Fauquier County Tapscotts - Homelands

Map of Fauquier County Districts
 (Fauquier Co GIS Department).
 Most of Elizabeth’s descendants lived
in or near the area marked in Red

Sometime around 1811 Elizabeth Percifull moved from Lancaster Co to Fauquier Co, where she married James Tapscott and where she established a Tapscott dynasty. (See Elizabeth Percifull, an Overview.) We can’t give much credit to James since he died just a few years after he married. And where did Elizabeth’s descendants end up in Fauquier Co?

The 1870 Virginia Constitution required that each county in the state be divided into no less than three townships. A constitutional amendment in 1874 changed the townships into magisterial districts. Elizabeth and her descendants lived, for the most part, in what became Cedar Run Distr (sometimes called “Cedar Run Twp”), in an area just south of Cedar Run Creek between the village of Auburn and Double Poplars (today, “Poplar Forks”) Church. In the 1860 census, this area was part of the Northeast Revenue Distr.

Tapscott Lands lay between Auburn and Poplar Forks Church.

Prior to the Civil War, a settlement, Double Poplars, was established by free Blacks just south of the Old Auburn Road. The village was named for the double poplar trees that were used as a site for outdoor worship, probably held in secret since people of color were forbidden to congregate without a white minister present. Elder John Clark led the community in founding Double Poplars Baptist Church in 1870. The congregation purchased land from Philip and Susan Hughs (sometime “Hughes”) in 1874 and erected a sanctuary that doubled as a school in the early years. Later, they erected a schoolhouse on land formerly owned by Minor Grayson. Philip Hughs, about whom we will hear more later, eventually became a preacher at Double Poplars Church. A crude grave marker for “PhiliP houGh” is found in the cemetery alongside the church.

Double Poplar School. (AAHA)

Poplar Forks Church (2019)

Many of Elizabeth’s descendants are buried in one of two Cedar Run Distr cemeteries, just a mile or so apart.

The Poplar Forks Baptist Church Cemetery, which lies alongside and back of the church, is likely the oldest of the two cemeteries. The marker with the oldest date is that for Nancy M. Chichester, who died 14 Nov 1877, though there are undoubtedly many older, but unmarked, graves. Nancy, who took the name of “Chichester,” was Elizabeth’s granddaughter.

The Tapscott Family Cemetery, a beautifully maintained burial site, which lies at the end of Ecoganic Farm Lane (a recent name), is a second major resting place for Elizabeth’s descendants. The cemetery occupies a piece of land once owned by William Doddridge Chichester, but deeded by him on 29 Nov 1865 to Edmond A. Tapscott, one of Elizabeth’s children. Edmond is buried there with under a marker with the oldest death date in the cemetery, 4 Jun 1880, though there are likely older graves. The cemetery is now incorporated and is managed by the Tapscott Family Cemetery Association.

                  Poplar Forks Baptist Church Cemetery.                                                      Tapscott Family Cemetery.

Fauquier County Tapscotts - Plato, the Coachman

And now we come to Elizabeth Percifull’s second line of descendants,

A Fauquier Tapscott family story relates that before her marriage to James Tapscott, Elizabeth Percifull had a child in Lancaster Co, Virginia with her father’s enslaved coachman “Plato.” In 1781, Elijah had but two slaves, Molly and Grace, no Plato. His 1814 will, mentions just three slaves, Judith, Daniel, Leroy. Again no name resembling that of the fabled coachman.

One might ignore this story of a coachman’s child,  but Elijah is known to have owned eleven unnamed slaves in 1810, and Plato could have been among them.  More important is that on 27 Feb 1832, a “Tellham Platoe” was registered in Fauquier County, a requirement for free Blacks. His age was given as twenty-one, corresponding to a birth year of 1810 or 1811, exactly what one might expect for a child of Elizabeth prior to her marriage. And he was said to be “born free.” Under Virginia law, the slave status of a child followed that of the mother (doctrine of partus sequitur ventrem). Offspring of Elizabeth would have been born free, whether the fathers were slaves or not. Perhaps most significant is that his descendants show DNA matches with Elizabeth’s known descendants. As a son of Elizabeth, “Tellham” would have lived with James and Elizabeth Tapscott as a child, taking James’s last name (on occasion).

