Carl Herman, a Wabash Valley Tapscott

Born of Joseph and Mary Emma (Sanders) Tapscott in Clark County, Illinois, on 10 May 1894, Carl was wedded four times, but apparently left no biological offspring (18 Aug 2015 blog). We have already heard about his first marriage, to Nettie Sarah Sweitzer 19 Oct 1918, which lasted less than two years.

Carl’s third marriage, to Beulah Frances Mead on 3 Jul 1939 in Vigo County, Indiana, was also short with a divorce suit filed almost exactly two years later. Married six times in Vigo County, to five different men (one man was wedded twice), Beulah was a most interesting character. Each of her six marriage license applications gives a birth date of 5 Feb but a different year – 1898, 1897, 1896, 1899, 1901, and 1900. Her death record gives an age corresponding to a birth year of 1902. She was almost certainly born in 1900. Beulah also tended to stretch other things on her license applications. When she married Carl, Beulah claimed to have been married only once before. In fact, she had been married three times before (four times if you include her two marriages to husband number three).

Beulah, like many people, tended to make herself older in her early years (she was first married at age 15) and younger in her later years, but the changes were minor compared with that of Carl Tapscott’s fourth wife, Pauline Benefiel, who was probably born as “Perlina” in 1870 and who knocked a "massive" fourteen years off her age when she married Carl. All this goes to show that you cannot trust marriage records when determining birth dates and prior marriages, and by no means are women always the culprits.

St. Anthony's Hospital, c1945 (Ancestry.com).

Like Carl, many of the Wabash Valley Tapscott men were not good husband material. Among the children of John Wesley Tapscott, my father, Glenn, was the only one of the boys to have had a family with children. My uncles Russell and Ralph (“Jack”) never married. Uncle Clarence’s two marriages were short and Lloyd was nearly 43 when he married. We cannot include Willard, who died young.

Pauline and Carl lived out their lives in Terre Haute, Indiana. Pauline died 28 Feb 1952, with Carl surviving her by fourteen years. Like his cousin Golden, Carl had a less than perfect driving record, but his greatest automotive difficulties came when he was not behind the steering wheel. Just three days before his 72 birthday, on 7 May 1966, he was hit by a Terre Haute driver. He spent his birthday in St. Anthony Hospital, where he died six days after the accident.

Carl was laid to rest in Mt. Pleasant Cemetery, near Martinsville, where his mother, Mary, and father, Joseph, are also interred. His former spouses rest elsewhere—Nettie in Marshall Cemetery; Mary Theresa in Terre Haute’s Highland Lawn Cemetery; Beulah in Lexington, Kentucky; and Pauline in Trimble Cemetery, Sullivan County, Indiana.

Russell Raymond Tapscott

Born 20 Nov 1892 in Marshall, Illinois, to an unmarried Flora Bell Walls in what is called by genetic genealogists a “non-paternity event” (NPE), Nettie Walls/Tingley/Sweitzer had a muddled, short existence. At various times she was given different birth names—“Walls” from her mother, “Tingley” from her great uncle Samuel Tingley Jr. (Flora Bell’s guardian and foster father), and “Sweitzer” from Frank Sweitzer (probably John Franklin Sweitzer), said in her death certificate to be her father.

Like mother, like daughter. On 3 Apr 1918, in another Marshall NPE, Nettie, husbandless, gave birth to “Russell Tingley.” Six months later, Nettie married Carl Herman Tapscott, and Russell Raymond took the name “Tapscott.”

The difficult marriage was short. A divorce decree dated 9 Mar 1920 claimed that Nettie Tapscott

“committed adultery with one William Clouse; and …  with divers other persons in the city of Marshall.”

Both Carl and Nettie remarried. Nettie’s second marriage (to William L. Clouse) lasted just a few months longer than her first, ending when she died at age thirty of acute cholecystitis (look it up if you are really interested).

The Smoking Gun?

Over the past (nearly) century, it has been generally assumed that, wedded or not, Carl Tapscott was Russell Raymond Tapscott’s biological father. He did, after all, marry Nettie, presumably to make an honest woman of her. But he is named as Russell’s father in no official document nor in any contemporary record. And now there is evidence for different paternity. In a dusty folder of unsourced obituaries filed away at the Illiana Genealogical and Historical Society in Danville, Illinois, is an obituary for Russell Tapscott that reads

               “Born April 3, 1918, at Marshall, he was the son of Golden and Sarah Tapscott.”

Son of Golden? And who was Sarah? The last question is easier answered than the first, for Nettie probably also had the name “Sarah.” An obituary for her daughter (with William Clouse) refers to Nettie as “Sarah Nettie Tapscott Clouse.”

