N.C. State - 'Pop' Taylor - Confederate forebears...

[Bruce Vail]

This is Pop Taylor. He was known all around North Carolina in the 1950s and 1960s as the Director of Alumni Affairs at N.C. State.

Among other things, Herman Ward Taylor was a dedicated amateur genealogist. He left an invaluable record of his early years in rural eastern North Carolina where his family, friends and neighbors were all ex-Confederates or Confederate sympathizers.

Pop was a dominating personality. I knew him only briefly in his old age, but he was a force to be reckoned with even in his late 80s when he was sick and weak.

Pop was the grandfather of my wife, Carol Taylor, and the great grandfather of our son Nicholas Taylor Vail

 

[Bruce Vail]

Herman Ward Taylor was born June 6, 1900 in Magnolia, N.C., the son of Major Bayard Taylor and Mary Vance (Ward) Taylor.

Major Taylor was the son of James Stokes Taylor and Julia Jane (Carr) Taylor.

James Taylor was the son of Jacob Wells Taylor and Mary Elizabeth (Linton) Taylor.

Jacob W. Taylor (1821-1910) was a Lieutenant in the 1st North Carolina Heavy Artillery and spent much of the war manning the fortifications around the port of Wilmington. Following the fall of Fort Fisher in 1865, Taylor became a member of the so-called "Red Infantry" and was engaged in the fighting leading up to the Battle of Bentonville. At Bentonville, Lt. Taylor was captured by Union forces and shipped to the prison camp at Pt. Lookout, Md., and then to the camp at Johnson's Island, Ohio.

Released from imprisonment, Taylor returned to Magnolia and resumed the life of a farmer. He would survive for another 45 years.

 

[Bruce Vail]

Pop Taylor also had a grandfather on his mother's side who was a Confederate veteran.

His mother, Mary Vance (Ward) Taylor was the oldest child of George Washington Ward and Mary Priscilla (Alderman) Ward.

G. W Taylor was a Lieutenant in the the 3rd North Carolina State Troops and spent most of the war fighting with the Army of Northern Virginia. The first year of war was relatively quiet but that ended with the unit's baptism of fire at the battle of Mechanicsville in 1862. They were up badly cut up in Miller's Cornfield at Antietam, where Ward was wounded. He recovered and returned to duty for the 1863 campaigning: he fought at Chancellorsville and Gettysburg. He received a second wound at the Battle of Payne's Farm in Oct. 1863. The 3rd North Carolina suffered disaster in 1864 at the battle of Spotsylvania Courthouse. Some 80-90 percent of regiment was killed, wounded or captured in the fighting at the Mule Shoe May 12. Ward was wounded and unable to serve when his unit participated in Gen Early's invasion of Maryland later that year. He did return to serve in the defense of Petersburg late '64-early'65.

Unmarried in 1861, he survived the war and married in 1867. The couple had eight children before his accidental death fighting a forest fire in 1884.

 

[Rebforever]

Pop Taylor also had a grandfather who was a Confederate veteran.

His mother, Mary Vance (Ward) Taylor was the oldest child of George Washington Ward and Mary Priscilla (Alderman) Ward.

G. W Taylor was a Lieutenant in the the 3rd North Carolina State Troops and spent most of the war fighting with the Army of Northern Virginia. The first year of war was relatively quiet but that ended with the unit's baptism of fire at the battle of Mechanicsville in 1862. They were up badly cut up in Miller's Cornfield at Antietam, where Ward was wounded. He recovered and returned to duty for the 1863 campaigning: he fought at Chancellorsville and Gettysburg. He received a second wound at the Battle of Payne's Farm in Oct. 1863. The 3rd North Carolina suffered disaster in 1864 at the battle of Spotsylvania Courthouse. Some 80-90 percent of regiment was killed, wounded or captured in the fighting at the Mule Shoe May 12. Ward was wounded and unable to serve when his unit participated in Gen Early's invasion of Maryland later that year. He did return to serve in the defense of Petersburg late '64-early'65.

He survived the war and married (for the first time) in 1867. The couple had eight children.

Nicely done!

 

[Greywolf]

Herman Ward Taylor was born June 6, 1900 in Magnolia, N.C., the son of Major Bayard Taylor and Mary Vance (Ward) Taylor.

Major Taylor was the son of James Stokes Taylor and Julia Jane (Carr) Taylor.

James Taylor was the son of Jacob Wells Taylor and Mary Elizabeth (Linton) Taylor.

Jacob W. Taylor (1821-1910) was a Lieutenant in the 1st North Carolina Heavy Artillery and spent much of the war manning the fortifications around the port of Wilmington. Following the fall of Fort Fisher in 1865, Taylor became a member of the so-called "Red Infantry" and was engaged in the fighting leading up to the Battle of Bentonville. At Bentonville, Lt. Taylor was captured by Union forces and shipped to the prison camp at Pt. Lookout, Md., and then to the camp at Johnson's Island, Ohio.

Released from imprisonment, Taylor returned to Magnolia and resumed the life of a farmer. He would survive for another 45 years.