Tellham used or was given numerous names during his life in Fauquier Co. Contemporary records show him with first names “Telem,” “Telum,” and “Tilum,” in addition to “Tellham.” And last names “Tapscott,” "Topscott," “Tapsco,” “Tapscon,” “Pearson,” and “Plato,”  in addition to “Platoe.” And we are omitting the obvious errors “Teland”  and “Caleb,” found in two documents.

Every year between 1835 and 1850 “Telum Tapsco” (“Telum Tapscon” in 1838) paid Fauquier Co taxes, much more often than any of Elizabeth’s other children. The taxes ranged from eight cents to thirty cents, always for one male over age sixteen and often for horses and mules, up to three. Telum Tapsco was doing well for himself, as will be seen.

In the 1840 Fauquier County census, “Tilum Topscott” is shown as the head of a household comprised of a man and woman, both aged 24 to 36 (birth year 1804 to 1811), and five children under 10 years old (three boys and two girls, birth year 1830 to 1840). The family, which appears in the census only one line away from Elizabeth Tapscott’s listing, also had two slaves, a case of Blacks owning Blacks. This was not uncommon. Sometimes the ownership was “benevolent” (to avoid the higher taxes faced by freed slaves) and sometimes it was strictly “commercial.” A death record for Telem the younger gives his parents as Telem (the  first name we will use) and Peggie Tapscott.

The elder Telem and his family is missing from the 1850 census, but he and his wife, “Peggy” (“Margaret Pinn” according to the death certificate for their daughter Ann Virginia), appear with their eleven children in the Fauquier Co census of 1860 with a surname change to “Pearson.” The name change was probably due to the the census enumerator recording the name he thought he heard from a client unable to check the spelling. Though the Pearson name was not uncommon in Fauquier Co we find no connection between the Pearsons and the Tapscotts, We know that the Pearson family in the 1860 census is the family of Telem Plato Tapscott because seven of the eleven “Pearson” children (Robert, Ann, Telem (Jr.), Mack (“Mac”), Elizabeth, William, Nancy, Maggie, and George) can be readily identified bearing the surname “Tapscott” in the 1870 Fauquier County census. Only Frances and Rodolph are not immediately apparent. The age of Telem “Pearson,” sixty-seven, in the census, corresponding to a birth year of about 1793, is almost certainly incorrect. Peggy’s birth year is 1814 or 1815 according to her age of forty-five in the 1860 census.

The congressional act of 4 July 1864 recognized the Federal Government’s debt to loyal citizens for property losses suffered during the Civil War and arranged reimbursement. At first claims were allowed only by northern states, but eventually, after animosity toward the south subsided, the act was extended to those southerners demonstrating Union loyalty. Following the death of their father in 1863 and their mother in 1865, Telem and Peggy’s children asked Robert R. Tompkins (a white farmer) to administer the estate of “Telem Plato Colored” and to file a claim for losses suffered during the Civil War. By the end of his life, Telem’s surname had been changed one more time, to “Plato,” likely what it had been originally and the name I have chosen to use. Not only is "Telem Plato" more interesting than "Telem Tapscott," its use avoids confusion between the younger and elder Telems.

In depositions, Telem the younger claimed that milk cows, sheep, oats, and corn had been taken by Union troops, some of them under the command of “Genl Blenker” (General Louis Blenker, who died in October 1863 of injuries he had received much earlier when he commanded troops in Warrenton, Fauquier County). The younger Telem’s brother Robert stated that

All our family were in favor of the Union during the war. My father was a strong Union Man. We all thought it would better for all colored people to have the north [unclear] and we were always glad when they did [unclear], The rebels forced some of us to work on the fortifications at Manassas when the war first broke out., but after that we all kept clear of them. One of my brothers, Rodolph went off with the Union Army and we all done all we could for the Union officers and soldiers…

As administrator, Robert Tompkins claimed $1,646, of which $582.50 was allowed.

