Frank and Harry Tapscott

 

A recent blog concluded that Sam and Susie Tapscott had four children, three girls (Viola, Julia, and Stella) and a boy (Austin). But then ended with

 We May Be Wrong!

 What brings on this declaration?

 On Mon 30 Dec 1946 a news article on a court case in Decatur, Illinois, was published in The Decatur Daily Review newspaper. Lola Flint of Paris  and Stella McLain of Terre Haute (.Samuel and Susie’s daughters Viola and Stella) had asked the court to declare their brothers, Frank and Harry, former Decatur residents who had been missing for more than fifty years, legally dead. Who in the world are, or were, Frank and Harry? And what sort of estate would they have inherited? They have not been identified in any document other than the Decatur newspaper. That they had not been seen for more than fifty years implies a birth year prior to 1896. One possibility is that one of them was Austin, who may have had a middle name Harry or Frank (or vice versa). Another possibility is that they were illegitimate children of Samuel, or even of Susie. Or, or course, they could have just been two additional children born to Susie and Sam in the 1880s or 1890s.

 What do you think?

 

Photo

The last blog showed a photo of Samuel with his son and three daughters sent me by cousin Cheryl. The photograph is a little blurred with age making it difficult to estimate children’s ages, and thus the photo date. I decided to try to “improve” the photo by, in turn, enhancing, sharpening, colorizing it. The first and last were done using features available on the My Heritage website. I sharpened it using Microsoft editing. And then I combined all of these variations.

From the photo “improved” with everything, my wife and I think that the boy, presumably Austin, was aged 9 or 10 and the youngest girl, Stella, at the far right, 12 or 13. This means that the photo was taken around 1890 or 1891. The photo also shows that the seated girl has a somewhat rounded face, in contrast to the taller girl standing behind her. Other photos show Viola to have a rounded face, indicating that the seated girl is Viola. And Viola would be expected to be seated owing to the injury to leg caused by Samuel. What do you think?

Original

Enhanced

Sharpened

Colorized

Everything