But we still have Golden to contend with. Golden Arthur Tapscott was Carl Tapscott’s cousin. They had the same grandparents, William and Mary Angeline (Wallace) Tapscott. They were about the same age and were both unmarried at the time of Russell’s birth. The contention that Golden was Russell Tapscott’s father could be true. On 24 May 1918, a few weeks after Russell's birth, Golden was among a group of 25 Marshall draftees sent to Jefferson Barracks, Missouri, to train for service in the U.S. Army, service that may have helped avoid facing the problems of unplanned fatherhood. Four days later, Carl Tapscott left Marshall with 25 men scheduled for training at Camp Gordon, Georgia.

Golden or Carl (or someone else)? It is unlikely that the obituary author mixed up Carl and Golden, both of whom were living when Russell died. Obituaries are often written by surviving spouses, and on 9 Nov 1963, the date of Russell's death, his wife, Helen Frances, was still living. Had he told her of his actual parentage? And who had told him? Russell was only four years old when his mother died, although his grandmother Flora Bell lived to see Russell's 21st birthday. We may never know the truth, though I now believe Golden to be the likely father. Perhaps it really makes no difference. What is important is the story, not necessarily the genes. But it is nice to have a sturdy, reliable genealogical skeleton on which to flesh out the history.

This is what I posted back in Aug 2015, but now we have a smoking gun. On 13 Mar 1918, when Nettie was nearing the end of her pregnancy, the Clark County Democrat published the following brief sentence about court proceedings:

"In the same court, Friday, Golden Tapscott was placed under bond on charge of bastardy preferred by Nellie [sic] Tingley."

There is no doubt. Golden was Russel Tapscott's biological father.

Thomas Cobbs Tapscott, George Thomas Tapscott, and Eugene Charles Allen

     A blog of 5 Jan 2013 told of Thomas Cobbs Tapscott of Buckingham County, Virginia, who, with Amanda Davis, is believed to have had two mixed-race children, Amanda Lee Davis and George Davis (later adopting the name “George Thomas Tapscott”). The blog noted that Amanda had a connection with Bill Cosby, a person of some notoriety, these days not all good. But her brother, George Thomas Tapscott Sr,. also had a connection with someone of some notoriety, this time all good. The story follows:

     George Thomas Tapscott Sr., was born in August 1864, although he cannot be found in the 1870 census. By 1900, he had changed his name from “Davis” to “Tapscott,” the name he used the rest of his life. Sometime between 1900, when she was listed in a census as George’s housekeeper, and 1910, when she was listed as his wife, Sarah L. Hubard and George were married. Previously married to Robert Hubard, who died early, Sarah had five known children, all probably the offspring of George Thomas Tapscott Sr.—Addison Wilmington, Nannie E., John A., Sarah Malina Ladaan, and George Thomas Jr., the last born 22 Aug 1900.

Unmarked stone at right of that for Thomas Cobbs Tapscott
in the George Nicholas Tapscott Family Cemetery is believed
to be for his son George Sr. (photo by Jeremy Winfrey)

     About 1929, George Thomas Jr. married Kate Allen, one of ten or eleven surviving children of Albert and Sophia Allen. Born into slavery, Albert and Sophia were illiterate. Thus census ages (and, therefore, birth years) for them and their children vary widely and are highly questionable. Kate (sometimes, “Katie”) Allen was born 20 Feb 1904 (SSDI), almost certainly in Buckingham County. In 1910 and 1920 she was living with her parents and some of her siblings in the Slate River District of Buckingham, in the northeastern part of the county.

Eugene Charles Allen

    George Jr. and Kate farmed in Albemarle County, near Scottsville. George died 23 Oct 1991 and Kate died 23 Mar 1998, probably in Washington, DC, where they had been living. The location of their graves is unknown.

     Although Kate and George had no children as a couple, Kate had two sons, Eugene Charles and Geater, from an earlier relationship. The boys never lived with their mother, residing instead with their aunt and uncle, Charles and Susan Brown.

     Born in a log cabin on 14 Jul 1919, a time of harsh segregation, Eugene achieved fame. In 1943 he married Helene Arnetta Lee and nine years later joined the White House staff as pantry man. There his career lasted more than thirty years, during which time he served eight presidents, from Harry S. Truman to Ronald Reagan, and worked his way up to maître d’. Eugene passed away 31 March 2010. At his funeral the minister declared, “Now, it's true that some tried to stigmatize his job, that of a butler. But Eugene Allen raised it to a level of excellence. It was as if Eugene knew the way to be exalted was through humility.” Numerous biographies are available for Eugene. Perhaps the best is that in the memorial booklet, “A Life Well Lived” distributed at his funeral.

