which he has since continued with much success. He has served in the city council and is a member of the Masonic order. In the fall of 1895 he was married in Bedford county, to Booker E. Boley, and they have one son, Oscar P.
William H. Tatum, a well-known merchant of Richmond, and a valued member of R. E. Lee camp, Confederate Veterans, and of the Howitzer association, of which he holds the office of treasurer, had a long and gallant career with the army of Northern Virginia. He was born in Henrico county in 1838, and since the age of fourteen has had his home at Richmond. He entered the Confederate service as a private in the Richmond Howitzers in April, 1861, and remained in the service until the surrender. The list of engagements in which he participated reveals the arduous and devoted character of his service. Among the actions in which he did honorable duty are Bull Run, First Manassas, Dam No. 1, Williamsburg, Seven Pines, the Seven Days' battles, Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, Salem Church, United States Ford, the second and third days at Gettysburg, the Wilderness and Spottsylvania Court House, Second Cold Harbor. After this he fought on the lines between the Howlett House and Petersburg and on the retreat to Appomattox.
Major Erasmus Taylor, of Orange county, was among those who joined the army at Manassas in July, 1861. He served through the campaign of that year on the staff of Brig.-Gen. D. R. Jones, and continued in that duty until the death of General Jones in the fall of 1862. After that it appears that he was unassigned until September, 1863, when he was commissioned major, and ordered to report to Gen. James Longstreet, commanding First corps, army of Northern Virginia, at that time detached and operating in east Tennessee against Knoxville. As chief quartermaster of the First corps he was with this command without interruption until the surrender at Appomattox Court House, in which he was included. Major Taylor is descended from James Taylor, of Carlisle, England, who emigrated to Virginia in 1658, settling in what is now Caroline county, on the Mataponi river, near the Baylor estate called New Market. There he died in 1698, leaving a large family. His eldest son, by his first wife, Col. James Taylor, born 1674, succeeded him as owner of this estate and acquired large possessions in other counties. In what is now Orange county he located in 1720 two tracts, one of five thousand, and another of ten thousand acres, fronting on the Rapidan river. Here he built the first house in that section, which is now standing in a perfect state of preservation, and made his home, which was graced by his wife, Martha, daughter of Sir William Thompson, a British officer who came over to aid in suppressing Bacon's rebellion, and settled in Virginia. These parents had a large family from whom were descended two presidents of the United States. Their eldest daughter, Frances, who married Ambrose Madison, was the grandmother of James Madison. They also had four sons: James (3d), George, Zachary and Erasmus. James (3d) was a member of the house of burgesses and died in 1784. From him were descended Colonel James (4th), of Midway, Caroline county, who was a gallant officer under Washington in the French and Indian war, also prominent in his civil career; and General James (5th), of Newport, Ky., distinguished for his services in the war
