In tracking the William Taylor and Edith Colburn family, I was left with a gap in the census records, not being able to find them in the 1860 census of Lycoming County, PA. I now am looking at an 1860 schedule from Muncy Creek Twp. [2627] where the head of household is a William Taylor, age 55 (b.1805). And it would seem this is the only William Taylor in the county, in 1860, whose age closely matches what we know about William from the 1850 census of Moreland Twp. But if these two are the same person, there are some details in the 1860 census that are hard to explain. Of course there are discrepancies of birth years (as derived from the age) between the 1850 and 1860 reports, and I'm giving some leeway on that. But what is really puzzling are some name discrepancies as well as some members of the household who should have been in the household in 1850 but were not. I will go over these discrepancies, but first I will say that the "preponderance of evidence" does suggest that the 1860 family is the same family found in 1850.

(1) The first oddity is that in the 1860 census, the wife's name is "Hannah". She is within 3 years of the age of Edith Colburn Taylor, based on the 1850 census. But how do you mistake Edith with Hannah?

(2) The oldest child listed in 1860 is Obediah, born 1830. He was not in the 1850 household, though being 19-20 at the time, may have already moved out. The gravestone of "O. E. Taylor" the Civil War soldier (Find A Grave Memorial# 65974197) does not give his dates, but Gloria at the Muncy Cemetery has posted his birth year as 1831 (but she also lists his first name as "Orin"). One possibility I'm willing to entertain, is that Obediah E. was the "Edward" in the 1850 census. Edward was born in 1829 based on that census and we never hear from him again. So perhaps the full name was Obediah Edward Taylor.

(3) The second child listed in 1860 is Marinda, born 1832. If this is "our" Marinda, then this is another case of a person listed twice in the same census year (only one day apart in this case). She married Stephen Greensweight at least by 1858 (the year that their daughter, Edith A. was born) and the couple does appear in the 1860 census of Muncy Creek Twp. (under the spelling "GREENWITE"). Marinda's year of birth derived from that schedule is 1830. In the other 1860 schedule it works out to 1832 and when you go back to the 1850 census, you get 1828. Perhaps she was visiting her folks the day their household was enumerated.

(4) Child #3 is Thomas, born 1834. From other sources we have Thomas Low Taylor born 12 May 1835, which agrees with his age reported in 1850. So this one is almost an exact match.

(5) Child #4 is Margaret, born 1836. This is close to "Sarah M." from the 1850 census, where the derived year was 1837. In the deposition by Zitella Snook in the Rose B. Lyall legal case, she referred to her mother as Margaret. So it seems safe to conclude that her full name was Sarah Margaret Taylor.

(6) Child #5 is the "smoking gun." I couldn't make out the name until I obtained a copy of the census page from the Fold3 website, which is a much better copy than I found at HeritageQuest. I now read the name as "Colborn." This has to be William Colborn/Colburn Taylor. In the 1850 census he was listed as just "Wm" born 1841. The 1860 census implies he was born in 1838.

(7) Child #6 is Hannah, born 1840. The gravestone of Hannah E. Anderson (Find A Grave Memorial# 69797216) says 1843. The problem here is that Hannah was not listed in the 1850 household. But, a-ha!, this must be the little Hannah who was living with the two Sarah Taylors in 1850 in Moreland Twp. (Sarah Hoagland Taylor and her daughter). [1841] That Hannah, as reported, was born in 1844. So for some reason, in 1850, she was living with her aunt and grandmother.

(8) The last child listed in 1860 is Hiram, born 1846. Where did this guy come from? He wasn't in the 1850 census, where he would have been four years old. The only possible match is George, whose year of birth derived from the 1850 census was 1847. [1804] George is not in the 1860 schedule. I don't know how you go from George to Hiram but it's the only explanation that fits if they are the same person.

(9) Mahlon (b.1833) was not there in 1860 because he was living with Robert Colburn that year, so that explains his absence. [1774]

(10) Edith F., born 1845, is missing from the 1860 census because she died in 1856.
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So, I think we finally have a "snapshot" of this family in 1860, but with an unusual number of discrepancies, some of which are yet to be explained fully (i.e., points 1 and 8 above)
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On 22-AUG-1853, William Taylor Jr. purchased a portion of his late father’s land in Moreland Twp., amounting to 3 acres and 78 perches, for $30. The sellers were his older brother, Mahlon Taylor and the co-executor of his father’s estate, Henry Funston. Then, following the death of his mother, Sarah Taylor, on 15 Apr 1856 (and the death of Henry Funston in 1854 [6021]), Mahlon Taylor was required by the terms of William Sr.’s will, to sell off the remainder of the original property to pay off outstanding claims against the estate. So on 29-OCT-1856, Mahlon placed the property up for auction and the highest bidder was William Taylor Jr. at $2000. But then on 10-SEP-1857, the property, reported as 153 acres, was sold to Barnet Penn, of Moreland Twp., for $2400. [3670], [6020]

William Taylor Jr. wrote a will and codicil on 27-NOV-1896, which was proved on 08-FEB-1898. [5363]

On 9 Dec 1820, William Sr.(b.1754) said son William was 18 [1824, p.60]. If he was born in September then this makes his birth year 1802. But if he was really 96yr 4mo and 15/18dy old when he died in January of 1898, placing his 96th birthday in 1897, then he was born in 1801. Not sure how to break this discrepancy. The 1850 census doesn't help because he said he was 46 that year. In 1870 he said 67. I have not been able to locate him in the 1860 census. In 1880 he said 77. For now I am sticking with 1802.

The 1840 census lists one William TAYLOR in Lycoming Co., specifically in Muncy. But the age tallies indicate that this man and his wife were much older than William and Edith would have been at that time. There was another William TAYLOR in nearby Madison Twp., Columbia Co., and the adult’s ages are in line with William and Edith, but the tallies for the children don’t seem to fit, particularly as to the number of boys who would have been in the household at the time. Based on the 1840 census record of William’s mother, Sarah TAYLOR, they were not living with her. Their household in 1840 would have consisted of 8 or 9 persons, depending on when son, Edward, died. So if they were living with some other family, that household would be larger than this. William’s brother-in-law, Robert Colburn, was in a household of only 4 people, so that rules him out. His brother-in-law, William Allen, also had a household in 1840 (Clinton Twp. Lycoming Co.) that is consistent with his own family without any others present. His brother, Mahlon, also had numbers that do not suggest multiple families under one roof. Not sure where William’s sister, Elizabeth was in 1840 and have very little information regarding the 4 sisters believed to have been older than Mahlon.

Also browsed every page of Moreland Twp. for 1840 and did not find any William TAYLOR.