Taft Genealogy Report

Descendants of Matthew Taft

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Generation No. 1

1. MATTHEW TAFT was born Abt. 1700, and died 09 Feb 1776 in Upton, Worcester, Massachusetts. He married (1) ANNE QUINTAIN/QUAINTAIN Abt. 1723. She was born Abt. 1701 in England, and died 18 Apr 1749. He married (2) JEANETTE (TODD) CREAGE on 21 Oct 1749 in Upton, Worcester, Massachusetts.

Children of MATTHEW TAFT and ANNE QUINTAIN/QUAINTAIN are:

i. ELIZABETH TAFT, b. Abt. 172?, Hopkinton, Middlesex, Massachusetts; d. 01 Jul 1749, Upton, Worcester, Massachusetts.

ii. ROBERT (CAPTAIN) TAFT, b. 1724, Ireland; d. 12 Nov 1810, Upton, Worcester, Mass; married Jane Crage. See their gravestones and the Old First Cemetery in Upton, Mass. Click here

iii. MARY TAFT, b. 22 Apr 1726, Upton, Worcester, Massachusetts; d. 21 Aug 1801, Shelburne, Franklin, Mass; Married John Long.

iv. JAMES TAFT, b. 11 Jul 1731, Hopkinton, Middlesex, Massachusetts; married Elizabeth ?; married Martha Grey. James is our ancestor.

v. MATTHEW TAFT, b. 09 Sep 1733, Hopkinton, Middlesex, Massachusetts; d. 25 Dec 1812, Upton, Worcester,

Massachusetts.

vi. JOHN TAFT, b. 07 Apr 1736, Upton, Worcester, Massachusetts; d. 26 Jul 1821, Upton, Worcester, Massachusetts.

vii. ANNE TAFT, b. 27 Apr 1739, Upton, Worcester, Massachusetts.

viii. MARTHA TAFT, b. 27 Apr 1739, Upton, Worcester, Massachusetts.

Generation No. 2

2. JAMES TAFT (MATTHEW¹) was born 11 Jul 1731 in Hopkinton, Middlesex, Massachusetts. He married (1) ELIZABETH ?. He married (2) MARTHA GRAY 28 Feb 1761 in Pelham, Hampshire, Massachusetts. He died in Pelham, Hampshire, Mass.

Children of JAMES TAFT and ELIZABETH (?) are:

i. JOSEPH TAFT, b. 15 Sep 1758, Upton, Worcester, Maine.

ii. ANNE TAFT, b. 30 Nov 1760, Upton, Worcester, Maine.

Children of JAMES TAFT and MARTHA GRAY are:

iii. MATTHEW³ TAFT, b. 13 Mar 1762, Pelham, Hampshire, Massachusetts

iv. ANN TAFT, b. 30 Jun 1765, Pelham, Hampshire, Massachusetts.

v. MARGARET TAFT, b. 25 Jan 1767, Pelham, Hampshire, Massachusetts.

vi. JAMES TAFT, b. 1768.

vii. "EBEN" EBENNEZER TAFT, b. Jun 1771; d. 29 Sep 1849, Kingsville, Ashtabula Co., Ohio. "Eben" is our

ancestor.

Generation No. 3

3. "EBEN" EBENEZER TAFT (JAMES², MATTHEW¹) was born Jun 1771, and died 29 Sep 1849 in Kingsville, Ashtabula Co., Ohio. He married BETSEY COREY. See their gravestones in Ohio After the death of her husband, Betsy lives with her son Ira and his wife Louisa and is listed on the 1850 Ohio Census in their household as age 66. Therefore she was born about 1884. The census also tells us that she was born in Vermont. There are two other males living in that household in 1850, Irwin age 20 and John age 7. I am assuming that John is the son of Ira and Louisa but Irwin could be a son, a relative or hired help. Ira is listed as a "farmer".

Children of EBEN Ebenezer TAFT and BETSEY COREY are:

i. COREY/CORY TAFT, born Feb 1801 probably in NY. He died Jun 9 1839,in Winnebago County, Illinois.

