The Taylor/Davis, Bowles Family History
The Taylors’ Fortune | Our Family’s Freedom Power rooted in slavery | Legacy rooted in survival
Our Taylor Family
Both of my paternal grandparents—Mathew Taylor, Sr. and Ludella Bowles trace portions of their roots back to the same historic Taylors Quarters Plantation. Out of this powerful lineage rose extraordinary figures who shaped our family’s story and the community around them. On Mathew’s side, Henderson Maclin became a respected educator and Episcopal Deacon, while Anderson Taylor (who had his family change their last name to Davis), on Ludella’s side, rose to prominence as one of the wealthiest, most philanthropic, and impactful Black men ever to live in Tipton County after emancipation. Their legacies stand as living proof of resilience, leadership, and vision carried forward through generations.
The Taylor Enslavers
The ancestral roots of this family trace back to Carlisle, in northwestern England, where they worshiped as Anglicans within the Church of England. In America, their descendants would carry forward that tradition under a new name—the Episcopal Church. Maj. William “Buck” Taylor of Mecklenburg County, Virginia, and his brother, Capt. John “Jack” Taylor of Granville County, North Carolina, were sons of Lt. Col. William Taylor, commander of the 6th N.C. Regiment during the Revolutionary War. Their sister Sarah married George Tarry, whose descendants later settled near Mason, Tennessee. Another brother, Anderson Taylor, died in 1808 in Mecklenburg, but his children—George Tarry Taylor, John Y. Taylor, and Jane Taylor Clement—migrated to Tipton County. The Taylors amassed immense wealth through the enslavement of our ancestors, transporting an estimated 300 enslaved men, women, and children with them to Tennessee. This inhumane legacy of bondage would shape the lives of both their descendants and those they enslaved for generations.
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The Bowles Family
Strength Born in Enslavement | Fortune Built on Exploitation
Our Bowles Family
The earliest known ancestors of this line, John and Lucy Bowles, first appeared on the 1820 and 1830 slave schedules in Bedford County, Virginia, under James E. Bowles. Along with their children—Alfred, Maria, Jesse, and others—they were forced westward as the Bowles family moved into Tennessee and Mississippi. Passed down through wills and marriages, their lives were bound to the fortunes of their enslavers. Yet after emancipation, Jesse, Alfred, Nelson, and Spencer Bowles established households in Fayette and Haywood Counties, Tennessee, where they began rebuilding their lives through land ownership, literacy, and strong family networks. Their resilience and survival laid the foundation for generations to come—made even more powerful by the DNA evidence that confirms “Yellow Maria,” our direct-line ancestor, and reveals which family fathered her.
“Discover the full journey of John and Lucy Bowles and their descendants—see how resilience carried our family forward through generations.”
The Bowles Enslavers
James E. Bowles and his wife Nancy Gregg Bowles came from Bedford County, Virginia, where they held dozens of enslaved people. By the 1830s, they expanded their holdings, relocating to Hardeman County, Tennessee, and then to over 1,200 acres in Lafayette County, Mississippi. Their wealth grew through human bondage, with slave schedules documenting an increase from 20 enslaved people in 1820 to more than 30 by 1830, and later transfers to their children, including Mary Bowles Miller and her husband William Miller in Haywood County, Tennessee. The Bowles and Miller families exemplify how land, power, and prosperity in the South were built on the exploitation of enslaved labor—a legacy that shaped the lives of both their descendants and the people they enslaved.
“Learn how the Bowles enslavers built their fortune—and how their choices shaped the lives of hundreds.”
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2012 Taylor Family Reunion Book
Abstract
From the rainforests of Gabon and the villages of Nigeria and Cameroon to the plantations of Virginia and Tennessee, the Taylor Family History Book uncovers a legacy of resilience, faith, and triumph. Through DNA revelations, oral history, and archival records, it restores the voices of ancestors—both enslaved and enslavers—whose stories shaped generations. This book is a powerful celebration of survival and reconnection, proving that while chains once bound our bodies, they could never silence our legacy.
Taylor, Bowles Family Photos