I had relatives, 2 that i know of, who also were part of the red infantry also based in the many forts in the cape fear area. 2 or 3 companies were sent to SC as Sherman approached and ended up in Hardy's Brigade in McLaws Division. Hardy's Brigade consisted of the 50th NC, 10th Battalion Heavy Artillery, and i believe the 77th, which i believe was a Sr. regiment. Thanks for posting, enjoyed reading.

 

[Bruce Vail]

Lt. Jacob W. Taylor was member of an artillery unit variously known as the "River Guards" or "Ellis' Battery" or "Taylor's Battery." Commissioned as Captain in March 1862, Charles B. Ellis served as commander only briefly, resigning in October 1862. He was replaced John William Taylor, who was Captain and namesake of the battery until his death at the Battle of Bentonville.

Capt. John W. Taylor was the older brother of Lt. Jacob Taylor. A third brother, Pvt. Major J. Taylor, also served in the battery. There were also other Taylor cousins and in-laws in the the battery. The unit had been raised largely in Duplin County, NC, which was a rural farming area, so there was a broad and confusing network of kinship ties that united a lot of the men.

The battery was first assigned to Fort Strong, where it remained about one year. The unit did garrison duty in Wilmington for a while before being assigned to Fort Campbell. Fort Campbell guarded the "Old Inlet" so it was largely sidelined during the attacks on Fort Fisher in early 1865. Following the fall of Fisher, Taylor's Battery was re-assigned to Fort Anderson, but evacuated that position under Union pressure on Feb. 20, 1865. Acting as Red Infantry, members of the battery fought at the battle of Kinston on March 8 and Bentonville on March 19. The unit was on picket duty in Elizabethtown when news of Gen. Johnston's surrender was received. Without any formal surrender proceeding, the battery was disbanded and the men sent home.

 

[Bruce Vail]

Pop Taylor spent years researching, writing and editing on the subject of his family history.

For those interested in Civil War history, his most interesting work was A History of William Taylor and Sarah Jones and Their Descendants, Litho Industries Inc, Raleigh, N.C. 1972. The book was a communal effort among different branches of the family, but Pop was the editor and did much of the writing.

Upon completion of the book, Pop donated the historical documents he had collected to the archives of N.C State, where they are available to historical researchers today.

 

[unionblue]

You're lucky and extremely fortunate to have a relation who took the time to find out about his family history.

 

[Bruce Vail]

In my own research, I learned that Pop made a mistake that is probably pretty common among amateur genealogists: He was too trusting of family lore.

The big example was he repeated a statement that he had surely heard dozens of times as a kid: That his grandfather G.W. Ward had been wounded in Pickett's Charge at Gettysburg.

Well, Lt. Ward was not wounded in Pickett's Charge. He was at Gettysburg, however, in Gen. Ewell's corps on Culp's Hill. His unit was badly cut up there on July 3, 1863 but there is no record of Ward being wounded.

He was wounded in the Gettysburg campaign, though, and that is probably where some of the confusion originated. He was cited by his commanders for his wound in the Gettysburg campaign fight at Mine Run, and that got shortened to 'wounded at Gettysburg' in some published sources.

Pop apparently did not know about the documentation of Lt. Ward's military history available in the National Archives or he doubtless would have included that information in his book. It's a small mistake and I don't hold it against Pop.

 

[Bruce Vail]

You're lucky and extremely fortunate to have a relation who took the time to find out about his family history.

I suffer from am embarassment of riches in this department. Three of Pop Taylor's book projects have been on my home shelf for years. but I just learned in recent months that there are several volumes on the other side of the family -- the Vails -- that were published long ago that give a pretty thorough account of the first few generations of the family. Taken together, the volumes give a good history of the Vails 1650 to 1800.

 

[CSA Today]

Herman Ward Taylor was born June 6, 1900 in Magnolia, N.C., the son of Major Bayard Taylor and Mary Vance (Ward) Taylor.

Major Taylor was the son of James Stokes Taylor and Julia Jane (Carr) Taylor.

James Taylor was the son of Jacob Wells Taylor and Mary Elizabeth (Linton) Taylor.

Jacob W. Taylor (1821-1910) was a Lieutenant in the 1st North Carolina Heavy Artillery and spent much of the war manning the fortifications around the port of Wilmington. Following the fall of Fort Fisher in 1865, Taylor became a member of the so-called "Red Infantry" and was engaged in the fighting leading up to the Battle of Bentonville. At Bentonville, Lt. Taylor was captured by Union forces and shipped to the prison camp at Pt. Lookout, Md., and then to the camp at Johnson's Island, Ohio.

Released from imprisonment, Taylor returned to Magnolia and resumed the life of a farmer. He would survive for another 45 years.

The captain [William Hollingsworth] of my last ship [USS YFNB-12] was from Magnolia, he probably knew Mr. Taylor.

 

[Bruce Vail]

In remembrance of Pop Taylor on Memorial Day 2020. Not killed in battle, but served honorably in the US armed forces in the WWI era. He was proud of descent from veterans of the Revolutionary War and a SAR member.