craig were among the charter members (Sept. 1795). They built at church where Duvall Road crosses McConnell's Run. William Hickman was called as pastor in 1796, Elijah kept his membership and his feud with Redding, but to keep some peace he moved his membership to Silas Church. In 1819 a new meetinghouse was built at Stamping Ground, and the church prospered. Both blacks and whites were members.
    Elijah also established the first fulling and paper mill (in 1789), the first rope walk (for manufacture of hemp) and the first saw and grist mill at Georgetown and the first bourbon whiskey (so it was said--Elijah Craig Bourbon is sold today and the bourbon industry likes linking their product to a Baptist minister) was made in 1789 at the fulling mill at the Royal Spring. His house stood on the west side of Royal Spring Branch.
    "His preaching was of the most solemn style; his appearance as of a man who had just come from the dead; of a delicate habit, a thin visage, large eyes and mouth; the sweet melody of his voice, both in preaching and singing, bore all down before it."As he prospered, owning over 4000 acres and operating a retail store in Frankfort, he preached more infrequently and was chastised for his fault finding. Some Baptist sources say he sold out to the world, but the Kentucky Gazette eulogized: "He possessed a mind extremely active and his whole property was expended in attempts to carry his plans to execution he consequently died poor. If virtue consists in being useful to our fellow citizens, perhaps there were few more virtuous men than Mr. Craig."
    
    Joseph, 1741-1819, m. Sarah Wisdom (1744--1820)
    Children:
    i Reuben (Jul 28 1763,VA-1837, Scott Co, KY), m. Frances E. "Fannie" Twyman
    ii Jane (Nov 18 1764-) m. cir 1785, Robin (or Robert) Ashurst.
    iii Sarah "Sally" (May 18 1766-1819), m. Joseph Allen.
    iv James (Apr 11 1768- 1852), m Nov  3 1798 in Woodford County, KY, Sally Mitchum, (1780-8162)
    v Thomas (Mar  8 1770- befo 1841), m. (1) Polly  Wisdom, married (2) Oct 17 1839, in Gallatin Co, Ky, Mary Bailey (Mrs) Graham.
    vi Samuel "Hawkins" (Feb  6 1773-?)m Jan 17 1814, Jessamine Co, Ky, Patsy Singleton
    vii Joseph (Feb 15 1775-Nov. 6, 1847, Fayette Co, KY), m Oct  7 1800, Fayette Co, Ky, Mary Parker (Jan 11 1781-Aug 28 1850,)
    viii Phoebe, born Jun 10 1777.
    ix Elijah W. (Sep 25 1779- 1857, Lexington, KY) m Dec 25 1821 Almira V. Grosvernor (un 29 1838-Nov  5 1845)
    x Lucy (Jan 01 1782-June 07 1868), m. Joel M. Dupuy (Nov  00 1769-Feb 1838),
    xi Elizabeth, born Jan  9 1784, Kentucky.
    xii Mary Polly (Aug 09 1787-aft 1850), Kentucky, married James (Dudley?) Mitchum.
    
    Joseph Craig (a name almost always preceded by "eccentric"!) was a Baptist preacher "but had less ability in that line than his brothers." When arrested, "Mr. Craig thinking it no dishonor to cheat the devil, as he termed it, slipped off his horse and took to the bushes.They hunted him with dogs, but Asahel like, being light of foot, he made good his retreat."[Semple] Antoinette Craig Matthews wrote that he was eccentric and when arrested, would not walk and had to be carried. He said, "Putting Joe Craig in prison is the Devil's work and I'll not help in it." Railey tells of Richard Blanton, the sheriff who had to arrest and incarcerate Rev. Joseph and later moved to Woodford County where they became friends and died about the same time. Spencer says that a crowd followed the arrested preachers on their way to jail in 1768 and that Joseph "cried out in a stentorian voice: 'Arise ye dead and come to judgement!' whereupon many person dropped down as if pierced through the heart." He relates other anecdotes also. When a ferryman decided not to charge him but to ask for his prayers, Joseph would not leave until he had discharged his debt fervently. Lewis tried to dissuade him from preaching, saying he'd only converted one person in 20 years. His response was that he was "ready to labor twenty more for the salvation of another." Called to see a very sick niece, he asserted that "if you die now it will be the meanest thing you ever did in your life"; she recovered to raise her children. These stories and others are told in his handwritten Journal (transcribed here.)
    