In his deposition Robert Tapscott made a strange statement:

My father was a colored man and my mother was a white woman; and the children all go by the name of Tapscott because that was my mother’s name.

The only white Tapscotts known to be in Fauquier County around the time of Robert’s birth were Elizabeth Tapscott and her daughter Harriet. Elizabeth is believed to have been the mother of Telem Plato and Harriet, his half sister. We know of no white Peggy Tapscott in Fauquier County. It sounds like Robert was speaking of his grandparents, rather than his parents. Could we have it all wrong? Perhaps, but probably not.

What do you think?

Fauquier County Tapscotts - The Cundiff Connection

As we know, Elizabeth Percifull, who would one day become Elizabeth (Percifull) Tapscott, was strongly attracted by the opposite sex. And we have proof about who was the first (that we know of) on her list of paramours. The following proceedings were published for a Lancaster Co, Virginia, court held 15 Feb 1808:

Richard Cundiff who is charged on oath by Elizabeth Percifull of the parish of Christ Church in this County single woman with being the father of her bastard twin Children & Stands bound by a recognizance to appear here this day and abide by and perform the order of this court concerning the same appeared Accordingly, whereupon it appearing to the Court that the proceedings which have been had herein are illegal, it is ordered that the same be quashed and the said Cundiff discharged from his said recognizance

We do not know what Elizabeth was asking for, but it was probably child support. Nor do we know why the proceedings were declared illegal. Since it was a man’s world at the time (some say it still is), one suspects bias.

The following year proceedings of a Lancaster Co court held 20 March 1809 included the following

The Commonwealth of Virginia

vs

Elizabeth Percifull Deft.

Upon an information for Having two bastard Children & filed her Information afsd.

This day came the attorney for the Commonwealth, and thereupon came also a Jury . . . who being elected tried and sworn the truth to speak when the information aforesaid upon their oaths do say that the Deft. is guilty in matter & form as in the said informational is alleged against her and they do assess the amercement of the of the said deft to ten dollars besides the Cost, therefore it is considered that the Commonwealth recovers against the said deft the said ten dollars by the Jury aforesaid assessed and also their Costs by them about this prosecution expended and the said deft may be taken &c.

Richard Cundiff got away with his misdeed, but Elizabeth was fined $10 for bearing two “bastard Children.” The major concern was not morals, but order and economics. An illegitimate child might be a financial burden to the local parish. Elizabeth’s father, Elijah, paid the fine, but his 1814 will stated

there is seven pounds ten Shillings to be Reducted out of my Daughter Betsey proportion for money I paid for her.

Elijah was not happy with his daughter.

Signature of Richard the elder on deed of

 trust. (Ancestry.com.)

Two Richard Cundiff’s were connected with Lancaster Co around that time, father and son. But since Richard the elder died by 17 May 1781, when his Lancaster Co will was proven, we can safely rule him out.

More about Richard the younger and his illegitimate offspring is found in our next blog.

Fauquier County Tapscotts - Elizabeth Percifull, an Overview

 

What do we know about Elizabeth Percifull, mother of the Fauquier Co Tapscotts, beyond her many male companionships (see Elizabeth's Children, the Fauquier Tapscott Lines)?

Well, she was a child of Elijah and, almost certainly, Elizabeth (Carter) Percifull. In fact, as the first girl born to that couple, it is likely that Elizabeth got her name from her mother. Her date of birth has been reported by Beverley Fleet in his usually reliable Virginia Colonial Abstracts, to be 6 Feb 1765. But no source is cited, and that date is certainly incorrect. Were that the date of her birth, Elizabeth would have been in her 50s or 60s when some of her children were born. Besides, with that date of birth, Elizabeth would have been a daughter of Elijah’s first wife, Winifred Wildey, and thus would have had the name “Winifred.” (That’s a joke, Readers. At least, sort of.) The 1850 census gives Elizabeth’s age as 60, corresponding to a birth year of 1789 or 1790, and that appears reasonable. Since a year or two are often knocked off census ages, we will take Elizabeth’s birth year as c1789.

