Fauquier County Tapscotts - Jane Elizabeth Martin

We are still researching Maria Tapscott, Harriet Tapscott’s older daughter. We hear a lot about Harriet's second daughter, Cordelia, but in fact, Maria and her children had much more interesting (but calamitous) lives.

Maria’s first-born child, is seen with just the name “Jane E.” in the 1850 and 1860 censuses, but we know that Jane’s middle name was “Elizabeth,” because that was the only name she used the rest of her life. Jane Elizabeth’s tale must start with Charles Ridgely McBlair, who would one day be involved in the death of Elizabeth's stepfather, Albert Martin.

Following the war, Charles McBlair moved from Maryland to Fauquier County, where he rented a sawmill from Thomas T. Chichester (brother of William Doddridge Chichester). There, he hired Alfred Martin to work for him in the sawmill and there, according to the Baltimore Sun newspaper, he married Alfred’s “stepdaughter” (no name given). At the time, around 1870, Alfred had only two stepdaughters of a marriageable age, both from his wife Maria’s marriage to John F. Martin—Jane E. and Virginia A. But in the 1870s, Virginia was involved in another relationship (with Thomas Russell), so it had to be Jane that Charles married. Charles McBlair and Elizabeth Martin (as she was designated in all records after the 1860 census) had four known children—Anna Elizabeth McBlair (22 Jun 1870–15 Sep 1930), Charles McBlair Jr. (c1870–15 Apr 1873), Robert McBlair (1 May 1873–16 Nov 1873), and Ridgely (“Richard”) McDonald McBlair (4 Feb 1875–21 Mar 1933).

Jane Elizabeth's husband, Charles, went downhill in Fauquier County. According to the Baltimore Sun,

His life here has been wild and reckless, though it was supposed his indiscretions proceeded rather from the head than the heart, and would not go beyond a participation in drunken brawls, in which he often became involved when intoxicated.

Then, in a catastrophic year, 1873, two of Charles’s children died (Charles Jr. and Robert) and Charles was tried for the murder of his wife’s stepfather. Though he was cleared of murder, things continued to slide. And then on 17 Oct 1878, near Williamsburg, Virginia, he was killed by a gunshot during a quarrel. According to a newspaper article about the shooting,

The deceased was highly connected in the State of Maryland. Since he has resided in Virginia he has been in very poor circumstances, and obtained a precarious sort of living by hunting and fishing. He leaves a wife and two children.

The two children were Anna and Ridgely (“Richard”).

Now a widow from a highly questionable marriage, Jane Elizabeth McBlair parked her daughter Anna with Anna’s McBlair grandparents, Charles Henry and Frances ("Fanny") McBlair, in the District of Columbia, and dropped out of sight for a while, presumably with her young son Ridgley (“Richard”). Then, on 12 Jan 1882 in Prince William Co, Virginia, Elizabeth McBlair married S. B. Byrne. S. B. was Shinar Bertrand, son of Thomas W. and Catharine A. (Thomas) Byrne. In 1860 Elizabeth and Shinar had both lived in the Southwest Revenue District in Fauquier County, where their fathers were wheelwrights. Elizabeth had probably known Shinar well before she ever met her future husband, Charles Ridgely. The last record we see for either Elizabeth or Shinar is their marriage record. Their fates are unknown.

Elizabeth’s daughter, Anna Elizabeth, married Samuel Walker on 26 Oct 1892 in Alexandria, Virginia. There they lived out their lives, Anna dying on 15 Sep 1930 and Samuel on 25 Oct 1949. They are buried in adjacent graves in Bethel Cemetery in Alexandria.

Ridgely (“Richard”) McDonald McBlair

On 17 Feb 1909 in DC, Ridgely McDonald, Jane Elizabeth’s last born, who always went by “Richard,” married Alvenia (“Alice”) Martin, who was both his first cousin through her father, John Robert Martin, and his second cousin through her mother. Elizabeth Tapscott. Richard passed away 21 Mar 1933 and Alvenia on 7 Apr 1953. Like the Walkers, they were also laid to rest in Bethel Cemetery.

Confused by all these relationships? Below is a chart of the whole works, with McBlair, Tapscott, and Martin connections as they relate to Jane Elizabeth Martin. Caution! Lots of people are omitted. These are by no means entire families.

Some Tapscott, McBlair, Martin connections, with many omissions.

Are you descended from Jane Elizabeth Martin? Have I made any errors in her history? Have I left something out? Do you have any family history stories about her or her descendants? In particular, do you know anything about what became of Jane Elizabeth or her second husband, Shinar?