    Sarah (Sally) Davis, 1743--, m. 1765 Manoah Singleton. "Some Craig genealogies record Manoah as a mean man who kept his wife out of the church until his death."
    Children:
    i Jeconias (Mar 16 1766-1836, Woodford Co, KY), m. Jane Taylor (daughter of Lazarus Taylor * Hannah Bradford)
    Woodford.
    ii Elizabeth "Betsy" (Jan  3 1768-May 03 1852, Jessamine Co, KY), m. Feb 15 1785, in Fayette County, Kentucky,  George O'Neal.
    iii Susanah Craig (Nov 28 1769-1833)
    iv Sarah "Sally" (Oct 15 1771, Orange County VA-?), married Mar 08 179?, Moses Martin.
    v Mason (Sep 01 1773-Jul 13, 1833, Jessamine Co, KY),  m. Frances "Fanny" Garnett
    vi Mary, died as infant
    vii Hannah Susan (Feb 08 1778, VA-?) m. John Lancaster.
    viii Anna (Oct 13 1781-?) m. May 27 1801, Jessamine Co., Ky, James Hiter.
    ix Mary
    x Jane (Apr  3 1787-?) m. Samuel Barclay Sr
    xi Martha (Apr 03 1789-Sep 28 1835)m. Hawkins Craig.
    xii Joanna (Jan 05 1790, Fayette County, Ky-?).
    xiii Susan (Jan 16 1793-?), m Joseph Hughes.
    
    Jeremiah, 1747--, m. Lucy Hawkins (1st cousin), (2) Woods
    Children [mothers undetermined]: Lewis [m. Alice Doris], Polly [Smith]; Ezekial, William, Mahalah[ m. Willis Craig], Frank [m. Ellis], Hawkins [m.Martha Singleton/James]; Richard [m. Mary R. Wright, Sarah Soper, Harriet McAllary, Nancy Ann Boswell, Elizabeth Fleming]; Malinda [m. John Shelten]
    
    Benjamin , 1751-1822, m. Nancy (Ann) Sturman (Stuman?)(see next generation)
    
    Elizabeth, ca. 1750-ca. 1827, m. Richard Cave, son of Benjamin Cave and Hannah Bledsoe
    Children:
    Reuben[ m. Catherine Hayden (c 1765/1784 VA--Van Buren Co., IA) They had 9 children. Only 3 survived in 1888> William Johnson Cave (c1813-), John B. Cave 12 Apr 1819-13 May 1898) and Jesse Hawkins Cave (14 Aug 1821-12 Mar 1907).]
    
    Hannah [m. John Graves]
    Polly [m. Richard Rice]
    Richard [m. Sally Wood]
    John
    Jeremiah [m. Polly Graves].
    
    Another child, who died before reaching adulthood, has been reported
    
    THE PARENTAGE OF TALIAFERRO CRAIG
    
    I. TALIAFERRO CRAIG's ILLEGITIMATE BIRTH.
    
    The most widespread tale about the birth of Taliaferro Craig, while
    varied and sometimes elaborate, boils down to this: Jane Taliaferro
    married John Craig, but he died before or shortly after the birth
    of his only son, Taliaferro Craig. No document has ever turned up
    to confirm any detail of this story.
    
    Then came Anna V. Parker's book, SANDERS FAMILY OF GRASS HILLS,
    published in 1966 and widely distributed, in which she reported
    that Lewis Sanders, a distinguished grandson of Taliaferro Craig,
    believed that Taliaferro Craig was the illegitimate son of a woman
    named Craig and a seafaring Captain named Taliaferro. Sanders
    wrote to a first cousin, Rev. Francis Craig, son of Capt. John
    Craig, to inquire about the story and received a reply that was in
    Lewis Sanders' papers, stating: "Your inquiry in relation to the
    orgin of the Craig family is a somewhat delicate matter, but your
    statements are facts with this addition, that my grandfather's
    mother through life sustained an unblemished character." This
    letter is now part of the Lewis Sanders papers at the Filson Club
    Historical Society in Louisville. As I noted in the Toliver Craig
    bibliography that was published in Craig-Links in 1983, this story
    came from a reliable source, a grandson of Taliaferro Craig, and
    was confirmed by another grandson who was noticeably uncomfortable
    about it. To my mind, that made it quite reliable.
    
    And in the past few years I've found Taliaferro's illegitimacy was
    confirmed by a third grandson: TOLLIVER CRAIG - HIS NOTEBOOK
    AND AUTOBIOGRAPHY, [edited by Mary Louise Fricke,
    Rt 1, Box 91-A, Kingdom City, MO 65262, 1991] is a transcription of an
    autobiographical sketch written by Toliver Craig III (son of
    Toliver Craig, Jr). It begins quite simply: "My grandfather was
    the illegitimate son of Jane Craig who was from Scotland and he
    married Mary Hawkins by whom he had Twelve Children." Mrs.
    Fricke writes that the former owner of the sketch, Grace West
    Baynham, supressed the word "illegitimate" from the typed copy she
    sent to H. L. Craig in 1937, which explains the unfortunate title
    he gave his book, DESCENDANTS OF JANE TALIAFERRO CRAIG
    (1958, available from University Microfilms International).
    
