My Taylor family begins with one Elijah E. Taylor who was born on June 13, 1804. We do not know where he was born. He married an Irish immigrant named Anne Cochran. She was born in Dublin Ireland on November 13, 1802. I am not sure just when Anne came to America. Elijah and Anne Taylor lived in Clarksburg, Ross County, Ohio in the early 1830's. There they had at least two children. Those children were:
Job Taylor b. 12 OCT 1832 d. 06 JUL 1911 m. Sarah Baker
Elijah E. Taylor, Jr. b. 23 JAN 1834 d. 02 JUL 1887 m. Catherine Peck
Knowing how proliferative the following generations of Taylors were, I am sure that there were more children born to Elijah, Sr. and Anne, but they have not been found to date. Elijah, Sr. lived only a few short years with his children. He died on September 1, 1835 in Deer Creek Township, Picaway County, Ohio and is interred in the Taylor Cemetery there. Anne, after her husband's death, moved with a party consisting of mostly Pecks and Aters to Piatt County, Illinois. Previously other groups of Aters and Pecks had made the same move in about 1829 and in about 1840. Ann and her children made this move on horseback in about 1853. Anne Cochran Taylor died in Willow Branch Township, Piatt County, Illinois on 01 JUN 1863.
Elijah Taylor, Jr. was a farmer and stock raiser. He was favorably known in Piatt County, Illinois and the surrounding areas. Testaments to his good graces can be found in the history books of that county. On February 13, 1861 he married Catherine Peck whose father was Adonijah Peck and whose mother was Mary "Polly" Ater Peck. There were married in Willow Branch, Piatt County, Illinois. He rented a farm near Bement for three years after his marriage, saving money to buy land of his own. Elijah and Catherine Taylor first bought 80 acres of land in Willow Branch Township in 1864. It is said in the history books that this land had not heretofore seen a plow. Elijah and Catherine worked hard to clear and cultivate the land into a fine farm. In the summer of 1871 they built a large brick home on the land, said to be one of the finest in the region. Between seasons of planting and reaping, Elijah and Catherine found time to raise a large family. Children of this union were:
Edwin Taylor b. 15 DEC 1861 d. 11 DEC 1863 Charles Adlai Taylor b. 14 OCT 1863 d. 28 NOV 1933 m. Mary Z. Brandenburg Ulla Dell Taylor b. 28 JAN 1865 d. 27 JUN 1892 m. Courtland Davies Alonzo J. Taylor b. 20 SEP 1866 d. 24 JUN 1948 m. Ulla Smith James Taylor b. 1867 Louis Taylor b. 30 JUL 1868 d. 08 NOV 1958 m. Norman Begdam Anna B. Taylor b. 30 NOV 1871 d. 27 DEC 1951 m. William Burns Ernest Taylor b. 08 APR 1874 d. 27 DEC 1939 m. Mollie Adams Arbia Delbert Taylor b. 10 JAN 1878 d. 05 SEP 1964 m. Ida Blanch Webb
Elijah Taylor, Jr. worked very hard all of his life and this is probably the reason his life was short. He died on July 2, 1887, leaving his wife, Catherine to raise eight children; of whom the eldest was 24 and the youngest 9; as well as tend the now over 120 acres of farm. Elijah is buried in Willow Branch Township. Piatt County, Illinois. Catherine Peck Taylor, according to present day Piatt County Historians was an upright and sturdy woman who ruled her children as she did her late husbands farm and business. A woman of unswerving honesty and truthfulness, a pillar in her church, and an influence for much good in her community. She was a kind mother and a wise father, a true friend to her neighbors. She was a woman of whom to know was to respect. Catherine Peck Taylor died in Willow Branch Township. Piatt County, Illinois on January 19, 1936.
Arbia Delbert Taylor was the youngest of 9 children born to Elijah Taylor, Jr. and Catherine Peck Taylor. He was a mere 9 years old when his father was lost to this world. He spent his early life working on the farm left by his father and built into a burgeoning industry by his mother and elder brothers. Thus being his upbringing, "Arb" Taylor had little choice when it came to careers. He was a farmer. in 1905 he married Ida Blanch Webb, daughter of Jasper Newton Webb and Frances Etta Lynn. "Blanch" was born September 17, 1885 in Coles County, Illinois. Arb and Blanch went to farming in Bement, Piatt County, Illinois. They were the parents of:
Oliver Duane Taylor b. 28 FEB 1905 d. 24 MAR 1983 m. Mary Louise Tarchala Bessie Laverne Taylor b. 13 APR 1906 d. 08 MAY 1980 m. William Albert Durbin Opal Marie Taylor b. 04 AUG 1907 d. 00 Mar 1938 m. Catherine Evelyn Taylor b. 20 FEB 1909 d. 13 FEB 1977 m. Elmer Sheets Aubrey Delbert Taylor b. 05 JUL 1915 d. m. Irene Gretzke Paul Edward Taylor b. 10 JUN 1926 d. m. Barbara Ball
Arb Taylor died on September 5, 1964 in Decatur, Macon County, Illinois. He was 86 years old. While I do not remember my Great Grandfather, Arb Taylor, I do remember my Great Grandmother, Ida Blanch Webb Taylor. She was in her golden years at my earliest memory and was in a wheel chair. She died June 4, 1973.
