Capt. Richard Taliaferro

Capt. Richard Taliaferro, was the son John Taliaferro, Sr. and Sarah Smith. He was born 27 February 1703 in that part of Essex County which later became Caroline County. He died 27 Sep 1748 (aged 45) Port Royal, Caroline, Virginia. Burial details unknown.
See attached sources added 2/28/2023.

He married Rose Ann Berryman on 10 June 1726 in St. Pauls Parish, Stafford, Virginia. [2] [3] He was a planter and a tobacco inspector in 1737 and a known architect of the James River Colony. He laid out Port Royal, Caroline Co., VA, tobacco center on the Rappahannock River. [4]

Will of Richard Taliaferro

Rose TALIAFERRO relict of Richard TALIAFERRO Gent. presented in Court three papers to be proved as the last will and testament of Richard. Benja. TALIAFERRO his heir at law with consent of the court makes choice of William TALIAFERRO Gent. to be his guardian to contest the probate of the will. :Benjamin by his guardian entered upon the contestation of the same immediately. Rose TALIAFERRO being examined how she came by the papers declared the paper marked A she found amongst some loose paper of the deceased and the two papers marked B she found together locked in a drawer of a book case belonging to Richard. She believes the papers to be in his handwriting.
The papers were proved by James BOWIE, Robert GILCHRIST, and John GILLISON who declared they have often seen Richard TALIAFERRO write. Two papers marked B the Court established as the last will and testament of Richd. TALIAFERRO.
The decedent in his will not having named any person to be executor, at the motion of Rose TALIAFERRO certificate is granted her for obtaining letters of administration with the will annexed, who with James BERRYMAN and Thomas JOHNSON Gent. her securities acknowledged bond. [5]
Notables
Capt. Richard Taliaferro and President George Washington are 3rd cousins, once removed.

Capt. Richard Taliaferro is the 2nd cousin once removed of Maj. Gen. Henry (Harry) "Lighthorse Harry" Lee III, the 9th Governor of Virginia, and father of 4th cousin Confederate General Robert E. Lee who surrendered to Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox Court House, Virginia, on April 9, 1865 to end the American Civil War.

Maj. Gen. Henry (Harry) "Lighthorse Harry" Lee III's two brothers Richard Henry Lee , 12th President of the Continental Congress and Francis Lightfoot Lee, Virginia State Senator, are the only pair of brothers to sign the Declaration of Independence from Virginia.

Capt, Richard Taliaferro is the first cousin once removed of Elizabeth Taliaferro Wythe, the second wife of Founding Father George Wythe. George Wythe was the first of the seven Virginia signatories of the United States Declaration of Independence, taught law and was a mentor to Thomas Jefferson. When George Wythe died, he left his law library to his best friend, Thomas Jefferson. Elizabeth and George Wythe lived in the National Historic Landmark Wythe House in Colonial Williamsburg, Virginia. The Wythe House was owned by Elizabeth's father Richard Taliaferro, and was given to Elizabeth and George Wythe as a wedding gift and they received a life tenancy upon Richard Taliaferro's death in 1779.

Capt. Richard Taliaferro is 4th great grandson of Lawrence Towneley Esq.. Lawrence and his father Henry Towneley are listed in the Magna Carta Project, Magna Carta Ancestry (vol. IV, pages 204-207 TOWNELEY).