Elizabeth was probably born in Lancaster Co, the home of her parents and grandparents (both sides), but she lived most of her life one hundred miles northwest in Fauquier Co.

Virginia with Lancaster and Fauquier Counties in red. (Wikipedia, public domain.)

Lancaster Co, home of the Percifulls, was also homelands for the Tapscotts. In fact the Tapscott family lived in Wicomico Parish, which ran along the border between Lancaster Co and the next county to the north, Northumberland. And that is where Elijah, and for a while Elizabeth, lived.

Elizabeth probably left Lancaster Co to escape her father, with whom she is known to have had a falling out, undoubtedly due to her unconventional lifestyle. But why Fauquier Co? It may have been due to less-restrictive race relations there, compared to other Virginia counties, at least according to some scholars. At the time Elizabeth moved to Fauquier Co, she is believed to have had at least one mixed-race child.

We don’t know when Elizabeth died, but it was probably between 1850, when she appears in the Fauquier Co federal census, and 1860, when she does not. For convenience I often give her date of death as c1855.

What do I think of Elizabeth? Unlike some, I think Elizabeth was a plucky, loving woman, who had to make do with what she had after the early death of her only legal husband. But wasn’t she a slave owner? Probably. But slavery in Elizabeth’s household appears to have differed from that found elsewhere, though we will never know for certain. Disagree? I would like to hear your opinion.

Fauquier County Tapscotts - The Percifulls

 

Elizabeth's Children, The Tapscotts of Fauquier Co, the book now in writing, must start with the Percifulls, not the Tapscotts. And it has to start with Elijah Percifull, Elizabeth’s father. Elijah had four wives (Winifred Wildey, Caty Yerby, Elizabeth Carter, and Elizabeth Rivers Davis) and thirteen children, at least thirteen who lived long enough to be named in Elijah’s will. But we have no concrete evidence about which children had which mother. Since we know the dates of marriage or approximate dates, we could connect children with mothers were we to have the dates of birth. But reliable dates of birth are available for almost none of Elijah’s children. I might note that the date of 6 Feb 1765, which has been given for Elizabeth, is assuredly, badly incorrect. I will discuss this in the future.

We can get dates of birth or approximates from a some census ages or age ranges and a grave marker, and a couple of guardian bonds. Some must be estimated. And one way to do this is to use the dates of first marriage for Elijah’s children, at least those for whom we have dates. Between 1800 and 1900, women generally married for the first time between the ages of 20 and 22. Less is known about the average age of first marriages for men during the 19th century; however, in 1890, when the U.S. Census Bureau started collecting marriage data, it was recorded that the average age of a first marriage for men was 26 years. Thus, we can use 21 (female) and 26 (male) to estimate dates of birth unavailable from other data, as long as we have marriage data. The son Neddy is the one child for which we have insufficient data to do any reasonable estimate. Using this combination of data and estimates I have come up with the table below.

Children of Elijah with Marriages and Dates of Birth (Some Estimated).

Child	First Spouse	Date of First Marriage	Date of Birth
Nancy	Gideon Marsh	12 Sep 1785	c1764
Judith Tayloe	Thomas Potts	bef 17 Oct 1797	13 Feb 1771
Ruth	William Sims	28 Jun 1804	c1782
John Y.	Margaret Dunnaway	14 Apr 1812	c1786
Robert	Nancy Sutton	30 Dec 1812	c1786
Elizabeth	James E. Tapscott	20 Dec 1811 (bond)	c1789
Edward	Alice Desilvey	26 Jun 1820 (bond)	c1794
Polly C.	Robert Davis	16 Oct 1816	c1795
Neddy			by 1814
Sarah D.	John Pitman	21 Sep 1824	1790-1800
Thomas	Sarah Glidewell (2nd marriage)	1 Dec 1840 (2nd marriage)	30 Sep 1802
Catharine (“Caty”)	Daniel Pitman	24 Nov 1824	1804-1807
Rebecca	James R. Webb	20 Dec 1819	c1798

 

And from these numbers we can attach Elijah’s children to Elijah’s wives. (Neddy is just a guess.)

Look all this over. If you see errors, disagreements with others, etc. let me know.

