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Note: According to Nancy Rebecca Allen Deacon, Joseph A. Taylor's first wife was Hannah. Upon her death, he returned to England and married Hannah's sister Carolyn. This may have been the second husband of Carolyn, the first having been named Morris.
Buried at Hebron by the side of his second wife, Carolyn Copas Taylor. (Hebron Cemetery is apparently in Shepherdsville, KY. However, it may be in Louisville--see notes for Katie Elizabeth Taylor)
TAYLOR-COPAS ANCESTRY
AS DICTATED TO MARY TAYLOR BY JOSEPH ALEXANDER TAYLOR, 1ST, 1904/05
Joseph Alexander Taylor, 1st, Born: Paul St., Finsbury, London, England, April 4th 1828, Good Friday. Married to Hannah Copas, August 22nd, 1850 at Cripple Gate Within by an Episcopal Minister. Sailed for America from London Docks April 4th, 1851 in the sailing vessel Laurell, Capt. Knarneston. Reached America five (5) weeks. Landed in Quebec, Canada. Went by steamer to Montreal, Canada. Then to Toronto. Came to U.S. in 1859, from Berlin, Canada West to Cincinnati, Ohio. Married at the age of 22. Surviving children of union; Edwin Alexander Taylor, Born March 9th, 1853 in Upton Township on White river at "Taylor's End." Brought to U.S. in 1858; Caroline Alice, Born May 4, 1855, Canada. Brought to U.S. in 1859.
Hannah Copas, wife of Joseph Alexander Taylor 1st, born in Tatchan, near Newbury, Berkshire, England, August 2, 1832. She was a sister of Edwin Copas and George Copas who were soldiers in the Crimean War. Edwin Copas received the Victorian Cross. He was sent to India but never returned. Both George and Edwin Copas were in the Light Brigate, the Battle of the Six Hundred. George Copas died in Pensacola, Fla. They were also in the battle of "The Black Hole of Calcutta." (This is vague)
DICTATED BY JOSEPH ALEXANDER TAYLOR 1ST TO MARY TAYLOR IN THE SPRING OF 1911
Joseph Alexander Taylor 1st, son of Joseph Taylor and Margaret Alexander Taylor, who was the daughter of Margaret Lowe, who was cousin of king Robert Bruce of Scotland and the Duke of Athol. She married Martin Alexander, a Game-Keeper's son and was disinherited by the Lowes.
Sisters of Joseph Alexander Taylor 1st, were Caroline and Alice; Brothers were Robert, Richard. The father of Joseph Alexander Taylor, who was Joseph Taylor, was a Guard in St. James palace. Joseph Alexander was born in the shadow of West Minister Abbey.
MEMOIRS OF MAMA (AUNT MAGGIE)
Joseph Taylor served in His Majesty's Navy for nine years then went as a Royal Guard to the court of St. James and served there until the death of the King (William the fourth) in 1833. This is the King who preceded Queen Victoria. Joseph Taylor was married to Margaret Alexander, of Scottish parentage. Once lived on Trafalga Square, London.
Joseph Alexander Taylor, 1st, son of the above union, was eight years old at the time of the Coronation of Queen Victoria. He was one of eight pages at her Coronation (or her wedding). He was born in St. James Palace, within the shadow of West Minister Abbey.
Richard, a younger brother of Jos. A. Taylor, 1st, came to America later, about 1858 and was Lieutenant in the Union Army. He was later a Druggist in Burlington, Iowa, where he died. He married a widow, with six daughters, named Kate Scott.
Joseph Alexander Taylor, 1st, came to America in 1845. He was one of eight little Page boys at the wedding of Queen Victoria and King Albert. He was dressed in white satin suit with a red sash. His Mother, Margaret Alexander Taylor, a descendent of King Bruce of Scotland was a guest. He was given a piece of the wedding cake of Queen Victoria, which he brought to America and it was destroyed in a fire, along with other heirlooms, in Columbia, Tenn. Carolyn Alice Catinna, daughter of J. A. Taylor, ate this cake, taken out of the family bible.
