The Cundiff Line (If It Exists)

 Our last blog shows Elizabeth’s first children to have probably been the twins fathered by Richard Cundiff Jr. We don’t know when this occurred, but the birth was likely to have been around 1807 based on the date of Elizabeth’s suit and her age (about 18 in 1807).

Earlier, on 2 Feb 1788, Richard Jr. had married Ellen Forester in Lancaster Co, but she appears to have been deceased by the time of the Lancaster Co 1810 census (no earlier census exists for Lancaster Co). That census, in addition to an adult aged 26 to 45 (presumably Richard), shows only two other white household members, a male and a female aged 16 to 25. That age range is far too young for the female to be Ellen, and far too old to be the twins Richard was accused of fathering with Elizabeth Percifull.

Richard appears once again, in the 1820 Lancaster Co census, living with two household members. The age range of 26 through 44 for Richard in that census was probably due to him understating his age, as likely for men as for women.

But we have still not identified Elizabeth and Richard’s twin offspring. Of course life was short in 19th-century Virginia. Perhaps they died young. But if they did survive, what became of them? They almost certainly did not end up with Richard. Not only were males extremely unlikely to end up with illegitimate offspring, but the 1810 and 1820 censuses show no family members of the correct age living with Richard. And we find nobody in Fauquier Co who could likely have been one or both of the children, whose names would have likely been “Percifull” or, possibly, “Tapscott” or, unlikely, “Cundiff.” If one or both of the children survived, they likely ended up living with Elijah Percifull and his wife at the time. The 1810 census for Elijah shows one white male and two white females aged 0 to 9, the probable age range for the twins who were the subject of the 1808 Lancaster Co court proceedings.

And it is just possible that as a grandfather, Elijah felt close to Elizabeth’s children, despite their origin, and treated them as his children. Could some of those named as Elijah’s children in his will have actually been Elizabeth’s twins fathered by Richard Cundiff? Three of the children listed in Elijah’s will have birth dates in the required range—Thomas, Catharine (“Caty”), and Rebecca. Were any of these one of the twins? Extensive research on these three children fails to answer this question. (You’ll have to read the book to see what we know of these three.)

If any of these were in the Cundiff line, is it proper to introduce them in a book on the Fauquier County Tapscotts? Research shows that none of them ever lived in Fauquier Co. (My biased answer is “yes.”)

The Cundiff Connection

 As we know, Elizabeth Percifull, who would one day become Elizabeth (Percifull) Tapscott, was strongly attracted by the opposite sex. And we have proof about who was the first (that we know of) on her list of paramours. The following proceedings were published for a Lancaster Co, Virginia, court held 15 Feb 1808:

Richard Cundiff who is charged on oath by Elizabeth Percifull of the parish of Christ Church in this County single woman with being the father of her bastard twin Children & Stands bound by a recognizance to appear here this day and abide by and perform the order of this court concerning the same appeared Accordingly, whereupon it appearing to the Court that the proceedings which have been had herein are illegal, it is ordered that the same be quashed and the said Cundiff discharged from his said recognizance

We do not know what Elizabeth was asking for, but it was probably child support. Nor do we know why the proceedings were declared illegal. Since it was a man’s world at the time (some say it still is), one suspects bias.

The following year proceedings of a Lancaster Co court held 20 March 1809 included the following

The Commonwealth of Virginia

vs

Elizabeth Percifull Deft.

Upon an information for Having two bastard Children & filed her Information afsd.

This day came the attorney for the Commonwealth, and thereupon came also a Jury . . . who being elected tried and sworn the truth to speak when the information aforesaid upon their oaths do say that the Deft. is guilty in matter & form as in the said informational is alleged against her and they do assess the amercement of the of the said deft to ten dollars besides the Cost, therefore it is considered that the Commonwealth recovers against the said deft the said ten dollars by the Jury aforesaid assessed and also their Costs by them about this prosecution expended and the said deft may be taken &c.

Richard Cundiff got away with his misdeed, but Elizabeth was fined $10 for bearing two “bastard Children.” The major concern was not morals, but order and economics. An illegitimate child might be a financial burden to the local parish. Elizabeth’s father, Elijah, paid the fine, but his 1814 will stated

there is seven pounds ten Shillings to be Reducted out of my Daughter Betsey proportion for money I paid for her.

Elijah was not happy with his daughter.

Signature of Richard the elder on deed of

 trust. (Ancestry.com.)

Two Richard Cundiff’s were connected with Lancaster Co around that time, father and son. But since Richard the elder died by 17 May 1781, when his Lancaster Co will was proven, we can safely rule him out.

More about Richard the younger and his illegitimate offspring in the next blog.

Elizabeth Percifull, an Overview

 

What do we know about Elizabeth Percifull, mother of the Fauquier Co Tapscotts, beyond her many male companionships?