Richard is the 2nd cousin 3 times removed of Fitzhugh Lee (1835 - 1905), 40th Governor of Virginia. Fitzhugh Lee was the son of Sydney Smith Lee, commandant of the U.S. Naval Academy and Philadelphia Navy Yard, and captain in the Confederate States Navy during the American Civil War. Sydney Smith Lee was the older brother of Confederate General Robert E. Lee[6][7]

Richard is the 1st cousin 3 times removed of Charles Slaughter Morehead (1802 - 1868), 20th Governor of Kentucky.[8]

Richard is the 3rd great grandfather of General John Taliaferro Thompson, inventor of the Thompson sub-machine gun. The "Tommy Gun" was the notorious gangster weapon of the Roaring Twenties, of Hollywood movies, and immensely popular in WWII. [9]

U.S., Sons of the American Revolution Membership Applications, 1889-1970

Name Captain Richard Taliaferro
Birth Date 1706
Death Date 1748
SAR Membership 42306
Role Ancestor
Application Date 16 May 1927
Spouse Rose Berryman
Children Zacharias Taliaferro
Sources
↑ https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/72894509/richard-taliaferro
↑ Ancestry.com. Virginia, U.S., Select Marriages, 1785-1940 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc, 2014.
↑ Headley, Robert K. Married Well and Often: Marriages of the Northern Neck of Virginia, 1649–1800. Baltimore, MD, USA: Genealogical Publishing Co., 2003.
↑ p. 4, Caroline Co., VA Order Book, 1746-1754, p. 124, 9 Dec 1748
↑ Headley, Robert K., Jr. Wills of Richmond County, Virginia, 1699-1800. Baltimore, MD, USA: Genealogical Publishing Co., 2002
↑ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sydney_Smith_Lee
↑ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fitzhugh_Lee
↑ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_S._Morehead
↑ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_T._Thompson

See also:
Spotsylvania County records, 1721-1800 being transcriptions, from the original files at the County Court House, of wills, deeds. Originally published 1905; reprinted Southern Book Co. 1955
Chalkley, Lyman. Chronicles of the Scotch-Irish Settlement in Virginia, 1745-1800. Extracted from the Original Court Records of Augusta County. Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co.
Ancestry of John Taliaferro... Ivey, Willie Catherine Manuscript, Tennille, GA, 1936
Sweeny, Lenora Higginbotham, Amherst County, Virginia in the Revolution Including Extracts from the "Lost Order Book" 1773-1782 [Bowie, Maryland: Heritage Books, Inc., 2002]. This book is not copyrighted.

Biography

https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Taliaferro-38

Capt. Richard Taliaferro was born in that part of Essex County which later became Caroline County. One Ancestry.com imported profile lists his birthplace as Bowling Green, VA, but that town was not founded until 1837. The same profile shows him dying 27 (or 29) Sep 1748 while crossing the Potomac River in Caroline Co., VA, which is a geographical impossibility. If he died crossing the Potomac, he wasn't in or near Caroline County. If he died in Caroline County, he would have been crossing the Rappahannock River.

Also according to the imported Ancestry.com profile: NOTE - NOT A SOURCE

• He registered two slaves in 1732
• He was a tobacco inspector in 1737 and a known architect of the James River Colony
• He recorded a deed in 1746 for 10,000 acres near Toabcco Row Mt., west of Nelson
• He was assigned in 1740 as guardian of John Evins
• He was a planter and laid out Port Royal, Caroline Co., VA, tobacco center on the Rappahannock River. [1]

He married Rose Ann Berryman in Essex Co. (or St. Paul's Parish, King George Co, VA) on 10 Jun 1726 and they had:

1. Behetheland Taliaferro
2. Sarah Taliaferro
3. Benjamin Taliaferro
4. Zachariah Taliaferro
5. Richard Taliaferro
6. John Taliaferro

   ---

Rose TALIAFERRO relict of Richard TALIAFERRO Gent. presented in Court three papers to be proved as the last will and testament of Richard. Benja. TALIAFERRO his heir at law with consent of the court makes choice of William TALIAFERRO Gent. to be his guardian to contest the probate of the will. Benjamin by his guardian entered upon the contestation of the same immediately. Rose TALIAFERRO being examined how she came by the papers declared the paper marked A she found amongst some loose paper of the deceased and the two papers marked B she found together locked in a drawer of a book case belonging to Richard. She believes the papers to be in his handwriting. The papers were proved by James BOWIE, Robert GILCHRIST, and John GILLISON who declared they have often seen Richard TALIAFERRO write. Two papers marked B the Court established as the last will and testament of Richd. TALIAFERRO.

