 |
| Permission
for “Keziah” Miles to marry Abraham Followell shows the likely source of Kasiah Tapscott’s name. Family Search. Thanks to Chris Summers for bringing this to my attention. |
Born between 1842 and 1845 (probably
closer to 1842), Richard Tapscott’s only daughter appears in censuses with
three given names “Kasiah,” “Kissiah,” and “Kesiah,” all known, though not
common, appellations. I have arbitrarily chosen to use the name “Kasiah,” which
is found for her in two different contemporary sources. It is likely that she
was named after her maternal grandmother Keziah S. (Miles) Followay, and that
the spelling was confused. After all, her father and mother were both
illiterate (as was Kasiah).
In the 1860 census, she is found at
age 17 in two different Marion County, Kentucky, households — that of her
stepfather, Christian Weatherman, where she is named “Kasiah Weatherman”
(possibly due to an error by the census enumerator) and that of Garrett (“Garit”)
Vandike, where she is named “Kasiah Tapcot.”
Ten years later, in 1870, “Kesiah
Tabscott” was living in Marion County with two children, 1-year old “Cynthian” (probably
meant to be “Cyntha”) and 5-year-old “Mary E.” — two girls with the last name “Tabscott,”
Kasiah’s maiden name. Descendants have passed down the story that Mary E. (“Mary
Elizabeth Tapscott”) was the illegitimate daughter of Kasiah and a “Garret Van
Diner.” It is very likely that the name was actually “Garrett Vandike,” that of
the farmer with whom Kasiah was living at the time of the 1860 census.
It may be that a live-in servant,
possibly Kasiah’s function, was just too tempting for a 60-year-old man (Garrett’s
approximate age when Mary was born). Did Kasiah’s other child, Cyntha, have the
same origin? Perhaps, though it is difficult to imagine that Vandike could have
continued a relationship over a period of four years, for he had a wife, Sarah
F., and five known children, to monitor his actions. And, of course, we have no
proof that Garrett was the father.
What is particularly interesting
about this tale is that in 1870, Kasiah had a roommate, 32-year-old Mary Emeline
Atwood, the niece of Kasiah’s stepfather Christian Weatherman. Christian’s
sister, Sarah, had married John Atwood in North Carolina, and following the
birth of the first three children (James, Mary Emeline, and John W.), the
family traveled to Kentucky (around 1850), presumably with Christian. In 1870
Mary Emeline was living with Kasiah, and she also had children with her —
William N., Laura A., Mary E., and Sarah A., all four born between 1860 and
1868. That they bore the last name “Atwood” indicates that they too may have been
born out of wedlock. Two single women living together with apparent offspring.
Could the two have been banished by their families? Could all the children have
been fathered by… but, no, it seems unfair to place suspicion on Garrett once more.
Or is it? DNA results could help unravel the mystery.
By 1880, Kasiah’s two children
were living in Casey County with others — Mary Elizabeth as a servant in the
household of Robert L. King (probably a relative, but not a brother, of her
future husband, Samuel Franklin King) and Cyntha with her first cousin once removed
on the Followell side (see post of 25 Apr 2016). The oldest (William) and
youngest (Sarah) of Mary Emeline Atwood’s children were living with their
grandparents, John and Sarah Atwood. Kasiah, Mary Emeline, and Mary Emeline’s two
other children are nowhere to be found, nor are they seen again. It seems like a
lot of people to have passed away around the same time, if that is what
happened.
Kasiah’s youngest child, Cyntha, had
a similar fate. After 1880, she disappeared. But Cyntha’s sister, Mary
Elizabeth Tapscott (or “Tabscott,” as usually named) lived a long, complex, and
exceedingly interesting life, the subject of the next post.