Fauquier County Tapscotts - What’s in a name?

 

Bertha Mae’s letter requesting a name change, if needed.

While working on a history of the Fauquier County Tapscotts, I ran across Marion Douglas Tapscott,  a great granddaughter and also a great great granddaughter of Elizabeth Percifull, founder of the clan. Why two relationships? Because Marion’s parents, Walter Wallace and Bertha Mae, were both Tapscotts, a case of cousins marrying, or in this case first cousins twice removed marrying. Now this is not what intrigued me about Marion. It was her name. How in the world did she get what most would consider a male name? The answer is simple, and oh so lovely, at least most of it.

The Department of Health Response.

When Marion was born, in 1916, her mother, Bertha Mae, was, in her own words, “very ill.” The doctor in attendance at the birth, who helped Bertha through the difficult time, was Morton Douglas, a Fauquier Co physician. Since he was so much help, it was decided to name the new born girl “Marion Douglas” after the doctor’s wife. But the birth certificate was accidently submitted with the child’s original name, “Florence.”

Years later, in 1944, concerned that the birth certificate might have mistakenly given the name “Florence,” rather than the name “Marion,” which her daughter had used throughout her life, Bertha Mae wrote the Registrar of Vital Statistics, to change the name, if needed, to “Marion Douglas Tapscott.” The name “Florence” was struck out and the requested name inserted.

But there is one more part of our tale, the unlovely part. Take a careful look at the registrar's signature on the Department of Health letter -- “W. A. Plecker.” That’s right, the rabid racist author of Virginia’s   “Racial Integrity Act of 1924.

“Florence” struck out and “Marion Douglas” inserted.

”

Fauquier County Tapscotts - Elizabeth's Children - Edmond/Edward Tapscott

One of the children of Elizabeth (Percifull) Tapscott is claimed to be named “Edmond Abraham Tapscott,” but we some problems with this.

1. Contemporary records show his name as “Edward” as often as “Edmond.” But that is a minor problem.

2. The middle name “Abraham” is found only in family trees, not in a single reliable record. (Does anyone know how this name arose?)

3. Edmond/Edward Tapscott is found in the 1850 census, living with his mother, Elizabeth, and his siblings, including Harriet. And he is found in the 1870 census as a married man. But Edmond/Edward cannot be found in the 1860 census -- at least until recently (see below). The 1860 census, however, does show a John Tapscott living with Harriet. 

Because Harriet and John are found together in the 1860 census, it has been assumed that they were mother and son. But Elizabeth had died by this time and it is likely that her unmarried children would be living together. Moreover, if John was Harriet’s son, why does he not appear with her in the 1850 census? The 1860 census, the only place John is found, he has an age corresponding to a birth year of about 1829, very near to that of Edmond/Edward, whose grave marker shows a birthdate of 3 Sep 1828. (Census data indicate a birth year for Edmond/Edward between 1827 and 1831.)

I once proposed that Edmond/Edward Tapscott and John Tapscott were one and the same. That Harriet had no son named “John.” Either the 1860 census enumerator had made an error in the name, as all too often happens, or Edmond/Edward’s middle name was “John” not “Abraham.” This nicely explains John's seeming absence in the 1850 census and in other records, and nicely explains Edmond/Edward's seeming absence in the 1860 census. 

But it turns out that I was wrong, wrong, wrong about John and Edmond/Edward. Edmond/Edward is found in the District of Columbia 1860 census, as "Edward Tapscoe" (a spelling he often used) living with 3-year-old "Mahaly A. Tapscoe," presumably a daughter from Edmond's first marriage to Frances Hughs (who was apparently deceased by 1860). A 10-year-old Nancy A. "Hues" in the household is probably a relative of Frances.

And who was the John Tapscott in the 1860 census? It is beginning to look like he was one of Cordelia's paramours and that "Tapscott" was just an assumed last name. But I am still working on that.

