Phebe Taylor
Sex: F
Individual Information
Birth: 1 Oct 1777 - Eastham, Massachusetts 1
Baptism:
Death: Cir 1804 - Orleans, Massachusetts
Burial:
Cause of Death:
Parents
Father: Benjamin Taylor (1752- ) 2
Mother: Eunice Arey (1758- ) 3
Spouses and Children
1. *John Smith (17 May 1770 - Bef Dec 1814)
Marriage: 23 Aug 1801 - Orleans, Massachusetts 4
Status:
Children:
1. Winslow Smith (1803-Bef 1840)
Phebe Ann Taylor
Sex: F
Individual Information
Birth: 7 Aug 1832 - Orleans, Massachusetts 5
Baptism:
Death: Aug 1851 - Orleans, Massachusetts 6
Burial: in Orleans Cemetery 7
Cause of Death: heart disease
Parents
Father: James Taylor (1798-1870)
Mother: Phebe Nickerson (1808-1901)
Notes
Medical:
age 19
single
b Orleans
d/o James & Phebe Taylor 6
Phebe Snow Taylor
Sex: F
Individual Information
Birth: 6 Sep 1793 - Chatham, Massachusetts 8
Baptism:
Death:
Burial:
Cause of Death:
Parents
Father: Mathis Taylor (Cir 1766-1844)
Mother: Rebecca Snow (Cir 1764-1844)
Phoebe Atwood Taylor
Sex: F
Individual Information
Birth: 18 May 1909 - Boston, Massachusetts
Baptism:
Death: 9 Jan 1976 - Boston, Massachusetts
Burial: in Oak Dale Cemetery, Wellfleet
Cause of Death:
Parents
Father: John Danforth Taylor M.D. (Cir 1876- )
Mother: Josephine Atwood (1875-1929) 10
Notes
General:
Taylor, Phoebe Atwood (18 May 1909-9 Jan. 1976), author, was born in Boston, Massachusetts, the daughter of John D. Taylor, a surgeon, and Josephine Atwood. Taylor attended Barnard College on a Lucille Pulitzer Residence Scholarship and graduated with a B.A. in 1930. After graduating she returned to Boston and published her first detective novel, The Cape Cod Mystery, in 1931, selling more than 5,000 copies.
This novel began a series of books appearing under her own name that features the amateur detective Asey Mayo, a Cape Cod native and seeming jack-of-all-trades, who eventually becomes chair of the board of Porter Motors. In this series Taylor depicts the towns of Cape Cod and the lives of year-round residents, especially those of Yankee stock. She often explores the tensions between natives and tourists, and her novels written during the 1930s, such as Mystery of the Cape Cod Players (1933), reflect the impact of the depression on her characters and on the region. Many of these novels also feature strong female characters, and some are narrated by older women. Taylor has been praised for her historical accuracy in depicting the region she knew well from personal experience. In this series Taylor published nineteen novels, including Sandbar Sinister (1934), The Octagon House (1937), The Perennial Border (1941), and Proof of the Pudding (1945). Her last Asey Mayo mystery, Diplomatic Corpse (1951), was also the last novel she published.
Taylor's other series, appearing under the pen name Alice Tilton, features another amateur detective, Leonidas Xenophon Witherall. Witherall, a teacher and later headmaster-owner of Meredith Academy, a private boys' school, is drawn into improbable if not impossible adventures, many involving members of his family or his circle of friends. The novels are set in Boston and its suburbs and reflect aspects of Taylor's own life as well as her sense of humor, for Witherall himself is an author of detective fiction. The first Witherall novel, Beginning with a Bash, was published under Taylor's own name in Mystery League Magazine in 1933. In Britain it appeared in book form in 1937 under her pen name but was not published in hardcover in the United States until 1972. Witherall's adventures include The Cut Direct (1938) and The Hollow Chest (1941). He makes his final appearance in Dead Ernest (1944). In addition to these two series, Taylor published one mystery, Murder at the New York World's Fair (1940), under the name Freeman Dana. In Taylor's novels the plots are fast paced, and cases seldom last longer than a few days. Humor, both verbal and situational, remains an important ingredient in the narratives. Describing her efforts as an author, Taylor claimed that she wrote her manuscripts between midnight and 3:00 a.m. and began each one just three weeks before it was due at her publisher's office.