See below for more information about Corey Taft who is our ancestor.

ii. MATTHEW TAFT.

iii. JOHN TAFT.

iv. WARD CLAY TAFT, b. Abt. 1801.

v. SARAH TAFT, b. Abt. 1802.

vi. IRA TAFT, born 1804 in NY; died 17 Apr 1863; married (1) LOUISA DANIELS (b. 1808), on May 1839 She dies March 23, 1858. He married (2) CLARISSA G. OLDS on 27 Oct 1858. In November 1862, Ira petitions the court for a divorce from Clarissa, charging desertion after 3 years absence from their home "without any cause or justification". He dies on April 17, 1863 at age 58 and is buried the Kingsville, Ohio cemetery alongside his parents and first wife, Louisa. See hyperlink above.

vii. JAMES TAFT, b. 1805, NY.

viii. JOANNA TAFT, b. Abt. 1806, NY.

ix. MARTHA PATTY TAFT, b. Abt. 1808, NY.

x. JERUSHA TAFT, b. Abt. 1812, NY.

xi. LEVI Merrill TAFT, b. 12 Nov 1817, Cortland, NY. He married Electa Gregory, daughter of Aaron and Mary Gregory, on January 16, 1845 in Winnebago Co. Illinois. Their graves are in a large cemetery plot at Roscoe Cemetery in Roscoe , Illinois. See these graves along with more information about the Levi Taft family in Illinois.

xii. ELIZABETH B. TAFT, b. 01 Mar 1821, Cortland, NY.

xiii. HARVEY TAFT, b. Abt. 1822, NY.

xiv. JANE TAFT, b. 1828.

Generation No. 4

What you see above is a microfiche record of the request for a marriage license for Corey Taft and Matilda Benson that is signed by her parents, Stutson and Sarah Benson. As best as I can read them, the words are in the box below. The word "obligacioun" is a middle English word and is a root word of our modern word "obligation" meaning: a social or moral duty, and promise or bond. This spelling of the word is very old. I do not know whether this note was written by Stutson or a court clerk which was a usual custom to do for formal or legal documents and because many applicants could not read or write. Also, the clerk was a specialist in formalized handwriting and the document would look less common.

4. COREY TAFT (EBEN EBENEZER³, JAMES², MATTHEW¹) was born February, 1801 in Ohio. He married MATILDA BENSON who was born 1804 in Edinburg, Saratoga Co., NY. Corey died June 9, 1839. Matiilda is my Great great great grandmother. I have found the location where she was buried. It is in Bassett, Nebraska and you can see her grave on the Lake pages here. She died on December 11, 1908. She and Corey marry on 09 Oct 1825 in Ashtabula Co. Ohio. He is the son of "EBEN" Ebenezer TAFT and BETSEY COREY. This first marriage to Corey Taft was certified by the County of Ashtabula at Jefferson on Dec. 6, 1825. When they received their marriage license on Oct. 4, 1825, his name is spelled "Corey" as recorded by the clerk. At other times his name is spelled "Cory". This application for a license to marry is signed by both of her parents, Stutson and Sarah Benson. He moves to Roscoe, Winnebago County, Illinois near Rockton in September 1836 after the births of their children. Matilda and the children follow in in March, 1837. He died there on June 6, 1839. He is buried in the the same cemetery plot as his younger brother Levi Taft in Roscoe Cemetery, Illinois. He dies when Matilda is 35 years old and she has at least 3 of her 4 remaining children still living with her. We do know that one of their children, Stutson, dies at age 3 soon after Corey dies. He is buried beside his father in the cemetery at Roscoe, Illinois. See their gravestones.

Apparently she returns to her family home in Ashtabula County, Ohio and about 1 year later she marries (2) CYRUS GEER on 11 Apr 1841 in Kingsville, Ashtabula, County, Ohio. Their marriage is solemnized by Oliver Barr, Pastor of the First Christian Church in Conneaut. Matilda Benson Taft's marriage to a Cyrus Geer was recorded in Jefferson, Ohio on Nov. 10, 1841. Records say that they "then removed to Crawford Co. Pennsylvania." I do have a census record of at least one of their children, Eri, that records he was born in Pennsylvania. Other census records show that Cyrus and Matilda Geer, along with the children of their marriage, are back in Monroe Township, Ashtabula Co. Ohio in 1850.