The decedent in his will not having named any person to be executor, at the motion of Rose TALIAFERRO certificate is granted her for obtaining letters of administration with the will annexed, who with James BERRYMAN and Thomas JOHNSON Gent. her securities acknowledged bond. [2]

Parents: John Taliaferro and Sarah Smith
Richard Taliaferro
b. 1703 Bowling Green, Caroline County, Virginia
d. 27 Sep 1749 Potomac River, Port Royal, Caroline County, Virginia

Rose Ann Berryman
b. 1708 Montross, Westmoreland County, Virginia

m. 10 Jun 1726 Stafford County, Virginia
Family tree▼
▼Facts and Events
Marriage[1] 10 Jun 1726 Stafford County, Virginia
St. Paul's Parish
▼Children
Birth Death
1.
Sarah Taliaferro
7 Jun 1727
Caroline County, Virginia
1769
Caroline County, Virginia
2.
Benjamin Taliaferro
1 Nov 1728
Caroline County, Virginia

3.
Zachariah Taliaferro
29 Aug 1730
Williamsburg, Caroline County, Virginia
Apr 1811
Amherst County, Virginia
4.
John Taliaferro
7 Apr 1733
Caroline County, Virginia
7 Apr 1821
Wilkinson County, Georgia
5.
Charles Taliaferro
16 Jul 1735
Bowling Green, Caroline County, Virginia
12 Apr 1798
Amherst County, Virginia
6.
Beheathland Taliaferro
20 Aug 1738
Blenheim Plantation, Caroline County, Virginia
4 Apr 1828
Nelson County, Virginia
7.
Peter Taliaferro
12 Feb 1739/40
Caroline County, Virginia

8.
Rose Taliaferro
2 Nov 1741
Caroline County, Virginia

9.
Elizabeth Taliaferro
2 Nov 1741
Caroline County, Virginia

10.
Mary Berryman Taliaferro
6 Oct 1743
Caroline County, Virginia

11.
Francis Taliaferro
9 Dec 1745
Caroline County, Virginia

12.
Richard Taliaferro
2 Sep 1747
Caroline County, Virginia
15 Mar 1781
Gilford Court, House, Buckingham County, North Carolina
Add child
▼References
↑ Extracts from the Register of St. Paul's Parish, Stafford (now King George) County, Virginia, in Virginia Magazine of History and Biography. (Richmond, Virginia: Virginia Historical Society)
8:360 [1].
M. Richd. Taliaferro, of Essex, and Rose Berryman, of King George, June 10, 1726.
Name: John The Ranger of Snow Creek Taliaferro (Toliver)
Gender: M (Male)
Birth Date: 1662
Birth Place: Essex, Virginia, or Caroline, Virginia, USA
Death Date: 21 juin 1720 (21 Jun 1720)
Death Place: Gloucester, Gloucester County, American Colonies, Virginia, USA
Father:
Robert John the immigrant Taliaferro
Mother:
Katherine (Sarah) Deadman
Spouse:
Sarah Susan Smith (Smythe)
Child:
John Taliaferro
Lawrence Taliaferro
Richard Taliaferro
William Taliaferro
Zachariah Taliaferro
View on Geneanet:
https://gw.geneanet.org/njtighe?n=taliaferro+toliver&oc=&p=john+the...

"Wythe House". National Historic Landmark summary listing. National Park Service. Retrieved 2008-04-20.