Already established in her career, Taylor married Grantley Walden Taylor, a Boston surgeon. The couple had no children. They lived in Newton Highlands and in Weston, also maintaining a summer home in Wellfleet. Phoebe Taylor was a member of the Country Club, the Cosmopolitan Club of New York, and the Society of Mayflower Descendants. She died in Boston. Her work continues to entertain fans of detective fiction, and nearly all of her novels remain in print. She deserves credit for being an early contributor to what has become a subgenre in detective fiction, the regional mystery.
Bibliography
Taylor's manuscripts are in the Mugar Memorial Library, Boston University. Other works by Taylor under her own name include Death Lights a Candle (1932), The Mystery of the Cape Cod Tavern (1934), Deathblow Hill (1935), The Tinkling Symbol (1935), The Crimson Patch (1936), Out of Order (1936), Figure Away (1937), The Annulet of Gilt (1938), Banbury Bog (1938), Cold Steal (1939), Spring Harrowing (1939), The Criminal C.O.D. (1940), The Deadly Sunshade (1940), The Six Iron Spiders (1942), Three Plots for Asey Mayo (1942), Going, Going, Gone (1943), and Punch with Care (1946). Writing as Alice Tilton, she produced The Left Leg (1940), File for Record (1943), and The Iron Clew (1947). An evaluation of her work is JoAnne C. Juett, "Phoebe Atwood Taylor," in Critical Survey of Mystery and Detective Fiction, vol. 4 (1987), pp. 1567-72. Obituaries are in the Boston Globe, 14 Jan. 1976, and the New York Times, 12 Jan. 1976.
Melissa McFarland Pennell
Citation:
Melissa McFarland Pennell. "Taylor, Phoebe Atwood";
http://www.anb.org/articles/16/16-02858.html;
American National Biography Online Feb. 2000.
Copyright © 2000 American Council of Learned Societies. Published by Oxford University Press.
Polly Taylor
Sex: F
Individual Information
Birth: Est 1820 - Yarmouth, Massachusetts
Baptism:
Death:
Burial:
Cause of Death:
Spouses and Children
1. *Captain Benoni Baker (9 May 1812 - )
Marriage: 28 Jan 1841 - Yarmouth, Massachusetts 11
Status:
Polly Taylor
Sex: F
Individual Information
Birth: Cir 1796 - Eastham, Massachusetts 12
Baptism:
Death: 21 Sep 1829 - Hampden, Maine
Burial:
Cause of Death:
Parents
Father: David Taylor (1763-1840) 13
Mother: Hannah King (Cir 1764-1827)
Spouses and Children
1. *Elisha Hopkins (29 Mar 1796 - 30 May 1875)
Marriage: 7 Jan 1823 - Orleans, Massachusetts 14
Status:
Children:
1. Benjamin F Hopkins (1826- )
2. Elisha Hopkins (1829- )
2. Benjamin Cole (21 Feb 1792 - 1814)
Marriage: 1813 - Orleans, Massachusetts
Status:
Notes
Marriage Notes (Benjamin Cole)
intentions. tentative IDs
Polly Taylor
Sex: F
Individual Information
Birth: 1 Mar 1804 - Chatham, Massachusetts 8
Baptism:
Death:
Burial:
Cause of Death:
Parents
Father: Mathis Taylor (Cir 1766-1844)
Mother: Rebecca Snow (Cir 1764-1844)
Polly Mayo Taylor
Sex: F
Individual Information
Birth: 16 Apr 1832 - Wellfleet, Massachusetts 15
Baptism:
Death: 2 Sep 1850 - Wellfleet, Massachusetts
Burial: in Duck Creek Cemetery, Wellfleet
Cause of Death: typhoid fever
Parents
Father: Justin Taylor (1803-1885) 16
Mother: Paulina Mayo (1800-1886) 17
Notes
General:
"In memory of Polly, daughter of Justin & Polly Taylor, who died Sept. 1, 1850, aged 18 yrs. 4 mos. 14 days.Medical:
'God is love.' " 18
Yarmouth Register, September 14, 1850
In Brewster, 11th inst., Mrs. Thankful, wife of Mr. John BAKER, about 71 years.
