Sam and Susie’s Kids

 The preceding blog stated that unknowns surround Susie Bell (Tingley) Tapscott Sturdevant, but more mysteries may surround her children.

First, we don’t know with certainty how many children Susie and Samuel had. The 1880 census shows three, “Lully,” “Maria,” and “Susan,” All born in the 1870s. But no Samuel Tapscott family unit appears in a census after that date.

 “Lully’ it turns out was Viola Jane, “Lully” apparently being a nickname (or a mistake by the census enumerator). She was also known as “Lola.” We are quite familiar with Viola’s life. She was born 23 Aug 1875 (apparently out of wedlock), married 1 May 1898, and died 19 Apr 1973.

“Maria” was Julia Maria, who was born in 1876 or 1877 and was probably the “infant child, as yet unborn” that resulted in Susie’s marriage to Samuel on 8 Jul 1876. Julia committed suicide in 1898 by jumping in front of a train. All about that in my book.

The third child in the census is Susan, age 1 (born between 2 Jun 1878 and 1 Jun 1879). An 1879 issue of the Clark County Herald announced “BORN. TAPSCOTT-In Marshall, May 31, to Samuel and Susie Tapscott-a daughter” and a birth record at the Clark County Courthouse records the birth of a girl named only “Tapscott” to Samuel and Susan Tingley Tapscott. We have always assumed those records were for Susan who appears in the 1880 census. And they are. But then we have a problem. According to her death certificate, Estella Tapscott, who went almost solely by “Stella,” was born to Sam and Susie on 23 May 1879, a date that appears on Stella’s grave marker and fits the age on her  marriage record. But we cannot have two children born eight days apart. Moreover if Stella had been born 23 May 1879 she should appear in the 1880 census with her family. Even if her date of birth was May 1880, as appears in the 1900 census, she should still show up in the 1880 census, which has an official date of Jun 1. And, as we will see, the birth record for her brother Austin states that he is child number 4, not number 5 which would be the case if he had both a sister Susan and a sister Stella. The evidence allows one to conclude that Stella does appear in the 1880 census, but as “Susan.” It is likely that the daughter we know as “Stella’ was really “Susan Estella” or “Estella Susan” and was really born 31 May 1878 as given in the more reliable birth record, not 23 May 1879, a date probably promulgated by human error. (Birth dates on death certificates and grave markers are often questionable.)

Finally, there is Austin T. Tapscott, found in only a single record, a reliable birth record at the Clark Co, Illinois courthouse. The record gives the date of birth as 23 Sep 1881 and states that he is fourth child born to “Sarah Tabscot nee Tingley” and “Samuel Tapscot.” No other record of Austin has been found and it is likely that he died young.

An 1884 article in a Terre Haute newspaper states that during a dispute between Samuel and his wife, she had absconded with two children leaving Sam with two others. Four total. And a photograph, from cousin Cheryl, taken around 1890 or 1891 (my estimation) shows Samuel with four children, three girls and a boy. It all seems to fit together. Samuel and Susie Bell had four children: Viola Jane, Julia Maria, Estella Susan (“Stella”), and Austin T. But, as you will soon see,

We May Be Wrong!

Samuel, Julia, Viola, Austin, Stella, c1890-1891, thanks to Cheryl Naegel.