Fauquier County Tapscotts - Elizabeth's Children, the Tapscott Lines

Elizabeth Percifull (c1790 - c1855) had a large number of male companions, both before and after her short marriage with James E. Tapscott, who died young, around age 30. Her many descendants comprise the Tapscotts of Fauquier Co, Virginia. Below is my working chart showing origins of the various lines. Is it correct? Probably not. That's why I call it a "working chart." There is very good evidence for the twins from her union with Richard Cundiff. Though we don't know what became of them. There is excellent evidence for Harriet being a daughter of James Tapscott, though many people believe otherwise. There is good DNA evidence for Robert Francis Tapscott being the son of a "Holder," though the evidence that it was Taliaferro Holder is weak. There is fair evidence for William Tapscott being a descendant of a "Phil Tapscott" though we know little about Phil, except that his birth name was almost certainly not "Tapscott." The other unions, particularly that involving Plato (who may not have even existed) are somewhat questionable. But this chart is a start. Now let's see if we can prove or disprove portions. Maybe we can name the "Unknown" partner, or more likely partners. But I need your help is doing so. Don't be afraid to criticize. I have very thick skin. But try to provide evidence. Trees produced by others without sources, are not evidence. And if you are a male descendant of Elizabeth or Harriett with the name "Tapscott," your yDNA might provide names or connections for the unknown(s).

Are you A Fauquier Co Tapscott descendant? Which is your line?

Fauquier County Tapscotts - Elizabeth’s Children

Those I often term “Fauquier County [Virginia] Tapscotts” are not all descended from a male Tapscott. But they are all descendants of Elizabeth Percifull, either through her 1811 marriage to James E. Tapscott, son of Ezekiel, or through relationships with others, which produced children she named "Tapscott." Those not descended from James sometimes express disappointment since they feel they cannot claim Revolutionary War soldier ancestry.  (Ezekiel Tapscott was a Colonial soldier.) But that is not true. In fact all Fauquier County Tapscotts (or descendants thereof) are DAR- or SAR-eligible, for Elizabeth’s father, Elijah, was a Revolutionary War combatant. On 17 Jun 1779 Elijah signed an oath as an ensign (the lowest ranking military officer) in the Lancaster Militia.(1) The war would continue for well over two more years.

(1) John Hastings Gwathmey, Historical Register of Virginians in the Revolution, Soldiers, Sailors, Marines, 1775-1783, The Dietz Press, Richmond Virginia, 1938, p. 617.

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 .

Fauquier County Tapscotts - Pickles

I just heard from Gregory Tapscott, that Selby William Tapscott passed away Tuesday, 9 Jan 2018. Born 27 Jun 1930 to Samuel Selby and Daisy (Lofty) Tapscott, “Pickles” was the GGG grandson of James E. and Elizabeth (Percifull) Tapscott, and thus, the GGGG grandson of Ezekiel Tapscott.

With a deep interest in and love for friends and family, he was heavily involved in family history, which he enjoyed immensely. As the unofficial switchboard for Fauquier County Tapscott news, "Pickles" put himself in charge of distributing, receiving, compiling, and digesting items of interest to the family. In the words of Greg,

“One major family historian has gone on to be an ancestor.”

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.

Fauquier County Tapscotts - Monica R. Sanowar

While on the road during my recent Tapscott research trip, I received a telephone call from Selby Tapscott, a descendant of Harriet Tapscott, the originator of many of the Fauquier County (Virginia) Tapscotts. He called to tell me of the death of his first cousin (once removed) Monica Sanowar. (Monica passed away 4 Oct 2013, her obituary appeared in the Washington Post today, 13 Oct). Monica, whom you may know by her moniker "yelothndr," was a very early contributor to Tapscott family history discussions. In particular she passed on a lot of first-hand information (or at least family tales) about the Fauquier County Tapscotts. She and I did not always see eye to eye (I believe her GGG Grandmother Harriet Tapscott to be a daughter of James and Elizabeth Percifull Tapscott, she did not), but I always found my discussions with her infinitely interesting and informative. In recent years, Monica had gotten increasingly involved with DNA Genealogy, American Indian culture, and the manufacturing of her hot sauces, Yellow Thunder being one. I am truly sorry to hear of Monica's death. She was a universal person with involvements in and opinions on everything. Monica, you will be missed.