Hampshire County, WV FREDERICK / HAMPSHIRE COUNTIES, VIRGINIA - Taylor, Cartmill Surnames ********************************************************************** USGENWEB NOTICE: These electronic pages may NOT be reproduced in any format for profit or presentation by any other organization or persons. Persons or organizations desiring to use this material, must obtain the written consent of the contributor, or the legal representative of the submitter, and contact the listed USGenWeb archivist with proof of this consent. ********************************************************************** ********************************************************************** The records for this work have been submitted by Phil Cartmille, E-mail address: , March, 1999. ********************************************************************** ********************************************************************** FREDERICK / HAMPSHIRE COUNTIES, VIRGINIA Hampshire County was formed in 1753, as Old Frederick County was broken down into smaller, more manageable geographic units. In earlier days, the area was a hunting ground for the Native Americans who lived there. The Welsh frontiersman Morgan Morgan, and the German, Joist Hite are among the first known European settlers to the area. Part of the county was included in a land grant given to Thomas Lord Farifax, and later surveyed by George Washington. Earlier in this century some of our Cartmill family had migrated from the early Quaker settlements around the triangle of NJ, MD, and PA, and settled at Winchester, in Old Frederick County. Winchester lies at the northern end of the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia. Today Frederick County is in Virginia, and since 1862, Hampshire County is in West Virginia. About 35 miles to the west of Winchester, is a place called Mechanicsburg Gap, which is a scenic canyon, formed by Mill Creek cutting a channel through the mountains. The Gap had an old Indian trail, and this became the principle route for white settlers to use as they made their way westward. It became known as the Northwest Turnpike, and later was named the George Washington Highway (US Route 50). West of Mechanicsburg Gap, about three miles to the west of the town of Romney, is a large stone house called the "Burg". This house was the manor house of Issac Means, who came from Tyrone County, Northern Ireland about 1730. He first settled in Boston, and then came to Hampshire County, in 1769. During the Revolutionary War he took by patent from the Commonwealth of Virginia, 321 acres in Dumpalin Hollow and 400 acres in Cores Hollow, which is just behind the "Burg" property. Later he acquired all the land along the west side of Mill Creek, including the mountain. At about that time he acquired the "Burg" manor house and lived there, the rest of his life. During the Revolutionary War my fourth great-grandfather, Daniel Taylor, was a soldier in the Continental Line, enlisting as a private and reaching the rank of Sargent by the end of the conflict. Daniel Taylor was born in Hunterdon County, NJ in 1758. In 1789 he moved to Hampshire County, VA, and settled at Reese's Mill, just south of Headsville, not far from Mechanicsburg Gap. Daniel's son, Edward Taylor, was my third great-grandfather and he and married Margaret Means, the daughter of the aforementioned Issac Means. Edward and Margaret eventually acquired the "Burg", and Edward built a tannery on the property and operated the business during his life. Edward's son, William (who is not in my direct line), inherited the "Burg" and built two other tanneries, one at Vanderlip, and one at Petersburg. At the time of Daniel Taylor's move to Reese's Mill, my third great-grandfather, Thomas Cartmill, was 40 miles east, in Winchester, VA, packing up his family for the move to Bath County, KY. The only route west, was the Northwest Turnpike, which would take the Cartmill's through Mechanicsburg Gap and within a stone's throw of the Taylor's at Reese's Mill. There is no evidence that they knew each other, or ever met. My second great-grandfather, Warner T. Taylor, and his wife, Jane Blackburn, came to Ohio in 1809 and settled in Madison County. One of their sons, Warner T. Taylor, Jr. and his wife Elizabeth Tanner established their home on land in the northwest corner of Pickaway County, just over the line from Madison County, near Derby. Their children were: William E., Charles W., Nancy Jane, Frank, and my grandmother Laura Virginia Taylor. My second great-grandfather William Cartmill and his wife Isabel Ferguson, moved from KY, to Georgesville, Ohio in 1812. In 1825, they moved into Madison County on Glade Run, just west of Georgesville. One of their sons, Alfred Cartmill, and his wife Margaret Chaffin Freeman, established their home on the London-Circleville Road, just SE of Big Plain and less than three miles up the road from the Taylor's. Their children were: Grace, Clyde, Rosa, Marcia, Gaile, Dell, and my grandfather, Pearl Alfred Cartmill. It is clear that Warner T. Taylor, Jr., and Alfred Cartmill knew each other, due to their proximity and the fact that they were both engaged in farming and stock trading. The only written evidence of a relationship between the families that I have is that Warner Taylor was a pallbearer at Alfred Cartmill's funeral. Alfred was 62 years old when my grandfather Pearl was born, and when he died in 1895, my grandfather was 14 years old. My grandmother Laura Taylor would have been about the same age. My grandfather Pearl Cartmill and my grandmother Laura Taylor were married on April 15, 1903 at the Taylor home. After over a hundred years of living nearby, and crossing paths with each other, the two families were formally united. Miscellaneous Historic Notes: My third great-grandfather Edward Taylor's son William, who inherited the "Burg", was married to Margaret Parker. William owned many slaves before the Civil War, and he served in the Confederate Army. The "Burg" was located near several battle sites of that war, and the house was used as a headquarters for both the Union and the Confederate Armies. William and Margaret had a daughter, Harriett Ellen Taylor, who married Samuel Holland Williams. Their son, George H. Williams later became a United States Senator. My fourth great-grandfather Daniel Taylor was married a second time to Sarah Larue. Their son Silas had a daughter, Mary Ellen Taylor who married John Jacob Cornwell. Their son John Jacob Cornwell, Jr. became governor of West Virginia, 1917-1921. PLC: Feb 1999