Saturday, February 8, 2014

New Jersey Tapscotts

As you all know, there are two major Tapscott lines in the U.S.--the Virginia Tapscotts, my interest area, and the New Jersey Tapscotts, for which I have done very little research. Henry the Immigrant, the progenitor of the Virginia Tapscotts, arrived in America in 1700. The New Jersey Tapscotts probably arrived around the same time and settled in Monmouth county in New Jersey. Eventually, a number of them migrated to the state of Ohio. It is thought that the New Jersey Tapscotts may have originated from William Tapscott, the Rebel, who was released from bondage in Jamaica and may have traveled to New Jersey after King William ascended the throne of England.

For some time we have wondered whether the New Jersey Tapscotts were related to the Virginia Tapscotts. Now we have some evidence that they are.The earliest Tapscott in New Jersey for which we have good evidence (contact me for sources) was James Tapscott (not the rebel), born abt 1690, died 13 Mar 1750. He had a son William (b 21 Feb 1717/1718, d  8 Mar 1786, said to have married Ann Bretton), had three known children (William, James, Lucia), and appears to have two more (Isaac and Lydia).  Lydia is known to have married James Gaston and Lucy is known to have married a Longstreet, probably John Longstreet. Today, I went through my matches from autosomal DNA testing and found a number of matches with people descended from Monmouth County Gastons and Longstreets, including some that are known to be related to Lydia's spouse James Gaston. Is this proof that the two Tapscott lines are related? No. But it is moderately strong evidence. We need additional data, but we have a start.

If the lines are related, it occurred prior to entry of the earliest members into America, presumably in England.

2 comments:

  1. http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~longstrt/rjl-2.html

    47. JOHN b. 1744, m. 1-28-1769 Lucy Tapscott (Misc. 12, 22:243), d. June, 1819 (cem. inscr. Jacobstown, NJ), Lucy, his wife, d. 10-21-1836 in her 86th year (b cem inscr). John was living in Burlington County, NJ, in 1776 (Deed Bk A-H, p. 500). The "Ratables" of Upper Freehold Tp list him in 1797 and 1808. He was a private in the Revolution (Misc. 12, p. 670). He left no will. In (TH 2) his children are listed as Stoffel, William,

    Johon [John], <---- HE MAY HAVE BEEN THE ONE WHO IMMIGRATED TO CANADA. [BORN 1796, N.J.]

    Daniel, Abigail and Lydia. But according to the Family Bible in possession of a descendant, Mrs. Emma Taylor of Allentown, NJ, the children were:


    105. Gilbert b. 12-11-1788
    106. Lucy,
    107. William
    108. Lydia
    109. Abigail b 1778 (cem inscr Jacobstown, NJ)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Howard:

      Thanks a lot for the information. I continue to see close matches, perhaps too close, to people from Monmouth County, NJ.

      Delete

To directly contact the author, email retapscott@comcast.net