1
I THE ERA OF SETTLEMENT 45
County in 1819. He bought over 300 acres of land from Fielding
1 Jones and erected a log house. This house burned in 1855, and
Major Sugg’s mother, one hundred years of age, died from the
effects of burns. Major Sugg married Christiana Dupree of North
Carolina, and nine children were born of the union. He died in
1 Uniontown, in 1866. Joel Dupree Sugg, a son, was born in Hen-
j derson County in 1808, came with his parents to Union County,
and there married Barbara Ann Davenport in 1838. Six children _
i were born to this couple. The Suggs have been among the most
prosperous and influential families of the county for many years.
No pioneer family in Union County was more generally re-
spected and beloved than the Taylors. The first of this name to
settle in the county was Gibson Berry Taylor, born in Paris,
, Kentucky, in 1793. He was a sergeant in the War of 1812, a
doctor, and for many years the only physician in Union County,
where he took up his residence at an early date. Mrs. Taylor was
p Mary Rives, of Virginia, born in 1800, who died in 1874. Gibson
i Taylor died in 1861. Samuel Mitchell Taylor, son of Gibson Tay-
i lor, was born at Morganfield in 1827. Upon completion of his
I education he went to Arkansas to accept a position as overseer
on the plantation of an uncle. He served in this capacity but a
  short time, returning to Union County where he remained with
j his father until the spring of 1849. Joining the California gold T
rush, with a party of thirty-six others, Samuel Taylor began
T an adventurous journey by wagon train which ended at Sacra-
i mento. In 1850, Mr. Taylor started digging gold on the Yuba
River and after months of arduous efforts acquired a consider-
able fortune. Leaving California, he returned by ship to New
York. Back in Union County, with the money received in pay-
A ment for gold deposited at the Philadelphia Mint, he purchased
200 acres of land from his father. He cultivated this farm and
also served as superintendent of the Mulford Coal Mines near
Caseyville. In 1852, Mr. Taylor married Eliza M. Scantland, and
this couple had twelve children. His later enterprises included
» the operation of a grain elevator and warehouse at Uniontown. i
The first representatives of the Waller family in Union County
  were John and Mary Small Waller. who came into Kentucky
, about 1784 from Fredericksburg, Virginia, settled in Washington
A I County, and moved to Union in 1805. They lived in the Waverly
‘   section. and were parents of a large family. The descendants of
* their ninth child, Aaron Waller, were the most numerous and
a