Bio-Farabee, IdaTaylor

Ida Ellen (Farabee) Taylor
(1864-1940)

Ida Ellen (Farabee) Taylor was born on April 26, 1864 in Sparta, Washington County, PA, the daughter of Spencer and Nancy (Minor) Farabee.

On Aug. 30, 1879, at the tender age of 15, Ida married 23-year-old James Ambler Taylor (1856-1932). He was a native of Greene County, PA and one of 12 children of George and Malinda (Garrison) Taylor.

The year after marriage, the Taylors lived in Gilmore Township, Greene County, PA, and were enumerated on the federal census that year (1880). They also resided over the years in West Virginia in Monongalia and Wetzel Counties, WV; and back in Pennsylvania in Greene County.

They had 10 children – Cora May Jones, William "Franklin" Taylor, Nancy "Anna" Hostutler, Georgia Spencer Taylor, James "Oliver" Taylor, Flora Bell Butcher, Harry "Jackson" Taylor, Charles Oscar Taylor, Esther Luvinia Hixenbaugh Six and Arthur Edmund Taylor.

Sadly, daughter Georgia Spencer Taylor -- named in part for her grandfather Spencer Farabee -- died at less than three months old, in 1885, and her tiny remains were laid to rest in the Oak Forest Cemetery, where several generations of the family later would be placed to sleep for eternity.

In 1900, when the federal census was taken, the Taylors resided in the Battelle District of Monongalia County. They are believed to have resided on the "Peter Gilmore Farm." The 1900 census record shows that James was a farmer, and that their eldest son Frank was born in Pennsylvania, while the rest of their children were born in West Virginia. When the census of the Battelle District was taken in 1910, James was still working as a farmer.

Ida Ellen with a favorite cow, left, and at the reins of the family buggy

By 1920, the Taylors had moved to a small rented house along Butcher Hollow, about two miles northeast of Hundred in the Church District of Wetzel County, WV. This was the John White Farm, owned by Samuel Wesley and Elizabeth (White) Gilmore. There, James continued to make a living as a farmer. That year, in 1920, five of their adult children, ranging in age from 35 to 23, resided in their home: Anna, James, Flora, Charles and Esther. The women worked as "domestics," and the sons as "laborers." They attended the Oak Forest Church along Brushy Fork Road, near Honsocker Knob, where they and four of their adult children later would be buried. The old church is seen at right, as photographed in May 2007.

The family is seen at left, with Ida and James seated in the middle row, beside their daughter Flora. In the back row, left to right, are Anna, James and Cora May. In the front row, left to right, are Jack, Esther and Charles. Missing from the photo is their oldest son William Franklin Taylor and youngest son Arthur Taylor.

They are thought to have moved again, across the state line, to near Garrison, Greene County, but their final years were spent in Hundred. James retired from farming in January 1931, and Ida likewise reduced her role doing housework at age 70 in January 1935. They may have moved into the household of their son Frank in Hundred.

James passed away at home in Hundred at age 75 on June 7, 1932, caused by hardening of the arteries followed by a stroke. In its obituary, the Wetzel Democrat newspaper reported that he was "one of the old-time citizens of the community [and that he] had passed his entire life in this neighborhood and was highly respected by all his neighborhood. He had been an invalid for many months." He was buried in the cemetery at Oak Forest, Greene County.

Ida survived her husband by eight years. She suffered from myocarditis and chronic gastric problems, and was "chair-bound" in her last years. In the 1930s, family reunions were held at her home, with her adult children coming from as far away as Pittsburgh for the affairs.

Sadly, Ida eventually died of the effects of her disabilities, at the age of 75, on Jan. 9, 1940. She was laid to rest beside her husband. In 2006, an effort to find her obituary in microfilmed copies of the Wetzel Democrat, on file at the West Virginia and Regional History Collection at West Virginia University, was unsuccessful. Newspapers of Greene County, Pa and Monongalia County, WV will be checked in the future.

James and Ida's grave at Oak Forest Church near Hundred

Hundred is seen here in a rare postcard view. Click here to see other old colorized postcards of Hundred from the early 1900s.

