Welcome to The Taylors of North Carolina Family Web site!

THIS WEB SITE IS LONG OVERDUE FOR A MAJOR OVERHAUL AND UPDATE. PLEASE BE PATIENT UNTIL I CAN GET THE NEXT NOVEL PUBLISHED. I EVEN UPDATED FAMILY TREE MAKER SOFTWARE AND WILL REVISE AND CORRECT THE FAMILY TREES - REALLY!

This site was originally intended to provide an evolving history of the emergence of the Taylor family in Robeson County, North Carolina and a glimpse into the origins of the men and women who brought the names into North Carolina and where the names and people have gone.

This project has grown out far past any expectations to include our  Andrews, Grainger's, Owen's, Hardin's, Meare(s) McPhail's, Pit(t)man's, Walter's and Wishart's cousins and their ancestors, with some references to the Howell's, among many others. Entries are added, corrected or changed very often, as new information is found or contributed. Your help is welcomed and needed.

I am always learning something new. As long as I have been around North Carolina, I never knew "Ashpole" as the name of the community that grew into Fairmont, at least according to the volumes of Pitman records recently uncovered.

The military records have led me to the Lumberton Guards,  the working title for a historical novel set in the American Civil War, a work of fiction springing from the events that led to the enlistment of my great-grandfather Henry Taylor and his brothers John and Willis in the Lumberton Guards, later designated as A Company, 46th Regiment, North Carolina Troops, and Seminole Smoke, my next Young Adult novel set around Tampa Bay during the Second Seminole War.

The quest for information is exciting; the results often amazing. This site has family records, many old photos, conjecture and questions about our family and friends. Please take a look and use the contact link below to add to our information if you have something new, or something that corrects what we have. I am constantly amazed at the connections uncovered, largely through the efforts of our many cousins, some far removed. Any assistance to add or correct the information is greatly appreciated.

My principal genealogical research focus at this time is to find definitive proof for the family and parents of Lemuel Taylor, my 2nd great-grandfather. What I have now is tenuous, and suggestions would be welcomed.

All of the historical information in this collection is in the public domain as public records and documents. The narrative accounts of the battles of the Civil War were extracted from published accounts found in the multi-volume "North Carolina Troops, 1861-1865, A Roster," compiled by W. T. Jordan, Jr. and published by the Division of Archives and History, State of North Carolina. Family information came from both family sources and the Robeson County Library. Photos are from my personal collection.

Much of the genealogical information was provided orally, especially the modern-day links to our many living relatives, close and distant cousins, aunts, uncles, nephews and nieces.

Very little is proven, with the exception of the few document sources, and may well be corrected or modified as new and better information becomes available. This collection is what I believe is accurate today.

Updates to the family trees are in process and will be posted as they are finished.

A special thanks to the many people who have added to the collection, especially Tom Ellis Taylor, Leesa Whitten, Sam West, Sam Pait, Glenn and Wanda Taylor, Lisa Barber, Debra Ann Yamrus Dew, Michael Walters and Dianne Atkinsson, who provided much of the information to get me started. Much new information on our cowboy cousins Mear(e)s was provided by Pat Mears Robbins and updates on the Andrews was provided by Barbara Andrews Purifoy.

My wife Peggy (Doris) Grainger, has added volumes of information on her relatives: the Graingers, Owens, Johnsons and Howells, plus many of her close and more distant SC, GA, AL and FL cousins, with more to come.

What’s right is theirs, what’s wrong is mine.

John M. Taylor, Jr.