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 - 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 .

Wesley

Wesley Tapscott grave marker, Auburn Cemeter

Most family history books have a good mystery, what some call a “brick wall.” With my last book, Henry the Immigrant, Robert Francis Tapscott provided the mystery (see posts of 26 Jul 2014 and 15 Jan 2015). For the book now in writing, Henry the Traveler, The Tapscotts of the Wabash Valley, it is Wesley Tabscott, of unknown parentage (see blog of 16 Nov 2014).

I now have copies of Wesley’s 12-page probate file from the Clark County, Illinois, courthouse, his 63-page Civil War pension file from the National Archives and Records Administration, and his 4-page Illinois Soldiers and Sailors Home file from the Illinois State Archives. It is amazing that these 79 pages of documents provide no smoking gun. Let me summarize the findings from these and Wesley's very few other records.



Sailors and Soldiers Home Application provides Birth information.

Except on his grave marker, Wesley’s name was always spelled “Tabscott,” likely because he was totally illiterate. He claimed to have been born on 28 Sep 1829 in Green County, Kentucky, and is known to have died 21 Nov 1894 in Marshall, Illinois. Of course a birth date given by an illiterate person is questionable, In fact his age on a Civil War muster role indicates a birth year of 1840 rather than 1829.  Wesley appears in not a single census, at least with that name, despite the fact that according to his medical records, excluding time in the military and in the Soldier;s home he was living in or near Anderson Township in Clark County as early as 1856 (about the year that Henry and Susan (Bass) Tapscott arrived from Darwin Twp. in Clark County). He served two stints in the Civil War as a Union Army private with the 133^rd Indiana Infantry (17 May 1864 to 5 Sep 1864) and with the 149^th Indiana Infantry (2 Mar 1865 to 11 Jul 1865), enlisting both times at Terre Haute, Indiana. He took sick at the end of his last enlistment at Decatur Alabama, ending up in a hospital in Huntsville Alabama, where he was discharged from the Army. Extensive medical records show that he lived the rest of his life primarily in Clark County as a near invalid with an assortment of nasty physical conditions. He resided in the Illinois Soldiers and Sailors Home (an institution for disabled, ill, and elderly military personal in Quincy Illinois) 30 May 1894 to 30 Oct 1894. He then discharged himself and returned to Marshall, where he died less than a month later, apparently in poverty. At his death he had personal property consisting of household goods and horse and buggy with a total value of $100, but with debts of $211.65, much of it for care during his final days.

Not a single word appears in any record about Wesley’s parents; however, many documents give the following Clark County Tapscotts and their relatives as Wesley's witnesses and contacts, but without mentioning their connection with him --- William Riley Tapscott, William Sanders (widower of Sarah Ann Tapscott), William Sanders's daughter Susan Shade, and William Sander’s son-in-law Joseph Shade. Joseph Shade was named Wesley’s executor. That Wesley was born in Green County Kentucky shows that he was almost certainly a descendent of the Tapscotts of Virginia, but there are four possibilities.

1. He was an unknown child of Henry the Traveler, coming with Henry and Susan during their trip from Kentucky to Clark County, but not appearing in the 1850 census, which has been thought to list all of Henry’s children. If born in 1929, Wesley would have been around age 21 at the time and could have easily been away from home when the census was taken. But all of Henry’s children were literate, why would Wesley have been illiterate? Moreover, Henry and his wife, Susan, had a child, John, born 9 Mar 1829, a date conflicting with Wesley’s birth date of 28 Sep 1829. Of course birthdates are often incorrect.

2. He was actually James W. (“Wesley”?) Tapscott, a child of Henry the Traveler, born around 1830 or 1831 and dying sometime after 1870. We have very little information about James who appears in 1850 and 1870 censuses for Clark County. James, like Wesley, never married (as far as we know). But the two censuses do not indicate that James was illiterate. And if Wesley were James, why would be appear as “Wesley Tabscott” in everything militarily connected, but nowhere else? Moreover, Wesley is known to have been alive when the estate Henry the Traveler's son John was being settled in 1872, but, unlike most (but not all) of John's siblings, was not mentioned as an heir.

3. He could have been a child of William the Preacher, born late in William’s life. That might explain Wesley’s illiteracy. None of William the Preacher’s sons were literate. (Note, however, that Wesley was very young at the time of William's death and the Preacher's apparent lack of belief in education for his children should have had little effect on Wesley.) He might have been a son of William’s wife, (believed to be) Winifred Cobb. Winifred, were she still living, would have been around age 50 give or take a few years at the time of Wesley’s birth, unlikely but not impossible. Wesley could, in fact, have been the cause of the demise of Winifred, who was dead by 1830. And he could be a product of another relationship. It is interesting that William the Preacher’s household in the 1830 census contains one child, whom we cannot identify, aged under 5 (Wesley?), and also a woman aged 20 to 30 (a new consort?). The census also shows other unidentifiable household members. Wesley would have been only seven years old when William the Preacher died and could have accompanied his older brother Henry the Traveler to Clark County.

