Answering Comments: Bartholomew Taylor and Nancy Dismukes

Quick Comparison of the two Bartholomews

I previously talked about my Bartholomew in multiple blog entries. These entries have sometimes attracted comments from other people looking for information on Bartholomew Taylor. Just not always mine. The most popular one being in Bartholomew Taylor: The Big One. In the comment section there are a few people inquiring about Bartholomew Taylor who married Nancy Dismuke in 1819.

My Bartholomew

I can say with certainty that my Bartholomew Taylor is not that Bartholomew. My Bartholomew was born in Somerset County, Maryland in 17551 and lived there until 1796 when he left. He eventually ended up in Bracken County, Kentucky.  I learned this information from Bartholomew himself. He gave a sworn statement to the court when he was applying for a Revolutionary War pension.

Pension declaration of Bartholomew Taylor

3rd where were you living when called into service, where have you lived since the revolutionary war, and where do you now live?

Answer, I lived in the county of Sommersett aforesaid when called in to the service and lived in said county until the year 1796 and until I removed to Bracken County Kentucky where I have lived ever since and where I now live.

– Revolutionary War Pension application of Bartholomew Taylor, 19 May 1834, Bracken County, Kentucky

So from here, we infer that my Bartholomew was in Maryland and then migrated to Kentucky. He does not mention Georgia anywhere in his comments about his history. There will be more on my Bartholomew in another entry!

The other Bartholomew

From what I can find, there isn’t a lot known about the other Bartholomew. If I’m honest it would take me months, probably longer to even familiarize myself with this group enough to really tackle the question of any connection between the two. I did some quick searches just to see if maybe there is a chance.

The Marriage of Bartholomew Taylor and Nancy Dismuke

Baldwin County, Georgia, Marriages, 1806-1925, Book A, 1816-1842: 21, Taylor-Dismuke, 1819; digital images, Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 29 Oct 2023).

On Ancestry, I was able to find a marriage record between Batthew (Bartholomew) Taylor and Nancy Dismuke in 1819. Like most records of the time, parents information isn’t given here. This doesn’t mean no parent information will be available. Just that it isn’t on this particular page or record. There still might be land transactions, marriage bonds, or other court records that will give hints to who is connected with these two. If I were hunting this Bartholomew’s origins, my next step would be land and court records to establish a timeline around this first known event. To see what he was up to and see if there is any hints about where he came from. Are there other Taylors around? If he’s the only one, is there a family he seems to gravitate towards?

The Will of Bartholomew Taylor

“Georgia Probate Records, 1742-1990,” database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QS7-893T-8472?cc=1999178&wc=9SBQ-4WG%3A267709901%2C267856801 : 19 October 2021), Meriwether > Wills 1831-1903 > image 257 of 705; citing various county, district, and probate courts.

Looking at the 1840 will on file in Meriwether County, Georgia, it seems the two Bartholomews are definitely in two different places at the same time. It is nice to see the children’s names laid out, this would help to establish a bigger timeline of the family to see if there are more connections to other Taylors. I would even venture far enough on this case to trace the friends and others mentioned in the will that aren’t Taylor or Dismuke. You never do know where those connections will come from.

All of this information doesn’t mean the two families aren’t connected at all. There just isn’t enough information on all the Taylors to know how far and wide they’ve spread right now. It’s been notoriously difficult to trace them. They do love to use the same names over and over again. 😂

I really hope those searching for answers about Bartholomew can find answers. We all have a bit of an uphill battle it seems like, no matter the Bartholomew.

Author’s Note: I am an out of practice, amateur genealogist. None of the thoughts above are meant to deal in certainties or conclude anything other then my rambling thoughts. In fact, I’m also an out of practice blog writer. So we are really dusting off the cobwebs lately!

  1. This sworn statement gives Bartholomew’s birth year as 1755, where it is mentioned other places as 1756. This is for another entry though. ↩︎