An American Dream

BackGround: Columbus Temple, Columbus, Ohio.


Descendants of Benjamin Franklin TAYLOR
First Generation


Created 17 September 2006


1. Norman TAYLOR
and
Lurana FORBUSH
and
Lydia FORBUSH
and
Johanna JENNINGS
and
Helen Jeanette MURRAY
and
Annie BECKSTEAD

Norman was born 18 September 1828 in Grafton, Lorain, Ohio and married first 2 April 1848; in Council Bluffs, Pottawattamie, Iowa, Lurana FORBUSH the daughter of Rufus FORBUSH and Susanna (Polly) CLARK. She was born 7 March 1826, in Underhill, Chittenden, Vermont and died 18 March 1884, in Moab, Grand, Utah.

He married second 22 November 1850; Salt Lake City, Salt Lake, Utah, Lydia FORBUSH, the daughter of Rufus FORBUSH and Susanna (Polly) CLARK. She was born 5 January 1830 in Underhill, Chittenden, Vermont, and died 2 April 1900 in Colonia Juarez, Chihuahua, Mexico.

He married third 19 August 1861; , , Utah, Johannah Smith JENNINGS the daughter Schuyler Patterson JENNINGS and Polly BARNETT of She was born 8 November 1844, in Maury City, Crockett, Tennessee and died 29 October 1925 in Provo, Utah, Utah. She divorced Norman and 16 November 1867, in Salt Lake City, Salt Lake, Utah, she married his brother Martin VanBuren TAYLOR.

He married fourth 15 July 1863; Santaquin, Utah, Utah, Helen Jeanette MURRAY, the daughter of William Ellis MURRAY and Helen E. SARVIS. She was born 18 February 1826, in Victor, Ontario, New York and died 1 March 1901, in Payson, Utah, Utah.

He married fifth 9 March 1866; , , Utah, Annie BECKSTEAD.

Norman died 25 November 1899; Salt Lake City, Salt Lake, Utah.




Norman TAYLOR, one of the original pioneers of Utah, was born 18 September 1828, at Grafton Lorain, Ohio,

Norman's course to Salt Lake Valley was more rapid than his fathers, and on July 22, 1847, he drove the second wagon into the valley with the first company of pioneers. Four weeks later Norman returned to Winter Quarters with Brigham Young. A family tradition says that on this return trip as they were sitting around the evening campfire, Brigham Young asked Norman his age. When told eighteen, Brigham declared that an unmarried man of that age was a "menace to society," and instructed Norman to get married as soon as possible. Norman married Lurana Forbush 2 April 1848, in Council Bluffs, Pottaeattamie, Iowa, and sometime between September 1849 and the winter of 1850 the young couple settled in Salt Lake City. They spent the winter in a dugout in Big Cottonwood Canyon. On November 22, 1850, Norman married Lydia Forbush, Lurana's younger sister, the ceremony being performed by Brigham Young in his office. By this time Lurana had a baby son.

Part of this growing population were the children of Norman TAYLOR and his family who had moved there in 1851. Because of political problems and the aproach of Johnston's Army the Mormon population left San Bernardino.

In 1857 part of Norman's family left for Utah, Lydia TAYLOR was in the early stages of pregnncy, a fact that was to make the trip unusuallly hard for her. Norman remained in San Bernardino until the next year before returning to Utah.

The next year, 1858, Norman settled his familis in Santaquin, Utah, Utah, where Lydia's five youngest childern were born. He also had assets in Sampete County where he became a successful agriculturist and stock grower. He brought the first grain reaper into that county.

Lester TAYLOR, Norman's eldest son, had traveled to Moab during the summer of 1879 to prospect, and again in 1880 to look for cattle range. Apparently his reports were good enough to induce Norman to uproot himself and make the move to Moab, where he remained the rest of his life. His large wagon train, containing all his goods and much of his families, left Little Salt Creek 10 October 1881, and arrived in Moab twenty days later.

After moving to Moab he established and operated the first ferry boat across the Colorado (Grand) River. He also erected the first grist mill at Moab and set up a black smith shop, and ran a ranch. He became one of the outstanding figures in the developement of Grand County along both civic and material lines.

It is said that Mr. TAYLOR was a very energetic man having driven his four horse team from Thompson Springs to Moab, a distance of forty miles with a five thousand-pound load in the wagon when he was seventy years of age. In 1894 he married Mrs N. V. TAYLER. In 1897 he drove a float from Grand county to be entered in the Jubilee parade in Salt Lake City. He was in the mercantile business in later years and while on a business trip to Salt Lake City died 23 November 1899. He was interred in the Moab cemetery.

San Bernardino
The Rise and Fall of a California Community

The actual beginnings of what Lyman called the "factionalist" movement may have been in a local election during the spring of 1855 and been totally undocumented except for Horace C. Rolfe's recollections in his "Early Political History of San Bernardino County." He asserted that when church authorities submitted the name of a newly arrived brother only slightly known to the voters, some of them discussed the matter and decided they would vote for one of their respected neighbors, Norman Taylor. Taylor neither sought the office nor even voted himself, but, when elected, he served effectively and was reportedly reelected at the end of his term. There was no disciplinary action. He remained fully committed to his religious beliefs and obligations. Rolfe concluded "by this time it had become apparent that at least some form or show of choice and selection of candidates by the people as citizens of a republican form of government must be observed even among Latter-day Saints." Although there is no other known documentation of the fact other than the Los Angeles Star listing him as a candidate, Rolfe states that Taylor served with distinction.

