Fauquier County Tapscotts - Carrie Martin

Carrie Martin, the only known child of Maria and her second husband, Alfred Martin, appears to have been born in 1870; however, birth dates for Carrie (and her offspring) are highly questionable. Carrie apparently knocked off years as she grew older. Around 1890, Carrie married Isaac Chichester. whose ancestry is far too complicated to discuss here but was a descendant of Richard McCarty Chichester. The union has resulted in a lot of confusion, for a few years earlier, on 30 Mar 1882, Isaac had married, Catharine Collins, who went by the name “Carrie.” And, of course, the two Carries have been confused and often merged by family historians.

The first Carrie was born in October 1869 to Amanda (“Mandy”) Morton (Oct 1830–11 Jul 1933) and Henry Collins (Jun 1840–by 1910), probably in Fauquier County, where her parents were married (on 13 Apr 1873). Catharine and Isaac had a single known child, Samuel Chichester, who was born on 5 Jul 1884 in Fauquier County and died 7 Oct 1916 in Warrenton. Isaac’s first marriage did not last. On 28 Dec 1895 in DC, Catharine married Jerry Hughes and then went on to marry Johnson Addison in Fauquier County on 3 Oct 1917. Catharine died 14 Jul 1961 in the village of Casanova in Fauquier County.

Carrie Martin and Isaac Chichester, who may have died by 1910 (he does not appear in that census or thereafter), had four known children, all boys and all having gaps in contemporary records.

William Henry Chichester was born 5 Feb 1892 in Warrenton, and married Florence Scott in DC on 18 Aug 1920, a marriage that ended in divorce on 1 Feb 1941 in Arlington Co, Virginia. William died in October 1958, probably in DC where he had been living. He left no known descendants.

James Robert Chichester Sr.
(Kim D'Addario)

James Robert Chichester Sr. was probably born 3 Dec 1897, as indicated by his age in the 1900 census. The dates of 3 Dec 1893 on his death certificate and 3 Dec 1892 in his Social Security application are obviously incorrect. Might he have made himself look older to collect social security? James may have had a criminal element. In 1920 he was arrested and sentenced to three years in prison for theft of liquor seized in raids from the Fauquier County Clerk’s office, where it was being stored. He escaped from the Warrenton jail before he could be transferred to the prison but was soon recaptured. It is strange that James escaped since it was likely that he would have been pardoned. A majority of the jurors had petitioned his pardon after the principal witness against him had recanted his testimony. James was recaptured after having been seen as a pallbearer at the funeral of a relative. Could the relative have been Isaac? That escapade may have helped end his marriage to Virginia Kathleen Tyler, who he married on 12 Sep 1917 and divorced on 29 Mar 1932, both actions in Fauquier County. After marrying one more time, to Ethyl Penny, James died 18 Jan 1950 in Charlottesville, Virginia. He had a single known child, James Robert Jr., from his first marriage.

The next child born to Carrie and Isaac was the mysterious Lee Ellsworth Chichester, who was born in Warrenton on 5 Jun 1900. We say “mysterious” because there are large gaps in his history. Despite being born in 1900, he is missing from the 1910 census record of his mother and his three brothers. And he cannot be found in census records after 1920. The last we see him is in a 1942 WWII draft card, when he is shown as living in DC. No record is found of his date of death. Lee left no known descendants.

Carrie and Isaac’s final child was Claude Leonard Chichester, born in Warrenton 4 Jul 1901. On 7 Jun 1922, Claude married Lillian Tomes in Fauquier County. The marriage resulted in two children, Louis Robert Jones and Carrie Virginia Chichester, but ended in divorce on 21 Jul 1937 in Baltimore, Maryland. Claude died in DC around May 1957.

And this brings us to the last of Maria Ann Tapscott's descendants, at least as far towards the present as we are going to go. The next stop on our journey through the Fauquier County Tapscotts is Maria's sister Cordelia and her children.

Stupid errors? Typos? Complaints? Let me know.