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”.
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| 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)
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