As I continue researching one of my brick-wall ancestors, I am reminded of why we must carefully correlate and analyze information each time we add someone to our family trees. For many years, I’ve seen family trees attaching a father to my ancestor, William Taylor, that I have confirmed through research is not his parent.
The question remains:
Who is the father of William Taylor, born about 1814 in Kentucky, father of Nathan, James Henry, and Sarah Jane Taylor, and enumerated in 1850 in District 27 of Daviess County, Missouri?
The answer is: I don’t know yet.
But I do know this: the man so often claimed to be his father—Grooms Taylor—is not.
The Case of the Wrong William Taylor
Many online family trees have attached Grooms Taylor (23 October 1782 – 19 November 1846) as the father of my William. It is easy to see how this happened: Grooms did in fact have a son named William Taylor.
But here’s the problem. Grooms’ son William was born 8 January 1824 and died 10 October 1849 in Kentucky. My William Taylor was alive and accounted for in the 1850 U.S. Federal Census in Missouri. If he had died in October 1849 in Kentucky, he would have been listed in the Mortality Schedule for 1850, rather than with his family in Missouri.
That simple correlation of dates makes it clear: these are two different men.
Lessons for the Family Explorers
This kind of mix-up happens all the time. Online hints, “green leaves,” and other people’s family trees can be wonderful starting points, but they are not proof. Just because multiple trees repeat the same claim doesn’t make it correct. In fact, a mistake can spread faster than the truth.
Genealogy requires careful analysis and a willingness to pause before we click “add relative.” As much as we want to solve our mysteries quickly, attaching the wrong ancestor doesn’t bring us closer to the truth—it takes us further away.
So, the father of William Taylor remains a mystery for now. But one thing is certain: Grooms Taylor is not part of this particular story. And sometimes, in genealogy, knowing who isn’t an ancestor is just as important as knowing who is.
(links to sources are provided in place of citations)