The Moses Clouse Family

The 5 Dec 2015 post talks of Grant Frederick Tapscott, who was probably a Tapscott in name only.

On 28 Jan 1905, Grant married Lena C. Clouse at Grace Church in Marshall. Lena was a child of Moses Clouse Sr. and his third wife Pina Ann Plunkett. It was a penurious upbringing in a penurious family. Moses and Pina Ann were “dirt poor,” and their children at times, unschooled.

Born in Coshocton County, Ohio, 16 Nov 1837, Moses married Susan Siverly on 15 Jan 1857 in Clark County, Illinois. The couple had seven children—Emanuel, Mary, Jacob, William, Frederick, Margaret Ann, and Moses Jr. And then sometime around 1873, Susan died, probably from the strain of bearing seven children in sixteen or so years.

Moses married a second time, to Ann (also “Anna”) Dulaney in Clark County on 1 Oct 1875. It is not unlikely that Ann’s maiden name was “Pittzenbarger” and “Dulaney,” her married name. In the 1870 census, before her marriage to Moses, she was living with a 66-year-old woman, Mary Pittzenbargr” (her mother?), and two children, James and Emma Dulaney (her children?).

The second marriage was short-lived. By 1880, Moses was living with companion number three, Pina (sometimes “Piny” or “Piney”) Ann Plunkett., We say “companion” because no official record of a marriage has been found and the years married provided in censuses give calculated marriage dates of 1881 – 1882 and 1894 – 1895. We know little of Pina’s origins. Official records show Indiana to be her birthplace and David Plunkett to be her father, but she appears in no record prior to her marriage to Moses. Census data correspond to birth years of 1841-1842 and 1850. Her cemetery marker gives 1855; her obituary, 4 May 1855; and her death certificate, 4 May 1846. Censuses show Pina to be illiterate, which probably accounts for the scattered dates for both her birth and marriage.

Moses and Pina Ann had nine children of which the names of eight are known—John, Cynthia, George, Charles, Belle (also “Bell”), Lena, Roy, and Bertha. Some say that the ninth, a girl, was named "Lizzie"; however, this is probably due to confusion with Lizzie the wife of Charles Clouse, who appears with Moses and Pina in the 1910 census.

Most of the time Moses worked as a farm laborer in and around Marshall, Illinois, though, for a while, the family lived in Sullivan County, Indiana. A farmhand's income was insufficient for a total of sixteen children (not all present at the same time, of course) plus, occasionally, some Dulaney descendants of his second wife. Times were desperate. In 1913 Pina, claiming blindness, asked for a pension from the Clark County Board of Supervisors. The request was rejected. In 1918 the Board did, however, pay $5 to H. Prust (Harry Prust, the local undertaker) for “taking Moses Clouse & wife to poor farm.” There, the couple lived, and died, Moses on 15 Apr 1924 and Pina on 2 Feb 1927.

Moses, Pina, and first wife, Susan, are buried in Shotts (also known as Siverly and Shad) Cemetery, just off Fox Road in Anderson Township. The rustic cemetery markers may have been erected at public expense.

Uncle By

James Byron Tapscott, "Uncle By",
c1920 (courtesy of Sharon Poteet).

Whether his middle name was “Byram” or “Byron” [post of 23 Nov 2015], James Tapscott was simply “Uncle By” to some family members.

On Independence Day, 1879, Uncle By gave up some of his independence when he was married to Sabra Ellen Mundy by a Clark County Justice of the Peace. Sabra was the daughter of Squire Mundy Sr. and Sarah Ellen Sanders, an Anderson Twp farm family.

Following their marriage, James Byron and Sabra moved from place to place in Illinois, living (and usually farming) in Shelby County in 1880, Clark in 1882 and 1898, Edgar in 1900, and Coles in 1910. Then, in 1920 we find Sabra living in Champaign, Illinois, claiming to be a widow and working as practical nurse. But James was not dead, just absent from what was an apparently shaky marriage, made more shaky by the early death of one son, "Jimmy" [4 Feb 2016 post] by the violent death of a second son, John Howard [28 Oct 2014 post], and by the scofflaw attitude of their son Omer [7 Sep 2014 post]. By 1930 James Byron and Sabra were back together in Marshall Twp, Clark County, where James was once more farming.

On 8 Jan 1937, after making his final move, James died at his home in Martinsville Twp, Sabra passed away a few years later, on 14 Jan 1945 at her home in Marshall, Illinois. Having had some problem living together, the couple were separated in death. James was buried in Auburn Cemetery; Sabra, in Marshall Cemetery.

James and Sabra had four children: “Jimmie," Omer Frank, John Howard, and Joseph Cleo. They had no known grandchildren.

