Whatever Happened to Annie Taylor Wenzel?

Annie Sarah (Or Sarah Annie) Taylor married Peter Wenzel in Dutchess County, New York about 1879. This is the Annie who was born in Safe Harbor, PA about 1862 to Hellen Walker Taylor and the unknown Mr. Taylor (George or Harrison?). Annie and Peter Wenzel had about 8 children, at least three survived; my grandmother Flora (Florence Sarah) being one of the first was born in 1882 in Poughkeepsie, New York, and the others were Carrie, who married Patrick Morris, and George. Florence left home at about age 19 with William Carl Lieberknecht and was living in Jersey City, New Jersey where my mother, Ottilie, was born in 1908. Florence and William along with Ottilie were in Detroit, MI in 1910 and in 1911 arrived in Los Angeles setting down (so to speak, but not for long) in Santa Barbara where Barbara was born in the "Anapamu House." I have a photo of Ottilie and her sister, Barbara in Oxnard with a woman who looks like Florence and may be her mother, Annie. They are on the breakwater about 1916, and Ottilie looks to be around 8 years old. The woman could be Annie as she looks very much like Florence had looked at the same age.

So, did Annie travel to California in 1916 with or to visit her daughter, Florence? I am unable to find a death record in NY or a burial place for Annie. What happened to her? She does not appear in the 1910 NY Census. Peter is shown as a widower. They had a legal separation in the 1890s. Annie is my missing ancestor.

It's The Wrong George Taylor!

Well, I did send for the pension file for this George Taylor who served in the 120th NY Infantry, Co. K. I really wanted this George as he was born in Ireland and would have been the Irish connection I had wanted to find This George had a wife, Ann Maria. They married in 1854 and lived in New York City. This George had enlisted in Roundout in Ulster Co., a village next to Kingston and Saugerties where my family lived. It was a long shot, but sometimes you have to kill off a lot of possibles to end up with the one that fits the bill.

It's back to the drawing board and another investment of funds to order just one more file. If George had deserted, he would not have qualified for a pension nor would have his wife and child qualified. If he was missing in action, I don't know how a wife's application would have been treated. I need to find the book in our Sahyun Library that lists denied pension applications. That's the next step I will take.

George Taylor, a Civil War Casualty?

George Taylor was listed as working in an iron works in Kingston, Ulster County, New York before the Civil War began. The supervisor of the iron works would have been George's wife's uncle, William H. H. Rowe.

There is a George Taylor who enlisted in the 120th New York Infantry, Company H and is shown as "missing" in regimental reports published in the Kingston newspaper. This regiment's soldiers were mostly from Kingston, New York.

In the 1860 PA Census, George's wife, Ellen (Hellen) is shown living with her uncle, William Rowe, in Safe Harbor, PA. He is shown as the iron works supervisor. Ellen is married but no husband for her is shown, neither is her baby, Annie, who in later censuses states she was born in 1859 in Safe Harbor, PA.

One reason why I like George, is that Annie named a son George, although she also had an Uncle George, Ellen's brother. Another reason is that George worked with Ellen's uncle in Kingston at the iron works there.

Ellen's two brothers, James R. Walker and George W. Walker were both in the 120th Regiment out of Kingston. They were in different companies and were both wounded and captured in the Battle of the Wilderness near Spotsylvania, VA and spent time in Andersonville Prison but were paroled.

In the 1865 Kingston, NY state Census, Ellen (really Hellen) is shown with her daughter, Annie, age 6. Hellen is a widow, and they are living with Hellen's mother, Sarah Walker, who is also a widow.

Is George Annie's father and Hellen's husband? What ever happened to George, if that was his name? I will spring for the cost of obtaining this George's military record. Hellen never applied for a widow's pension, nor did George ever apply for a pension. This is strange because Annie certainly was a minor if George died in the war. Hellen's mother, Sarah Rowe Walker, owned property in Kingston, so perhaps Hellen did not need the pension for her daughter or herself.

Things already done:

1. Searched for a marriage record for Hellen/Ellen Walker and Mr. Taylor in Kingston, NY

2. Searched for baptismal record for Annie in PA. She was baptized in Kingston, NY at about age 5.

3. Searched for George Taylor in Ulster Co. State and Federal censuses.

4. Emailed a person who had access to various iron works' records in Phoenixville and possibly Safe Harbor and vicinity with no response.

5. Looked at prisoner lists at Libby and Andersonville prisons. No mention of George Taylor.

Things to do:

1. Find and review the list of workers at the Kingston Iron Works and follow other workers.

2. Study the regimental history of the 120th NY Infantry.

3. Order the military record for George Taylor in Co. H, 120th NY Infantry.  Done. Not my George. 

Update: Annie says her father is Harrison Taylor in the 2nd marriage license application to Thomas W Adams.