    II. BEST EVIDENCE? THE LEWIS SANDERS GENEALOGY.
    
    Anna V. Parker's version of Taliaferro's parentage was so brief
    that I wanted to see the Lewis Sanders papers to see exactly what
    story Rev. Francis Craig was confirming. I was told repeatedly
    that his papers were given to the Filson Club in Louisville, but
    I was unable to locate them because they were cataloged only in the
    past few years. But in the meantime I discovered that Lewis
    Sanders had maintained a genealogy of the Craig and Sanders
    families; it's not part of the Sanders papers, it was given by Miss
    Parker to Kathryn Salyers, a remarkable genealogist who lives in
    Carrollton, Ky. Looking at it, I found that it not only had some
    previously unknown notes on the Taliaferro connection but that it
    revealed connections of the Taliaferros to other Sanders
    connections, which tended to increase its credibility.
    
    This is Lewis Sanders' version:
    
    "THE CRAIG FAMILY
    "Two brothers, named Taliaferro, supposed to be Italians,
    came to Virginia in the beginning of the 18th Century. One of the
    brothers was a seafaring man, engaged in the trade from Virginia to
    Scotland, this brother brought over on one of his trips a young
    woman named Craig-- this young woman had a son by Capt. Toliver,
    which she named Toliver Craig. This is the head and orgin of the
    numerous Craig family,now spread out through Kentucky and Adjoining
    states. Somewhere about the year 1730 Toliver married Polly
    Hawkins of Spotsylvania County. It is thought that Capt. Toliver
    the seafaring brother after a time married and settled in
    Spotsylvania County, Va., near Fredericksburg, from whom descended
    many families of Toliver in that part of the Country."
    
    This is a summary of the Taliaferro genealogy that Sanders had
    compiled:
    
    Captain Taliaferrro was the father of a child by a Miss Craig,
    which she named Taliaferro Craig. Captain Taliaferro had a brother
    named Robert Taliaferro, who "lived to be a great age, 112 years."
    
    Robert Taliaferro was married twice. By his first wife he had a
    son, Samuel Taliaferro, and a daughter who married a Mr. Bowler.
    By his second wife, Robert had five daughters and two sons, but
    Lewis Sanders only gives the name of one daughter, Nancy
    Taliaferro.
    
    Nancy Taliaferro was married twice, first to Thomas Livingston, and
    they had three sons: Robert, Thomas and James Livingston, all of
    whom "moved to South Carolina or Georgia," according to Lewis
    Sanders. Nancy Taliaferro's second husband was [Valentine] Long
    Wharton, and their children were: Lucy, William, Sally, Benjamin,
    Nancy, and Fanny Wharton.
    
    Nancy Wharton (daughter of Nancy Taliaferro) married Robert
    Sanders, an uncle of Lewis Sanders, and their children were:
    Toliver Sanders (never married), Valentine Long Wharton (never
    married), Thomas Livingston Sanders (never married), Benjamin
    Wharton Sanders, Lucy Sanders (died young), Nancy Sanders (married
    E. B. Bartlett), and Walker Sanders (married Louisa Flournoy).
    
    Fanny Wharton, daughter of Nancy Taliaferro and sister of Nancy
    Wharton Sanders, married Peter Gatewood, Jr., a first cousin of
    Lewis Sanders.
    
    III. LEWIS SANDERS GENEALOGY - SUPPORTING EVIDENCE
    
    JOHN AND AMY GATEWOOD AND THEIR DESCENDANTS, by
    Carol J. Gothberg (1987), confirms that Peter Gatewood married Fanny
    Wharton, daughter of a Valentine Wharton. A Lucy Ann Taliaferro is
    mentioned among the relations of Peter Gatewood. Lorraine Mannix sent
    me a note that Valentine Long Wharton, born 1720 in King George County,
    married Mrs. Ann Wharton in 1757 in Fauquier County, Virginia, but
    didn't state whether this was supposed to be a marriage record
    entry. A submission to the Ancestral File CD-ROM suggested that
    Valentine Long Wharton (1730-1799, died Scott Co., Ky.) was the son
    of Martha Long (born 1710 Va.) and grandson of Henry Long (1675 -
    1733). Valentine Long Wharton's estate is in the records of Scott
    County for 1799.
    