Malina Hedgeman Bailey

Malina (myCentralJersey.com)

I was saddened to hear of the death of Malina Hedgeman Bailey (Courier News, Somerville, New Jersey, Thu 10 Dec 2015). Although she lived most of her life in New Jersey, Malina was related to the Tapscotts of Buckingham County, Virginia, specifically the line originating from Thomas Cobbs Tapscott and Amanda Davis [post of 5 Jan 2013]. Others connected to this line, but only by marriage, not by blood, were entertainer Bill Cosby and Eugene Charles Allen, whose life (with poetic license) was portrayed in the Hollywood movie, “The Butler” [post of 15 Aug 2015]. 

Malina was the granddaughter of Sarah ("Sarah Ladaan"?), wife of George Thomas Tapscott Sr. I once thought that Malina was descended from Sarah's first marriage with Robert Hubard, but (thanks to Malina's daughter, Ora) I now believe that is not correct.  Robert reportedly died in Sep 1880, well before the birth of any of Sarah Ladaan's known children - Addison Wilmington, Nannie E., John A., Sarah Malina, and George Thomas Jr. DNA studies indicate that Sarah Malina, and presumably the other children, were probably offspring of George Thomas Tapscott.

Buckingham County, where Malina was born, was one of Virginia’s “burned counties.” In Feb 1869, the courthouse, containing virtually all of the county’s records since its 1761 founding, went up in flame and Buckingham county historians have been immersed in murky waters ever since. For some time I have corresponded with Malina’s daughter, Ora Bailey-Hill, a well-known educator, writer, social activist, and genealogist (with DNA interests). Ora has helped me immensely in lifting a little of the fog from the Buckingham County Tapscotts and their connections. And that is how I learned of Malina.

Grant Frederick Tapscott

Our previous post (30 Nov 2015) told of Joseph and Mary Emma (Sanders) Tapscott, but the story was incomplete (as all stories must be). When Mary Emma married Joseph, she already had a son and therein lies a most interesting tale.

Grant Frederick Tapscott (collection of Patricia Phillips).

On 3 Oct 1884 in Clark County’s Anderson Twp, Mary Emma gave birth to a child, Grant Frederick, who took the last name “Tapscott” when his mother married Joseph Tapscott, three years later. No original birth record has been found for Grant Tapscott; however, in 1949, decades after his birth and years after the deaths of his claimed parents, he obtained a delayed record of birth, giving Joseph as his father. The birth date of 3 Oct 1884 on that record is a little suspicious considering that Joseph and Mary Emma were married 3 Oct 1887. Could it be that Grant did not know his actual birth date and picked 3 Oct because it was a familiar date? Perhaps, though 3 Oct 1887 date does agree with census data.

Who then was Grant Tapscott’s biological father? One of Grant’s children stated that her “Aunt Edith” [Edith Mae (Tapscott) Bruner] told her that her father's real father was a Wright. And a grandchild relates that "...my mom always told me that Grant Wright's father would not let him marry Mary Emma Sanders. I believe she said that the Wright family was more well to do than the Sanders family and Grant Wright also felt he was too young to marry.” Were this the only evidence for Grant Tapscott’s actual father, conclusions would be questionable. One document, however, the record of Grant Tapscott’s 1905 marriage to Lena Clouse, gives his father’s name as “Grant Wright.” Given this document and the family tales, it is likely that Grant Tapscott’s biological father was a person named “Grant Wright.”

Part of Grant Tapscott and Lena Clouse marriage record.

And who was Grant Wright? Only one person by that name is found in Clark County, Illinois, at the time in question—Isaiah Grant Wright (who went only by “Grant” in his youth), son of Richard and Joanna (also “Joan,” “Joann, “Johanna”) Wright. Richard, a prominent Methodist Protestant clergyman and part-time farmer, resided just southeast of the town of Auburn (Clark Center) and two or three miles northwest of the Anderson Twp farm of Mary Emma’s family. Born in 1863 or 1864, Grant Wright was just three or four years older than Mary Emma.

Was Isaiah Grant Wright the biological father of Grant Frederick Tapscott? Probably. The name is right, the location is right, and the ages are right. And the Wrights were probably financially better off than the Sanders, who had only a 40-acre farm for support. Richard had both a 40-acre farm and a cleric's income. And as first president of the South Illinois Methodist Protestant Conference, Rev. Wright certainly had status. Finally, recent autosomal DNA testing by a great grandchild of Grant Frederick Tapscott shows matches with at least six descendants of Richard Wright, father of Isaiah Grant Wright.

This tale is of particular interest to me, since I am descended from both Wrights and Tapscotts. Joseph Tapscott was a brother of my grandfather, John Wesley Tapscott. Isaiah Grant Wright was a brother of my great grandfather, James F. Wright. If our conclusion is correct about the parentage of Grant Tapscott, his male line descendants (and there are several living) could show an autosomal DNA match to me, but not a yDNA match. Is there anybody else out there interested? - Robert E. ("Bob") Tapscott