Fauquier County Tapscotts - Robert Francis Tapscott, Revisited

Over the years this blog has often brought up the mystery of Robert Francis Tapscott (see, in particular, the posting of 26 Jul 2014). The second edition of my book Henry the Immigrant, the First Tapscotts of Virginia, contains the following page about Robert:

This information remains essentially correct (though the birth name of Lucy Frances Wood’s mother may have been “Kirk” rather than “Kirtley”). Until very recently, we were still searching for Robert Francis Tapscott's origins. But thanks to DNA we have the answer.

First, yDNA results for two male descendants of Robert Francis Tapscott show conclusively that Robert Francis was not a descendant of Henry Tapscott, the Immigrant, at least by an all-male line. The name “Tapscott” may have come from Robert Francis’s mother, but not his father. In fact, the DNA results provide extremely strong evidence that Robert’s father (or possibly his paternal grandfather, etc.) was named "Holder." Robert's male-line descendants show strikingly close matches to many males with the surname "Holder" — genetic distances as close as an exact match for 111 markers.

Second, four descendants of Robert Francis Tapscott show autosomal DNA matches to eight different descendants of Elizabeth Percifull (abt 1790 – abt 1855), daughter of Elijah Percifull of Lancaster County, Virginia. (See posts of 13 Jan 2015, 15 Jan 2013, 17 May 2013, 13 Mar 2014, 30 Mar 2014, 21 Jul 2016, 19 Oct 2016.) Moreover, several Fauquier Co Tapscotts, known descendants of Elizabeth Percifull, show autosomal DNA matches to other descendants of Robert Francis. And, finally, a descendant of Robert Frances Tapscott shows matches to the Percifull family of Lancaster County, Virginia.

Third, Robert Frances's 1843 Clarke Co, Virginia, wedding license gives his residence as Fauquier Co, a statement now verified by Fauquier Co property tax records in which Robert Tapscott appears in 1839 (when he had just turned 22) and in 1840. The 1840 tax record also shows Elizabeth "Tappscott."

Fourth, in 1834 Robert Tapscott, "child of Betty Tapscott" was indentured to Robert Gordon in Fauquier County to learn the trade of blacksmith. An 1842 Chancery Court case shows "Bob Tapscott" running the blacksmith shop of James McLearen in Warrenton, Fauquier Co. By 1850 our Robert Francis Tapscott was in Clarke County, Virginia, just north of Fauquier, working as a blacksmith. "Betty" is, of course, a name often used by those with the name "Elizabeth." 

                              What does all this mean?

Robert Frances Tapscott Marker, Old
Chapel Cemetery, Clarke Co, Virginia.

Elizabeth Percifull was the wife of James E. Tapscott, her only legal husband and a son of Ezekiel and grandson of Edney. Of particular importance is that Elizabeth and James lived in Fauquier County, Virginia, where, according to his marriage record, Robert Francis Tapscott had lived. James E. is known to have been deceased by 23 Jun 1817, but could have died as early as 1812. After James’s death Elizabeth continued to use her married name and bore several children out of wedlock, children who were given the name “Tapscott.” And a child, Telem, born prior to Elizabeth's marriage to James, also took the name "Tapscott." (Telem's descendants also show DNA matches to Robert Frances's descendants.) Elizabeth’s children born after James’s death, had birth dates between 1814 and 1828, encompassing that of Robert Francis, who was born in 1817. All in all, it is almost certain that Robert Francis Tapscott was a child of Elizabeth and a male by the name of “Holder,” several of whom were living in Fauquier County at the time. This would explain the DNA results.

Among the ten or so male Holders living in Fauquier Co at the time of Robert Francis's birth, one stands out as having the appropriate age - Taliaferro, who would have been 25 when Robert was born, and in later years was living in Turner's District, where many of Elizabeth's descendants were living. But we still need more DNA work to confirm this.

And we now know that in 1834 a Robert Tapscott, son of "Betty" (almost certainly Elizabeth) Tapscott, was living in Fauquier Co and was trained as a blacksmith, Robert Francis Tapscott's trade when he was a resident of Clarke Co.

We can make but one conclusion. We now have another line of "Fauquier County Tapscotts," the Robert Francis Tapscott line. See Fauquier Tapscott Lines .

Elizabeth Percifull’s Origins

This site has discussed at length the Fauquier County Tapscotts and the potentials and difficulties in using DNA to confirm and unravel connections (13 Jan 2015, 15 Jan 2013, 17 May 2013, 13 Mar 2014, 30 Mar 2014, 21 Jul 2016, and others). DNA results are starting to roll in from Fauquier County Tapscott descendants and we are now faced with the problem of interpreting the data. A major problem is the reliabilities of published family trees for Elizabeth Percifull (also "Purcifull"), believed to be the progenitor of all Fauquier Tapscotts. A number of trees have been published showing that Elizabeth was a daughter of Elijah Percifull and Elizabeth Carter (almost certainly true), and that her mother was a daughter of John Carter and Sarah Kenyon or Thomas Charles Carter and Elizabeth Sarah Morgan (false, as we shall see).

Elijah Percifull is known to have had at least thirteen children (Polly C., Judith Tayloe, Elizabeth, Neddy, Caty, Thomas, Robert, Ruth, Sarah, Rebeccah, John Y., Nancy, and Edward) and probably four wives with uncertain marriage dates (in likely order of date, Winifred Wildey, Caty Yerby, Elizabeth “Betsy” Carter, and Elizabeth Rivers Davis). It is difficult to assign children to mothers; however, record dates provide strong evidence that Elizabeth Carter was the mother of Elizabeth Percifull, who was born around 1790.

We know little of Elijah’s origins, other than that he was the son of Thomas Percifull and Letitia, the widow of William Parler ("Parter," "Partor") and had a brother Elisha.

George Carter's 1789 deposition

We know more about Elizabeth Carter, whose origins are revealed in a Lancaster County Chancery Court record and are confirmed in several Lancaster County estate divisions. In 1789, Elijah and his wife, Elizabeth, were sued by Elizabeth’s brother, George Carter, over an inheritance from his father, who had died intestate. George’s court deposition specifically states that

“your Orator George Carter of the said County That Your Orator is the Son of William Carter late of this County decd who Departed this Life on or about the [blank] day of [blank] in the year [blank] Intestate, leaving his Widow your Orator's mother and three children To wit William, since dead, your Orator, and Elizabeth now the Wife of Elijah Percifull … and Daniel Carter your Orator's Grandfather on the fathers side.”

George felt that he had been cheated out of his fair portion of his father’s estate (primarily slaves) “by Connivance” of Elijah and “by pretense” of Elijah’s marriage with his sister. George won the suit because the Percifulls failed to make a court appearance. Interesting, but of no significance to the present study, is the fact that James Tapscott, son of Capt, Henry, was one of those assigned to inventory the slaves under dispute.

Thus, court records prove (don’t you love that word?) that Elizabeth Carter, wife of Elijah Percifull, was a daughter of neither John Carter and Sarah Kenyon, nor Thomas Charles Carter and Elizabeth Sarah Morgan. She was a daughter of William Carter and granddaughter of Daniel Carter, who are the actual ancestors of the Fauquier County Tapscotts.