     A movie, “The Butler,” inspired by Eugene’s life in the White House, was released 16 October 2013. Unfortunately, for dramatic effect, much of Eugene’s story and even his name was changed. A straightforward version would have been much more interesting.

Wesley's Wall

The blog of 7 Jun 2015 promised that investigation of the mysterious Wesley Tapscott would continue during our June trip to Missouri and Illinois, in hopes of demolishing or at least fracturing the “brick wall” separating us from knowledge of Wesley’s parentage. Here are the new things found (with just a little repetition for continuity).

On 29 Nov 1889 Wesley purchased 20 acres of land in Anderson Twp from Clark H. Hammond and his wife, Roxana, for $100, an amount higher than what Wesley would be expected to have had. A plat map shows that by 1892, Wesley had acquired an adjacent 20 acres from an unknown source. Most of Wesley Tapscott’s 40 acres was considerably flatter than the neighboring 80 acres owned by Henry the Traveler’s oldest son William Tapscott (my great grandfather). Cut through by the Auburn Branch of Mill Creek, William’s farm was an assembly of ravines with scarcely any cultivatable land. Wesley had acquired some acceptable farm land. But he was probably too sick to make much use of it.

 

Tapscott lands in Anderson and Auburn Townships. Mill Creek Reservoir is a modern addition.

On 16 Aug 1893, sensing the end, Wesley wrote his last will and testimony:

   I Wesley Tapscott of Anderson Township County of Clark and State of Illinois do make this my last will and testament.

   First it is my will that any just debts against me be paid out of my estate.

    I then give and bequeath all of the residue of my personal property of whatever kind and moneys, also a debt due me from David Birchfield of ten dollars for which I have no note to Joseph Shade and his heirs.

   I hereby appoint and make Joseph Shade executor of this my last will and testament.

   Signed and sealed the sixteenth day of August A. D. 1893.

       Wesley {his X mark} Tapscott

 Witnesses

James L Coon [?]

John N. Washburn

John M Coons

          The will shows the last name “Tapscott,” rather than “Tabscott,” the spelling used on most of Wesley’s documents. But being illiterate, Wesley had no idea how his name was spelled or should be spelled. Spelling was left to those doing the writing. The Army thought his name was spelled “Tabscott,” and that was the name used in Wesley’s numerous military, medical, and Soldier and Sailor Home records. Most others used the customary spelling “Tapscott,” and that is the name found on all but two of his probate records and on his grave marker.

Two of the will’s witnesses were “John Washburn, a 33-year-old railroad worker living in Clark County’s Wabash Twp., and John Coons, a merchant living in Auburn Twp. The name of the other witness appears to be “James L. Coon,” a young laborer living in Martinsville Twp. Their connection with Wesley is unknown. Joseph Shade, the will’s only beneficiary, was the son-in-law of Sarah Ann Tapscott, one of the Traveler’s five daughters.

Soldiers and Sailors Home brick “cottage” (2015).

The following year Wesley went to the Illinois Soldiers and Sailors Home in Quincy, Illinois, listing his next-door neighbor in Clark County, William Tapscott, as his contact. Mary Frances and I visited the institution. The facility is still used (though the name has been changed to the “Illinois Veterans Home”) and many of the early buildings still stand. Residents were housed in two-story brick buildings termed “cottages” to bring a feeling of “Home” to the facility. The Home was built in 1886 and the first resident was admitted on 3 Mar 1887, just seven years before Wesley’s arrival on 30 May 1894. Lying on the Mississippi River, Quincy was a stop on the Chicago, Burlington, and Quincy (CB&Q) railway, which had a depot on the northern edge of the home, and this may be how Wesley arrived.

Wesley stayed in the Home only a few months, returning to Marshall, Illinois, where he died on 21 Nov 1894, willing all his personal property to Joseph Shade, who likely ended up with nothing but a headache. Wesley left more debts than assets. What happened to his 40 acres is still undetermined, but the land was likely sold before his death.

Thus after searching for hours in the Clark County Courthouse, the Clark County Genealogy Library, and the Marshall Public Library and visiting the Illinois Soldiers and Sailors Home, we still know little about Wesley’s origins. We know from where he came, but not from who. And, though he came from Green County, Kentucky, the home of William the Preacher, perhaps he is not a Tapscott after all, or at least not the son of a male Tapscott. His name may have come from an NPE, a non-paternal event - a name change, an illegitimate birth, an adoption, The brick wall remains.