Union Veteran Daniel H. Taylor   DANIEL H. TAYLOR Private Company F, 45th Kentucky Infantry Daniel H. Taylor was born 12 September 1838, a son of Thornton Hamilton and Mary Elizabeth Knight Taylor. Not long after the opening of the war, for his outspoken Unionist views, Thornton Taylor drew attention of some of the more redical secessionists in the community. As someone in years after the war recalled, Taylor "lived at the foot of the ridge, not far from Cool Spring in Page County. He had a son, Daniel Taylor, a fine looking man, with an enviable growth of side whiskers, stylish at that time, but like his father he did not hesitate to speak without first thinking. Posters tacked where he was sure to see them bid him change his boarding house and to make it snappy. He left by night and after wards never saw his people again. An inquiry was made concerning him but no word came of him, although we were told he was doing well out west. His father also drew a card of leave and soon was seen no more in the county" E.N. Taylor, a grandson of T.H. Taylor, later (January 14, 1938) wrote to the Page News & Courier about his grandfather having had a sanctuary near his home for local Confederate deserters. “My grandfather had several boys and a couple of friends including Mark Berry [ca. 1843-aft. 1911] staying with them in what is called Camp Hollow. They would come to the house, get their meals and lay around in the orchard, and when my grandmother saw the ‘conscripts’ coming, she would take a case knife and would knock on an empty barrel and they would run back to their camp in the hollow. They burnt wood at night and charcoal in the day so that their presence could not be discovered by the smoke.” While it is believed that Thornton Hamilton Taylor took refuge in Illinois (after the spring of 1862) for a good part of the war, in October 1864 there is the record of him being confirmed in Page County as a minister of the Disciples of Christ. Of Thornton H. Taylor’s five sons who were old enough to fight, only four served during the war. The Daniel H. Taylor (1838-1911) who was mentioned above as having been driven from Page County, began the war in the service of Co. M (Thomas Jefferson Graves’ Company/formerly Peter C. Reid’s Company), 97th Virginia Militia. However, instead of later serving in a regular Confederate unit, he went to Kentucky and enlisted in Company F, 45th Kentucky Infantry (U.S. Army) on 25 October 1863. This particular regiment was known for fighting against Confederate Gen. John Hunt Morgan. Taylor was mustered out on 24 Dece 1864 in Catlettsburg, Ky. Following the war, Daniel Taylor married Mary Pamela Adams in Ohio in 1868 and later relocated to Kansas. Daniel applied for a pension in December 1890 while residing in Kansas (Application #969773, Certificate #699644). He died in Beaver Township, Scott County, Kansas on 11 August 1911. His wife applied for a widow’s pension (Application #951573, Certificate #713721). Daniel Taylor's oldest brother, William Harrison Taylor (1833-1915) served at the opening of the war in Co. F (Capt. Henry F. Bradley’s Company), 97th Virginia Militia and went on to enlist on March 1, 1863 as a private in Co. C, 39th Battalion Virginia Cavalry (Robert E. Lee’s Scouts, Couriers and Bodyguards). He was court-martialed for desertion on January 27, 1864 but was returned to duty and was listed as present on the Sept-Dec. 1864 muster rolls. William moved to Illinois after the war. Thornton Absalom Taylor (1842-1887) served briefly with his brother William at the opening of the war as a member of Co. F, 97th Virginia Militia, but did not serve after 1862 in any regular Confederate army units. Benjamin Newton Taylor (1845-1911) enlisted 17 days after his brother William, but in Co. H, 33rd Virginia Infantry. He was present in arrest in December 1863, having joined from desertion on December 7, 1863. No further record exists for his service. According to one family story, William and Benjamin apparently told Daniel that if he ever came back to Page County, they would hang him. Both Daniel and William were listed in Thornton H. Taylor’s will as receiving only $1 each. It should also be noted that Valentine Dudley Taylor (1795-1884), Thornton H. Taylor’s father, was actually listed as a member of Co. I (Capt. John D. Aleshire’s Company), 97th Virginia Militia at the opening of the war. Return to the Page County Union Soldiers Page Return to the Maryland Dept. SUVCW Ancestor Matrix SUVCW Camp #1881 Copyright © 2006-2008.