Lillian Myrtle King Nelson Buzick Lott Wedeking Capone?

Lillian Myrtle was the youngest child of Mary Elizabeth Tapscott and Samuel King, though not as young as apparently proclaimed. Early records indicate a birth year of 1902 or 1903, but by the time Myrtle had died, her birth date had become 8 Mar 1905. It appears that two or three years were cut from her age as she grew older.

Before proceeding to our major topic, Al Capone, let’s clear up one mystery. In the 1930 census Myrtle appears as “Myrtle K. Nelson,” divorced, working as a housekeeper for her future husband, James Buzick. Apparently Myrtle was married to a “Nelson,” but who that was no one knew, or was at least not telling. It’s taken a couple of weeks of intensive research, but Myrtle’s first husband is now identified. He was Nels Nelson, son of Henry Oliver Nelson and Bertha Cathrine Olson. Myrtle and Nels were married in 24 Feb 1921 in Gibson City, Ford County, Illinois. Within a space of two years, Lillian gave birth to four children, two dying at or near birth and two, stillborn twins. The failed births may have put a strain on the marriage, for it soon ended in divorce. On 25 Jul 1931, Nels Nelson remarried in Bloomington, Illinois, to Mary E. (Herron) Penn.

Scarface

Thus, Lillian Myrtle King was married four times: to Nels Nelson (25 Jul 1901 - 2 May 1970) on 24 Feb 1921, James Clive Buzick (14 Aug 1890 - 16 Mar 1943) on 12 Jan 1934, Henry Robert Lott (7 Dec 1901 - 8 May 1954) on 1 Feb 1947, and Elmer Wedeking (7 Jan 1905 - 16 Jul 1985) in Jul 1961. Now let’s move on to Big Al. 

In the 1940 census, Lillian and her second husband, James Buzick are found living in Ford County, Illinois, with a 14-year-old “Foster Son,” Billy Knight. Chris W. Knight, Billy’s son, has written a book (Son of Scarface, New Era Publishing, 2014, available on Kindle) about his mysterious dad and his unknown origins. Several believe (or say they believe) that Billy Knight was a son of the mobster “Scarface” Al Capone. One of many possibilities proposed in Chris Knight’s book is that his dad was a child of Capone and Lillian Myrtle. True? I very much doubt it. But the book makes interesting reading and reveals some family history about the Buzicks. It also shows the thought processes that go into researching family history mysteries, though Chris's methodologies are quite different from mine.

Vincent Buell and Mary Elizabeth

Let’s finish with Mary Elizabeth Tapscott, granddaughter of Richard and Cyntha Tapscott, so we can get to more interesting or pressing issues.

We last heard about Mary Elizabeth after her second husband, Squire Jasper (“Bud”) Phillips, was forced to leap from a trestle to avoid being hit by an interurban electric train in Bloomington, Illinois. The leap added barely two days to his life.

Mary Elizabeth Tapscott's final days were spent
at her home on Lee Street in Bloomington.

After Bud Phillip’s death on 20 Sep 1930, Mary waited until 27 Mar 1934 before marrying again, to Vincent E. Buell, a retired farmer, who had spent most, though not all, of his life in McLean County, Illinois. Vincent had gone through three previous marriages, all ending by death. Earlier brides had been Mary A. Strickland (22 Mar 1868 - 19 Nov 1903) on 13 Oct 1892, Mary’s older sister Susan (28 Jun 1853 - 23 Feb 1924) on 27 Aug 1904, and Minerva Moore (5 Jul 1857 - 10 Sep 1933) widow of Charles W. F. Keehma on 24 Dec 1924. (Watch out! There were several Charles W. F. Keemas in the McLean County area, all apparently related and one of them a real scalawag—carjacking, draft dodging, incest. Minerva's Charles was not the scalawag.)

The marriage between Vincent and Mary Elizabeth lasted just a little over four years. Vincent passed away in Bloomington on 27 Mar 1934. Mary lasted well over a decade longer, dying in Bloomington on 7 Dec 1946. She left six children, all from her first marriage. A seventh child, William, also from her first marriage, had died young. Contrary to some published trees, she had no children with Squire Phillips.

I had not intended to go this far down the Richard Tapscott tree, but interesting details kept appearing, and I wanted to correct some errors in published trees, particularly confusion of Squire Jasper Phillips with Squire Logan Phillips. We will go just a little further next time to pick up an interesting tidbit or two about Mary Elizabeth and Samuel King’s daughter Lillian Myrtle King and her (proposed) connection to "Scarface" Al Capone.