Pariander W. Taylor
1800-1844

Bryant Number(s): 531
Type of Memorial: Sandstone headstone
Stonecarver: Unknown

Inscription:
Sacred
to
The Memory of
Pariander
W. Taylor
who
Died
Jan. 27th 1844
Aged 44 y'rs.

Commentary: Pariander (he typically spelled it “Periander”) Taylor was the Granville businessman who came to be blamed by some for the Village’s disastrous 1834 flood. Part owner of the Granville Furnace at the time, Pariander acquired ore for that business via canal boat. Granville historian William Utter relates that early in the summer of 1834, the water level in the lock at the head of the Granville feeder canal was not sufficient to lift the boat carrying a needed delivery. Taylor expressed his frustration by damning the drought and sarcastically challenging the Lord to send rain comparable to what fell on Noah.

Note was taken of this blasphemy, and that very night, when a prodigious cloudburst resulted in a flood of biblical proportions in Granville, it was easy to point the finger at Taylor. The deluge, dubbed “Periander Taylor’s Flood,” truly was a catastrophe for the young town, with structures, crops, and livestock in the flood plain all wiped away. Moreover, a fever associated with the flood’s aftermath swept the populace later in the summer, contributing to an annual death rate in 1834 that was four times the normal. The sickness could have been typhus, cholera, or typhoid fever – but regardless, it was devastating for the community. The hapless Pariander, who was associated with the early years of St. Luke’s Episcopal Church in Granville, was believed to have mended his blasphemous ways.

Find a Grave link: No record found (01-26-2026)