Draft Book Section - Paul V. Tapscott

Major and Sarah (Dinsmore) Tapscott had three sons, no daughters. The oldest son was Paul. Here is what I have written. Comments, suggestions, changes, additions?

Major and Sarah’s first born, Paul V., arrived 18 Sep 1880 in Hendricks Co, Indiana. About Jul 1909, when he was approaching age 29 (Major’s male descendants tended to marry late), Paul married Pearl D. Johnson, daughter of a Lebanon, Indiana, brick mason. Pearl was born to Willis D. and Emaline (Lee) Johnson on 10 Jan 1879, presumably in Lebanon. Pearl may have lacked documentation of her birth since in 1942 she asked the Morgan Co, Indiana, Circuit Court “to have the time and place of her birth determined.”

Paul and Pearl, a truly alliterative couple, started out married life in Montgomery Co, Indiana, northeast of Indianapolis, living there for a while in the 1920s with Paul’s widowed mother in the town of Crawfordsville. By 1930 Paul and Pearl were residing in the village of Brooklyn, Indiana, just a forty-minute drive to downtown Indianapolis. There, they lived out their married lives.

Brooklyn, Morgan Co, Indiana

When he retired in 1949, Paul had worked forty-seven years for Bell Telephone Company, where Pearl had also worked, as an operator. It may have been due to Paul’s and Pearl’s jobs that two Tapscott nephews, George William and Marion John, ended up working for Indiana Bell.

Paul died suddenly, passing away at his Brooklyn home 20 Jul 1950. Widowed, Pearl moved to Lebanon, Indiana, where she had spent her childhood. She died there on 14 Jan 1963, while living with a niece. She and Paul were laid to rest in the Knights of Pythias Cemetery, Lizton, Indiana. The couple had no children.

Draft Book Section - Major Josiah Tapscott

I'm now working on Major Tapscott, next to last of the 12 children of Henry the Traveler and Susan Bass. Here is what I have written about Major. Major's descendants come next. Complaints, contributions, interesting stories, etc. appreciated. See previous post.

Where his first name originated is anybody’s guess, but, Major’s middle name may have come from his presumed grandfather, Josiah Bass. Major’s death certificate gives his date of birth as 23 Mar 1848, in agreement with the date of Mar 1848 given in the 1900 census. Most other census data, however, indicate a birth year of around 1845 or 1846. Might he have knocked a year or two off his age as he grew older?

Sarah (Dinsmore) Tapscott. (Contribution
of LeAnna and Meredith McGuire)

In his younger years, he was always called “Major,” but later on he used the name “Josiah.” Major was born in Illinois, presumably in Clark Co, likely in Darwin Twp where he was living with his parents in 1850 but he and his progeny spent most of their lives in Indiana. Major had moved to Indiana by 1870, when he was working as a farmhand in White River Twp, Johnson Co, just south of Indianapolis, for John Presser, a rather well-to-do farmer. It was in that county that, on 6 Oct 1874, Major “Tabscott” married Fanny Dinsmore.

Sarah Fanny Dinsmore was born 6 Aug 1858 in Boone Co, Indiana, to John and Jane (Holder) Dinsmore, an Iowa and Indiana farm family with at least six children. Sarah and Major lived most or all of their married life in Hendricks Co, Indiana, where they raised three boys, Paul, George, and Allen, while Major worked in assorted jobs—farmhand, laborer, school janitor. Some claim that a fourth child, a daughter, Maude, was born and died on 19 Nov 1875, but no reliable evidence has been provided. It is certainly possible, however, since the first documented child, Paul, was born almost six years after Major and Sarah were married.

Major passed away 29 Feb 1916 at the Protestant Deaconess Hospital in Indianapolis. Sarah died 8 Mar 1928 at the home of her son Allen in Indianapolis. The couple were laid to rest in the Knights of Pythias Cemetery, Lizton, Indiana, though no markers are found.

Henry's Children, The Tapscotts of the Wabash Valley

No, I haven't died. I am just struggling to complete Henry's Children, The Tapscotts of the Wabash Valley. What a hell of a lot of people! And I'm only going through generation four, counting Henry the Traveler (founder of the Wabash County Tapscotts) as generation one.

The reason for stopping there is that all members of that generation are deceased, and I have a strict rule that in my books I will give no more than names for living people. There are a number of living people for generation five. I am one. I will make an exception about providing details for living people only if (1) they specifically request that some of their history be included or (2) they are a hot news item owing to fame or misfortune. The latter has yet to come to my attention for living descendants of Henry the Traveler.

I would like to make this book more than a dry history and I am asking your help. I plan to periodically post here a draft book section on one of Henry's descendants. (Without reference notes to make it more readable.) If you have additional information, possess a photo, or know some family or personal stories about the person, things that might be good for the book, please drop me a line (retapscott@comcast.net). Of course it you see blatant errors, upsetting details, stupid statements, inappropriate remarks, plagiarism, etc. please let me know those also. (I hope to catch bad grammar or typos myself.) Remember I am planning to give out free copies of this book (assuming it ever gets written), and those copies will go first to contributors of information, photos, etc. And the names of significant contributors will appear in the acknowledgments.

Look here for upcoming draft sections. And thanks a lot.

Hope to see you soon.

Bob Tapscott