Virgil Carman (Joe) Taylor

Tribute to Virgil Carman (Joe) Taylor

            Joe Taylor was born 8 April 1943 in Memphis, TN.  His parents were Carl Hines Taylor (17 Jan 1916 Taylor Mines, Ohio Co. – 12 Mar 1980 Memphis) and Udeyne Porter (2 May 1920 Cromwell, Ohio Co. – 26 May 2010 Lynchburg, Moore Co., TN).  Joe had three sisters, Susan Catherine Taylor Vale (1938-2000), Peggy Bradford of Tullahoma, TN, and Patricia Coulter of Woodbine, N.J., and one brother, Carl P. Taylor of Murfreesboro, TN (1936-). Joe grew up in Memphis and joined the Navy shortly after finishing high school.  By the time I met him, about ten years ago, Joe was living in California.  I met Joe because I had started my search for my ancestors and I found that Joe had taken it upon himself to post Ohio County family history on the internet to help everyone. During one stretch of time I talked to Joe by telephone two or three times per week and we traded several hundred emails about genealogy research. Although many of you are familiar with Joe’s work, I suspect there are some that are new to genealogy and might appreciate knowing how to find Joe’s work. 

            First, Joe created a surname listings on Rootsweb for Ohio County families which can be found at this link: http://wc.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?db=2006-ohio-co-ky   

          Once you open this page, just click on the letter for whatever surname you are researching and you will find a list of surnames starting with that letter – then click on the name you want and you will find all of the information Joe had been able to find about the persons listed. Joe’s information came from countless hours of research and also from contacting descendants of the respective individuals.  While not perfect, I think you will find that almost all of the info on this web site is accurate.  This site has been a big help to me and I still check this site on a regular basis.

           Joe also created a web site for Ohio County photographs and asked others to contribute their family photos. Joe’s photo web site can be found at this link: 

http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~ohiocokypictures/

On this site you will find an alphabetical listing of family photos; just click on any of them to view the photos. Joe put all the photos in an orange frame and added a caption. Here is a compilation of photos that Joe posted of himself:

            Joe died 28 April 2011 in Brisbane, San Mateo County, California at age 68.  He had been seriously ill for several years and wanted to return home but could not move because of his medical insurance.

            Here is what he wrote about his research a few weeks before he died: 

               “It is my hope that by my effort in bringing together the enclosed information will help those who come after me to learn more about the family’s lines. While the information has been pulled from many places, every effort has been made to confirm the information by cross references; if a bit of material is in question, then it will be so noted. 

             If you should find error, please note it was not with intent.

            Also note it is not my intent to change or color anything that is found.  What is found is what you will see and let the chips fall where they may - it is not my place to sit in judgment but just to share our history.

           For the most part all who have gone before were neither great saints nor great sinners they were just people who each in their own way made the best of what life sent their way for themselves and their families.”

          So I hope that you find Joe’s research helpful. I know that he worked many long hours over a period of many years assembling the data. And he did it for us, with no motive other than wanting to share his research to help the rest of us.