William M Traylor, a Revolutionary War soldier

"1776--Rev War: Gen George Washington at Valley Forge was accompanied by Privates William Traylor Sr. and Jr. The army moved to the upper Delaware River.   

"December 23 the VA 5th Volunteers crossed to scout the enemy positions; Dec 24 General Washington made his famous crossing, and was given directions by the scouts, which included William Traylor Sr and Jr. Later, about March 1777, Henry Traylor joined the unit. William Jr. was reported "sick at Trenton." (We have their pay records.) Several Traylors were listed as "patriots," meaning their goods were used by the Revolutionary forces .. either voluntarily contributed, or confiscated with Traylor given a receipt for the goods.

Source:  Title: Histories of LaGrange and Troup County, Georgia; Volumes I and III
Author: Forrest Clark Johnson, III, Publication: Family Tree (1st ed., 1987) Note: Voume I, A History of LaGrange, Georgia 1828-1900 Volume III, Genealogical and Historical Register of Troup County, Georgia Repository: Note: Genealogy Department, W.C. Bradley Memorial Library, Columbus, GA; Georgia Rare Collection, County Historical Case, Troup County Library, LaGrange, GA; JVR Library

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Washington crossing the Delaware at Trenton NJ

William Michael Traylor was Champion Travis Traylor's father. (We looked at his life yesterday) William was my 5th times great grandfather.

William Michael's wife was Priscilla "Nanny" Parkinson Traylor, 1733-1782. William was born 12 June 1733 and lived till 7 Aug 1791. I'm pretty sure they had 11 children. But I don't have a Henry listed...so will search some more to see if he was a brother, uncle or son.

I had another source of William's service in the American Revolution, only to just notice that it is for his son, saying "Jun"-ior, right at the top. Good thing I noticed!

Name	William Traylor Jun
Gender	Male
Military Date	9 Jun 1777
Military Place	Virginia, USA
State or Army Served	Virginia
Regiment	5th Regiment
Rank	Private

When William died in 1791, his youngest children were appointed guardians by the court in 1792, as follows:

Minutes of Inferior Court, Wilkes County, GA 1792-1793, abstract of Page 41, 

Oct 31, 1792, "Edward Traylor, orphan of William Traylor, chooses Randolph Traylor guardian, Mary Traylor chooses John Banks, Frances Traylor chooses James Brookes and he is appointed by the court guardian of Miley Traylor, all orphans of William M. Traylor, dec'd." in Early Records of Georgia, Vol One Wilkes County, Abstracted & Compiled by Grace Davidson, 1932, 

This court abstract is interesting in my finding a new child, Miley, who was too young to even voice her choice of guardian. Randolph was Edward's older brother, who he chose. But I don't know who James Brooks of John Banks might have been, that the girls chose.

William Sr.'s children's ages in 1792?
William Jr. -31 years old (Had also been in the revolution, see above)
Sarah Ann Traylor _____ - 30 years old
Randolph - 28
Hiram - 26
Elizabeth Traylor - 23
Champion - 22
Paschal - 20
Edward - 18
Frances - 14

Miley, unknown. But I'll be looking for her, and who was Mary, when was she born? Two more names that don't show easily on the tree yet.

I've just now looked into the marriages and children of all of Champion's brothers and sisters. Do I have a life outside of Ancestry? Yes (I just went for a walk around the lake as well as dropped by the pharmacy and bought some jelly beans to celebrate Easter with.) The Banks and Brookes were husbands of 2 of the Traylor daughters, so they took their own siblings as guardians.

Questions answered:
A Mary Traylor is listed as being b. 1774, d. 1813, called Polly, never married.
Mildred Milly Traylor was b. March 30, 1782, d. 1850. Since her mother died also in 1782, it's possible the birth was related to her death.

This has been fun to look at all those descendants of a Revolutionary soldier, especially one who fought along with Washington (well, at the same battles some of the time.)

Here's a history of the Virginia 5th Regiment, in case you're interested in these things. It is a different slant on the Virginia 5th involvement at Trenton...saying it "jeopardized Washington's Trenton raid by sending an unauthorized patrol across the Delaware River on Christmas Day."