James Dillon (October 9, 1974). "National Register of Historic Places Inventory-Nomination: James Dillon" (pdf). National Park Service. and Accompanying two photos, exterior, from 1974 (32 KB)

George Wythe, including mention of Richard Taliaferro having built the house in 1755

Taliaferro Times 

Virginia Gazette (DN) 3 July 1779

John Taliaferro
in the North America, Family Histories, 1500-2000
Page 515
Source Citation
Book Title: The Kinnears and their kin : a memorial volume of history, biography and genealogy, with Revolution
Name: John Taliaferro
Gender: Male
Father:
Robert Taliaferro
Mother:
Grymes
Spouse:
Sarah Smith
Child:
Lawrence Taliaferro
John Taliaferro
Richard Taliaferro
Zachariah Taliaferro

Original data: Raleigh Travers Green. Genealogical and Historical Notes on Culpeper County, Virginia. Embracing a Revised and Enlarged Edition of Dr. Philip Slaughter's History of St. Mark's Parish. Culpeper, VA, USA: Regional Publishing Company, 1900.

Name: Mott
Residence Date: 1707
Residence Place: Rappahannock
Comments: 1748 . Culpeper county begins its career on historical ground. Its territory originally embracing what is now Culpeper, Madison and Rappahannock , was the subject of a protracted controversy, involving the title to several million acres of land. The entire tract of land "within the heads of the rivers Tappahannock , alias Rappahannock , and Quirough , or Potomac , the courses of those rivers, and the Bay of Chesapayoak , &c.," was granted at different times, by Kings Charles I. and II., to Lord Hopton , the Earl of St. Albans , and others, and subsequently by King James to Lord Culpeper , who had purchased the rights of the other parties. Lord Fairfax , who married the daughter of Lord Culpeper , became the proprietor of this princely domain, commonly known as the Northern Neek . In 1705 Governor Nott , of Virginia , in the name of the King, granted 1920 acres of land to Henry Beverly , in the forks of the North and South branches of the Rappahannock River . Robert Carter , commonly known as King Carter , who was Fairfax 's agent, objected to the grant, as being within the limits of Lord Fairfax 's grant. The question then arose whether the South (the Rapidan ) or the North branch of the Rappahannock was the chief stream. The Rapidan , named after the English Queen, contested the supremacy of the Indian Rappahannock . The Governor and Council of Virginia appointed commissioners to meet those of Fairfax , and survey the said rivers. The joint commission reported in 1706 that the streams seemed to be of equal magnitude. In 1733 Lord Fairfax complained to the King that patents had been granted, in the name of the Crown, in the disputed territory. Mr. Carter himself, the agent of Fairfax , had taken grants from the Crown, to two tracts within the forks of the Rappahannock River . The King in council, ordered the Governor of Virginia to appoint another commission. On the part of the Crown he appointed William Byrd , of Westover , John Robinson , of Piscataway, Essex county , and John Grymes , of Brandon, Middlesex county, Virginia . The commissioners of Fairfax were Charles Carter , William Berkley and William Fairfax . Omitting the survey of the Potomac , as outside of our subject, we confine ourselves to the survey of the Rapidan . Mr. Graeme , with Mr. Hume as assistant, was commissioned on the part of the Crown, and Mr. Thomas on the part of Lord Fairfax , "to survey and measure the South Branch of the Rappahannock (the Rapidan ,) from the fork to the head spring, and return an exact map of the same, and describe all the runs and creeks that run into it." Colonel Byrd says:--"While we stayed at Fredericksburg we lodged at Colonel Henry Willis 's, but kept a magnificent table at the ordinary, and entertained all gentlemen who came to visit us, which were many. We then went to the fork of the river, and found the North branch to be wider by three poles and nine links, though it was objected by my Lord's Commissioners that the South was made narrower by an island that runs along the south shore. We carried a surloin of beef from Colonel Carter 's, and picked it as clean as a pack of wolves would those of a wounded deer. The same gentleman furnished us with strong beer, but forgot to bring a vessel to drink it from. However, we supplied that want with the shell of a poor terrapin, which we destroyed, as Henry VIII. did Cardinal Wolsey , for the sake of his house. We then proceeded to Germantown , where Governor Spotswood received us very courteously, and lest we should have forgotten the battles of Marlborough , he fought them all over again, for the nine-and-fortieth Taliaferro , Thornton , and Russell , as follows:--John Taliaferro , gentleman, aged forty-nine years, being summoned, saith:--"About the year 1707 he came to live where he now lives, above Snow Creek , nine miles below the falls, and there were then but three settlements above his house, on the south side of the river. He had been acquainted with the fork of the river above twenty-four years, and that one of the forks was called South River until Governor Spottswood , about twenty years ago, named the south branch Rapidan , and it has eversince been so caled." Francis Thornton , of Caroline , gentleman, aged fifty-three years and upwards, being sworn, declared:--"About thirty years ago he came to dwell where he now lives, on the lower side of Snow Creek , and there were but two settlements above his house, the uppermost of which was about four miles below the Falls. He had been acquainted with the forks of the river about twenty-seven years, and that one was called the South and the other the North Branch." William Russel , aged fifty-six years, being sworn saith:--"He has known the Great Fork of the Rappahannock River thirty-five years as a hunter, and one of the branches was always called South River until he heard Governor Spotswood name South River Rapidan , and the other river has been called Rappahannock ; that the uppermost settlement thirty years ago was Montjoy 's tobacco house, now Colonel Carter 's quarter, on the north side of the river; that he saw some posts of the house on Mott 's land, three or four miles above the Falls, which was said to have been burned by the Indians near thirty years ago."

