Yardley Taylor (ca.1796-1863) was a geographer, surveyor, and chronicler of the Loudoun County area in the mid-nineteenth century. His descriptions in Memoirs of Loudoun County and Joseph Martin's 1835 Gazetteer of Virginia provide clear images of Loudoun County in the antebellum nineteenth century. A devout Quaker, Taylor was also a leading voice in the abolitionist movement.
William Moore (fl. 1810-1859) purchased a 107 acre tract of land from John Nichols (1802-1884) near Waterford, Virginia on 17 October 1851, previously surveyed by Yardley Taylor and surrounded by the land plots of Skillman, Cochrill, Wilknson, Young, Nichols, and Shoemaker. In earlier years the land had undergone various transactions through the McIntyre family. Moore later sold 95 acres of the land to Joseph Gibson (1797-ca. 1860) on 29 August 1853.
From the guide to the William Moore Land Plat, 1851, (Thomas Balch Library)
