THE BROWNS had their recorded beginning in the Statesburg Township of Sumter County, South Carolina in the late 1700’s. Sumter has a rich African-American heritage dating back more than 200 years to the "King's Highway," the main route from Charleston to what was then known as the "Carolina Backcountry.  As part of Sumter County’s rich African American heritage, Jeana Reese’s Family appeared to have been the power base for the family’s early success and prosperity and contributor’s to the richness of Sumter County.  The Reese family owned a large acreage of land, approximately 700 acres, according to the maps of the early 1840’s.  The property was located due west of the of the Brown Homestead.  The property was entered from what is now Highway 261 on a road between Wayman Chapel AME Church and Holy Cross in Statesburg, South Carolina.

 

The records do not indicate that Sydney Brown, Sr. actually owned land in fee simple absolute during his marriage to Jeana Reese.  All indications are that they lived on the Reese’s estate, raised their children there, and contributed to the community through their agricultural skills, trading of farm produce, and timber cutting from the property.  Sydney, Sr. and Jeana Reese had several children, however, only two children have been recorded and verified, Sydney, Jr. and Derry.  Sydney Jr. was born in 1842 and Derry was born in or around 1855.  The records indicate that there were at least (6) six other children living in the same area, and who were born between the years 1842 and 1857.  As a result of the writer’s inability to locate descendents of the said six children or make the direct relation to Sydney and Chloe, they were not listed as children of the original parents.  When South Carolina started to keep records of the population, the same six children were already adults and were considered their own heads of household. 

 

The census at that time was taken in a fashion such that all persons living on the same road or area were listed on the same map and in the same census tract.  The obvious conclusion is that these were in fact siblings of Sydney and Derry.  Sydney Jr. and Derry Brown lived for a while on the same tract of land as their parents; however, they later moved away to purchase their own property and raise their families.  Sydney Jr. married Chloe Brown and bought property (just east of the Reese estate) formerly of the W. A. Caldwell estate.  Sydney bought at least 255 acres of the estate.  Derry later moved from the family estate after having married Louise Brown.  His property was located in the Wedgefield area and was originally owned by the Sumters and surrounded by what was called the Burgess Woods.  Sydney bought his property and satisfied his mortgage in 1881.  The cost then was $2,250.00.

 

Sydney Jr. was an industrious man and provider.  The Agricultural Census of Statesburg in 1860 showed Sydney as then owing 14 acres of land and ten years later owning and renting a total of 114 acres. There are also supplemental documents in the addendum listing his agricultural production schedule for 1870 and 1880.   He was able to hire for wages full time help, and in 1860 he had paid $600.00 in wages for 52 weeks of work.  In that year, he sold $1,300 in produce, had $225 of cash on hand, one horse; two mules; one cow; planted corn, oats, wheat, 70 acres of cotton; harvested and kept 19 bales of cotton, 125 bushel of cowpeas, acre of sweet potatoes, harvested 400 pounds of honey and 10 pounds of bees wax.  The original Reese land had appeared to have been sold by her children.

 

Sydney and Chloe had seven children, the oldest being March (Henry) who was born in 1864.  At the time of his birth, they lived on the Reese estate.  The family moved to a site of land, built a small house, maybe three rooms, located where Lizzie Brown later built her house (just north of the John Brown family house and estate).  Chloe died in 1895, leaving a daughter of eight (Betsy Ann) and one grandson of 8 years to be cared for.  Frank Brown, son of Lizzie Brown (Roach) continued to live with his grandfather, Sydney, until majority.  Sydney continued to care for the children for years.  In 1904, he married Martha Singleton.  Since Martha was beyond childbearing years, no children were born from this union.  Sydney and Martha lived in the City of Sumter from 1904 to his death in 1913.  His listed occupation was Carpenter.  The house was located on Bartlett Street.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

THE BROWN-TAYLOR families joined hands in marriage in the early 1890’s, according to the 1900 Federal Census, (March) Henry Brown and Elizabeth Taylor had been married for 10 years in June of 1900.(2) John, Henry’s brother, had been married about one year to Mary Kendrick Given this information we can assume our Brown-Taylor Family Tree took root with this union.  It is a day to celebrate and give thanks! Henry passed away in 1916, when a traumatic injury to the chest occurred while working in his meat house leaving Elizabeth alone to care for the ten surviving children. Her strength of character inherited from her Taylor drive, propelled her and the children into their work ethic of: … “Worked from “can’t see to can’t see” as vividly transmitted by one of her twin daughters, Ethel (Brown-Taylor) Scott to her daughter, Carolyn Scott Nelson.

 

The roots of the Taylor Family are also grounded in a rich and fertile history. 

 

The ruler and father of the Taylor Family, Essex Taylor, Sr., was a giant of a man and during the late 1800’s he was considered one of the most influential Negroes in South Carolina.  It is believed that he was a free man.  Although handicapped by a lack of a formal education, his inborn intellectual ability and his driving ambition to create a better life for himself and his family resulted in gigantic achievements.

 

On 20 December 1860, South Carolina became the first state to secede from the Union. The first shots were fired 9 January 1861 by Citadel cadets on a merchant ship taking supplies to Fort Sumter in Charleston Harbor.  The April 1861 bombardment of Fort Sumter caused the official start of the Civil War.  South Carolina provided many troops for the Confederacy.  As the war progressed, many ex-slaves fought side by side with the Union troops.  Although a free man, Essex Taylor joined his fellow blacks for a specified period in the Union Army. A conscription card belonging to him confirms his participation. (3)  South Carolina lost 12,922 men in the war which was 23% of its white male population of fighting age, the highest percentage of any state.

 

Essex returned to his Family and continued to work the land.  His property included vast tracks as well as sawmills, a gin house and a general store.  Little is known about his early life.  His mother was Betty Sanders and she lived on his estate until her death.  Essex Taylor could neither read nor write.  He was determined that his children, grandchildren, and those of his employees would have an opportunity for an education. There are several articles that confirm his commitment to education and his advocacy for all children to have quality public schooling. (4)  With this goal in mind, he built a schoolhouse and hired a teacher.  He was later rewarded for his efforts when his youngest child taught him to write his name. 

 

The mother and co-ruler of the Taylor Family was Sarah Delaine Taylor.  Her roots extended to Algeria or Morocco, where the Delaines belonged to a tribe that attempted to overthrow the ruling government.  As rebels, they were forced to flee the country.  They eventually settled in Alabama where they mingled with and married Indians and Blacks.  Sarah’s grandfather, Charles “The Rabbit” Delaine migrated from Alabama to Statesburg, South Carolina and bought with him his son, Charles “The Hoss” Delaine.  Although “The Rabbit” was a free man, “Hoss” was considered a slave because his mother was a Mohawk Indian slave.  Together, father and son traveled throughout South Carolina working in the carpentry and millwrights trades.  “Hoss” was married several times and Sarah was a child of his first marriage.  Sarah remembered little about her mother, but she often recalled stories her mother told of her life as a slave on the plantation and how she escaped the Yankees by hiding under a tub.  These individuals are our source and the stock from which we, the Taylors, developed.  Our heritage is rich indeed.