Oliver Duane Taylor was raised in Bement, Illinois, on the farm of his parents. The eldest of 6 children he was a major part in the operation of the farm as well as the family. In about 1928 Oliver left home for the Steel Mills of Gary, Indiana. He might have seen that by 1925 Gary, Indiana was a boom town. It's steel mills were operating both day and night and were attracting hoards of laborers from Chicago as well as foreign countries with better than average wages and better living conditions. It was a very affluent community at the time (What happened there?). My grandfather, Oliver, told me once that he left home because his father had promised to him the proceeds of the sale of a prize sow he had raised from a piglet, but when time for the sale, the depression just kicking in to high gear caused his father to keep the money. Oliver was not happy so he left to get a job in the big city. Oliver landed a position at the JM Foster Construction company. He was a mechanic for the heavy earth moving equipment. Oliver married Mary Louise Tarchala, daughter of Andro Tarchala and Caroline Dzik. Before marriage, Mary worked in the Woolworths department store at the candy counter. They were married on February 17, 1929 at the courthouse in Valparaiso, Porter County, Indiana. Mary was a first generation American. Her father was born in Austria and her mother was born in Radlow, Poland. Oliver and Mary Tarchala Taylor lived in Merrillville, Indiana in the days when it was nothing more than a small hamlet. Oliver and Mary had the following children:
Irene Delores Taylor b. 25 DEC 1929 d. 02 APR 1985 m. Everett Leroy Cleveland Andrew Delbert Taylor b. 12 DEC 1931 m. Arline Rybicki Catherine Louise Taylor b. 10 JAN 1933 m. David Blank Oliver Lawrence Taylor b. 21 APR 1935 d. 17 OCT 1958 Dorothy Ann Taylor b. 23 APR 1937 m. Preston King Edward Wayne Taylor b. 15 MAR 1938 d. 1941 Wayne Taylor b. 10 APR 1939 d. 10 APR 1939 Berniece Elaine Taylor b. 14 JUL 1940 m. Albert A. Gorrell, Jr. infant Taylor b. 16 OCT 1941 d. 16 OCT 1941 Paul Richard Taylor b. 23 JUN 1946 d. 24 OCT 1968 Arbia Dewayne Taylor b. 21 JUL 1951
Oliver continued working at JM Foster until his forced retirement in 1977. He had been with the company for over 50 years. Government regulations at that time forced him to retire at 72 years of age. It was said that Oliver was one of the most intuitive and productive mechanics the company had ever known and they were sorry to see him leave no matter his age. Mary and Oliver were married for 54 years when Oliver died. He passed away March 24, 1983 in Porter Memorial Hospital, Valparaiso, Indiana, just blocks away from the courthouse builing where he started his life with Mary Tarchala Taylor. Mary Taylor continued life without her husband for 16 more years. She died February 17, 1999 at the age of 92. Mary and Oliver were blessed with 21 grandchildren; 44 great-grandchildren; and 17 great-great-granchildren to date. They were greatly loved and are greatly missed.
Berniece "Bunny" Elaine Taylor was born July 14, 1940 in Crown Point, Lake County, Indiana. She met Albert Allen Gorrell, Jr. at his going-away-to-the-army party. Bunny was friends with Albert's sister Sharon Rose Gorrell. Ablber and Bunny were 16 years old when they met. Albert went off to the Army and kept in touch with Bunny through letters and phone calls. Upon his release in 1960, the couple were married. They had these children:
Cheryl Lynn Gorrell b. 16 JUN 1961 m. Michael E. Youn
Curtis Jones
Allen Dean Gorrell b. 05 APR 1963 m. Deanna Lynn Garetto
Sol L. Gorrell b. 13 OCT 1964 m. Christine Carole Nehemiah
Joseph Ray Gorrell b. 30 SEP 1966 m. Debra Peloso