Sunday, January 15, 2023

Telem's Estate

When Telem Plato died in 1863, he left a considerable estate—considerable considering the time and circumstances. He was, after all, the son of an enslaved coachman and Virginia was on the verge of rebellion, with plans to put Yankees and black people in their place.

The personal property inventory (household goods and furniture, farm implements, livestock) ran to four pages and its sale brought $974.12. According to the record of the 17 Mar 1866 estate sale, purchasers included Robt Plato, Ann V. Plato, Telem Plato, Mack Plato, Elisabeth Plato, and Nancy Plato. The Coachman’s grandchildren had taken, or been given, the surname “Plato,” at least for a while, though they would soon go back to “Tapscott.”

Combined with cash on hand of $11.00, the sale proceeds showed a value of $985.12 ($18,109 in 2022 dollars) for Telem Plato’s estate, excluding real estate. And Telem did have real estate, valued at $200 in 1860, which was presumably passed down to his children.




2 comments:

  1. I have just started researching Telem as well as Rebecca Tapp. Tapp Family members are buried in Arlington along side my grand parents Robert Clay and Violet ChristabellTapscott As well as Edith Marie Tapscott Crowe and her husband Alfred Crowe who was grime Alabama.

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  2. Then you are in the Robert Frances Tapscott line (see https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/preview/5567522188382701501/3047933073962017904 ) I suspect we have corresponded before. I don't know anything about a Rebecca Tapp. The only family with the name "Tapp" that I have run across married into the Missouri Tapscotts, a branch of the Wabash Valley Tapscotts. It does turn out, however, that the name "Tapscott" almost certainly originates from "Tapp's Cottage" but we are now going back many centuries and has nothing to do with the discussion at hand.

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