    The Will of Lewis Sanders' grandfather, Hugh Sanders, dated and
    probated in 1781 in Spotsylvania County, Virginia, confirms that Hugh's
    daughter Sarah was married to a Gatewood, and Peter Gatewood and
    Lewis Craig were executors of Hugh Sanders' will. Peter and Sarah were
    the parents of Peter Gatewood Jr., who married Fanny Wharton, who
    Lewis Sanders records as a granddaughter of Robert Taliaferro.
    
    Lewis Sanders' mention of the Livingstons who moved to South
    Carolina in confirmed in The William and Mary Quarterly, Vol. 22,
    first series, page 69, which has some notes on Virginia Livingston
    families, mentioning a James and Thomas Livingston who had moved to
    Edgefield County, South Carolina in 1793. And William Crozier's
    VIRGINIA COUNTY RECORDS, Spotsylvania County, 1721-1800 also
    confirms this, noting they were living in Edgefield County, South
    Carolina in 1796 when they gave Benjamin Wharton their powers-of-
    attorney. A July 6, 1796 power of attorney shows a Benjamin
    Wharton was the son of "V. Long Wharton."
    
    Crozier's book also had a deed transaction of Robert Taliaferro and
    his wife Jane, of Caroline County, to Long Wharton, of County afsd,
    315 acres, Sept. 21, 1772. Witnessed by James Livingston. And
    Crozier records an October 5, 1772 conveyance witnessed by James
    Livingston, giving Long Wharton's wife's name as Ann (which is
    often the same name as Nancy).
    
    Caroline County, Virginia Order Books give the names of Thomas
    Livingston and William Bowler as co-defendants in 1756 lawsuits,
    and between two entries given on June 13, 1756, both relating to
    William Bowler, the name of Samuel Taliaferro has been scratched
    in, without explanantion.
    
    THE AMERICAN GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL
    INDEX said there was a reference to a "Taliaferrs Livingston" in
    Louis C. Barfield's HISTORY OF HARRIS COUNTY GEORGIA
    (1961). I followed this up to find that he was a descendant of James
    Livingston, the son of Nancy Taliaferro and Thomas Livingston.
    Mrs. Barfield's book records the family of James Livingston's son
    John Livingston, who settled near
    Hamilton, Georgia. One of his daughters married Seaborn Jones
    Whatley, and there is a considerable amount of data about the
    Whatley family in Mrs. Barfield's book. Anyone who is interested
    can review pages 496-97, 501-02. Page 451 has several Whatley
    photographs. Elsewhere I've seen a reference that seemed to
    suggest that Taliaferro Livingston was a politician or lawyer. One
    Livingston correspondant wrote me that a Thomas Livingston and his
    wife Nancy had sons James Todd and Thomas which both had sons named
    Taliaferro Livingston, and that the younger Thomas's son was a
    lawyer in South Carolina.
    
    And on a seperate track, not derived from Lewis Sanders, there is
    this intriguing tidbit from HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF THE CAMPBELL,
    PILCHER, AND ALLIED FAMILIES, by Margaret Campbell Pilcher (1911);
    it could be interpreted as a garbled version of Sanders' account:
    
    "Another story is that three TALIAFERRO brothers came to Virginia
    from England. One died young, never having married; one was
    supposed to have left no children by the name TALIAFERRO, but left
    CRAIG descendants, he having married a widow CRAIG, taking her name
    for reasons satisfactory to himself and his elder brother, Robert
    TALIAFERRO. These two brothers were not friendly, their families
    having no communication with one another and when they separated
    they divided some family jewels. One ring, which they considered
    a valuable heirloom, each wanted. They decided the dispute by
    cutting the ring, making two complete circles, each taking one.
    Ex-Governor SMITH, of Georgia, a descendant of Robert TALIAFERRO,
    is authority for this story, saying he had seen one of the rings.
    These two were Robert TALIAFERRO and his brother, who took the name
    CRAIG."
    
    Georgia has had two Governors named Smith, but James Milton Smith
    was Governor in the 1820's, so the Smith referred to is probably
    Hoke Smith (1855-1931), who was Governor in 1907-09 and 1911. I
    hope to look into Smith's background to see what his genealogical
    connections might be.
    
    IV. SPECULATION ON TALIAFERRO CRAIG'S FATHER
    
    When looking for a seafaring "Captain Taliaferro" the name Richard
    Taliaferro keeps coming up. Tom Land sent me a note from the
    Colonial Records Database, "Answer of Richard Taliaferro, Master of
    the LUCANS, to allegations made by Mary Richardson (1p) Agreement
    to hire Richard Hollyday to serve on the ship from New Providence
    to Virginia and London," dated April 9, 1692. The reference to
    New Providence is interesting, because ENGLISH DUPLICATES OF
    VIRGINIA RECORDS, by L. de Cognets, Jr., (1981) names Richard
    Taliaferro as part-owner of a ship, the JOSEPH AND SARAH OF NEW
    PROVIDENCE, built in 1701, and also names him as the Master of a
    ship, the LINAJOS, in 1698.
    
