To My Dearest Robert | Glory

Abigail Elizabeth Taylor

Abigail Elizabeth Taylor was the typical daughter of a wealthy Massachusetts Senator who retired before the war, her grandfather and his father before him were all from generations of wealth, making the Taylors a prominent family in central Massachusetts. When suspicions of a Civil War broke out among the states, the Taylors moved to a neighborhood in Boston, Massachusetts called West Roxbury. The family fit in well with the residents in West Roxbury who seemed to all be wealthy and prominent families.

    In 1840, Abigail's father, William Taylor, met her mother, Josephine Smith, who was the daughter of one of the wealthiest families in Virginia. The Smiths were not fond of the engagement between the two, since they felt that the Taylors wealth was not enough to provide a fine life for their only daughter.

    In the fall of the very same year they married against her parent's wishes and then resided in Massachusetts, when in 1841, Josephine gave birth to her and William's only daughter and only child. During the birth of Abigail, Josephine's life was almost lost, and the decision to have no more children was made on that very day by the Taylors. As they held their baby girl in their arms they felt no need for anything else in their lives, for to them it was truly perfect.

    The Taylors were also a well-known abolitionist family. As members of the American Anti-Slavery Society, the family was appalled by what was happening in the South and with their wealth, they helped as much as they could. When Abigail was only five months old in December of 1842, the Taylor's were having a Christmas dinner party with some of the wealthiest families in Massachusetts when there was a frantic knock on their door. Standing there was one of William's family's close friends, and behind him was a woman in her thirties clenching her sleeping baby. The Taylors were a young couple and sought out to help runaway slaves as much as they could, so on that same night, they took both the woman and the baby in, giving the baby a safe place to sleep and the woman a job helping Josephine care for Abigail.

    The woman's name was Mary, she had just run from a property in South Carolina with the help of fellow slaves and sought freedom for her baby girl in the North. Josephine was astonished by Mary's brave acts to save her and her baby, Mary arrived with many cuts and bruises, but her baby girl Clara did not have one scratch on her. On the same night, the Taylors went to their baby girl's nursery and held her a little more tight than they usually do feeling forever grateful for Abigail. William looked at his daughter with joy knowing that she will grow up with a loving family and with the idea that what Mary and Clara had just escaped from is wrong, and that is exactly what happened.

    Abigail did not have a sister or brother, but growing up with Clara was just like it. The two did everything together, they both learned to walk, talk, and find the constellations in the night sky. Mary made sure the two knew everything that they needed to know to grow up to become fine young women. Abigail loved listening to Mary's stories and the songs she sang while cooking dinner or cleaning the house. Although the two were seen as equals for the first part of their lives, things began to change when William insisted that tutors from Boston and New York were brought in to teach young Abigail. William wanted his daughter to be educated, although he knew she would one day go off and have a husband and family, he believed it was important for a woman to have the same education as any other man.

    As Abigail began to grow into a young woman, she started to grow into her wealthy lifestyle, her father would often buy her fine clothes, but also books about the world and different countries in it. Abigails favorite thing to do was to read about the world. Since she was a child the Taylors had traveled to many of the wealthiest cities among the states, but when Abigail began to get older the family traveled to London, Paris, and Italy, where Abigail's love for the world began. Traveling and education were a joy for young Abigail, but with her growing also meant becoming a proper woman, her mother began teaching her proper etiquette and how to be a well-respected woman. Josephine was a kind woman, and when she would teach Abigail about their lifestyle and etiquette, Clara would also join, making it enjoyable for the two girls. They both learned how to act, how to speak, how to dance, and Abigails least favorite, how to wear corsets and grand dresses for the grand social parties the Taylors often attended.

    Abigail had met many possible and well-respected suitors, but she denied every single one of them. As Abigail was reaching the end of her teenage years her parents told her it was time to start finding a husband. Her parent's urge for their daughter to marry made Abigail angry, for she wanted to marry someone who loved her and she loved him, but men saw her as a prize, not for the well-respected and educated young woman she truly was. Abigail was beautiful, some suitors said she was the most beautiful woman in Massachusetts, with her soft facial features and golden hair from her mother and her green eyes from her father, it was no question she was one of the most sought after bachelorettes in Massachusetts.

After the conversation of their daughter's marriage in Williams's study early in the day, Josephine went to her daughter's room that night, who was still angry with her. As Josephine lightly knocked and opened her door, Abigail turned away from her mother and turned her head up making sure her mother knew she was still angry. Josephine let out a laugh, as her daughter was like her father and could not be angry for long, 'Abigail you are just like your father' said Josephine as she entered the room and sat next to her. Her mother was right, Abigail could not stay angry for long, for when she felt her mother sit and the end of her bed she rolled over, trying to hide her smile with a straight face. Abigail stared at her mother for only a moment until she decided to speak, 'I know you are angry with me and your father, but we only want what is best for you' says Josephine hoping her daughter would give her a smile to let her know that she is forgiven.

    After a long sigh, Abigail sits up and looks at her mother, 'Then you must stop, I will find a husband one day mother, but as for now, I am happy' said Abigail standing up from her bed going over to her large window and gazing out of it to the street with passing carriages and people. 'Isn't my happiness enough' Abigail added turning to her mother. Josephine smiled and nodded in agreement with her daughter. That moment was the last time that Josephine and William had discussed marriage with their daughter.