Hancock Taylor

Hancock Taylor 1736-1744
Parents: Zachary Taylor, Sr. 1707-1768 and Elizabeth Lee 1709-1750

Served under General George Washington in his company of Rangers. He joined with the McAfee brothers and explored Frankfort and the Ky. River down to McAfee Station. ("On July 16th, 1773, Capt. James Michael McAfee, II, George McAfee, Robert McAfee, James McCoun, V, Samuel Adams, and Hancock Taylor, following the Buffalo Trace from Big Bone Lick, crossed the Kentucky River at this point and made the first survey upon it." (Historical Marker at Buffalo Trace Distillery Frankfort, Ky.) He was an early deputy surveyor under William Preston and made surveys of what is now Jefferson County, KY, in May 1774. While laying off a tract near the Kentucky River for Col. William Christian he was a victim of the Indians, wounded by rifle shot. He was carried by his companions Willis Lee and Abraham Hapstonstall to near Richmond where he died of his wounds.

His brother, Richard, was father to Zachary Taylor, 12th President of the United States

References

• Wood, Trist. “Taylor and Jones Families.” The William and Mary Quarterly, vol. 1, no. 4, 1921, pp. 287–289. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/1915338. Accessed 23 Apr. 2021.
• “ Hancock Taylor Has Been Found”