Ninth Generation

428. TABBERT TALBERT II was born in 1729 in Bristol Parish, Prince George County, Virginia, USA. He appeared in the census in 1810 in Muhlenburg County, Kentucky, USA. He died in 1812 at the age of 83 in Morgan County, Georgia, USA. Lived Watauga Settlement in Watauga Settlement, North Carolina, BCA. Although his name appears at #166 on a list of land grants by North Carolina in the Tennessee Territory in 1778, Virgil Talbot claims that Matthew (II)’s move must have occurred before 1775, since he built the first gristmill in that area in that year. At that time, when he was about 46 years old, Mary 47, and his youngest child under ten, he moved to the Watauga area of what was then the western portion of North Carolina, approximately 150 miles from his Bedford County home. He settled on Gap Creek near its confluence with the Watauga River, and began the first gristmill in that area in 1775, presumably while pursuing his ranching interests. The area to which he moved was near the present-day city of Elizabethton, Tennessee.
Raised in the traditions of the Colonial Church of England in which his father was a staunch participant, Matthew (II) renounced that association and embraced the growing, enthusiastic flood to the fundamentalist, evangelical calling of the Baptist Church. He felt so converted to this belief that he became a minister in that church along with his immediate neighbors, James and John Edens. After his move to Tennessee, he founded the Sinking Creek Baptist church in Carter County and became its first preacher.

At the mouth of Buffalo Creek, Cleavers Barksdell, by 1778 , settled on the west side, and Matthew Talbot by 1775, on the east side (see hereafter for details on this property). They built their residences and established their plantations along the banks of the Watauga River at this location . Adjoining their land on the south and on both sides of Bu ffalo Creek was Andrew Taylor, Sr.'s 450-acre land grant which survey had been entered for him by Christopher Cunningham, Sr. his immediate neighbor on the south and also on both sides of Buffalo Creek. Both men had brought their families from Virginia and built their homes at these locations . Christopher Cunningham's daughter, Jane married Andrew Taylor, Sr.'s eldest son, Isaac Taylor. Andrew Taylor Sr. was the progenitor of the famous Taylor family who have contr ibuted so much to the history of Tennessee

The Watauga years, although lasting perhaps only a decade, were filled with adventure and change. When the Talbots arrived, Indian raids were common and a source of constant anxiety. Perhaps most unsettling, the young nation was deeply engaged in a revolution, trying to throw off the ties tha thad bound them to England for more than 170 years. In that struggle, many colonists chose to remain loyal to the Crown and the emotional toll that resulted surely was considerable. That, too, made life on the frontier more difficult.
Participating in this upheaval, Matthew Talbot erected a fort, known as Fort Watauga, on his property. As legend has it, John Sevier, the hero of the battle of Kings Mountain i n 1780, assembled his men at Fort Watauga the night before marching to that successful battle against the British under the command of Colonel Ferguson. Matthew(II) is credited with having provisioned these American troops during their encampment there. The area is now in Carter County, TN , near the present town of Johnson City.

During this time four of Mathew(II)’s sons fought in the revolution. Matthew (II), too old to be in battle, served his new country and the Commonwealth of Virginia in the Patriotic Service as Commissary and provisioner. Although Matthew(II) probably was not engaged in the Battle, his four older sons were - Edmund and Clayton being too young to fight . Thomas was wounded there.

From Fort Watauga, the American force marched for miles through rain, snow and over treacherous terrain. By early afternoon they came upon the British. At 3 p.m., without having rested or had refreshment, the Battle commenced. In an hour, it was over and the British were laid decimate. The American losses were 28 killed and 62 injured; surely Thomas ’ scalp wound was among that number.

