Fauquier County Tapscotts, once again

I recently received an email from a descendant of residents of Fauquier County, Virginia, having the name "Tapscott." The email noted that some Fauquier County Tapscotts had been tested and that other potential candidates would be contacted for testing. My response, slightly modified, may be of interest to others.

Remember that, because of female members of all reasonable descendancy lines, yDNA testing will almost certainly show no Tapscott matches for Fauquier County Tapscott descendants. Only autosomal testing has promise to show a genetic relationship between Fauquier County Tapscotts and James/Ezekiel Tapscott (members of the Edney line).

I have been autosomal tested on both Ancestry.com and FamilyTreeDNA. So far I have found no autosomal matches between myself and people originating in Fauquier County who show Tapscott names in their ancestry. This is true even though I have found several matches with non-Fauquier County Tapscott descendants on the Edney line, one going all the way back to the original Henry, eight generations! There are three possibilities: (1) Potential matches thus far are too far back with too few and too small identical DNA sequences showing up to be declared a match. (2) There is no genetic relationship between any Fauquier County Tapscott and the descendants of Henry the Immigrant (though I believe there is). (3) People undergoing testing are not providing information on their ancestry when they take their tests, something I discuss at the end of this email.

I suggest that if your cousins, etc. do autosomal testing through FamilyTreeDNA ("Family Finder"), they join the "Tapscott Project" hosted by FamilyTree. Joining a project costs nothing and can be done through the FamilyTreeDNA website. Joining the "Tapscott Project" allows me, as project administrator, to more easily check for matches.

I also suggest that if they test through Ancestry.com, they download their results to FamilyTreeDNA and then join the "Tapscott Project." The download is done through the Family Finder Transfer Program (see https://www.familytreedna.com/learn/imports/transfer-autosomal-ancestry/family-tree-dna-family-finder-transfer-program/). Unfortunately it does cost ($69 last time I checked), but the charge is worth it. Transfer not only allows joining a project, it greatly expanding the database of potential matches.

Whether they test through Ancestry or through FamilyTreeDNA, if people you are in contact with would send me the test name they used, I can easily check for matches. Some people use strange test names that have no relation with the submitter's actual name. I have no problem with your giving out my email address.

Unlike many of those tested, I use my actual name for my test results. The name for my Ancestry.com results is "Robert Tapscott" and for FamilyTreeDNA it's "Robert Edwin Tapscott." Thus, your contacts can quickly check for matches with me. (They should also search the name "Tapscott" in their match results.)

As a final note. It is absolutely essential that individuals undergoing testing include a ancestral tree (even if it is inaccurate) or at least (in the case of FamilyTreeDNA) a list of ancestral surnames (a list that includes "Tapscott," otherwise why be concerned with Tapscott matches?). Without a family tree or a list of descendants is is almost impossible to find Tapscott matches. If a person's tree is kept private or if there is no tree, they will not show up when I search for my Tapscott matches. When people make trees private they greatly hinder effective use of DNA testing. They might just as well save their money by not doing the testing. One of my major frustrations is people who for some reason or other feel that names of their fathers, mothers, grandfathers, etc. should be kept secret. Why? All it does is greatly reduce the potential for collaboration in family history research. My name is Robert Edwin Tapscott, my mother was Mary Emaline Imle and my father was Glenn Daniel Tapscott, and I don't care if the whole world knows it. Giving the names of ancestors is not equivalent to passing out social security or bank account numbers.

Bolin, Bowling, Bolding, Bolling

Today (19 Mar 2014) I sent the following email to the Bolin/Bolding/etc Project administrator at FamilyTreeDNA:

I have found some exciting yDNA test connections with individuals bearing the surname “Bolin” and variations. I believe that I may be able to help you with your study, and your could help me with mine.

My surname is “Tapscott” and my paternal line has been reliably traced back to the arrival of my 6G grandfather Henry Tapscott, who sailed from Bristol England to the Northern Neck of Virginia, arriving in 1700. Court records dating from 1706 confirm his arrival in this country with the name “Tapscott.” My 67-marker yDNA test shows a 1-step match to another Tapscott (also tested at 67 markers) who is descended from the original Henry through an entirely different line originating with another son of Henry, helping confirm our paper trail.

My results and those of the only other two people bearing the “Tapscott” surname who have been yDNA tested on FamilyTreeDNA show very close connections to individuals bearing the name Bolin and related names. For example, at 67 markers I show matches to the following individuals: three different Boldings at genetic distances of 1, 2, and 3; two Bowlings at distances of 2 and 3; and three Bolins at 3 each. I also have a number of matches with Bolins and related names at less reliable 4 and 5 genetic distances.