In Wellfleet, 2d inst., of typhoid fever, Miss Polly, daughter of Mr. Justin TAYLOR. 19
Priscilla Taylor
Sex: F
Individual Information
Birth: Est 1800 - (Chatham, Massachusetts)
Baptism:
Death:
Burial:
Cause of Death:
Spouses and Children
1. *Theodore Nickerson (4 Dec 1785 - 2 Feb 1844)
Marriage: 1829
Status:
Children:
1. Zabina H Nickerson (1818-1885)
Notes
General:
prob Priscilla Kelley, d/o Thomas & Cynthia, d 8-26-1872 Harwich, age 78
Rachel Coribelle Taylor
Sex: F
Individual Information
Birth: 27 Jan 1899 - Chatham, Massachusetts 20
Baptism:
Death:
Burial:
Cause of Death:
Parents
Father: Winthrop Taylor (1868- )
Mother: Hansina Christensen (1876- )
Spouses and Children
1. *Edgar Gage Doane (Est 1900 - )
Marriage: 1918 - Chatham, Massachusetts
Status:
Notes
Marriage Notes (Edgar Gage Doane)
Chatham Monitor notes
23 Apr 1918
"Mr. and Mrs. Winthrop Taylor announce the engagement of their daughter, Rachel Coribelle, to Mr. Edgar Gage Doane of Chatham." 21
Rebecca Taylor
Sex: F
Individual Information
Birth: 6 Oct 1735 - Plymouth, Massachusetts
Baptism:
Death: After 3 Sep 1795 - Barnstable, Massachusetts
Burial:
Cause of Death:
Spouses and Children
1. *Thomas Gorham (13 Aug 1723 - 1795)
Marriage: 1765
Status:
Notes
General:
d/o Jacob Taylor & Mary Atwood
Rebecca Taylor
Sex: F
Individual Information
Birth: 26 Aug 1774 - Chatham, Massachusetts
Baptism:
Death: 26 Apr 1859
Burial: in Lower Road Cemetery, Brewster
Cause of Death:
Spouses and Children
1. *Zenas Rider (5 Dec 1772 - 2 Sep 1818)
Marriage: 1794 - Chatham, Massachusetts
Status:
Children:
1. Elisabeth Rider (1797- )
2. Tabitha Rider (1802-1846)
3. Zenas Ryder (1804-1828)
Rebecca Taylor
Sex: F
Individual Information
Birth: 3 May 1696 - Yarmouth, Massachusetts 22
Baptism:
Death:
Burial:
Cause of Death:
Parents
Father: Elisha Taylor (1664-1740)
Mother: Rebecca (Est 1665- )
Rebecca Taylor
Sex: F
Individual Information
Birth: 17 Apr 1800 - Chatham, Massachusetts 8
Baptism:
Death:
Burial:
Cause of Death:
Parents
Father: Mathis Taylor (Cir 1766-1844)
Mother: Rebecca Snow (Cir 1764-1844)
Spouses and Children
1. *Captain Nathaniel Snow (10 Oct 1794 - )
Marriage: 10 Apr 1818 - Chatham, Massachusetts 23
Status:
Children:
1. Cyrus Snow (1819-1837)
2. Nathaniel Snow (1825- )
3. George Taylor Snow (1830- )
Rebecca Taylor
Sex: F
Individual Information
Birth: 16 Dec 1722 - Yarmouth, Massachusetts
Baptism:
Death:
Burial:
Cause of Death:
Parents
Father: Hezekiah Taylor (1699-1776)
Mother: Mehitable Tobey (Cir 1701-1769)
Spouses and Children
1. *Peter Rider (16 Mar 1716 - )
Marriage: 6 Mar 1746 - Yarmouth, Massachusetts
Status:
Children:
1. Elisha Rider (1748- )
2. Molly Rider (1750- )
3. Peter Rider (1753- )
4. Abner Rider (1755- )
5. Keturah Rider (1760- )
6. Joshua Rider (1765- )
7. Zenas Rider (1768- )
Rebecca C Taylor
Sex: F
Individual Information
Birth: 10 Mar 1827 - Chatham, Massachusetts 24
Baptism:
Death:
Burial:
Cause of Death:
Parents
Father: Joseph Taylor (1794-1872)
Mother: Tabitha Nickerson (1793-1836)
Rebecca R Taylor
Sex: F
Individual Information
Birth: 1858 - Provincetown, Massachusetts
Baptism:
Death:
Burial:
Cause of Death:
Parents
Father: Amasa Taylor (1824-1901) 25
Mother: Hannah Mayo Cowing (1824-1913) 26
Spouses and Children
1. *Benjamin F Smith (1852 - )
Marriage: 28 Aug 1878 - Provincetown, Massachusetts 27
Status:
Children:
1. Stephen Churchill Smith (1884-1913)
Rebecca Smith Taylor
Sex: F
Individual Information
Birth: 1 Mar 1802 - Wellfleet, Massachusetts 28
Baptism:
Death: Bef Dec 1810
Burial:
Cause of Death:
Parents
Father: Solomon Taylor (1764-1853) 29
Mother: Marcy Smith (Est 1780-After 1823)
Notes
General:
Rebecca and Mary were twins.
