Wabash Valley Tapscotts - Sebastin C. Fox

Rebecca Fox’s marker in Fox Cemetery.
Photo by Chris Childs.

I earlier wrote about Joseph R. Tapscott and his wife Mary Emma Sanders (“Joseph R. Tapscott," blog of 30 Nov 2015). Mary Emma’s maternal grandfather was Sebastin C. Fox, a most interesting character. “Sebastin” is the name on his grave marker in Fox Cemetery and in his daughter Elizabeth’s death record and obituary, but his name was usually given as “Sebastian.” I choose to use “Sebastin” because his wife, Rebecca (Presser) Fox, was living when he died and presumably when the grave marker was carved. She should have caught any error. On the other hand, her Fox Cemetery grave marker gives the name “Rebbecca,” but I choose to use “Rebecca,” the usual spelling and the name found in other records. Sebastin’s middle name is said to be “Capital,” but no reliable source is known. 

Sebastin and Wife, Rebecca

(Collection of Penny Skinnger).

Sebastin, who in 1838 was the first school teacher in Anderson Twp, was known for his deep belief in “spare the rod and spoil the child.” It has been reported that “He kept in the school room a green, tough switch, about six feet long, and he invariably took off his coat and threw it on the one of the joists overhead, before administering his punishment. He whipped not only for violations of school rules, but he whipped for laziness and natural dullness.” That Sebastin was also a Church of Christ minister makes one wonder about his actions in the pulpit.

Sebastin’s marker in Fox Cemetery.
Photo by Chris Childs.

But it is his death that gives Sebastin celebrity. On 5 Jun 1855, he died after falling from his horse and being dragged home. But the cause of the fall is disputed. A newspaper article reported that he fell or was thrown from his horse while liquored up from celebrating the 4 Jun 1855 rejection of prohibition in Illinois. But others claim he fell and was dragged after being shot by a gunman, specifically by a member of the Birch gang (preceding blog). While it makes a good story, the latter scenario is unlikely, since the Birches had left the state by 1855. 

It is claimed that Anderson Township’s Fox Road, along which lies Fox Cemetery, where Sebastin and Rebecca rest, was named after Sebastin. It is said that on stormy nights, around midnight, his ghost returns to ride the road on his white horse.

Today the stones for Sebastin and his wife, Rebecca can no longer be found in Fox cemetery, probably the result of vandalization and theft. Luckily, before their disappearance, the stones had been photographed.

Grant Frederick Tapscott

Our previous post (30 Nov 2015) told of Joseph and Mary Emma (Sanders) Tapscott, but the story was incomplete (as all stories must be). When Mary Emma married Joseph, she already had a son and therein lies a most interesting tale.

Grant Frederick Tapscott (collection of Patricia Phillips).

On 3 Oct 1884 in Clark County’s Anderson Twp, Mary Emma gave birth to a child, Grant Frederick, who took the last name “Tapscott” when his mother married Joseph Tapscott, three years later. No original birth record has been found for Grant Tapscott; however, in 1949, decades after his birth and years after the deaths of his claimed parents, he obtained a delayed record of birth, giving Joseph as his father. The birth date of 3 Oct 1884 on that record is a little suspicious considering that Joseph and Mary Emma were married 3 Oct 1887. Could it be that Grant did not know his actual birth date and picked 3 Oct because it was a familiar date? Perhaps, though 3 Oct 1887 date does agree with census data.

Who then was Grant Tapscott’s biological father? One of Grant’s children stated that her “Aunt Edith” [Edith Mae (Tapscott) Bruner] told her that her father's real father was a Wright. And a grandchild relates that "...my mom always told me that Grant Wright's father would not let him marry Mary Emma Sanders. I believe she said that the Wright family was more well to do than the Sanders family and Grant Wright also felt he was too young to marry.” Were this the only evidence for Grant Tapscott’s actual father, conclusions would be questionable. One document, however, the record of Grant Tapscott’s 1905 marriage to Lena Clouse, gives his father’s name as “Grant Wright.” Given this document and the family tales, it is likely that Grant Tapscott’s biological father was a person named “Grant Wright.”

Part of Grant Tapscott and Lena Clouse marriage record.

And who was Grant Wright? Only one person by that name is found in Clark County, Illinois, at the time in question—Isaiah Grant Wright (who went only by “Grant” in his youth), son of Richard and Joanna (also “Joan,” “Joann, “Johanna”) Wright. Richard, a prominent Methodist Protestant clergyman and part-time farmer, resided just southeast of the town of Auburn (Clark Center) and two or three miles northwest of the Anderson Twp farm of Mary Emma’s family. Born in 1863 or 1864, Grant Wright was just three or four years older than Mary Emma.

Was Isaiah Grant Wright the biological father of Grant Frederick Tapscott? Probably. The name is right, the location is right, and the ages are right. And the Wrights were probably financially better off than the Sanders, who had only a 40-acre farm for support. Richard had both a 40-acre farm and a cleric's income. And as first president of the South Illinois Methodist Protestant Conference, Rev. Wright certainly had status. Finally, recent autosomal DNA testing by a great grandchild of Grant Frederick Tapscott shows matches with at least six descendants of Richard Wright, father of Isaiah Grant Wright.

This tale is of particular interest to me, since I am descended from both Wrights and Tapscotts. Joseph Tapscott was a brother of my grandfather, John Wesley Tapscott. Isaiah Grant Wright was a brother of my great grandfather, James F. Wright. If our conclusion is correct about the parentage of Grant Tapscott, his male line descendants (and there are several living) could show an autosomal DNA match to me, but not a yDNA match. Is there anybody else out there interested? - Robert E. ("Bob") Tapscott

Joseph R. Tapscott

William and Mary (Wallace) Tapscott’s third oldest child, Joseph may have lived a sad life, at least at times. Joseph and his wife lost two-thirds of their offspring at young ages.

Born 22 Aug 1858, Joseph’s name is often given as “Joseph John”; however, only one document—a birth record for his son, Noble—shows either a middle name or a middle initial, and that record gives the name “Joseph R.” A middle name “John”—found, as is often the case, in a number of unsourced online trees—is baseless.

Joseph, who spent his life as a Clark County, Illinois, farmer, in Anderson Twp and a member of Freedom Baptist Church, remained single until age 29, when on 3 Oct 1887 he married Mary Emma Sanders, one of eight children of William Francis and Elizabeth Jane (Fox) Sanders, who farmed near the Tapscotts. Lopping a few years off her age as she grew older, Mary Emma at the end of her life was stated to have been born 26 Feb 1870; however, she was much, much more likely born 26 Feb 1867.

Joseph is buried in Mt. Pleasant Cemetery,
presumably with six young children.

Joseph and Mary Emma had eight children, nine if one includes Grant Frederick (the subject of an upcoming post). Six died young and unmarried.

Joseph died of a “Malignant Tumor of the Liver” on 11 Jul 1917 in Wabash Twp and was buried in Mt. Pleasant Cemetery under a stone inscribed “JOSEPH TAPSCOTT AND CHILDREN.” Mary Emma lived almost two decades more, working part of the time as a practical nurse. She passed away in Marshall, Illinois, 18 Mar 1937 and was buried in Mt. Pleasant Cemetery alongside her husband and all but two of her children (Grant and Edith Mae).