    Some believe that Taliaferro Craig's father must be the Captain
    Richard Taliaferro who was called "The Pirate." He was engaged in
    sea trade and he served on the Court of the colony of Barbados. In
    1694 he married Sarah Wingfield, daughter of John and Martha
    Wingfield of Barbados, the latter dying in Boston on July 29, 1709
    while in Boston and leaving a large estate in America and on
    Barbados to her daughter Sarah. Richard died in 1715, leaving a
    son and three daughters. Sarah died in 1718, and their only son
    died in 1721 and his estate was inherited by his sister Martha
    Taliaferro, who was married to Thomas Turner in 1715. There were
    many Turner descendants. Another sister was married to Rice Hooe
    IV and died without issue. The source for this information said
    there was a Wingfield association that had some notes on this
    Richard Taliaferro.
    
    Richard may have been the uncle or a near relative of the architect
    Richard Taliaferro of Virginia, the subject of OUR MOST SKILLFUL
    ARCHITECT: The Life and Work of Richard Taliaferro, by Claude
    Lanciano (1981). I haven't seen the book yet, but I'm told that
    the architect Richard was the son of a Robert Taliaferro and the
    nephew of a seafaring Capt. Richard Taliaferro.
    
    As an aside on "The Pirate," Lewis Sanders does not say that Capt.
    Taliaferro was a pirate, but he says his grandfather Hugh Sanders had
    a brother John, "a seafaring character, thought to have been one of
    Blackbeard's men, but he left the sea, and settled a farmer."
    
    V. CONCLUSIONS SO FAR
    
    Three of Taliaferro Craig's grandchildren -- who grew up in three seperate
    households -- believed their grandfather Taliaferro was illegitimate, and
    they had no motivation to want to believe this fact other than it was the
    plain truth.
    
    And a genealogy kept by one of his grandsons, Lewis Sanders, states
    that Taliaferro's father was the seafaring brother of a Robert
    Taliaferro who had further familial connections with Sanders'
    family. Some of the Sanders' assertions about his Taliaferro
    relations have proved reliable. Another story out of Georgia also
    tends to connect a line of Kentucky Craigs with a brother of
    Robert Taliaferro. Some are concentrating on Captain Richard
    Taliaferro as a the father of Taliaferro Craig.
    
    It is my hope that further research on the known descendants of
    Robert Taliaferro will help isolate the identities of Robert
    Taliaferro and his seafaring brother.
    
    Taliaferro "Toliver" CRAIG was born about 1704. The most widespread tale about the birth of Taliaferro Craig , while varied and sometimes elaborate, boils down to this: Jane Taliaferro married John Craig, but he died shortly after the birth of his only son, Taliaferro Craig, who later would be called Toliver Craig. No document has ever turned up to confirm any detail of this story.
    
    Then came Anna V. Parker's book, SANDERS FAMILY OF GRASS HILLS, published in 1966. She reported that Lewis Sanders, a distinguished grandson of Taliaferro Craig, believed that Taliaferro Craig was the illegitimate son of a woman named Craig and a seafaring Captain named Taliaferro. Sanders wrote to a cousin, Rev. Francis Craig, son of Capt. John Craig, to inquire about the story, and received a reply that was in Lewis Sander's papers, stating: "Your inquiry in relation to the orgin of the Craig family is a somewhat delicate matter, but your statements are facts with this addition, that my grandfather's mother through life sustained an unblemished character".
    
    Anna V. Parker gave her papers to the Filson Club in Louisville. The letter from Rev. Lewis Craig is among the papers, but Anna V. Parker gave the genealogy that Lewis Sanders kept to Kathryn Salyers, a historian in Carrolton, and it contains more information about he Taliaferro connection than Miss Parker gave in her book. It shows several marriages between some Taliaferro relations and the Sanders family.
    
    This is Lewis Sanders' version"
    
    "The Craig Family"
    
    "Two brothers, named Taliaferro, supposed to be Italians, came to Virginia in the beginning of the 18th century. One of the brothers was a seafaring man, engaged in the trade from Virginia to Scotland, this brother brough over on one of his trips a young woman named Craig--this young woman had a son by Capt. Toliver, which she named Toliver Craig. This is the head and orgin of the numerous Craig family, now spread through Kentucky and adjoining states. Somewhere about the year 1730 Toliver married Polly Hawkins of Spotsylvania County. It is thought that Capt. Toliver the seafaring brother after a time married and settled in Spotsylvania County, Va., near Fredericksburg, from whom descended many families of Toliver in that part of the Country".
    
