Hancock Taylor surveyor's notebook, 1774

Summary

Creator:

Taylor, Hancock

Abstract:

This volume contains Hancock Taylor's notes about surveys he conducted in the Bluegrass region of Kentucky, May-July of 1774. One page is detached from the bound notebook.

Extent:

26 pages (1 volume)

Language:

English

Authors:

Collection processed and finding aid created by Garrett Morton, November 2017

Background

Scope and Content:

This journal (26 pages) contains surveying notes taken by Hancock Taylor between May 20 and July 7, 1774. The plots described are, to the extent that they are identifiable from his survey descriptions, in the vicinity of modern-day Louisville, Kentucky. The journal contains descriptions of 23 surveys.

Biographical / Historical:

Documentation of Hancock Taylor's life is sparse, but he appears to have been born in 1738 to parents Zachary Taylor and Elizabeth Lee (which would make him a member of the prominent Kentucky Taylor family and the uncle of later U.S. President Zachary Taylor). He was a landholder and a surveyor, and in that capacity was instrumental in laying the foundations for the settlement that would develop into Louisville, Kentucky. He was killed in 1774 during a frontier conflict with Native Americans.

Acquisition Information:

2017. M-6069 .

Arrangement:

This collection is a single bound volume.

Rules or Conventions:

Finding aid prepared using Describing Archives: A Content Standard (DACS)

Related

Additional Descriptive Data:

Related Materials

The Clements Library holds multiple examples of surveyors' notebooks, including, for example, Philadelphia (Pa.) Surveyor's Notebook and Samuel Lightfoot Surveyor's Journal.

Bibliography

Kleber, John E., ed. Encyclopedia of Louisville. Lexington: University Press of Kentucky, 2015. Accessed November 16, 2017. ProQuest Ebook Central.

Subjects

Click on terms below to find any related finding aids on this site.

Subjects:

Surveying--Kentucky--Louisville.
Surveyors--Kentucky.

Formats:

Journals (accounts)
Notes.

Places:

Beargrass Creek (Ky.)
Kentucky--Surveys.
Louisville (Ky.)--History--18th Century.