Rebecca Smith Taylor
Sex: F
Individual Information
Birth: 28 Dec 1810 - Wellfleet, Massachusetts
Baptism:
Death:
Burial:
Cause of Death:
Parents
Father: Solomon Taylor (1764-1853) 29
Mother: Marcy Smith (Est 1780-After 1823)
Spouses and Children
Children:
1. Mary Smith Taylor (1834- ) 30
Notes
General:
1850 US census, Wellfleet:
Rebecca lived at the alms house, probably insane.
Rebekah Taylor
Sex: F
AKA: Rebecca Taylor
Individual Information
Birth: 9 Feb 1743 - Eastham, Massachusetts 13
Baptism:
Death: After 1791
Burial:
Cause of Death:
Parents
Father: John Taylor (1717-1802)
Mother: Phebe Higgins (1723-1755)
Sources
1. George Ernest Bowman, compiler, "Vital records of Eastham and Orleans, Massachusetts" (Mayflower Descendant [several sections]), 33:82. highly incomplete
2. Smith and Smith, Vital Records of the Towns of Eastham and Orleans..., 1980, 1993. Baltimore MD, 165 (MD32:68). Col. Leonard H Smith, Jr. and Norma H Smith. Vital Records of the Towns of Eastham and Orleans. An authorized facsimile reproduction of records published serially 1901-1935 in "The Mayflower Descendant." With an added index of persons.
1980, 1993. Baltimore MD: reprinted for Clearfield Co. by Genealogical Pub. Co.
3. Smith and Smith, Vital Records of the Towns of Eastham and Orleans..., 1980, 1993. Baltimore MD, 83 (MD16:197).
4. marriages, circa 1761-1844. from Book 2, in "Vital Records of Eastham and Orleans, Massachusetts" (2002. Oxford, MA: Holbrook Research Institute (2 Cds), files H01_04a - H01_04f), 35 (S). .... Robert P Smith, "Historic Records of the Federated Church of Orleans, Massachusetts"
annotated marriage records, 1772-1828 (Mayflower Descendant 46:109-120, 47:21-26, 47:111-116, 48:49-58, 48:141-148), 47:114.
5. births by family 1628-1855, in "Vital Records of Eastham and Orleans, Massachusetts" (2002. Oxford, Mass: Holbrook Research Institute (2 CDs). files H01_01a - H01_01g), 136.
6. Orleans deaths, 1851-1892, in "Vital Records of Eastham and Orleans, Massachusetts" (2002. Oxford, Mass.: Holbrook Research Institute, (2 CDs)), 1-2.
7. index to Orleans, Massachusetts cemeteries (1970. Excel file at Orleans Historical Society, http://orleanshistoricalsociety.org/collections.html).
8. Sheila M. Dann Westgate and Anna Lowell Tomlinson, Vital Records of Chatham, Massachusetts, 1696-1850. vol. 1 (1991. Chatham Mass.: Chatham Historical Society), 1:119.
9. Wellfleet Historical Society and Rich Family Association, Wellfleet, Truro & Cape Cod Cemetery Transcriptions, section 9. Pleasant Hill and Oakdale Cemeteries, Wellfleet, Massachusetts (1986. Wellfleet, Massachusetts. Wellfleet Historical Society and Rich Family Association), Ebenezer Tilton Atwood lot.