    This is a summary of the Taliaferro denealogy that Sanders had compiled.
    
    Mr. Taliaferro-1, the unknown father of Capt. Taliaferro, who was the father of Captain Taliaferro and his brother, Robert Taliaferro.
    
    "Captain" Taliaferr0-2, who fathered a son by Miss Craig.
    TALIAFERRO Craig-3, married Polly Hawkins
    
    For rest of Sanders genealogy of the Taliaferro family, see Richard Taliaferro.
    
    TOLLIVER CRAIG - HIS NOTEBOOK AND AUTOBIOGRAPHY, editited by Mary Louise Fricle, route 1, box 91-A, Kingdom City, Mo 65262 (1991). It is a transcription of an autobiographical sketch written by Toliver Craig the 3rd--Son of Toliver Craig, Jr. of Scott Co., Ky. and a grandson of Tsaliaferro Craig and Polly Hawkins. It begins quite simply: "My grandfather was the illegitimate son of Jane Craig who was from Scotland and he married Mary Hawkins by whom he had Twelve Children". So Taliaferro's illegitmacy is confirmed by three of his grandsons: Toliver and Francis Craig, and Lewis Sanders. It seems the owner, Grace West Baynham, supressed the word "Illegitimate" from the typed copy she sent to H. L. Craig in 1937, which might explain the unfortunate title he gave his book, DESCENDANTS OF JANE TALIAFERRO CRAIG (1958, available from University Microfilms International). Bill Davis**wmadavis@kih.net** Box 337***Gent, Ky. 41045*** He died in 1799 in Woodford Co, Ky. Parents: Capt. "Captain" TALIAFERRO and Jane CRAIG .
    
    Search billions of records on Ancestry.com
    
    Taliaferro Craig
    
    Information Regarding His Parentage
    
    Taliaferro Craig's Illegitimate Birth
    The most widespread tale about the birth of Taliaferro Craig, while varied and sometimes elaborate, boils down to this: Jane Taliaferro married John Craig, but he died before or shortly after the birth of his only son, Taliaferro Craig. No document has ever turned up to confirm any detail of this story.
    
    Then came Anna V. Parker's book, SANDERS FAMILY OF GRASS HILLS, published in 1966 and widely distributed, in which she reported that Lewis Sanders, a distinguished grandson of Taliaferro Craig, believed that Taliaferro Craig was the illegitimate son of a woman named Craig and a seafaring Captain named Taliaferro. Sanders wrote to a first cousin, Rev. Francis Craig, son of Capt. John Craig, to inquire about the story and received a reply that was in Lewis Sanders' papers, stating: "Your inquiry in relation to the orgin of the Craig family is a somewhat delicate matter, but your statements are facts with this addition, that my grandfather's mother through life sustained an unblemished character." This letter is now part of the Lewis Sanders papers at the Filson Club Historical Society in Louisville. As I noted in the Toliver Craig bibliography that was published in Craig-Links in 1983, this story came from a reliable source, a grandson of Taliaferro Craig, and was confirmed by another grandson who was noticeably uncomfortable about it. To my mind, that made it quite reliable.
    
    And in the past few years I've found Taliaferro's illegitimacy was confirmed by a third grandson: TOLLIVER CRAIG - HIS NOTEBOOK AND AUTOBIOGRAPHY, [edited by Mary Louise Fricke, Rt 1, Box 91-A, Kingdom City, MO 65262, 1991] is a transcription of an autobiographical sketch written by Toliver Craig III (son of Toliver Craig, Jr). It begins quite simply: "My grandfather was the illegitimate son of Jane Craig who was from Scotland and he married Mary Hawkins by whom he had Twelve Children." Mrs. Fricke writes that the former owner of the sketch, Grace West Baynham, supressed the word "illegitimate" from the typed copy she sent to H. L. Craig in 1937, which explains the unfortunate title he gave his book, DESCENDANTS OF JANE TALIAFERRO CRAIG (1958, available from University Microfilms International).
    
    BEST EVIDENCE? THE LEWIS SANDERS GENEALOGY
    Anna V. Parker's version of Taliaferro's parentage was so brief that I wanted to see the Lewis Sanders papers to see exactly what story Rev. Francis Craig was confirming. I was told repeatedly that his papers were given to the Filson Club in Louisville, but I was unable to locate them because they were cataloged only in the past few years. But in the meantime I discovered that Lewis Sanders had maintained a genealogy of the Craig and Sanders families; it's not part of the Sanders papers, it was given by Miss Parker to Kathryn Salyers, a remarkable genealogist who lives in Carrollton. Looking at it, I found that it not only had some previously unknown notes on the Taliaferro connection, but that it revealed connections of the Taliaferros to other Sanders connections, which tended to increase its credibility.
    
