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.”)