Christopher Columbus Discovers—and Marries—America: 52 Ancestors 2025 Prompt “Wedding Bells”

 

A Girl Named America Meets a Boy Named Christopher Columbus

America Frances Moseley: 1848-1933 (Maternal Second Cousin 4x Removed)

I was intrigued by the name of a Moseley family daughter: America. While researching America Moseley’s life, I ran across a photo of her gravestone. The stone marked the graves of both America and her husband, C.C. Taylor. To my surprise, the photo, attached to someone else’s tree, was titled “ChristopherColumbusandAmericaFrancesMoseleyTaylor”.

The headstone that started it all...Photo by Walt Perro for Findagrave.

I initially thought this was someone’s attempt at humor, and then I realized that, no, it wasn’t. C.C. Taylor’s full name was Christopher Columbus Taylor. So a man named after the explorer often credited with discovering America, married a woman named America! This was delightful! I needed to know more.

America Frances Moseley was born July 9, 1848 to parents Robert Barnes Moseley and Martha “Patsey” French Moseley. She was the eighth of their nine children. Perhaps her name, America, was inspired by the 4th of July, which occurred just five days before her birth.

America was born in Daviess County, Kentucky, but by the time of her eighteenth birthday, the family was living in adjacent Ohio County. That’s where America met a young man named Christopher Columbus Taylor. I wonder if they laughed at the combination of their names, or if their friends and family commented on the coincidence.

America and Christopher were only eighteen when they married at the Moseley home on January 2, 1868. Their marriage bond and license application form appears below.

Marriage bond and license, dated Dec. 30, 1867 for Jan. 2, 1868 wedding.

The young couple farmed in Ohio County near the community of Bell’s Run, and had eleven children between the years of 1870 and 1892. Nine survived to adulthood. While they gave some of their children unusual names, including Leamon, Myrther, Loney and Delila, they did not pass down their own charming names to the next generation.

America lost her Christopher Columbus in 1916 when he contracted typhoid fever and died at the age of sixty-seven. America lived another seventeen years, dying at her own home on October 19, 1933 at the age of eighty-five. She had still been healthy enough to attend her daughter Delila’s birthday celebration just a few months earlier.

America’s obituary noted that she was “a splendid Christian woman” and was a faithful member of the Bell’s Run Baptist church “during her long and useful life.”

Amazingly, I discovered that there was a second woman named America Taylor living in the nearby town of Owensboro. Her maiden name was Burdette, and she was a generation older than America Moseley Taylor. 

The other America Taylor

How fascinating that two women with the very unusual name of America both married men with the Taylor surname.

Sources:

“Mrs. America Taylor Summoned by Death”. Ohio County News. Hartford, Kentucky. October 20, 1933 issue. Accessed on Newspapers.com.

Findagrave Entry for America Taylor. Photo of headstone by Walt Perro. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/75042492/america-frances-taylor?_gl=1*grqnuq*_gcl_dc*R0NMLjE3NDgxODU4NjEuQ01UMnJPZnp2bzBERmJDSEF3Z2RWX1EwdVE.*_gcl_au*NDgyMTExMDQ3LjE3NDY4MjAzMzA.*_ga*OTczMjY1MzMyLjE3MDQ4NTI3MzQ.*_ga_4QT8FMEX30*czMxMWVhYmRkLWMxYzQtNGFhMi05MzBmLWI1ODQyZjhkNzA5NSRvNjg4JGcxJHQxNzQ4MjkzNDM5JGo1OSRsMCRoMCRkbmxjYVlZa1RzUWV4UDdNOWRHM3pYd2tWclM0WW4tRUdmQQ..*_ga_LMK6K2LSJH*czMxMWVhYmRkLWMxYzQtNGFhMi05MzBmLWI1ODQyZjhkNzA5NSRvNjg5JGcxJHQxNzQ4MjkzNDM5JGowJGwwJGgw

America F Mosely in the Kentucky, U.S., County Marriage Records, 1783-1965. https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/61372/records/902307636?tid=81812584&pid=262579084028&ssrc=pt

“An Aged Woman: Mrs. America Taylor Dies After Long Illness.” Twice-a-Week Messenger. Owensboro, Kentucky. October 2, 1907 issue. Accessed on Newspapers.com. (Note: this article is about the other America Taylor)

 

Sweet Name, Short Life: 52 Ancestors 2021 Prompt “Favorite Name”

Bound for Utopia: The Idyllic Name, But Brutally Short Life of Eutopia Leachman

Eutopia Gilly Leachman: 1855-1860 (Maternal Great-Grandaunt)

 

As I researched Bruce’s second-great-grandfather, William Parker Leachman, I was delighted and charmed by the name of one of his daughters, Eutopia Gilly Leachman. I had to know more about this girl with such a sweet name. Unfortunately, her story was a very short one.