The following list of people were all members of the San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors at one time or another. We are seeking any information/photos/etc. on any of them. If you have information, please let me know.

Taylor, Benjamin F., 1st Dist., 1856-57. Picture and bio. info.
Taylor, Norman, 1st Dist., 1855-56. Picture

CHILDREN of NORMAN TAYLOR and LURANA FORBUSH:


   11.  1. NORMAN LESTER       b:  1 Sep 1849; Council Bluffs,
                                               Pottawattamie, Iowa.
                              md: 15 Mar 1869; , , .
                                               Lydia Ann COLVIN
                               d: 13 Sep 1903; Salt Lake City, Salt Lake,
                                               Utah 
   12.  2. LOREN SYLVESTER     b:        1851; San Bernardino,
                                               San Bernardino, California.
                              md:            ; , , .
                                               Rhoda HOLLADAY
                               d:        1902;
   14.  4. ARTHUR ALONZO       b: 27 Aug 1854; San Bernardino,
                                               San Bernardino, California.
                              md:  9 Oct 1881; , , .
                                               Eva Nelsina "Sena" JENSEN
                               d: 10 Jul 1938; Moab, Grand, Utah.
   16.  6. RUFUS BENJAMIN      b: 24 Mar 1857; San Bernardino,
                                               San Bernardino, California.
                               d:  4 Jul 1880; 
   18.  8. POLLY HENRIETTA ANN b: 13 Dec 1859; Santaquin, Utah, Utah. 
                              md:            ; , , .
                                              Frank GAINES
                               d:        1922;
   1A. 10. JANE AUGUATA        b: 4  Jul 1863; Santaquin, Utah, Utah. 
                              md:            ; , , .
                                               Mark Richard WALKER
                               d: 14 Oct 1911; Moab, Grand, Utah. 
   1B. 11. ANDREW AUGUSTA      b:  4 Jul 1863; Santaquin, Utah, Utah.
                              md:  5 Nov 1885; , , .
                                               Margaret Delilah EMPEY 
                               d: 15 May 1844; Salt Lake City, Salt Lake,
                                               Utah. 
   1E. 14. LYDIA ADELAIDE      b: 12 Mar 1866; Santaquin, Utah, Utah. 
                              md:            ; , , .
                                               Philander MAXWELL
                               d:  3 Jul 1940; Moab, Grand, Utah. 
   1F. 15. HELEN LAURANA       b: 15 Apr 1868; Santaquin, Utah, Utah. 
                              md:            ; , , .
                                               Neal RAY
                               d: 18 Feb 1897;

CHILDREN of NORMAN TAYLOR and LYDIA FORBUSH:


   13.  3. ERNEST LEANDER      b:  8 Aug 1852; San Bernardino,
                                               San Bernardino, California.
                              md:            ; , , .
                                               Mary ARNESEN  
 + 15.  5. EDWIN ERASTUS       b: 28 Aug 1855; San Bernardino,
                                               San Bernardino, California.
                              md: 19 Dec 1876; , , .
                                               Alice Ann TAYLOR
                                               SEE #: 53.
   17.  7. CHARLES WESLEY      b: 15 Nov 1857; Santiquin, Utah, Utah. 
                              md:            ; , , .
                                               Louannie Jane GIBSON
 + 19.  9. HIRAM MARTIN        b: 11 Nov 1860; Santiquin, Utah, Utah.  
                              md:            ; , , .
                                               Amanda Eveline BURNHAM
                              md:            ; , , .
                                               Clarentine Marinsa BURNHAM  
   1C. 12. ALBERT THADDEUS     b:  6 Sep 1863; Santiquin, Utah, Utah.  
   1G. 16. SANFORD ALFONZO     b: 22 May 1868; Santiquin, Utah, Utah. 
                              md:            ; , , .
                                               Edith STEWART
                              md:            ; , , .
                                               Nellie May FREED
   1H. 17. ELMER FRANKLIN      b: 23 Feb 1871; Santiquin, Utah, Utah. 
                              md:            ; , , .
                                               Mary Jane STEELE
   1I. 18. LYDIA LURANA        b: 12 Jul 1875; Santiquin, Utah, Utah. 
                              md:            ; , , .
                                               John Shuman MAXFIELD
CHILDREN of NORMAN TAYLOR and HELEN JEANETTE MURRAY.

   1D. 13. HEBER CRISPIN       b:  4 Aug 1864; Santaquin, Utah, Utah,  
                              md: 19 Oct 1884; , , .
                                               Sarah Charlotte YORK.
                               d:  1 Jan 1932; Albany, Alameda, California.
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This Web Page was created on 09/13/2006 with   Web-O-Rama  Web-O-Rama or E-Mail Kevin Gunn