Daughter Cora May (Taylor) Jones (1880-1914) married Joseph Lindsey Jones (1868-1928), a native of Kansas City, KS and the son of George Jones. The wedding took place in about 1900, and they were 12 years apart in age. Joseph had been married once before, and brought a daughter, Maud Jones, to the marriage. The Joneses went on to have four children of their own -- Lawrence Jones, Cecil Rosetta Dinsmore (1900), Hazel G. Skinner (1904- ? ) and Esther Hixenbaugh. He also was a a portrait photographer based in a studio in Hundred. The family was enumerated on the 1910 federal census as residing in the Simpson District of Harrison County, WV. Sadly, Cora died in Clarksburg, Harrison County, on Sept. 2, 1914, of typhoid fever, at the age of 34. Joseph survived Cora by 14 years. He resided at 709 West Pike in Clarksburg, working as a contractor and carpenter. He died of myocarditis at the age of 60 on Aug. 11, 1928, and was buried at Greenlawn Cemetery in Clarksburg.

Daughter Hazel Gladys (Jones) Skinner (1902-1980?) resided with her father at the time of his death. Later in life, at the age of 50, she married 61-year-old Ernest Skinner (1894-1972), the son of George Barney and Sarah (Ruffner) Skinner, of Shinnston, Harrison County, WV. They resided in Clarksburg, Harrison County at the time, and were wed on July 28, 1955, by the Rev. George Depoi, of the Congregational Missionary Church of Stonewood, WV. The Skinners are believed to have moved from Hundred into Pennsylvania, where he drove trucks for the state government. Later, they returned to West Virginia, settling in Clarksburg on West Pike Street. Hazel died at age 69, in a Clarksburg nursing home, on April 18, 1972. She was retired from the McNichol Pottery Company.

Daughter Esther Anna (Jones) Hixenbaugh (1904-1988) was raised by an uncle and aunt, Franklin Lizzie Taylor, who had no children of their own. See more about her below.

Daughter Cecil Rosetta (Jones) Dinsmore (1900-1979) married (?) Dinsmore. They resided at Nutters Fork, WV and later at Zanesville, Muskingum County, OH. They had two known children, Thomas J. Dinsmore and Eva Irent Dinsmore. Cecil was a member of the Nutter Fort Union Mission Church and, as with her sister Hazel, was a former employee of the McNichol Pottery. She passed away on Sept. 10, 1979, at the age of 79, in a Zanesville hospital.

Left: Cora May, in a portrait taken by her husband at his Hundred studio. Right: Joseph with a music box. Click to see an enlargement of Cora May's portrait in our "Online Museum of Creativity."

Son William Franklin "Frank" Taylor (1881-1953) resided at one time in West Alexander, Washington County, PA. He and his wife and adopted niece Esther are seen at right. He married Elizabeth Viola "Lizzie" Kennedy (1883-1957). They had no children, but when Frank's sister Cora Jones died at the age of 34, leaving behind four young children, Frank and Lizzie took one of the motherless girls into their home and raised her as their own.

They later moved to the White Creek area of the Battelle District near Hundred, and labored as farmers for many years. In 1940, Frank was the informant on his mother's death certificate.

He died of a stroke, caused by hardening of the arteries, at Pugh's Nursing Home near Morgantown, Monongalia County. He was age 71 at his death, which occurred on Sept. 13, 1953. He is buried at Oak Forest, presumably in the same cemetery as his parents.

Lizzie outlived him by four years, and passed away in 1957, at the age of 74. They rest together for eternity at Oak Forest Cemetery with many of Frank's extended relatives.

Adopted niece Esther Anna (Jones) Hixenbaugh (1904-1998) married Clarence E. "Dutch" Hixenbaugh (1905- ? ), the son of Lewis Wetzel and Beezie Bartrug Nixenbaugh. They resided in Amity, Washington County, PA for many years before relocating to Hundred. The Hixenbaughs had no children. "He was a retired truck driver for Amwell Township and a Protestant," said the Wetzel Chronicle newspaper. Dutch died on Feb. 21, 1988, at the Wishing Well Manor in Fairmont, at the age of 82. Esther followed him to the grave a decade later. She passed away at Mon Point Rest Home in Morgantown in 1998. They too are buried at Oak Forest.

Lizzie (left) and William "Frank" Taylor (back) farming with their adopted niece Esther (right). The seated man with the dog is unknown.

Daughter Nancy "Anna" (Taylor) Hostutler (1885-1966) may have been named in part for her grandmother, Nancy (Minor) Farabee. She is seen at left with her sister Cora Jones. Anna resided with her parents, unmarried in 1920, when the federal census was taken of Hundred. Her occupation was listed as "Domestic."

At some point, she married George Hostutler. They made their home along the Brushy Fork Road in Monongalia County, WV, about a mile from the Pennsylvania state line, as did several of sisters and brothers. The Hostutlers had four children -- among them James Hostutler and Robert "Bob" Hostutler. Unfortunately, the couple divorced.

While cooking in her kitchen one day, Anna accidentally set her clothes on fire, and she suffered severe burns from which she never recovered. She passed away in 1966, at the age of 82, and is buried at Oak Forest Cemetery.

