Fauquier County Tapscotts - Pinn Pals

We run into the Pinn/Penn/Pin family off and on while researching for our Fauquier Tapscott tale. Margaret (“Peggy”) Pinn married Telem Plato, the Coachman’s son. Amanda Pinn married William Tapscott, son of Phil. And, as we have just seen, Howard Pinn married Louisa Ford, daughter of Emily Ford, Mack Tapscott’s common-law wife. And there are other connections. This would be a good time to compile a short history of the Pinn family.

Many family historians, with a total lack of acceptable evidence (i.e., substantiation other than other people's trees, family tales by distant relatives, and wishful thinking) begin the Fauquier County Pinns with much earlier, and likely fictional, ancestors; however, we will start with a Pinn for which concrete evidence exists, Nancy. Nancy Pinn appears in the 1830, 1840, and 1850 Fauquier County censuses, but is not found thereafter. She apparently died before the 1860 census.

The 1830 census shows an older female, presumably Nancy, and eight younger family members, who were likely offspring, three males and five females. The 1840 census shows Nancy now with two males and three females. Apparently, some children had married, left home, and/or passed on. The 1850 census finally provides names for three of Nancy’s inferred children—27-year-old “Mandandy” (a misspelling for Amanda), 26-year-old Eli, and 30-year-old David, all given the surname name "Pin" in this particular record.

Based on her name, age, and census neighbors, it is likely that Margaret (“Peggy”) Pinn, who married Telem Tapscott, was also a child of Nancy, but had married too early to appear in the 1850 census with her mother. Margaret’s estimated birth year, 1815, would place her among the four girls aged ten through twenty-three in the 1830 census for Nancy. And in 1860, Margaret and her husband, Telem, were living in the Fauquier County Northeast Revenue District just twelve dwellings away from where her supposed siblings Eli and Amanda were living. Moreover, Margaret does not fit into the only other racially appropriate Pinn line living in Fauquier Co at the time, the Ashby’s District Pinns/Penns.

Several other Pinns can be identified in Fauquier County records as possible, even probable, offspring of Nancy, but since none appear to have had Tapscott connections, there is no need to spend (waste?) time finding evidence for their being in Nancy’s family. With one exception. In 1850 in the census for Turner’s District of Fauquier County was a Mary Pinn, b c1827, apparently working as a servant in the household of a rather well-to-do white farmer and slave owner, Briant Stephens. Tuner’s District was where Nancy and her family were living in 1850 and Mary Pinn’s age, 23 corresponding to a birth year c1827, is what we would expect for a child of Nancy. But there is something much more important. Mary had a child named Taylor Pinn. And Taylor Pinn was also the name of a child of Howard Pinn, Nancy’s grandson. It sounds like this somewhat unusual name might run in the family.

Of these five children we have now identified or evidenced, we already know a lot about Margaret, who married Telem Plato, and Amanda, who married William Tapscott.

Eli, who was born around 1822, lived his entire life in Fauquier County, working first as a laborer and later as a stone mason. No reliable record indicates that he ever married or had a significant marital-type relationship. Eli is seen in the 1880 Fauquier County census but is not found in the 1900 census.

Like Eli, David, who was born c1820, also has no known marriage, nor any known offspring. However, unlike his siblings, he has a known death date. A death register shows that he died of "dropsy" (edema) in Fauquier County on 1 Jan 1878. And the register also gives his parents as James and Nancy Pinn. Thus, we now know the name of the likely father of David and his siblings. Data for the children in the census records for Nancy Pinn's household indicate that James died around 1825.

And our final offspring, Nancy’s likely daughter Mary, seems to have died young. She is not found with certainty after 1850. Her son, Taylor, is found living with and possibly serving the Briant Stephens family without his mother in 1860 and 1870.

In addition to Nancy’s three inferred adult offspring, the 1850 census also names five children in Nancy's household, ranging in age from age one to age ten—Benson Pin, Howard Pin, Sarah Pin, and two unnamed infants, a boy and a girl. These were almost certainly grandchildren of Nancy, probably children of Amanda, Eli, and/or David. Except for Howard, none of these children can be identified with any certainty in later documents, so we will ignore them. A marriage record for Howard Pinn and Louisa Ford nicely identifies Amanda as being Howard's mother.

 

Other than missing people, of whom there are many, is this correct? Please let me know what you think.