Abstracts of Taliaferro County Wills Taliaferro County Wills 1866-1922. Taliaferro County Wills 1922-1949. Taliaferro County Wills 1949-1956. Indexes to Probate Records Index to Minutes 1826 to 1832 Inventories, Sales, Divisions, 1826-1834. Inventories, Sales, Divisions, 1834-1850. Inventories, Sales, Divisions, 1850-1880. Wills, 1826-1866. Wills 1865-1922. Military Roster of 1827 Militiamen of Taliaferro County. Traced Genealogies: Taliaferro County Families Battle Bird Crenshaw Morris Marriages Taliaferro County Marriages 1825 to 1862

Colonel Benjamin Taliaferro

During the battle of Princeton, in New Jersey in 1776, the company of Colonel Benjamin Taliaferro forced a British commander to surrender. When the English captain stepped forward in his fine uniform and inquired for the American officer to whom he was to yield his sword, Captain Taliaferro stood there without shoes or shirt, and a coat of rags. Nevertheless, he graciously received the sword of the brave Englishman. Later on, when he was fighting near Charleston, he was captured and made a prisoner of war. However, he was later paroled and sent to Virginia until an exchange could be negotiated. It was in 1784 that Colonel Taliaferro settled in Georgia and was soon thereafter sent to the State Senate. He served as a member of the Constitutional Convention of 1798 and as a member of Congress from 1798 to 1802, and Judge of the Superior Court. His death occurred on September 23, 1821, in Wilkes County.

Did you Check Out the Neighborhood?

Research into the past involves small tracts of land and a few people. Those people were friends, relatives, and neighbors of your ancestors. Picture a farm and a small community with churches and graveyards. There were no TV sets or other entertainment, so people lived their lives among these friends and neighbors. They were married by local ministers who were not required to file the marriage license with the local courthouse. The books of local churches rarely survived. That leaves the family bible, so important a record of family affairs. The genealogist surveys the burial grounds to try and learn where the congregation came from. The tombstones sometimes reflect this. The movement of whole congregations from one State to another was not uncommon. And what was going on that year when the church was established? Where were people migrating from? Thus, it is the task of the genealogist to get some answers. A good start is the deed records because deeds begin " Know all Men by These Presents that I, John Smith, of Clarke County, Georgia, do hereby grant unto John Brown of Carteret County, North Carolina ...." Local neighbors and relatives witness the deeds. If you have several persons with identical names in the records, taking note of the witnesses is essential in identifying the correct people. Another good source is Deeds of Gift which conveys property to children before death. Deed records also contain Marriage Contracts which were frequently used for ladies with property marrying a second time because she wanted to differentiate between the property she inherited from a previous husband in order to pass it on to her children by that husband.