The Hostutlers' son Bob is an operator of heavy equipment in local strip mining projects in West Virginia and/or Pennsylvania.

Son James Oliver Taylor (1886-1967) is seen here wearing a hat. He married Ora M. (Himelrick) Six ( ? - ? ). Ora had been married once before, to Charles Six, and brought a son to the marriage, Cecil Taylor Six.

James is known to have had a lazy right eye, but nonetheless was a veteran of World War I, having served as a private in the U.S. Army. They resided in Hundred, and later in Clarksburg, where James was employed as a glass worker and was a member of the Rush Run Methodist Church.

The Taylors had two children, believed to have been Ora M. Taylor and one unknown, but tragically, both died in childhood. Daughter Ora, age three, died in 1901, and is buried at Sancho Cemetery near Hundred. In September 1930, son Cecil passed away at the age of 11 of "epileptic fits." The boy was buried also at Sancho Cemetery, with James signing the death certificate. One other child -- whose name is not known -- also preceded James in death.

Later in life, James suffered from septicimia, and died at the age of 81 on June 17, 1967. He also is buried in the Sancho Cemetery in Hundred.

Gene Taylor (1910-1978) is a descendant in some way of this family, as is Lawrence Raymond Taylor (1923-1940) who tragically was killed, while on Army furlough home, when his gun discharged when he was hunting on the property of an aunt, on Dec. 10, 1943. A search for Lawrence's obituary in the Wetzel County newspaper was not successful. More will be added and clarified here when learned.

Son Harry "Jackson" Taylor (1891-1960) is seen at left and was nicknamed "Happy Jack." He married Ida Jeanette Jones (1890-1972), the daughter of John and Hannah (Roberts) Jones. They lived in several locations near Jollytown and New Freeport, Greene County, PA and near Hundred, Wetzel County.

The Taylors had at least nine children -- Marjorie Genevieve Kelley, Fern Thomas, Gayle Hennen, Charles Melburn Taylor, Harry Taylor, Wilma "Grace" Wise, Imogene Phillips, Leona Ruth Tennant and Louise "B.A." Carter.

Jackson died on Feb. 7, 1960, at the age of 69. Ida outlived him by a dozen years. She passed away at the age of 82 on Oct. 17, 1972. They are buried together at the Eakin Cemetery near Jollytown, Greene County.

Daughter Grace Taylor married Arthur Calvin Wise. The Wises had five children -- Connie, Bonnie, Linda, Gary and Larry Wise. We are grateful to Grace Wise and her son Gary for sharing most of the information and images for this biography.

Jack and Ida Jones at far right at a Jones reunion in Jollytown

Daughter Flora Taylor (1888-1983) is seen at left with her son, Eugene. Flora married John Butcher ( ? - ? ).Not much is known about their lives.

In addition to her son, Eugene E. Taylor, she may have had other children, and she is known to have had grandchildren.

Flora lived in Hundred in 1967. She passed away in 1983, while in her 90s. She was buried in Oak Forest Cemetery. Her grave marker, photographed in May 2007, is decorated with colorful flowers and is inscribed with the word "Grandma."

Son Eugene Butcher (1910-1978) married Minnie Hostutler (1907-1982). He served in the U.S. Army, presumably during World War II, when he would have been in his early 30s. Minnie died at the age of 74, at the St. Joseph Hospital in Warren, Trumbull County, OH on Feb. 26, 1982, and was buried beside her husband at Sancho Cemetery.

Son Charles Oscar Taylor (1895- ? ) is seen at right with an unidentified child. He apparently was married and had several children, but their names are not yet known.

The Taylors were residents of Homestead, the steel town near Pittsburgh, Allegheny County, PA, in 1932. That year, he was the informant on his father's death certificate. The sprawling town of Homestead, and the massive U.S. Steel Works where most local residents were employed, are seen at right.

In the 1930s, when family reunions were held at his mother's home, Charles would drive to the events, and stop en route at his brother's home in southern Greene County to pick up the children. By 1967, he was still living in Pittsburgh. His fate is not yet determined, but as more research becomes available, the material will be added here.

Daughter Esther Taylor (1897- ? ) married (?) Six. In the photograph seen at left, Esther is standing with her married sister Hazel Jones, who is holding a U.S. flag. In 1967, Esther resided in West Union, Doddridge County, WV. Nothing more about her is known.

Son Arthur Edmund Taylor (1904- ? ) lived in Homestead circa 1967. He is seen at right, as a boy, standing in front of a picket fence. His fate is unknown.