Original data:

Mackenzie, George Norbury, and Nelson Osgood Rhoades, editors. Colonial Families of the United States of America: in Which is Given the History, Genealogy and Armorial Bearings of Colonial Families Who Settled in the American Colonies From the Time of the Settlement of Jamestown, 13th May, 1607, to the Battle of Lexington, 19th April, 1775. 7 volumes. 1912. Reprinted, Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc., 1966, 1995.

Description
This collection consists of the entire seven volume set of Colonial Families of the United States of America: in Which is Given the History, Genealogy and Armorial Bearings of Colonial Families Who Settled in the American Colonies From the Time of the Settlement of Jamestown, 13th May, 1607, to the Battle of Lexington, 19th April, 1775

Original data: The Virginia Genealogical Society. Virginia Genealogical Society Quarterly and Magazine of Virginia Genealogy. Page 32

Description
This dataset makes available the first 35 volumes (1963-1997) of the Virginia Genealogical Society Quarterly, (VGSQ), the quarterly publication of the Virginia Genealogical Society (Virginia, U.S.A.). From its inception the Virginia Genealogical Society publication policy has emphasized the presentation of manuscript records not readily available to the research public. Researchers will find tombstone and Bible records, military records, account books, tithable lists, unrecorded or lost wills and other records from burned counties, marriage records, tax lists, naturalizations, legislative petitions, order books, items showing migrations, chancery suits, rental lists and church records among these volumes. Material covers both the present state of Virginia and the area that was once Virginia but is now Kentucky and West Virginia as well as that portion of Pennsylvania once called the District of West Augusta.

Original data: Page 138

Mackenzie, George Norbury, and Nelson Osgood Rhoades, editors. Colonial Families of the United States of America: in Which is Given the History, Genealogy and Armorial Bearings of Colonial Families Who Settled in the American Colonies From the Time of the Settlement of Jamestown, 13th May, 1607, to the Battle of Lexington, 19th April, 1775. 7 volumes. 1912. Reprinted, Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc., 1966, 1995.