In December of 1775, the Virginia General Assembly voted to increase the size of the military forces from two regiments to nine regiments. These new regiments were to be comprised of ten companies of sixty men each, three companies to be riflemen and act as light infantry. On December 28, 1775, the Continental Congress requested the Commonwealth of Virginia to furnish six battalions for use by the Continental forces. February 13, 1776 the nine Virginia regiments were accepted by the Continental Congress for Continental service. 

 The Fifth Regiment of the Virginia troops, under the command of William Peachy, along with the Third Regiment was assigned the area between Potowmach and Rappahanoch for security. The Fifth Regiment was then stationed at Richmond Courthouse, where the activities of the Fifth Regiment from March 1776 until July 1776 are covered in the orderly book of the company of Captain George Stubblefield. May 7, 1776, Colonel William Peachey resigned and Colonel Scott was assigned as commander of the regiment. It is unclear as to when the Fifth Regiment marched to join Washington’s forces, although, it is known they were part of Brigadier General Adam Stephen’s Brigade at the Battle of Trenton. Here it is reported that General Stephen jeopardized Washington’s Trenton raid by sending an unauthorized patrol across the Delaware River on Christmas Day. The patrol was led by Captain Richard Anderson of the Fifth Virginia Regiment.

 January 1, 1777, found the Fifth Regiment under Colonel Scott Making up part of an outpost along Five Mile Run on the Trenton - Princeton Road. With the advance of the British from Princeton this outpost retreated in the direction of Trenton, finally reaching the main battle position south of Assumpenk Creek. It is not known hat part the Fifth Regiment played during the Battle of Princeton on January 3,1777. April 1777, saw the Fifth Virginia, under the command of Colonel Josiah Parker, part of General Pete Muhlenburg’s Brigade, consisting of the 1st, 5th, 8th, 9th, and 13th Virginia Regiments. The history of the Fifth Virginia Regiment from the period of April 1777 until December 1777 is reflected in the writings of General Muhlenburg in his orderly book.

In the Battle of Brandywine, 11 September 1777, the Fifth Virginia as a member of Muhlenburg’s Brigade, along with Weeden’s and Nash’s Brigade formed Greene’s Division. The extent of the Fifth’s participation in the Battle is unknown. Likewise, the performance of the regiment, as members of the Muhlenburg’s Brigade, at the Battle of Germantown, 4 October 1777, is also unknown. However, it is known that Muhlenburg led his Brigade in a bayonet attack that penetrated the British Lines and pushed 1000 yards to the rear. In his subsequent retreat to regain Greene’s main body, Colonel Mathew’s 9th Virginia, which lead the advance, was surrounded and captured.

 During the winter of 1777 - 1778, the Fifth Virginia continued to be part of Muhlenburg’s Brigade and encamped with the rest of the Continental Line at Valley Forge.

 Due to the lack of factual information, it is not known whether the Fifth Virginia participated in the Battle of Monmouth on June 28, 1778. Records do show that sometime between May 1778 and July 1778, Colonel Joseph Parker was replaced by Colonel Abraham Buford.

 In September 1778, the Virginia Line was rearranged, by reducing the fifteen regiments to eleven. The reorganization saw the Fifth Virginia Regiment (of 1775) redesignated the Third and the Seventh Virginia becoming the "new" Fifth Regiment. The Commander of the "new" Fifth was Colonel William Russell.

 Little is written about the Fifth Regiment during the winter of 1778 -1779 In the reorganization of the Virginia Line in May 1779, the Fifth Regiment became part of General William Woodford’s Brigade. Following operations in the Northern Colonies, the Virginia troops were ordered south to join General Lincoln in defense of the Southern Colonies. These troops under General’s Woodford and Scott entered Charleston, South Carolina on April 7, 1780. On 12 May 1780, General Lincoln surrendered the city of Charlestown, along with the entire Virginia Line of Continental troops to the British.

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This was shared to Ancestry by Edwin Williams in 2012, but he didn't give his sources.