The Tyler Family
[Table of Contents]
Blackacre State Nature Preserve
In 1780 the Tylers floated down the Ohio River from Fort Redstone, which is now the
town of Brownsville, Pennsylvania. They were part of the flood of early settlers who came
west looking for a better life.
The Tylers settled near the Falls of the Ohio in what eventually became downtown
Louisville. In 1784, Moses' father, Edward, owned and operated a tavern on Main Street
while part of the family continued the process of putting down roots about a day's ride to
the east. |
Portrait of Edward Tyler III,
brother of Moses Tyler |
Edward and Nancy Tyler had six daughters: Delilah,
Elizabeth, Ann, Mary, Eleanor, and Priscilla. They also had four sons: Robert, Moses,
William, and Edward III and a nephew, Robert Tyler.
The three surviving historic Tyler farmsteads (including Blackacre) are on
the north side of Taylorsville Road, about 18 miles east of downtown Louisville; two
farmsteads are on the west side of Tucker Station Road and the other is on the east side.
(The fourth Tyler family farmstead is now a subdivision on the south side of Taylorsville
Road near Old Heady Road.) The surviving Tyler farms are about a half mile from one
another. Nobody knows for sure whether this even-distanced arrangement was just a
coincidence or whether it was planned. Chances are it was planned so that the Tylers could
communicate easily by ringing a bell or even by shouting. It wasn't unusual in the 1700s
and 1800s for farm families to build close to one another.
Blackacre was the home of Moses and Phoebe Tyler and their 10 sons.
