Joseph R. Tapscott

William and Mary (Wallace) Tapscott’s third oldest child, Joseph may have lived a sad life, at least at times. Joseph and his wife lost two-thirds of their offspring at young ages.

Born 22 Aug 1858, Joseph’s name is often given as “Joseph John”; however, only one document—a birth record for his son, Noble—shows either a middle name or a middle initial, and that record gives the name “Joseph R.” A middle name “John”—found, as is often the case, in a number of unsourced online trees—is baseless.

Joseph, who spent his life as a Clark County, Illinois, farmer, in Anderson Twp and a member of Freedom Baptist Church, remained single until age 29, when on 3 Oct 1887 he married Mary Emma Sanders, one of eight children of William Francis and Elizabeth Jane (Fox) Sanders, who farmed near the Tapscotts. Lopping a few years off her age as she grew older, Mary Emma at the end of her life was stated to have been born 26 Feb 1870; however, she was much, much more likely born 26 Feb 1867.

Joseph is buried in Mt. Pleasant Cemetery,
presumably with six young children.

Joseph and Mary Emma had eight children, nine if one includes Grant Frederick (the subject of an upcoming post). Six died young and unmarried.

Joseph died of a “Malignant Tumor of the Liver” on 11 Jul 1917 in Wabash Twp and was buried in Mt. Pleasant Cemetery under a stone inscribed “JOSEPH TAPSCOTT AND CHILDREN.” Mary Emma lived almost two decades more, working part of the time as a practical nurse. She passed away in Marshall, Illinois, 18 Mar 1937 and was buried in Mt. Pleasant Cemetery alongside her husband and all but two of her children (Grant and Edith Mae).