    This is Lewis Sanders' version:
    THE CRAIG FAMILY
    "Two brothers, named Taliaferro, supposed to be Italians, came to Virginia in the beginning of the 18th Century. One of the brothers was a seafaring man, engaged in the trade from Virginia to Scotland, this brother brought over on one of his trips a young woman named Craig-- this young woman had a son by Capt. Toliver, which she named Toliver Craig. This is the head and orgin of the numerous Craig family, now spread out through Kentucky and adjoining states. Somewhere about the year 1730 Toliver married Polly Hawkins of Spotsylvania County. It is thought that Capt. Toliver the seafaring brother after a time married and settled in Spotsylvania County, Va., near Fredericksburg, from whom descended many families of Toliver in that part of the Country."
    
    This is a summary of the Taliaferro genealogy that Sanders had compiled:
    Captain Taliaferrro was the father of a child by a Miss Craig, which she named Taliaferro Craig. Captain Taliaferro had a brother named Robert Taliaferro, who "lived to be a great age, 112 years."
    Robert Taliaferro was married twice. By his first wife he had a son, Samuel Taliaferro, and a daughter who married a Mr. Bowler. By his second wife, Robert had five daughters and two sons, but Lewis Sanders only gives the name of one daughter, Nancy Taliaferro.
    Nancy Taliaferro was married twice, first to Thomas Livingston, and they had three sons: Robert, Thomas and James Livingston, all of whom "moved to South Carolina or Georgia," according to Lewis Sanders. Nancy Taliaferro's second husband was [Valentine] Long Wharton, and their children were: Lucy, William, Sally, Benjamin, Nancy, and Fanny Wharton.
    Nancy Wharton (daughter of Nancy Taliaferro) married Robert Sanders, an uncle of Lewis Sanders, and their children were: Toliver Sanders (never married), Valentine Long Wharton (never married), Thomas Livingston Sanders (never married), Benjamin Wharton Sanders, Lucy Sanders (died young), Nancy Sanders (married E. B. Bartlett), and Walker Sanders (married Louisa Flournoy). Fanny Wharton, daughter of Nancy Taliaferro and sister of Nancy Wharton Sanders, married Peter Gatewood, Jr., a first cousin of Lewis Sanders.
    
    LEWIS SANDERS GENEALOGY - SUPPORTING EVIDENCE
    JOHN AND AMY GATEWOOD AND THEIR DESCENDANTS, by Carol J. Gothberg (1987), confirms that Peter Gatewood married Fanny Wharton, daughter of a Valentine Wharton. A Lucy Ann Taliaferro is mentioned among the relations of Peter Gatewood. Lorraine Mannix sent me a note that Valentine Long Wharton, born 1720 in King George County, married Mrs. Ann Wharton in 1757 in Fauquier County, Virginia, but didn't state whether this was supposed to be a marriage record entry. A submission to the Ancestral File CD-ROM suggested that Valentine Long Wharton (1730-1799, died Scott Co., Ky.) was the son of Martha Long (born 1710 Va.) and grandson of Henry Long (1675 - 1733). Valentine Long Wharton's estate is in the records of Scott County for 1799.
    
    Lewis Sanders' mention of the Livingstons who moved to South Carolina in confirmed in The William and Mary Quarterly, Vol. 22, first series, page 69, which has some notes on Virginia Livingston families, mentioning a James and Thomas Livingston who had moved to Edgefield County, South Carolina in 1793. And William Crozier's VIRGINIA COUNTY RECORDS, Spotsylvania County, 1721-1800 also confirms this, noting they were living in Edgefield County, South Carolina in 1796 when they gave Benjamin Wharton their powers-of- attorney. A July 6, 1796 power of attorney shows a Benjamin Wharton was the son of "V. Long Wharton."
    
    Crozier's book also had a deed transaction of Robert Taliaferro and his wife Jane, of Caroline County, to Long Wharton, of County afsd, 315 acres, Sept. 21, 1772. Witnessed by James Livingston. And Crozier records an October 5, 1772 conveyance witnessed by James Livingston, giving Long Wharton's wife's name as Ann (which is often the same name as Nancy.
    
    Caroline County, Virginia Order Books give the names of Thomas Livingston and William Bowler as co-defendants in 1756 lawsuits, and between two entries given on June 13, 1756, both relating to William Bowler, the name of Samuel Taliaferro has been scratched in, without explanantion.
    
