When writing Henry the Immigrant, I had occasion to read a most interesting and informative book, At a Place Called Buckingham, by Joanne Yeck. Those of you interested in Virginia or Tapscott history might want a copy.

Buckingham County, Virginia, played a big role in Tapscott history (or vice versa). George Tapscott Sr., son of the first James, helped populate that county with Tapscotts and many of his descendants still live there. Joanne Yeck not only wrote a book about Buckingham County, she now posts articles about the county, “Slate River Ramblings” (http://slateriverramblings.com/). Two of her recent posts concern Fallsburg Mills and that brought back some memories.

While researching Henry the Immigrant I found numerous family trees posted on the internet showing that George Tapscott Jr., who died around 1826, did so in Fallsburg, Kentucky. (You all know what I feel about most posted trees, so I won’t bore you with that harangue.) I found this most strange since there was no evidence that George Jr. had ever left Buckingham County (though he undoubtedly did, Albemarle being just across the James River), let alone the state of Virginia. The Kentucky death probably originated from a statement by Clayton Allen Tapscott, George Jr.’s great great nephew. In some genealogical notes (see post of 7 Jul 2015) Clayton wrote “George Tapscott married Cobbs Killed at Fallsburg.” The reason for the word “killed” is unknown (but exceedingly intriguing); however, “Fallsburg” is the name of a creek that flows into the James River from the south a mile upstream from the Warren Ferry site, near which George Sr. and his descendants lived. In 1823 George Jr’s brother James was a trustee in a sale of land “at Fallsburg” in Buckingham County. Whether Clayton had it right, I don’t know, but there is no doubt that he was referring to Fallsburg, Virginia, not Fallsburg, Kentucky. Some of George Sr.'s descendants went to Kentucky, but George Jr. was not one of them. This correction appears in my own internet trees and in my books. Nevertheless, as of today (1 Mar 2016) sixty-three different trees on Ancestry.com still say that George died at Fallsburg, Kentucky, making it exceedingly difficult to trace the latter part of George Jr.'s life, let alone the lives of his descendants. Only thirty-three trees (correctly) give Buckingham County as his place of death. Is anybody out there listening?

The Warren Ferry, established in Albemarle County in 1789 (about the year of George Tapscott Sr.’s death), operated at this James River site until swept away by Hurricane Agnes in 1972. Brothers George Sr. and Henry Tapscott lived on the south side in Buckingham County. Fallsburg Creek is just a mile upstream. Today, many of George’s descendants live nearby (2010).