Tapscott Brothers of Liverpool

Robert J. Tapscott, of the James Tapscott line from Henry the Immigrant, sent me a photo of an advertisement for the William Tapscott and James Tapscott (The Tapscott Brothers) line of ships carrying emigrants from Liverpool to, primarily, New York. William ran the company from the UK and James (along with some of William's children, I believe) ran the company from New York. I and many others have long had an interest in the Tapscott Brothers of Liverpool, who originally came from Minhead in Somerset, England, in the West Country where Henry the Immigrant is believed to have originated. Indeed, when I visited Michael’s Parish Church in Minehead in 2002, I saw a number of monuments in the church cemetery bearing Tapscott names. Little did I know that these were relatives of the Tapscott Brothers of the Liverpool shipping company.

It would be great to find living Tapscotts descended from the Tapscott brothers to confirm (or deny) a connection with Henry the Immigrant using DNA testing. Any help would be appreciated, and thanks a lot to Robert J. Tapscott for arousing my interest in this area once again.

Charles Sweetfield Tapscott

John Fox and I have been discussing the origins of Charles Sweetfield Tapscott, who often went solely by his  initials "C. S. Tapscott", and his son Beverly Rogers Tapscott. We have seen the relatively unusual male name "Beverly" among other Tapscotts. Beverly Alexander Tapscott was a son of Robert Francis Tapscott of Clarke County, Virginia, whose origins are still uncertain (but hopefully will be revealed with DNA testing). Beverly W. Tapscott was Robert Francis Tapscott's grandson. Perhaps this indicates that Robert Frances Tapscott was part of the Jamers Tapscott line, which, as we shall see, is Charles Sweetfield Tapscott's line, but we certainly cannot make this leap with this meager evidence.

Beverly Rogers Tapscott is known to be the son of Charles Sweetfield and Nellie E. Murphy Tapscott from the 1930 census for Buckingham County, Virginia. A West Virginia marriage record for C. S. Tapscott and  Nellie E. Murphy states that Charles was the son of "W. W." Tapscott and "May W." There is little or no doubt, for a variety of reasons, that these are William Wallace Tapscott and Mary Willis Hamner (William's second wife). But the marriage record actually gives Charles's stepmother, the only mother Charles knew. He was born 9 October 1883, and Cornelia S. (Baber) Tapscott, William's first wife and Charles S. Tapscott's actual mother, died three days later, 12 Oct 1883, almost certainly due to Charles's birth. William Wallace did not remarry until 5 Aug 1884. Obituaries for Mary Willis Tapscott and for one of Charles S. Tapscott's brothers show that "C. S." Tapscott was a member of the family and Mary Willis Tapscott's stepson.

The problem is that Charles Sweetfield Tapscott was born 9 October 1883, but he does not appear with William Wallace and Mary Willis Tapscott in the 1900 census. Instead there is a "Charles D." born in Feb. 1892. But we never see a Charles D. Tapscott again, at least a Charles that is likely. Charles D. Tapscott in the 1900 census is almost certainly an mistake. The error was probably due to Charlotte Ann Tapscott, who was born in Feb 1891 or Feb 1893 according to various sources (and not unlikely, therefore, to have actually been born in Feb 1892) being confused by a busy census enumerator or a neighbor with her brother Charles S. Tapscott. Their first names are somewhat similar. Neither Charlotte or Charles Sweetfield appear in the 1900 census with William Wallace and Mary (and they should), but "Charles D." does.

Since Charles Sweetfield Tapscott is the son of William Wallace and Beverly is the grandson, then we know that Charles and Beverly are descended from Henry the Immigrant through his son James. The line is James - George Sr. - William H. - Benjamin G. -William Wallace - Charles Sweetfield - Beverly Rogers., a line that I have been able to document well. Thus, Charles S. and Beverly R. Tapscott are part of the James line (as opposed to the Edney or Captain Henry line).  I would love to find a male descendant of Charles S. or Beverly for a DNA test.

Do you have comments or do you want sources for the data presented above? Contact me.