A Killing in Borton

Among the Wabash Valley Tapscotts, James Byron and Sabra Ellen (Mundy) Tapscott and their three sons were the source of both comedy and angst. And since none of the sons had offspring (or at least known offspring) we can discuss the family without offending close relatives. Tragicomedy was provided by the oldest son Omer Frank Tapscott, whose passion for gambling and culpability in a homicide was discussed in an earlier blog. Outright tragedy was provided by the middle son, John Howard.

Mattoon Morning Star, 4 Mar 1905.

Howard was born in September 1887, probably on the family farm in Kansas Township, Edgar County, Illinois. In April or March 1905, James and Sabra moved a few miles west to a new home near Humboldt, Illinois, in adjacent Coles County, leaving seventeen-year old Howard behind to take care of some matters before rejoining the family.

On Friday 6 March Howard and some young neighbors decided to go to a revival meeting in nearby Borton, a tiny community of a few scattered houses. This would be the last opportunity for all the teens to get together since Howard was scheduled to join up with his family the next day. A revival seems a strange venue for a get together, but social events were decidedly scarce in rural Edgar County in the early 1900s. Among the participants was Will (William) Chaney, who lived on a neighboring farm with his mother and father, Andrew and Maria, and four brothers and sisters. Will and Howard had known each other for years.

During the church services that evening, the two boys started quarreling and continued to squabble after church had been let out. As the group walked through Borton, the argument, said to have been over a girl, erupted into a fight. Some claimed that Howard, larger and older, had pushed Will Chaney off a sidewalk. Whatever the cause, Will pulled a knife and stabbed Howard, who bled to death within minutes.

It was first reported that Howard was stabbed in the throat and died from a severed jugular, but it was later revealed that death was due to a punctured artery near the heart from a chest wound. The details are immaterial. Howard Tapscott, at age seventeen, was dead and fourteen-year-old William Chaney was the killer.

110 years ago, the sleepy little town of Boyton saw violence in its streets (Jun 2015) .

On Thursday, 15 March 1906, just over a year later, Will was put on trial for manslaughter at a circuit court in Paris, the seat of Edgar County. The defendant claimed that he was assaulted in the dark and was unaware of the assailant’s identity until after the killing. The trial was brief. On the second day, Friday, the jury was charged, and on Saturday brought back a guilty verdict after deliberating overnight. William was sentenced to reform school.

The tragedy hit the families hard. Will’s family moved to North Dakota, likely to escape the condemnation of neighbors. And for a while. James Byron and Sabra split up.

Tapscott DNA Project Update

This will bring you up to date on the yDNA test results for the Tapscott Project at Family Tree DNA (http://www.familytreedna.com/)

1. Some time back I noted that I had a 1-step (genetic distance of 1) 37-marker match to a mixed-race Ford from Jamaica, indicative that they may have been descended from William Tapscott the rebel (with a name change as was often the case in interracial relationships). The person matching me has now expanded his testing to 67-markers and shows a 2-step match with my 67-marker test results. This is a very close match for this many markers, making it highly likely that he and I have an identical paternal ancestor. He also shows a 3-step match with a male Tapscott descendant of Capt. Henry Tapscott. Interestingly, the Jamaican individual matches several Boldings and Bowlings with a very close 1-step for 67 markers. Things are starting to fall together. Eventually I plan to see which markers show variations, which may allow a proposal for the point(s) at which Ford, Tapscott, and Bolding/Bowling families separated, assuming, of course, that they do share a common male ancestor. I suspect that any break happened in England before 1700.

2. The Tapscott DNA project has, or will soon have, a participant from England and a participant, who is a descendant of the "mysterious" Robert Francis Tapscott of Virginia.

3. I am still looking for yDNA participants from the New Jersey Tapscotts, the James Tapscott line, and Canadian and Australian Tapscott.

Books

Just returned from a trip to Missouri, Kentucky, Indiana, Illinois to research the Tapscotts for my new book on the descendants of Henry son of William the Preacher. The tentative title is Henry the Traveler, The Tapscotts of the Wabash Valley. Found some interesting things that I will be blogging during the next few weeks.

The "Second Edition, Revised and Expanded" of Henry the Immigrant, The First Tapscotts of Missouri, was sent to the publishers yesterday. The printing cost is expected to be $44 per book. I am having fifty copies printed, which I hope will be finished by Christmas. About half of the hard-bound, 497-page, 8 1/2 X 11 book will be distributed to family members and libraries. The rest will be sold at cost (probably $55 to cover printing, packaging, and postage). Interested people should contact me at retapscott@comcast.net.