In 1988, The Centennial History of Hurricane, WV was published to commemorate the town’s 100th anniversary. Since the Centennial History is now out of print, the Breeze is reprinting articles from the book as space allows. This week’s selection will be the 228th installment of the Centennial History.
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THE TAYLOR FAMILY
George Taylor and Mary Taylor had one known son, Adam Taylor, who married Mary Coxton-Clacksen. They had a son, Adam Taylor, who bought a farm, where the Town of Hurricane had its beginning. There, with his wife Catherine Holley, he farmed and had one son, Brooklyn Dalton Taylor, born 1890, and married Ada Dell Tanner in 1915. He was a rural mail carrier during World War I. Later he was a cattle farmer and real estate broker and builder and developer of many tracts. They had two sons, Jay and Dalton, and four daughters, Alvalee Potts of Ohio, Margarette Hulley of Florida, Melba Lafon of Huntington, WV, and Dorothy Jean Dick, killed in an auto wreck at age of 23. Alvalee was a government secretary; Margarette and Melba were government nurses in Huntington, WV.
Jay and Dalton went into several businesses including log milling, block manufacturing, developed several subdivisions in Hurricane and Teays Valley with around 400 houses mostly built for the working class. Dalton Taylor does the development and management in the field, while Jay Taylor takes care of the business part of the companies. Jay Taylor and Lula May (Morrison) Taylor have two sons, Alvin Lee and Charles Del, who have an interest in the companies, along with Dalton’s son-in-law, Danny Harshbarger, formerly of Milton, WV. Dalton and Harriet Morgan Taylor have four daughters, Carolyn, Nancy, Linda and Pam, who live in Teays Valley.
George and Mary Taylor came to Virginia, and settled near Thomas Jefferson, what is now known as Sinking Creek and Mountain Lake from England in the early 1780’s.
Adam Claxton Taylor, born March 1, 1829; Sarah Anna T. Smith, born March 27, 1832. Adam and Sarah married in 1853.
Children born to this union:
Son, unnamed, died at birth-born December 14, 1854.
Son, Columbus Washington-born December 25, 1855.
Son, Napleane A.-born December 25, 1857.
Daughter, Victoria Virginia-born April 27, 1860.
Daughter, Nancy Anna-born May 27, 1862.
Son, Clark McKew-born March 12, 1864.
Daughter, Emma Blanch-born March 11, 1867.
Son, James Adam-born October 18, 1868.
Son, Lyman Calvin-born April 25, 1870.
Daughter, Cora Effa-born April 5, 1872.
Son, Gideon Obed-born June 9, 1874.
Adam C. Taylor and Sarah, his wife, disagreed and parted. She went to Indiana to live with some of the children. Adam remarried Catherine Holley, and to this union was born:
Daughter, Omia Ealthe-born March 7 1888 (died as a child)
Son, Brooklyn Dalton-born December 10, 1890 (died March 30, 1974)
Son, Corbett Russel-born January 5, 1893 (died April 9, 1895)
Daughters, Allie and Alvah, twins born May 24, 1897.
Adam C. Taylor died October 21, 1901.
Note: Bartley Smith and Nancy Thomas Smith, presumed to be the father and mother of Sarah Anna T. Smith, are mentioned.
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A digital copy of the Centennial History can be obtained from the Hurricane City Hall for a small donation. For more information, call the City of Hurricane at (304) 562-5896.
