Susan Frances Sanders

No. I haven’t died. It’s just that my new book, Henry’s Children, The Tapscotts of the Wabash Valley, is becoming considerably longer and more complex than anticipated.

Six children of Henry Tapscott the Traveler (the child of William the Preacher) and their descendants—William, John, James Wesley, Thomas, Nancy, and Jacob—have been covered. Bringing us to child seven, Sarah Ann Tapscott, wife of William M. Sanders, and that is a problem. For Sarah Ann and William had eight children, many of whom had several children. And generally there is too much information about Sarah and William’s descendants, not too little—too much to read, record, and digest. But there are still two unknowns, which Tapscott Family History readers might help me answer. And both involve Susan Frances Sanders, daughter of William and Sarah Ann.

Susan Frances is believed to have married Robert Jones in Marion County, Indiana, on 3 Sep 1873, but the sole evidence is a single marriage record with Susan F. Sanders as the bride and let’s face it, “Susan F. Sanders” is not an unusual name. And nothing is known of the origin or ending of Robert Jones.

And on 8 Feb 1877, just a little over three years after she may have married Robert Jones, Susan Frances Sanders is known to have married Joseph Shade in Clark County, Illinois. But Joseph’s first wife was Ada Swafford, about whom, like Robert Jones, we know absolutely nothing, other than that she married Joseph in Clark County on 1 Dec 1874.

Does anyone know anything reliable about Robert Jones of Marion County, Indiana, or Ada Swafford of Clark County, Illinois? Any chance we have a name wrong?