10. Wellfleet Historical Society and Rich Family Association, Wellfleet, Truro & Cape Cod Cemetery Transcriptions, section 9. Pleasant Hill and Oakdale Cemeteries, Wellfleet, Massachusetts (1986. Wellfleet, Massachusetts. Wellfleet Historical Society and Rich Family Association), Ebenezer Tilton Atwood lot. .... Town records of Wellfleet, Massachusetts. Births 1858-1910 (Wellfleet, Massachusetts.), 21.
11. Robert M. Sherman and Ruth W. Sherman, Vital Records of Yarmouth, Massachusetts to the Year 1850 (1975.. Warwick, RI: Society of Mayflower Descendants in the State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations), 462.
12. George Ernest Bowman, compiler, "Vital records of Eastham and Orleans, Massachusetts" (Mayflower Descendant [several sections]), 33:82.
13. Smith and Smith, Vital Records of the Towns of Eastham and Orleans..., 1980, 1993. Baltimore MD, 165 (MD32:68).
14. marriages, circa 1761-1844. from Book 2, in "Vital Records of Eastham and Orleans, Massachusetts" (2002. Oxford, MA: Holbrook Research Institute (2 Cds), files H01_04a - H01_04f), 47 (H).
15. Town records of Wellfleet, Massachusetts (Wellfleet, Massachusetts.), 1:156. The children of Justin and Paulina Taylor.
16. Town records of Wellfleet, Massachusetts. Deaths 1859-1907 (Wellfleet, Massachusetts.), 29.
17. Town records of Wellfleet, Massachusetts (Wellfleet, Massachusetts.), Marriages page 584. .... Town records of Wellfleet, Massachusetts. Deaths 1859-1907 (Wellfleet, Massachusetts.), 30. .... Town records of Wellfleet, Massachusetts (Wellfleet, Massachusetts.), 1:49. children of Daniel Mayo junr and Mary his wife.
18. Elizabeth Freeman, Wellfleet, Truro, & Cape Cod Cemetery Transcriptions. Section Three. Duck Creek Cemetery, Wellfleet, Massachusetts (Wellfleet MA: Rich Family Asscociation), 23.
19. Town records of Wellfleet, Massachusetts. Deaths 1843-1859 (Wellfleet, Massachusetts.), 82. frequently differ from other records
20. Anee Lowell Tomlinson, Vital Records of Chatham, Massachusetts, 1851-1900. vol. 2 (1994. Chatham, Mass. : Chatham Historical Society), 2:461.
21. Chatham Monitor (Chatham, Mass. [archives online at Eldredge Library, Chatham; http://eldredge.microsearch.net/]).
22. George Ernest Bowman, transcriber, "Yarmouth, Massachusetts Vital Records" (Mayflower Descendant, in several parts), 9:253.
23. Sheila M. Dann Westgate and Anna Lowell Tomlinson, Vital Records of Chatham, Massachusetts, 1696-1850. vol. 1 (1991. Chatham Mass.: Chatham Historical Society), 1:204.
24. Sheila M. Dann Westgate and Anna Lowell Tomlinson, Vital Records of Chatham, Massachusetts, 1696-1850. vol. 1 (1991. Chatham Mass.: Chatham Historical Society), 1:331.
25. Provincetown cemeteries (http://www.provincetowngov.org/historic/cem.htm). badly organized
26. George Ernest Bowman and Ethel A. Richardson, "Provincetown, Massachusetts Vital Records" (Mayflower Descendant), 26:112.
27. Massachusetts Vital Records, 1841-1910 (Massachusetts Archives. [online at AmericanAncestors.org (NEHGS) and FamilySearch.org]), Provincetown.
28. Town records of Wellfleet, Massachusetts (Wellfleet, Massachusetts.), 1:71. Solomon and Mercy Taylor family.
29. GenForum Massachusetts, Jean Taylor: #13178, 13215, 13590.
30. Town records of Wellfleet, Massachusetts (Wellfleet, Massachusetts.), 1:166. The daughter of Rebecca Taylor.