4. And Wesley could have been a descendant of Raleigh and Judith (Stanton) Tapscott, who were living in Barren County Kentucky, essentially next door to Green County) at the time of Wesley’s birth. Raleigh, William the Preacher’s 2^nd cousin, had a massive number of known Kentucky-born grandkids and undoubtedly many others never unidentified.

Right now I am leaning toward possibility 3. In another week I will be in Illinois researching Tapscotts, one of them Wesley. Perhaps land records will help. I might note that Pamela Loos-Noji at Kinwork Connections, Email: kin1889@me.com, www.kinworkconnections.com, did an outstanding and very reasonably priced job of getting Wesley’s pension files. She has worked for me in the past and is always thorough, efficient, and highly knowledgeable. I recommend her highly for genealogical research. If anyone would like digital copies of the contents of Wesley’s Pension, Illinois Soldiers and Sailors Home, and Probate files, I’ll be glad to email them to you.

More on yDNA

As many of you know, the origin of Robert Francis Tapscott of Virginia has long been a mystery. yDNA results have now been obtained for a descendant of Robert Francis through an all-male line. For 63 markers (data for 3 markers are still missing), a rather large genetic difference of 14 has been found in the STR results between that descendant and myself. Similar differences are seen for two other U.S. Tapscotts, known to have descended from Henry the Immigrant.. Thus, Robert Frances Tapscott is not descended from Henry through an all-male line. This does not rule out descent from Henry through a line involving one or more females. Since one document shows Robert Frances as coming from Fauquier County, Virginia, it is not unreasonable to propose that he may be a descendant of Elizabeth Perciful, wife of James Tapscott and daughter-in-law of Ezekiel Tapscott, who lived in that county and is known to have had children that were not fathered by James but were nevertheless given the name “Tapscott.”

On another DNA subject: Our last blog (17 Dec 1914) reported a yDNA match between some American Tapscotts and a British Tapscott, lending credibility to a supposition that the name “Tapscott” has a single origin.

Let’s take a further look at this. The most common English surnames (“Smith,” etc.) are probably multi-origin, but, of course, “Tapscott” is not a common surname. In England and Wales in 1881 only 256 individuals had the name “Tapscott” (1881 census). In 2002 only 307 people in those regions had that name (http://www.taliesin-arlein.net/names/search.php). A few more were found in the U.S.—341 people with the name “Tapscott,” “Tabscott,” “Tapscot,” or “Tabscot” (variants extremely rare or nonexistent in the UK) in the 1880 U.S. census and 890 with those names in the 1940 U.S. census. Tapscotts are also found in Australia and Canada. Good data do not exist for Australia, but Ancestry.com databases show very small numbers of Australian Tapscotts, and the Canadian 1901 census has only 25 Tapscotts. Thus, worldwide, around 1880, well under 1000 individuals were named “Tapscott.” Computer simulations for an English family name originating in 1311 show that by 1881 the male-line dies out in 92.5% of cases and in the largest outcome, it grows purely by chance to 730 active males (John S. Plant and Richard E. Plant, “English surnames: Plural Origins and Emigration,” Surname DNA Journal, 15 Jan 2015). Applying a multiplier of four to six suggested in this paper gives a maximum total population of around three to four thousand in 1880 from a single source originating in 1311.

Thus, the small number of under 1000 for Tapscotts around 1880 is consistent with a single origin for the “Tapscott” name. Of course, the name may have originated well after 1311, decreasing the period for growth. The earliest occurrence is found in a 1542 document in Stoke Pero, Somerset. Nevertheless, it is not unlikely that the “Tapscott” name has a single origin.

DNA Comes Through

Great news. At last we have proof that the U.S. Tapscotts descended from Henry the Immigrant of Virginia are related to at least one British Tapscott. A Tapscott who never immigrated from England and who is descended from the Somerset line shows a match with me and another U.S. Tapscott with a yDNA genetic distance of 3 for 67 markers and with another U.S. Tapscott with a distance of 4 for 37 markers. We all share a common ancestor, probably from Somerset (or possibly Devon), with a 50% probability of being 10 generations back. Not only that we all closely match the Jamaican discussed in my blog of 21 Oct 2014.

And speaking of the Jamaican, it is thought that William Tapscott, the Rebel, who was transported around 1686 to Jamaica, ended up in Monmouth County, New Jersey. (See blog of 8 Feb 2014).  I now have a close autosomal match with a known descendant of Lydia Tapscott of Monmouth County, New Jersey.

Two "successes", but we are still awaiting others. We are still awaiting results for the descendant of Robert Francis Tapscott of Virginia. The test analyses have been postponed. And we still need yDNA test volunteers from the Tapscotts of Ohio, Canada, and Australia. But what a day!

On another subject, demand has been far greater than I expected for the 2nd Edition of Henry the Immigrant. But I still have a few copies left.