The yDNA results strongly indicate that some people bearing the Bolin/Bowling/Bolding/etc surname and the three individuals tested to date with the surname “Tapscott” had a common paternal ancestor with the separation occurring either in Virginia (where some of the Bolin/Bowling/Bolding matches had their most distant ancestor) or in England, before coming to America.

I would like to join the Bolin Project. I believe that with access to submitted trees, most distant ancestors, and matches available to members of the Bolin Project, I may be able determine where and when the separation occurred. With kit numbers for individuals in my matches, I would be able to compare specific matches to tell precisely which family (or families) in your study are related to me, and to reveal more of their paternal line. I might note that my research by classical methods has been quite thorough, but only involves American records from 1700 on. I have never seen the name Boling, etc. connected with my paternal Tapscott line.

My paternal line has been posted to Family Tree, and I am a project manager for the Tapscott Surname Project. I would be glad to send you any more information you might need. Note that I do not need additional FamilyTreeDNA testing. I have been tested up to 111 markers. My predicted haplogroup is the rather common R-M269, R1b1a2. (Further refinement confirms the yDNA haplogroup R-S18890.) 

 

Fauquier County Tapscotts and DNA Testing, Revisited

I was very pleased to see a comment on my 1 Feb 2014 blog “Family Finder” That comment questioned the use of DNA to solve the Fauquier County Tapscott question. My blog of Friday, 17 May 2013, “Fauquier County Tapscotts and DNA Testing,” addressed this issued, but it, I believe, was somewhat unclear and a little too pessimistic. Let’s look at three things: (1) the question to be answered, (2) an analysis of the problem, and (3) a potential solution.

Question

Are at least some of the Fauquier County Tapscotts related by blood to Ezekiel Tapscott and his son, James E. Tapscott? (Here I use the term "Fauquier County Tapscotts" to denote people who are descended from Fauquier County ancestors bearing the name "Tapscott," whether or not those descendants have that name.)

Analysis

There are three types of DNA tests of interest to Genealogists:(1) yDNA (all male), (2) mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA, all female), and (3) autosomal DNA (any combination). The first two cannot work when there are both males and females in the line. The only reasonable connections between Fauquier County Tapscotts and descendants of Henry the Immigrant include Harriet or Elizabeth and, therefore, all the lines involve at least one female (Harriet or Elizabeth) and one male (James or Ezekiel). I am including Ezekiel because some people believe Harriet was his daughter (not true according to my research). This uncertainty has no bearing at all on the present problem. If Harriet were a daughter of neither Ezekiel nor James, that would be a difficulty.

Note: I recognize that mtDNA allows a male when that is the person being tested, but that has absolutely nothing to do with this problem.

Potential Solution

Thus, the only test that can be used to answer our question is the autosomal test, which works for any mixture of sexes in the line. Autosomal DNA matches of Fauquier County Tapscotts with know descendants of Henry the Immigrant would provide strong evidence for a blood relationship. There are two companies that can be considered: AncestryDNA, which does only autosomal testing, and FamilyTreeDNA, which does autosomal testing through its “Family Finder” test (be careful, FamilyTreeDNA also does yDNA and mtDNA testing). Either AncestryDNA or “Family Finder” can be used. Both have good points and bad points and they cost about the same. It is possible to transfer results from AncestryDNA to FamilyTreeDNA to get an increased overall database for comparison. I have done autosomal testing with both companies. I have found the most connections with Ancestry.com, but FamilyTreeDNA appears to have a better knowledge of the science. More Tapscott descendants have undergone autosomal testing with Ancestry.com than with FamilyTreeDNA. Right now I lean towards Ancestry.com for autosomal testing.

Pro

(1) Autosomal DNA will work for any line, women, men, or a mixture. It is the only thing that will work here.

(2) It is the cheapest DNA test

Con

(1) Autosomal DNA works best for close relatives. It is often stated that the maximum distance it can cover is six or seven generations; however, there are known exceptions. Recently, I appear to have gotten a match at eight generations for another Tapscott line! I am seven generations removed from Edney Tapscott, the father of Ezekiel and grandfather of James. Thus, I am near the borderline for using the test to match sixth cousins.  We may get no autosomal matches for Fauquier County Tapscotts to other Tapscotts even when there is a relationship. Thus, a positive result would be a strong indication of a connection, but a negative result would prove absolutely nothing..

(2) Autosomal DNA is a shotgun approach. You will see everyone you are closely related to. Since there were almost certainly marriages between cousins of various degrees in Fauquier County, a Tapscott match would not reveal whether your line is through Harriet, Elizabeth, James, or Ezekiel nor how it reached them, but it would evidence a Tapscott blood relationship.

