Colonel Charles Mynn Taylor
COLONEL CHARLES MYNN TAYLOR was born at Mt. Zion, on the Shenandoah River, near Winchester, Virginia, in the year 1799. His father, Major Edmund H. Tayloer, was an officer of the Regular Army, and at one time was in command of Harper's Ferry, an important military post. He was actively engaged during the Indian Wars, of the Northwest, was present at St. Clair's defeat, and in a number of engagements under Generals Wayne and Harrison. At the close of the war he was called to service in many appointments under the government. He gave up army life when he married, and moved to Louisville, Kentucky, in 1800, where he possessed large landed interests. He was a man of wealth, large influence, elegant address, generous to friends, gentle to dependents and servants, and much beloved by old and young. He was a first cousin of President Madison, and a warm and intimate friend of General Harrison, and Governor Posey, who made his home with him while in Kentucky. Mrs. Taylor was Eloise Thruston, daughter of Colonel Charles Mynn Thruston, a descendant of the old English cavaliers, of North Wales, England. He was a Minister of the Church of England, but, when the war broke out, he laid aside the gown, raised a regiment, and joined the army and lost his right arm in the service. Colonel Thruston was twice married, and, during a visit to England, his first wife, who was a Miss Buckner, died. By this marriage there were three children born, Charles, John and Buckner. His second wife was Ann Alexander, of Scotch descent; she had eight children, six daughters and two sons. Mrs. Powell, the mother of Admiral Powell, of Washington, and Mrs. Taylor, being two of them. Colonel Thruston was a man of considerable wealth. In 1807 he left Virginia and moved to Louisiana, with nine hundred negroes. At Natchez he lost over one hundred from sickness.
The battle of New Orleans was fought on his plantation, and it is mentioned as a historical fact that not a single paling was knocked from around his grave. Colonel Charles Mynn Taylor, the subject of this sketch, was a man of fine appearance, classically educated, quiet and reserved in his manner. His early life was spent in Jefferson and Oldham Counties, and, being an active Whig, was one of George D. Prentice's warmest supporters. He married Miss Ann M. Barbour in 1822, and removed to Henderson in 1837; purchased the Beverly farm known as the Taylor field, in the Third Ward of the city. In the city, on the Mt. Vernon road. His life was devoted to his books, farming, and then hunting, a sport to which he was passionately attached. His name was synonimous with hospitality and the joy of his life was in entertaining his friends, which included all who knew him. For years it was the custom of a party of gentlemen from Henderson and Louisville to meet during the early fall at his home and hunt for three or four weeks. He had no taste for official life, preferring to live quietly upon his farm and enjoy the pleasures of the wild woods. He was a man of social power, and exercised great influence in his neighborhood. Colonel Taylor died in 1867, and only two children survive him, Dr. Thomas W. Taylor, and Mrs. F. M. Burbank. He had two sons born in Henderson, Captain James N. Taylor, a distinguished officer in the Confederate Army, a man of splendid appearance, strong minded and universally popular. Captain Taylor was for thirteen years a great sufferer, confined to his bed from rheumatism, contracted while confined in prison. Alfred was a young man of superior intellect and fine business capacity. He died in Cadiz, Kentucky, after a short illness. Dr. T. W. Taylor is a highly educated physician, and successful practitioner. He has been twice married, his last wife being Miss Louisa McDonald, a brilliant lady and highly connected. Dr. Taylor has four living children by his first wife, Charles, a dashing, successful man of business, Elizabeth, Fannie and Sallie. Fannie married Captain William Colmesnil, a practical railroader, associated with the Ohio Valley, and Sallie married Mr. Posey Marshal, a leading tobacconist of Henderson and Union Counties. Mrs. Mary F. Burbank, widow of D. R. Burbank, has four living children, Misses Annie and Mary, and Charles and Breckenridge. Mrs. B. inherited her husband's large estate, and, with her children, spends the greater portion of her time in Europe, where they were highly educated.
The History of Henderson County, Kentucky by Starling 1887 page 786-87;