Hi all,
I have a DNA match with a Taylor family in America. I have traced the ancestry of the family that I match with to a Jacob Taylor who held land at Paquannock Morris Co New jersey from at least 1770 and who died in 1805.
Through circumstanstansial evidence and also that Jacob named his eldest son Ephraim, I am certain that Ephraim Taylor in Newark Essex Co New Jersey is Jacob's father. All the Taylors in the Paquannock records for that period are children of Jacob, so he is the first member of the family to settle there.
I have that Ephraim Taylor was involved in a Cout case at Newark in 1755. He was threatened with eviction from his 1000 acre property at Short Hills Newark. This was the period when there were Land Riots in New Jersey, the landholders were protesting the Quickrents that the Proprietors were charging the Landholders. In one instance the farmers broke into the Court buildings in Newark and released farmers that were held there.
The court case with Ephraim Taylor may have been connected with these disturbances, if he had withheld payment of the quickrent.
I have another reference to him where he signed a petition protesting tariffis on timber product and other things, no doubt he was a farmer then, in 1737.
In the court case Ephraim Taylor is designated "Snr" so he must have a son Ephraim. I have found a Will for a Thomas Taylor, Newark who died 25th Sept 1784, in which he names Ephraim Taylors as his father and provides for his maintenance. This must be Ephraim Taylor Jr who was still alive in 1784. Thomas also names his family members as a brother William with a daughter Sarah, Josiah with a daughter Rana, and a sister Elizabeth decd married to Isaac Headley with a daughter Eiizabeth. This is the only information that I have.
I have come to a dead end as to where I might find any more information on Ephraim Taylor
Snr. I estimate that he could have been born about 1710 and that his parents may have been the original immigrants into America, possibly about 1680 to 1690.
I might add that I am in Australia so am unable to conduct research into land records etc which might indicate how long Ephraim has held land at Newark and whether he has purchased it, or it has been passed on from his father.
I understand how few Colonial records and shipping records have survived , but I would very much like to find the origins of this family, whether they came from Ireland, Scotland or England.
My own ancestors were in Antrim ireland from 1734, but I do not know where they came from before that.
To find this information could very well be an impossible task. But perhaps someone might be able to point the way to more information on the family for me.
Wyanga