When Matilda marries Cyrus, there is the possibility of 14 children between them. Of course, I have no information of how many of those who may have died in early childhood or of those who were old enough to be on their own by the time Sophia and Cyrus marry.

Children of COREY TAFT and MATILDA BENSON are:

(TAFT)► 1. Sophia Matilda was born 1827 in Ohio. Sofia Matilda Taft is my Great great-grandmother

2. Orrin or Orin L. was born 1828 in Ohio, m. Susan Abigale Munger on march 18, 1854. She was born in Oct 1833 in NY. They had 7 children; Esther born 1856, Ida born abt. 1858, Lutheria (or Luthena) called "Lucy", born abt. 1860, Libbie S. born abt. 1861, Reuben L. born abt 1864, Ira Lee Roy born in 1869. All the children are born in Illinois. Orrin and Susan apparently separate or divorce because on the 1885 Nebraska census, Orrin is found in Brown County, NE (living by himself) which is the "next door" county west of his sister Sophia Matilda Lake and her children located in Bassett, Rock Co., Nebraska. Oddly enough, he is also listed as living with with his family on the 1885 Iowa Census taken in Ocheyedan Twp., Oceola Co., Iowa. His age is given incorrectly as age 60 but the ages of Susan, Reuben and Le Roy are correct.

On the 1900 Nebraska Federal Census, Susan is living with her son Reuben who is listed as a Hardware Dealer living in Holt Co., NE, which is the county just east of Rock County. Orrin is listed as a "farmer" on all of the census records.

In 1920 Ira Le Roy (age 51) and His wife Clara, "Clarie" (age 47), his bother "Rubin" (age 55) and Susan (age 86) are all living in Eldorado, Butler Co., Kansas. Apparently Reuben never married. In 1930 Ira and Clara are living in Denver Co. I found no further records of this family.

3. Ira N. was born 1831 in Ohio Ira, age 28, is found on the 1860 Owen, Winnebago Co., Illinois federal census living with his sister, Sophia, and her husband Valentine Amey Lake and their children. On the 1880 census taken in Morgan Twp. Woodbury County, Iowa, Ira is listed as a "widower" living with two daughters Nellie, age 16 and Elva, age 14. With them, living as boarders are his sister's children Joel Lake (age 27) and and Frank Lake (age 16).

In 1910 Ira (age 81) lives with his daughter, Nellie A. Martin (age 46) and two grandchildren, Susanna A. (age 20) and John A. (age 17) in Pueblo, Colorado.

4. Stutson was born Oct. 26, 1835 and died in Winnebago Co. Ill. on July 26, 1839 at age three. (Perhaps he and his father die of a similar illness since their deaths are so close together.)

5. Perhaps one other child

Children of Matilda Benson Taft and Cyrus Geer are:

( Geer) ► Lucinda- b. 1842, Eri- b. 1845, Franklin- b. 1848, Charles N. b. abt 1850, and Lorina b. aft.1850.

Cyrus, Matilda and all these above children, except Lorina, are listed on the Ohio 1850 census record as living in Monroe Township in Ashtabula County. Lucinda, Eri and Franklin were found on the 1860 Ohio census living in the same township. More research is needed as to when and where Cyrus Geer and and his wife Matilda Benson Taft Geer died.

Cyrus had children by his first wife: Jared, Orris, Mary, Sylvia and Thomas Nothing further of these children is known.

Generation No. 4

i. SOPHIA MATILDA TAFT, born 26 Feb 1827, Kingsville, OH; died 11 Dec 1908, Bassett, Nebraska; she married (1) VALENTINE AMEY LAKE, 25 Oct 1850, Clinton, WI. He was born 09 Feb 1824, Kingston, Ontario, Canada; he died 06 Aug 1878, Rockton, Illinois. She married (2) JAMES MORSE, 10 Mar 1895.

At the right is a photo of Sophia Matilda Taft and her first husband, Valentine Amey Lake. ►

More about Valentine and Matilda and their children on the Lake Page of this web site. If anyone reading this has more information about the Tafts or has photos to share please contact me, Marla Miller Hembree at: miller.malcom.ft@gmail.com.