NOTE: You can see that all through there are contradictions, but I was a child and Mama and Grandpa were very old. The date of embarkation from London and the Coronation or Wedding of Queen Victoria are the most important. The latter could be verified by a little research which I will try to do and let you know. Mary Taylor Sims
FROM HANDWRITTEN NOTES OF UNCERTAIN ORIGIN:
Joseph A. Taylor was born May 4, 1822 at London England and died September 24, 1915 at Louisville Ky buried Sunday eve at Heburn by the side of his second wife Carolyn Copas Taylor. He leaves eight children 3 Sons and five Daughters,
George W. Taylor of Chapeze Arthur Low of Cleburne Texas Athol Bailey of Dallas Texas Mrs. J. W. McGarry Louisville Ky Mrs J. M. Manning Louisville Ky Mrs. E. P. Deacon Vine Grove Ky Mrs. H. H. Catinna Columbia Tennessee Miss Kate Scott Taylor Louisville Ky
ROMANCE OF NERO'S ASHES TOLD ON RED MOUNTAIN. BROUGHT NO GOOD LUCK TO THEIR POSSESSOR. STORY TOLD BY AGED ENGLISHMAN. WIFE'S FIDELITY AND A MOTHER'S LOVE STILL HOLD TOGETHER FAMILY LINKS by Mrs. Sam Will John, 1905
Nestled away in a cottage adown the bosom of Red Mountain there is a mother and eight children. Twenty-seven ago this mother's handsome husband found this peaceful home away from the throbbing, feverish pulses of the city.
This husband stood six feet in his stockings, a high brow and noble countenance above broad, massive shoulders, with an erect carriage, made him verily a king among men. It was here these children were born, here the robust father and husband sickened and died, leaving the widow with helpless babes to rear alone.
Years go by. The beautiful young wife, faithful to trusts that so heavily fell upon her, pales and weakens beneath the burden; but on looking at her children, fatherless and helpless, she prays for strength for the sacred responsibility to carry the burden, even though head throbs and heart aches. She gives, through blinding tears, her two eldest born into others' keeping.
What pen can line the depth of a mother's love?
It was in this cottage while sitting on the vine-clad porch where you have a magnificent view of the city, surrounding hills and valleys, I heard the following true story from the old grandfather, father of the widow's husband:
"I was born seventy-seven years ago under the shadow of Westminster Abbey. My father served in the Sepoy Insurrection and Crimean War. He was on a man-o-war for eighteen years. Leaving this, he married my mother, who was a lineal descendent of King Robert Bruce, and as proud and beautiful woman as ever seen. The daring spirit of Bruce extended to her brother, Edwin Copas, who for bravery in the Crimean War, was decorated with the Victorian Cross; he too, was in charge of the famous Six Hundred. My maternal grandmother was a niece of Lord Rollo, her name being Rollo. Her mother, my great grandmother, was nice of Duke of Athol.
There was employed on her father's estate, a handsome and noble man. He fell in love with her, she reciprocating the affection, married him, for which she was disinherited.
We will pass over the intervening years, the struggles, bitter disappointments, joys and sorrows, and come to my father who settled in London. After many years of financial success, he made an unfortunate investment in which he lost heavily.
King William IV, recognizing his worth and service to the country, held him in high esteem and close to his person, having him live in St. James Palace. At the death of King William IV I was only seven years old, but still have a memory of the coronation of Queen Victoria, when with my mother, I witnessed the gorgeous spectacle.
Not long before King Williams's death, a gift of the ashes of Nero was sent him. He gave the urn containing the ashes to my father to place away in safe keeping. Some time afterwards, while looking among the gifts and relics in St. James Palace, my father found the urn containing Nero's ashes broken. Upon notifying the King, he gave it with authoritative parchments to my father. Time wore on, my father died, and my mother changed homes. In a move, finding this broken urn, she had it thrown in the ash bin, saying: "I do not care to live around any dead man's ashes." So out went old Nero, human ashes was, to become the temper of bricks that went into some of the public buildings of London; only too good resting place for a monarch whose chief pleasure was to cause suffering and the flowing of human blood. In London all ashes were separated, the finer part going to fine work; the coarser for common material."
"How I came to this country?" I will tell you. My mother opposed my marriage, owing to my youthfulness, but being an individual of my own convictions, I took my fate into my own hands. As I grew, thought expanded, and I became convinced that royalty was something wrong; all men must have a chance for individual thought and life, and with that irrepressible thought, I once befriended a poor girl who was selling apples on the street, when a policeman roughly ordered her away. Her basket was so heavy that in lifting it to her shoulder, it fell, wasting the fruit. I stopped, picked up the fruit, and gave the policeman a severe reprimand, touching too upon the polices of the country, whereupon I was arrested and imprisoned for nine days. I was discharged without a trial and after serious thought, decided to come to America, the land of liberty, of life, and here I am, having been the father of twenty-two children, a happier, freer-spirited man you will never find, madam; free, because I have endeavored to have the Great Ruler for my king; never has this soul been stained by wrong doing to my fellowman."
As he talked the air had taken that tinge it takes when "Night Lingers Long."
Through a vineyard some beams of a slow-setting sun.
I raised my eyes to the gorgeous panorama presented from the lights of the City; to the other side of the summit of Red Mountain clad with different shades of green, with here and there a peep of white, then before me to the high, tranquil brow of this dear old man, and I thought 'tis only from living close to nature, like this noble man, that we find God "Life's sorrows will fluctuate, God's love does not, and His Love is unchanged when it changes our lot."
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