    THE AMERICAN GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL INDEX said there was a reference to a "Taliaferrs Livingston" in Louis C. Barfield's HISTORY OF HARRIS COUNTY GEORGIA (1961). I followed this up to find that he was a descendant of James Livingston, the son of Nancy Taliaferro and Thomas Livingston. Mrs. Barfield's book records the family of James Livingston's son John Livingston, who settled near Hamilton, Georgia. One of his daughters married Seaborn Jones Whatley, and there is a considerable amount of data about the Whatley family in Mrs. Barfield's book. Anyone who is interested can review pages 496-97, 501-02. Page 451 has several Whatley photographs. Elsewhere I've seen a reference that seemed to suggest that Taliaferro Livingston was a politician or lawyer. One Livingston correspondant wrote me that a Thomas Livingston and his wife Nancy had sons James Todd and Thomas which both had sons named Taliaferro Livingston, and that the younger Thomas's son was a lawyer in South Carolina.
    
    And on a seperate track, not derived from Lewis Sanders, there is this intriguing tidbit from HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF THE CAMPBELL, PILCHER, AND ALLIED FAMILIES, by Margaret Campbell Pilcher (1911); it could be interpreted as a garbled version of Sanders' account:
    
    "Another story is that three TALIAFERRO brothers came to Virginia from England. One died young, never having married; one was supposed to have left no children by the name TALIAFERRO, but left CRAIG descendants, he having married a widow CRAIG, taking her name for reasons satisfactory to himself and his elder brother, Robert TALIAFERRO. These two brothers were not friendly, their families having no communication with one another and when they separated they divided some family jewels. One ring, which they considered a valuable heirloom, each wanted. They decided the dispute by cutting the ring, making two complete circles, each taking one. Ex-Governor SMITH, of Georgia, a descendant of Robert TALIAFERRO, is authority for this story, saying he had seen one of the rings. These two were Robert TALIAFERRO and his brother, who took the name CRAIG."
    
    Georgia has had two Governors named Smith, but James Milton Smith was Governor in the 1820's, so the Smith referred to is probably Hoke Smith (1855-1931), who was Governor in 1907-09 and 1911. I hope to look into Smith's background to see what his genealogical connections might be.
    
    SPECULATION ON TALIAFERRO CRAIG'S FATHER
    When looking for a seafaring "Captain Taliaferro" the name Richard Taliaferro keeps coming up. Tom Land sent me a note from the Colonial Records Database, "Answer of Richard Taliaferro, Master of the LUCANS, to allegations made by Mary Richardson (1p) Agreement to hire Richard Hollyday to serve on the ship from New Providence to Virginia and London," dated April 9, 1692. The reference to New Providence is interesting, because ENGLISH DUPLICATES OF VIRGINIA RECORDS, by L. de Cognets, Jr., (1981) names Richard Taliaferro as part-owner of a ship, the JOSEPH AND SARAH OF NEW PROVIDENCE, built in 1701, and also names him as the Master of a ship, the LINAJOS, in 1698. Some believe that Taliaferro Craig's father must be the Captain Richard Taliaferro who was called "The Pirate." He was engaged in sea trade and he served on the Court of the colony of Barbados. In 1694 he married Sarah Wingfield, daughter of John and Martha Wingfield of Barbados, the latter dying in Boston on July 29, 1709 while in Boston and leaving a large estate in America and on Barbados to her daughter Sarah. Richard died in 1715, leaving a son and three daughters. Sarah died in 1718, and their only son died in 1721 and his estate was inherited by his sister Martha Taliaferro, who was married to Thomas Turner in 1715. There were many Turner descendants. Another sister was married to Rice Hooe IV and died without issue. The source for this information said there was a Wingfield association that had some notes on this Richard Taliaferro.
    
    Richard may have been the uncle or a near relative of the architect Richard Taliaferro of Virginia, the subject of OUR MOST SKILLFUL ARCHITECT: The Life and Work of Richard Taliaferro, by Claude Lanciano (1981). I haven't seen the book yet, but I'm told that the architect Richard was the son of a Robert Taliaferro and the nephew of a seafaring Capt. Richard Taliaferro.
    
    CONCLUSIONS SO FAR
    There is no doubt that Taliaferro Craig was illegitimate, and a genealogy kept by one of his grandsons, Lewis Sanders, states that Taliaferro's father was the seafaring brother of a Robert Taliaferro who had further familial connections with Sanders' family. Some of the details in the Taliaferro genealogy have been confirmed. Another story out of Georgia also tends to connect a line of Kentucky Craigs with a brother of Robert Taliaferro. Some are concentrating on Captain Richard Taliaferro as a the father of Taliaferro Craig.
    
    It is my hope that further research on the known descendants of Robert Taliaferro will help isolate the identities of Robert Taliaferro and his seafaring brother.
    
    Source:
    Submitted  and compiled by:  William A. Davis