Eutopia was the first child of eleven born to William and his wife, Susan Elizabeth Mosely Leachman. Susan and William had only been married for a year when Eutopia was born in McLean County, Kentucky on October 15, 1855. Susan was only fifteen when she married 22-year-old William, so she was just sixteen when she became a mother. Perhaps her youth and idealism prompted the choice of name for her first daughter. The middle name, Gilly, was in honor of father William’s sister Gillie Leachman, who was in turn named after her aunt Gillwater “Gilly”Robertson.  (Gillwater was a surname repurposed as a first name, and thankfully shortened to Gilly.)

While some records, including a new headstone, show the little girl’s name spelled “Utopia”, I believe the parents originally spelled it “Eutopia”. The official Kentucky record of her birth lists initials only, and her name is listed on the record as “E. G. Leachman”. The 1860 census record spells it “Utopia” but the spelling on census forms is notoriously inaccurate.

Birth record for E.G. Leachman

The census taker filled out the census form on June 23, 1860. Just eight days later, little Eutopia Gilly was dead. I have been unable to find a death record for Eutopia, so there is no known cause of death. It could have been an accident or illness.

Little Eutopia Gilly was buried in what is now known as the Robert C. Moseley Family Cemetery near Cleopatra, Kentucky. Robert Cartwright Moseley was Eutopia’s grandfather, Susan Elizabeth’s father. The Leachman family erected a lovely headstone for Eutopia, which reads: “Daughter of W.P. & S.E. Leachman. Born Oct 16, 1855. Died July 1, 1860.” The headstone, as visible today, does not include Eutopia’s name. However, a later small stone was made at a much later time, probably the 1960s or 1970s, which reads “Utopia Leachman.” That stone lays on the soil in the shadow of the original erect marker.

Both Susan and her husband William Parker Leachman are buried in this family cemetery as well. Eutopia’s siblings Henry Griffith Leachman, Willie Moseley Leachman, and Nancy Catherine Leachman McFarland are also buried there. According to the Find a Grave website, the Robert C. Moseley Family Cemetery holds 43 graves that have been identified and photographed. It is a lonely, out of the way little graveyard. Find a Grave describes it as follows:

“The Robert C. Moseley Family cemetery is on top of a hill, with no signs. The cemetery is off of HWY 140. The entrance is from State HWY 2156, you have to drive across a corn field and up a hill. The cemetery is surrounded by trees on three sides. The nearest community is Cleopatra.”

Robert C Moseley Family Cemetery where Eutopia and her parents are buried

I am glad that the memory of this little four-year-old girl with the charming and unique name is preserved in stone atop that lonely hill. And, thanks to the efforts of several people who made the trek to that tiny graveyard over the years, her memory lives on through the photographs of her resting place that have been shared online.

Sources:

E G Leachman in the Kentucky, U.S., Birth Records, 1847-1911Ancestry.com. Kentucky, U.S., Birth Records, 1847-1911 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2007. https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/1213/records/143729?tid=81812584&pid=260027101437&ssrc=pt

Utopia G Leachman in the 1860 United States Federal Census. Ancestry.com. 1860 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2009. Images reproduced by FamilySearch. https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/7667/records/39250494

Findagrave Entry for Utopia Leachman. Photo by Anita R. Austill. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/33863842/utopia-leachman?_gl=1*3gywdm*_gcl_dc*R0NMLjE3NDgxODU4NjEuQ01UMnJPZnp2bzBERmJDSEF3Z2RWX1EwdVE.*_gcl_au*NDgyMTExMDQ3LjE3NDY4MjAzMzA.*_ga*OTczMjY1MzMyLjE3MDQ4NTI3MzQ.*_ga_4QT8FMEX30*czE3MzYwN2RjLTNjN2EtNGEwYi1iZWRlLTFkMzEwYTFmMzVhYSRvNjg1JGcxJHQxNzQ4MTkwNTEzJGozNyRsMCRoMCRkbmxjYVlZa1RzUWV4UDdNOWRHM3pYd2tWclM0WW4tRUdmQQ..*_ga_LMK6K2LSJH*czE3MzYwN2RjLTNjN2EtNGEwYi1iZWRlLTFkMzEwYTFmMzVhYSRvNjg2JGcxJHQxNzQ4MTkwNTE2JGowJGwwJGgw