Well, she was a child of Elijah and, almost certainly, Elizabeth (Carter) Percifull. In fact, as the first girl born to that couple, it is likely that Elizabeth got her name from her mother. Her date of birth has been reported by Beverley Fleet in his usually reliable Virginia Colonial Abstracts, to be 6 Feb 1765. But no source is cited, and that date is certainly incorrect. Were that the date of her birth, Elizabeth would have been in her 50s or 60s when some of her children were born. Besides, with that date of birth, Elizabeth would have been a daughter of Elijah’s first wife, Winifred Wildey, and thus would have had the name “Winifred.” (That’s a joke, Readers. At least, sort of.) The 1850 census gives Elizabeth’s age as 60, corresponding to a birth year of 1789 or 1790, and that appears reasonable. Since a year or two are often knocked off census ages, we will take Elizabeth’s birth year as c1789.

Elizabeth was probably born in Lancaster Co, the home of her parents and grandparents (both sides), but she lived most of her life one hundred miles northwest in Fauquier Co.

Virginia with Lancaster and Fauquier Counties in red. (Wikipedia, public domain.)

Lancaster Co, home of the Percifulls, was also homelands for the Tapscotts. In fact the Tapscott family lived in Wicomico Parish, which ran along the border between Lancaster Co and the next county to the north, Northumberland. And that is where Elijah, and for a while Elizabeth, lived.

Elizabeth probably left Lancaster Co to escape her father, with whom she is known to have had a falling out, undoubtedly due to her unconventional life style. But why Fauquier Co? It may have been due to less-restrictive race relations there, compared to other Virginia counties, at least according to some scholars. At the time Elizabeth moved to Fauquier Co, she is believed to have had at least one mixed-race child.

We don’t know when Elizabeth died, but it was probably between 1850, when she appears in the Fauquier Co federal census, and 1860, when she does not. For convenience I often give her date of death as c1855.

What do I think of Elizabeth? Unlike some, I think Elizabeth was a plucky, loving woman, who had to make do with what she had after the early death of her only legal husband. But wasn’t she a slave owner? Probably. But slavery in Elizabeth’s household appears to have differed from that found elsewhere, though we will never know for certain. Disagree? I would like to hear your opinion.

The Percifulls

 

The Tapscotts of Fauquier Co, the book now in writing, must start with the Percifulls, not the Tapscotts. And it has to start with Elijah Percifull, Elizabeth’s father. Elijah had four wives (Winifred Wildey, Caty Yerby, Elizabeth Carter, and Elizabeth Rivers Davis) and thirteen children, at least thirteen who lived long enough to be named in Elijah’s will. But we have no concrete evidence about which children had which mother. Since we know the dates of marriage or approximate dates, we could connect children with mothers were we to have the dates of birth. But reliable dates of birth are available for almost none of Elijah’s children. I might note that the date of 6 Feb 1765, which has been given for Elizabeth, is assuredly, badly incorrect. I will discuss this in the future.

We can get dates of birth or approximates from a some census ages or age ranges and a grave marker, and a couple of guardian bonds. Some must be estimated. And one way to do this is to use the dates of first marriage for Elijah’s children, at least those for whom we have dates. Between 1800 and 1900, women generally married for the first time between the ages of 20 and 22. Less is known about the average age of first marriages for men during the 19th century; however, in 1890, when the U.S. Census Bureau started collecting marriage data, it was recorded that the average age of a first marriage for men was 26 years. So we can use 21 (female) and 26 (male) to estimate dates of birth unavailable from other data, as long as we have marriage data. The son Neddy is the one child for which we have insufficient data to do any reasonable estimate. Using this combination of data and estimates I have come up with the table below.

Children of Elijah with Marriages and Dates of Birth (Some Estimated).

Child	First Spouse	Date of First Marriage	Date of Birth
Nancy	Gideon Marsh	12 Sep 1785	c1764
Judith Tayloe	Thomas Potts	bef 17 Oct 1797	13 Feb 1771
Ruth	William Sims	28 Jun 1804	c1782
John Y.	Margaret Dunnaway	14 Apr 1812	c1786
Robert	Nancy Sutton	30 Dec 1812	c1786
Elizabeth	James E. Tapscott	20 Dec 1811 (bond)	c1789
Edward	Alice Desilvey	26 Jun 1820 (bond)	c1794
Polly C.	Robert Davis	16 Oct 1816	c1795
Neddy			by 1814
Sarah D.	John Pitman	21 Sep 1824	1790-1800
Thomas	Sarah Glidewell (2nd marriage)	1 Dec 1840 (2nd marriage)	30 Sep 1802
Catharine (“Caty”)	Daniel Pitman	24 Nov 1824	1804-1807
Rebecca	James R. Webb	1805 - 1810	c1803

 

And from these numbers we can attach Elijah’s children to Elijah’s wives. (Neddy is just a guess.)

Look all this over. If you see errors, disagreements with others, etc. let me know.