The Wives and Children of Colonial Poet Edward Taylor (1642-1729)
Edward Taylor was born in 1642. It is thought that Edward was born in Sketchley, Leicestershire (just north of Coventry, Warwickshire at the county borders) based on his obituary. The Poetry Foundation claims his parents were William (d. 1658, a yeoman farmer) and Margaret (d. 1657). Edward was a schoolteacher in Bagworth, Leicestershire, England, before escaping to Massachusetts in 1668 due to his Congregationalist philosophy. He graduated from Harvard in 1671 and is considered by some to be the foremost colonial poet.
I descend from Edward Taylor’s daughter Naomi. Because of how common his name was at the time, I haven’t learned any more about his parents, but here is a listing of his known marriages and children (the references are available in My Lineage from the Roots Up, vol. 1):