Last week, we looked at Dr. William F. B. Taylor, his first wife, Frances Morton “Fannie” Bishop, and her parents, Dr. and Mrs. Joseph Monroe Bishop. Fannie passed away in 1874 at the age of forty-two, leaving seven children under the age of thirteen.
Dr. Taylor remarried again on the 30th of July 1881 in Danbury, North Carolina. The young bride was Miss Penceaniah “Fox” Purdy, the daughter of John Anderson Purdy and Martha Custer Purdy of Mayo Forge. Dr. Taylor was fifty-three and Fox Purdy was nineteen years old.
The newly married couple returned to the doctor’s home in Elamsville, Virginia. Fire had recently destroyed the first Taylor home, and it was then that Dr. Taylor considered moving his family to Danbury. Fearful of losing their community doctor, local residents persuaded Dr. Taylor to stay in Elamsville by building him a new home.
Dr. Taylor and Fox’s first child, Wiley F. B. Taylor, was born on May 7th, 1882. The couple’s second child, Henry “Huey” Franklin Taylor, was born on April 9th, 1884. Tragically, the following year, little Wiley died at the age of three on the 21st of July 1885.
In what used to be a common practice, Dr. Taylor and wife, Fox named their third child in memory of their first child. Wiley F. B. Taylor, the second, was born on the second of May 1886. The couple’s only daughter, Martha Lillian, was born on the 27th of December 1887.
The Taylor family attended Ross-Harbour United Methodist Church, which was established in 1866. Dr. Taylor continued to practice medicine until shortly before his death on the fifth of September 1891; he had succumbed to tuberculosis.
Fox remained at the Taylor home where she raised her stepchildren and children. Mary Taylor Wood, Fox’s stepdaughter who was born in 1865, remarked that Fox was more like a sister than a stepmother, since they were only three years apart in age.
Dr. Taylor and Fox’s second son Huey Taylor grew up and moved to Norristown, Pennsylvania where he worked as a police officer. Huey and his wife moved to St. Petersburg, Florida in 1923 and Huey joined the local police department the same year. Huey was an excellent marksman, winning the police pistol state championship from 1932-1934. I suspect he acquired this shooting skill as a child while squirrel hunting back in Patrick County. Huey passed away at the age of seventy-seven in 1961; he is buried in St. Petersburg.
Dr. Taylor and Fox’s third son, Wiley F. B. Taylor, moved to Cape May, New Jersey where he lived until his passing in 1974. Wiley’s body was brought back to Patrick County and was buried in the Taylor plot in Stuart Cemetery.
The Taylor’s only daughter, Martha Lillian married Charles William Nolen on the 24th of June 1908. Charles, a recent graduate of William and Mary, was the son of George Sparrel Nolen and Ruth Josephine Hooker of Elamsville. Charles and Lillian Taylor Nolen raised eight children including five sons: William Taylor; George Franklin; Russell Tazewell; Curtis Brown; and Chester Winfred; and three daughters: Josephine; Mary; and Frances.
Martha Lillian Taylor Nolen passed away on November 30, 1966, at the age of seventy-eight, and her husband, Charles followed her to the grave only ten months later.
Thank you so much to Terry Trefry for the photos and information about Dr. Taylor and his family.
Woody may be reached at rockcastlecreek1@gmail.com or (276) 692-9626.