Final Comment

Although yDNA and mtDNA tests cannot be used to answer the Tapscott relationship question, they may provide other information of interest to the Fauquier County Tapscotts. And there is always the possibility that our entire genealogical analysis is incorrect and that we do see a Tapscott connection with yDNA, but the chances are very, very, very slim.

Duncan Henry

Chancery court documents involving Martin Tapscott that tell a most interesting story. The records are for Duncan Henry vs. Thomas Rowand and James McDowell, Chancery Court, Augusta Co, Virginia, Index No. 1819-100, Digital Collections, Library of Virginia, Richmond.

Martin Tapscott was one of the sixteen (!) children of Capt. Henry Tapscott and a grandson of Henry the Immigrant. Court proceedings on the division of part of Martin Tapscott’s estate show that when Martin died Nov 1804 he left but one descendant, his son, Henry Brereton Tapscott, who died around 1806. His father’s will stated that should Henry Brereton die without heirs, which he did, “all the negroes he dies possessed of given by me shall be emancipated and set free.” But Martin Shearman, the estate executor (and Martin Tapscott’s brother-in-law, having married Alice Tapscott), sold estate slaves right and left, both before and after Henry Brereton’s death. In addition to Milly and her children, sold were the slaves Isaac, Edmond, Daniel, Samuel, Denniel, Joe, Bubb, another Joe, Rawleigh, Bob, William, and Tom. When Thomas Rowand became administrator of the Tapscott estate following the death of Martin Shearman, he was possessed of the remaining slaves, some of which he planned to sell:

"Ann about Twenty eight years of age a Valuable house servant & her son about four years of age, Lilian (a cripple) and her two small children, Agatha a Valuable young woman with one child, Matilda with two children"

But the estate had one more slave, Duncan Henry, who had been hired out to Martin Tapscott’s brother Henry, and therein lies a most unusual story. When Henry Brereton died, Duncan was released (or released himself) under the terms of Martin Tapscott’s will and decamped to Rockbridge County, Virginia, a “free man of color,” or so he thought. But Thomas Rowand, the new administrator for the Martin and Henry Brereton Tapscott estate, decided that he needed additional income to pay estate debts and Duncan was one source of that income. Thomas hired James McDowell of Rockbridge County to go after Duncan, who could be enslaved and sold.

Then Duncan Henry did the unthinkable. On 20 April 1815 he filed a bill of complaint in chancery court against Rowand and McDowell claiming that under Martin Tapscott’s will he was a free man. Hinting of fraud or at least mismanagement, he also claimed that Martin Tapscott had died leaving a large personal estate and that the sale of that property should have been more than sufficient to pay off debts. Thomas responded that the estate had been “considerably indebted at the time of his [Martin Tapscott’s] death - much beyond the value of the ‘movable property’” and that Duncan Henry had not been released following Henry Brereton’s death, but had “left the lower county clandestinely & came to Rockbridge county.” James McDowell’s response was much briefer, in effect, saying that he was a mere tool, hired to take Duncan into custody, and knew nothing of Duncan’s rights to freedom.

The same day that Duncan filed his complaint, Robert Douthat and William Caruthers, prominent white men of Rockbridge County, for unknown reasons, put up a $750 bond to keep Duncan out of custody until the court made a decision. Duncan could have made a run for it, but he stayed in Rockbridge County. Weeks turned into months and months, into years, with the constant threat of slavery hanging over Duncan. The court required three years to make a decision, and that decision was, to say the least, surprising.

"the court is of opinion that the Pltf is entitled to his freedom under the will of Martin Tapscott decd & cannot be held to involuntary servitude except it was necessary for the purpose of discharging the debts of the said Martin & the defts whose duty it was to make this appear having failed to exhibit any evidence upon this subject for three years the court presumes that such evidence does not exist. The court is of opinion that the Pltf ought not to be [...] longer on that account. It is therefore adjudged, ordered & decided that the Pltf suposition be made perpetual & that the Pltf is entitled to his freedom which is hereby confirmed to him."

Seldom did a black man, a former slave, win a suit against white men in those days. But Duncan, heroically, did just that.

Dying in 1817, William Caruthers, a Lexington, Virginia, merchant and agent for Thomas Jefferson in Rockbridge County, did not live to see the results of his largesse. Nor (probably) did Robert Douthat, who ran Natural Bridge Tavern (“Stone Castle”) in Rockbridge County, a popular stopping place for Thomas Jefferson, and who lived just a year longer. In Rockbridge County Duncan had joined up with his three brothers, Patrick, Williamson, and John V. Henry, who had also been slaves of Martin Tapscott. There, Patrick Henry was hired by Thomas Jefferson as caretaker for Natural Bridge, the scenic wonder for which Rockbridge County was named and which, at the time, was owned by Jefferson.