Robert Francis Tapscott

Today, I noticed a Find-a-Grave entry for Robert Francis Tapscott, which gives his parents as "James Tapscott and Susannah Howard Tapscott (nee: Baker)" of Botetourt County. This would be laughable were it not likely to lead to a mass of misinformation and a multitude of erroneous family trees to be passed down from person to person without thought or consideration. The reason that it would otherwise be laughable is that James Tapscott, the husband of Susannah Howard Tapscott died over a decade before Robert Francis was born. Besides, James Tapscott's will, which names all his children and step children, makes no mention of Robert Frances. I would very much like to see a male descendant of Robert Francis Tapscott by an all-male line, take a yDNA test and join the Tapscott Project (see https://www.familytreedna.com/public/Tapscott/), but so far I have had no volunteers. Come on. We need you!. In the meantime, below is what I have written about Robert Francis Tapscott in the 2nd edition of my book (still a draft). Please forgive some missing endnotes, which do not always come through in these blogs. Note that there is a chance, albeit slim, that Robert was the son of a James Tapscott, but not the James of Botetourt County, rather James E. of Fauquier County. I am still looking into this as well as the possible Baker or Newton Tapscott connection.

The origin of Robert Francis Tapscott, who married Lucy Frances Wood (daughter of Alexander Wood and Elizabeth Kirtley)[1] and whose family and descendants appear in Clarke County, Virginia, censuses beginning in 1850, remains a mystery. Robert is first named in a 4 April 1843 Clarke County record: “James T. [Thomas] Wood made Oath before me Clerk of the Court of the County aforesaid that Lucy F. Wood who is about to intermarry with Robert Tapscott of the County of Fauquier is over twenty One years of age and an inhabitant of this county.”[2] That Robert was from Fauquier County could indicate that he was a child of James and Elizabeth (Percifull) Tapscott, or possibly an illegitimate child of Elizabeth. Robert was born 8 March 1817,[3] the last year that James could have still been living. That a marriage record[4] for Joseph Baker Tapscott, Robert’s oldest son, stated that he and his bride were “colored” might indicate a mixed-race offspring of Elizabeth, who is known to have had such descendants. The 1840 Fauquier County census shows Elizabeth’s household with no white, but several free black males. Note, however, no document other than Joseph Baker Tapscott’s marriage record indicates the possibility of a mixed-race origin.

Clarke County is located near Hampshire and Jefferson Counties, now in West Virginia, where the three sons of James and Susanna (Baker) Tapscott resided. Furthermore, Robert Francis married a Wood, and Susanna Baker’s mother was a Wood, as was her first husband, John. And the middle name of Robert and Lucy’s oldest child was “Baker.”[5] In view of these facts, particularly the middle name “Baker,” Robert Francis Tapscott would appear to be a possible grandson of James Sr. and Susanna—a son of Newton, Baker, or Chichester. (He cannot have been a son of James Sr., who was deceased by 27 February 1807, ten years before Robert Francis was born. But no relationship between Lucy Wood and Judith Howard Wood is known. Moreover, Robert and Lucy were married by Rev. Joseph Baker,[6] for whom their first-born may well have been named. The 1820 Romney, Virginia census shows the Newton Tapscott household with one male child, who has never been identified. Likewise, the 1830 census for Shepherdstown, Virginia, shows the Baker Tapscott family with four male children,[7] but only three sons are known. But the obituary of Newton Tapscott’s widow, Louisa, specifically states that she left only an infant daughter, and the only known marriages of Baker and Chichester occurred years after the birth of Robert Francis Tapscott.

Robert Francis died 24 June 1874 and is buried in Old Chapel Cemetery, Clarke County, Virginia.[8] His wife is said to be buried there also, but no grave is now found.[9]

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[1].      James A. Wood, “The Wood Family,” 22 August 1913.

[2].      Mixed Marriage Licenses, Certificates &c 1836-1865, Clarke County, Virginia, courthouse record, transcribed in letter from Mrs. D. F. Hardesty to E. Lucille Trickett, 22 August 1868 (Lucy Hardesty Collections, Stewart Bell Jr. Archives Room, Handley Regional Library, Winchester-Frederick County Historical Society, Winchester, Virginia, provided by Laura Chasty). Brett Fairchild also provided a transcription. The record shows that the James T. Wood who verified Lucy’s age was her brother (James Thomas Wood).

[3].      Beverly Alexander Tapscott, notes on birth and death of his father Robert Francis Tapscott, transcription communicated to Robert E. Tapscott by Laura Chasty, 19 April 2007. The same birth date is also given on his cemetery marker in Old Chapel Cemetery, Clarke County, Virginia (Robert E. Tapscott, Old Chapel Cemetery, Clarke County, Virginia, Transcriptions, 31 July 2007).

[4].      Patricia P. Duncan, Clarke County, Virginia, Marriages, 1836-1886, Heritage Books, Westminster, Maryland, 2008, p. 165.

[5].      “J. B. Tapscott” is shown as a witness on Robert Francis Tapscott’s death certificate and “Joseph B. Tapscott” is shown in the 1850 Census for Clarke County, Virginia, but the back of a photo of Joseph B. Tapscott lists him as “Baker Tapscott” and a list of births and deaths of Robert Tapscott’s children written by Beverly Alexander Tapscott, one of those children, lists the name “Joseph Baker Tapscott” (records and photos in possession of Laura Chasty). Moreover, records of the births of three of Joseph’s children give the father’s name as “Baker” (Clarke County, Virginia Births, 1878 - 1896 [database on-line], Provo, Utah, The Generations Network, Inc., 1999). And Joseph Baker Tapscott is the name on the Clarke County record for his marriage to Henrietta Stickles (Patricia P. Duncan, Clarke County, Virginia, Marriages, 1836-1886, Heritage Books, Westminster, Maryland, 2008, p. 165).

[6].      “Minister’s Return: Jos. Baker – Apr. 4, 1843 – Rob. Tapscott and Lucy F. Wood,” transcribed in letter from Mrs. D. F. Hardesty to E. Lucille Trickett, 22 August 1868 (Lucy Hardesty Collections, Stewart Bell Jr. Archives Room, Handley Regional Library, Winchester-Frederick County Historical Societ, Winchester, Virginia, provided by Laura Chasty).

[7].      1830 U.S. census, Virginia, Jefferson Co, Shepherdstown, Baker Tapscott household, p. 155, line 2, Ancestry.com images 17, 18.

[8].      Robert E. Tapscott, Old Chapel Cemetery, Clarke County, Virginia, Transcriptions, 31 July 2007.

[9].      E. Lucille Trickett, letter to Mrs. D. F. Hardesty, 21 January 1969. In July 2007, the present author, after a thorough search of the cemetery, failed to locate Lucy’s grave.