Description
This collection consists of the entire seven volume set of Colonial Families of the United States of America: in Which is Given the History, Genealogy and Armorial Bearings of Colonial Families Who Settled in the American Colonies From the Time of the Settlement of Jamestown, 13th May, 1607, to the Battle of Lexington, 19th April, 1775

None of these are valid genealogical sources
Links

• http://www.genfan.com/getperson.php?personID=I905&tree=MASTER
• http://www.sharpwriters.com/genealogy/taliaferro.html
• https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/72894509/richard-taliaferro

Information added by a user from a unverified and unsourced from a personal website:

Family - Please Note the following information is not a factual source but is a family website and 'Probabaly and most likely is not fact but opinion - much historic documentation and publications show a different ancestry:

http://www.sharpwriters.com/genealogy/taliaferro.html#richard

One of the resources I've found most frustrating (for reasons explained in Chapter XI) but also most endearing gives the following biography of the family:

Rose BERRYMAN was born in the historic County of Westmoreland, Virginia, probably in the year 1708. She came of distinguished ancestry, her father, Major Benjamin BERRYMAN, being a man of prominence in the Colony....

Rose BERRYMAN was one among a family of seventeen children, and she spent her girlhood days on the BERRYMAN estate in Westmoreland County. On June 10, 1726, she was united in marriage to Captain Richard TALIAFERRO of Caroline County. Their home was blest with thirteen children, one of whom died in infancy. This family resided in Caroline County and probably belonged to St. Thomas' Parish, the records of which have been destroyed. Captain Richard TALIAFERRO was a large landholder and patented 10,000 acres in the present counties of Amherst and Nelson. He passed away on September 27, 1748. The cause of his death is unknown; although traditional accounts in the family of his granddaughter, Anna TALIAFERRO McCRARY state that he was killed while crossing the Potomac on a flatboat, and only a few of his men escaped death.

The sad loss of her husband left Rose BERRYMAN TALIAFERRO with entire responsibility of her home and the rearing of twelve children. She reared and educated them according to the standards of the old Virginia Colony; breathing into their lives love in its truest form; love for one another; love for their fellowman; love for their country; and love for their God. Several of her sons and grandsons served with honor and distinction in the Revolution; one son, Dr. John TALIAFERRO, being not only a soldier, but a prominent physician and a Baptist Minister. In her declining years she could have pointed to these boys with pride and said, 'These are my Jewels.' Her parents could not have chosen a more fitting name for her than Rose. In the garden of life she lived and grew and bloomed, not for herself, but for the pleasure of others.... Though she sleeps today in an unmarked grave, she is not forgotten.... [NOTE]

Children

http://www.sharpwriters.com/genealogy/taliaferro.html#richard

(Listed here but Sarah TALIAFERRO, born June 7, 1727, died 1769; married John LEWIS in 1750; is not their child--Sarah Lewis was the daughter of Robert Taliaferro, Ill and Ann Pittman.)

1. Benjamin TALIAFERRO, born 1728, died 1751, without issue;
2. Zachariah TALIAFERRO, born August 29, 1730, died 1811; married Mary BOUTWELL in 1749;
3. Richard TALIAFERRO, born February 15, 1731, Caroline County; died in infancy.
4. Dr. John TALIAFERRO, born April 7, 1733, Caroline County, Virginia; died April 7, 1821; Captain in the Revolutionary War. Married, about 1755, Mary HARDIN, and he may have married, after her death, a second wife, Lydia HOWARD, in 1814.
5. Charles TALIAFERRO, who married Isabella McCULLOUGH, is the subject of the next section (J);
6. Beheathland TALIAFERRO, a daughter born August 20, 1738, Caroline County, Virginia;
7. Peter TALIAFERRO born February 12, 1740, Caroline County, Virginia; married Anne HACKLEY;
8. Elizabeth TALIAFERRO born November 2, 1741, Caroline County, Virginia; twin to Rose; married Zachary HAWKINS;
9. Rose TALIAFERRO, born November 2, 1741; twin to Elizabeth;
10. Mary Berryman TALIAFERRO, born October 6, 1745, Caroline County, Virginia; married ____ WORTHAM;
11. Francis TALIAFERRO born October 9, 1745, Caroline County, Virginia;
12. Richard TALIAFERRO, born September 2, 1747, Amherst County, Virginia; a Revolutionary Soldier.