(King's Mountain and Its Heroes: History of the Battle of K ing's Mountain
Author: Lyman C. Draper, LL. D
Then mounting their horses, for the most of them were provided with hardy animals, they commenced their long and difficult march. They would appear to have had some trouble in getting their beeves started, and probably tarried for their mid-day lunch, at Matthew Talbot's Mill, now known as Clark's Mill, on Gap creek, only three miles from the Sycamor e Shoals. Thence up Gap creek to its head, when they bore somewhat to the left, crossing Little Doe river, reaching th e noted "Resting Place," at the Shelving Rock, about a mile beyond the Crab Orchard, where, after a march of some twenty miles that day, they took up their camp for the night . Big Doe river, a bold and limpid mountain stream, flowing hard by, afforded the campers, their horses and beef cattle, abundance of pure and refreshing water. Here, a man of the name Miller resided who shod several of the horses of the party.
The Battle of Kings Mountain took place in October 1780. Its successful outcome for the Patriots marked the beginning of the end of the Revolution. Not only was the Battle important strategically, it was fought by British Regulars who were actually colonists who remained loyal to the Crown against their fellow colonists who were revolutionary Patriots. There are numerous web sites where the reader may find further details about the Battle of Kings Mountain and it speculiar importance to the American cause. He lived in Wilkes County, Georgia, USA. It was during the sojourn in Watauga, in 1785, that Mary Hale Talbot, Matthew’s wife of thirty-two years died, and soon after the years in the Tennessee country came to an end . He was approaching sixty years of age by that time. Exactly what motives prompted him to forsake his life there is not known and he left no known record to reveal them. But around 1788 he moved with what remained of his family to Wilkes County, Georgia, where his younger brother John, who had become a very successful planter and political leader, had settled just a few years before. Furthermore, current scholarship has revealed that his half sister, Martha, and her husband, Barnabus Arthur, were either living there, came about the same time, or soon afterward. Whether it was Mary’s death, his ministry, the wanderlust of a pioneer, or family ties, the fact of his moving is certain. His brothers , Charles and James, had died during the American Revolution and his half-brother, Isham, had moved to Kentucky, and so there could very well have been some interest on his part in being nearer his sister and brother. In addition, a number of families from Bedford County and Campbell County i n Virginia had relocated in Wilkes County, Georgia during and immediately after the American Revolution. He perhaps abandoned his ranching interests as he did the gristmill and pursued the ministry as his principal occupation.

Matthew (III), William, Edmund, and Clayton joined their father in the move to Wilkes County. Mary, Hale, and Thomas stayed in Watauga although Hale left for Kentucky after a short time and Thomas relocated further west in Nashville. The four brothers who accompanied their father to Georgia soon found brides and began families of their own. Matthew (III) and William married Lucy Bailey and Mary Bailey, perhaps sisters although no records have been found to substantiate that speculation. Clayton married Mary Crews and Edmund married Mary Harvey. Mary Harvey's father was a preacher , an occupation that her new husband was to follow for the remainder of his life. Mary HAILE and TABBERT TALBERT II were married in 1752. In the 23rd year of his life, Matthew (II) Talbot married Mary Hale Day. She was almost 25, a widow with a young daughter. Mary Hale had married Thomas Day some years before and to them was born, Elizabeth. The circumstances surrounding Thomas Day’s death are unknown. Nevertheless, Mary was an available young woman and Matthew (II) found in her the wife with whom he would spend the next 32 years of his lif e and with whom he would father seven children.

Mary Hale was the daughter of Nicholas Hale and Ruth Ann Long. Nicholas Hale had been a business partner with Matthew (I) when the two lived in Maryland, that business having failed due to losses at sea. Indeed, they may have remained business partners after the move to Virginia and it is possible that Matthew (II) became a business associate with his father and father-in-law. Later the Hale family would be found in the Watauga area of what is now Tennessee, an area to which Mary and Matthew(II) would move sometime during the mid 1770’s. There exists a substantial body of knowledge to suggest that the Hales were among those early Baptists in Tennessee and may very well have been involved in the move to Tennessee by Matthew (II) and Mary. So it seems clear that Mary Hale and Matthew (II) Talbot had known each other during their youth. It is tempting to speculate about how he let her get away in the first place but that avenue probably leads to a dead end. His decisiveness when the second opportunity presented was quite clear.

Throughout the remaining history of the Talbot family, the Hale name appears frequently, both as the first name for the males and often as a middle name for the females. The spelling varies from Hale, Haile, Hail, and perhaps other s. The official records contain the same kind of spelling variations.. The predominate usage is "Hale" because Edmund Talbot, the son of Matthew (II) and Mary Hale Day Talbot , used that spelling in his 1849 Memorandum of the Talbot Family , which is published in its entirety at this web site. We have not attempted in this work to choose one and use it consistently

429. Mary HAILE was born in 1727. She died Y.

Children were: