Robert the Mounted Policeman

Robert Tapscott, was born 18 Feb 1863 in Fauquier Co, according to his death certificate, which shows him to be a child of Virginia “Tappscott.” Strange about this is that he appears in neither the 1870 nor 1880 census. But, of course, Ann Virginia Tapscott, daughter of Telem Plato and Robert’s apparent mother, is also missing from the 1880 census.

By 1889 Robert was living in Washington, DC, working as a waiter, and there, on 28 Jun 1894, he married Mary A. West, District of Columbia born and bred. Then, the following year, he joined the DC police force,

Robert started out as a member of the respected Eighth Precinct, as noted for its showmanship as for its crime prevention. In 1898 Robert was a member of the Eighth Precinct drill team that won the right to carry the Wight Trophy flag down Pennsylvania Avenue in a parade of policemen and firemen, which passed in front of President McKinley.

Washington Times, 8 Nov 1898. (Red oval added.)

Then in 1903, Robert, now in the Ninth Precinct (where, for the most part he would remain), won second prize and an award of $25 in the Mounted Policemen’s Contest at the DC Horse Show. Robert and his black gelding “Frank” were members of the Mounted Squad, a position he would hold through the rest of his career.

Washington Times, 8 Nov 1903.  Pvt. Robert Tapscott was one of the mounted officers in this photo.

Robert was a highly respected officer. In 1906 he was moved from the Ninth to the Tenth Precinct, a move that was met with opposition from Ninth Precinct Citizens. According to the 4 May 1906 edition of the Evening Star,

Tapscott is said to be an excellent officer, has the good will of the white residents of the ninth precinct and is thoroughly familiar with affairs which concern the police in that section of the city. It was decided by unanimous vote to ask Major Sylvester to send him back to the precinct.

And in an Evening Star article published 24 Dec 1907

Capt. Charles E. Schrom . . . highly commended Policeman Robert Tapscott for his action in stopping a runaway horse December 16 at the risk of his life. According to the fire department captain the horse was attached to a delivery wagon and was running down Maryland avenue northeast at breakneck speed when Policeman Tapscott, who was mounted, gave chase. Tapscott, it is stated, leaned from his horse after catching up with the runaway and turned the frightened animal into 15th street northeast, brining it to a standstill. According to Capt. Schrom the corner of 54th street and Benning road was crowded at the time with pedestrians and teams and a serious accident would have doubtless been the result if the runaway animal had not been stopped.

Robert and Frank. (AAHA, Fauquier Co.)

In 1913 Maj. Richard Sylvester, Superintendent of Police, commended several policemen for meritorious service. One those was Robert Tapscott.

Being a mounted policeman was not without its dangers, though most were from riding through city streets rather than from crime. Robert was involved in several spills, one of which was being bumped from his horse by an automobile in 1919. Robert, who was bruised on his face and head, ended up suing the driver.

In 1921 Robert was once again in the news for being a winner in the Police Contest at the horse show. Sometime after 1926 Robert retired with a pension that was $100 a month in 1930 (about $20,700 a year in 2023 currency.)

Robert, and his wife, Mary (often called “Mamie), had no children of their own, though they are shown with a 6-year-old “stepdaughter,” Roberta Tapscott, living with them in Washington, DC, in 1910. Neither Roberta’s origin nor her denouement are known. Over the years Mary and Robert had several family members or family connections intermittently staying with them.

Robert returned to the Fauquier Co Cedar Run district, where his mother, siblings, and Plato grandparents had lived. That is where he died, 8 Sep 1946, and where he was buried, in the Poplar Forks Church Cemetery. Mary, who lived another thirteen years, dying on 15 Nov 1959, is buried alongside him.

Mamie (Mary) and Robert, with Robert’s second cousin Fannie Mae Tapscott and her husband William Colvin, c1922, DC. The kids are presumably Fannie and Bill’s two first born, William and Tomasha. (AAHA, Fauquier Co.)

Our tale does not close here. You may have noted that Robert became a policeman just a year after marrying Mary. As we will see in our next blog, there is a probable reason for this. And that will introduce us to another, and possibly even more interesting DC policeman.