Tapscott DNA Project Update

This will bring you up to date on the yDNA test results for the Tapscott Project at Family Tree DNA (http://www.familytreedna.com/)

1. Some time back I noted that I had a 1-step (genetic distance of 1) 37-marker match to a mixed-race Ford from Jamaica, indicative that they may have been descended from William Tapscott the rebel (with a name change as was often the case in interracial relationships). The person matching me has now expanded his testing to 67-markers and shows a 2-step match with my 67-marker test results. This is a very close match for this many markers, making it highly likely that he and I have an identical paternal ancestor. He also shows a 3-step match with a male Tapscott descendant of Capt. Henry Tapscott. Interestingly, the Jamaican individual matches several Boldings and Bowlings with a very close 1-step for 67 markers. Things are starting to fall together. Eventually I plan to see which markers show variations, which may allow a proposal for the point(s) at which Ford, Tapscott, and Bolding/Bowling families separated, assuming, of course, that they do share a common male ancestor. I suspect that any break happened in England before 1700.

2. The Tapscott DNA project has, or will soon have, a participant from England and a participant, who is a descendant of the "mysterious" Robert Francis Tapscott of Virginia.

3. I am still looking for yDNA participants from the New Jersey Tapscotts, the James Tapscott line, and Canadian and Australian Tapscott.

Susan Cary Tapscott

In a still-unsuccessful attempt to definitively connect Robert Francis Tapscott with the family of Henry Tapscott (the Immigrant), I have continued researching the sons of James and Susan Howard (Baker) Tapscott—Baker, Newton, and Chichester since one of them appears to be the most likely connection (if there is one). The latter two brothers each had a single known child, a daughter. Susan Cary Tapscott (Newton) and Anna Chichester Tapscott (Chichester). Susan Cary Tapscott’s death is the subject of a most interesting tale, one that unfortunately sheds no light on Robert Francis.

Following Newton’s death, his daughter, Susan Cary, whose middle name comes from her grandmother, Elizabeth Blair (Cary) Fairfax, was made a ward of her uncle Baker Tapscott. She is shown living with her aunt and uncle Susanna Carolyn (Tapscott) and Lucas P. Thompson in the 1850 Augusta County, Virginia, census, where her age is given as 23 (birth year 1826 or 1827). Consumption, took her life, as it did her mother’s. She went to Savannah, Georgia, for her health, and passed away there in 1852.

Four years after her death, one of the Virginia delegates to the 1856 Southern Commercial Convention in Savannah, Georgia “brought to memory Miss Tapscott of Staunton, who died of consumption, in Savannah.” From a newspaper article, “Gayety in Savannah,” The Daily Dispatch, Richmond, Virginia, Monday, 15 Dec 1856, p. 1, col. 3:

The disease had fastened upon her, and in a very short time she fell a victim to the destroyer. Towards the close of her life, when pale wasted and emaciated, she was frequently placed in an open carriage and driven along a beautiful road, that gently winds along the banks of the lovely Savannah river, at this point. Conscious of her approaching dissolution, and feeling that the beautiful savannas of the South would soon be forever shut from her eye, and that the gentle and balmy breezes which are so peculiar to the climate would soon cease to fan her cheeks, she ordered the carriage to be stopped on one occasion, and pointed out a spot near the banks of the river, beneath a little grove of trees, where she desired her remains to be buried. in a short time after, her spirit winged its way to realms above, and in accordance with her request, the ashes of that fair girl now repose at the very spot designated by her in life. her name was Sue Cary Tapscott, a one that will doubtless be remembered by many in Virginia. There is no stone of any description to mark the spot, or tell the passer by who reposes under the shade of that beautiful little grove where her body now lies. Mr. Hunter, the speaker, stated that there was now a larger body of Virginians present in Savannah than would ever again be collected on Georgia soil, and he hoped they would contributed something to the erection of an appropriate monument in memory of Sue Cary Tapscott. the appeal, which consisted mainly of a tribute to the virtues and accomplishments of the deceased and was truly pathetic and affecting, was liberally responded to, and over $200 collected for the purpose. The funds will be placed in the hands of Mr. Charles Preston, at whose residence Miss Tapscott died, and that gentleman will superintend the erection of the monument.

In Savannah’s Bonaventure Cemetery (made famous by John Berendt’s 1994 novel, Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil) stands a stone engraved “Susan Tapscott of Staunton Va. Died 1852.” Enclosed by an ornate wrought iron fence, her monument predates the formation of the public burial ground from the Mullryne Plantation on the Wilmington River joining the Savannah River, where her carriage apparently passed

Faulquier County Tapscotts - Robert Francis Tapscott

Today, I noticed a Find-a-Grave entry for Robert Francis Tapscott, which gives his parents as "James Tapscott and Susannah Howard Tapscott (nee: Baker)" of Botetourt County. This would be laughable were it not likely to lead to a mass of misinformation and a multitude of erroneous family trees to be passed down from person to person without thought or consideration. The reason that it would otherwise be laughable is that James Tapscott, the husband of Susannah Howard Tapscott died over a decade before Robert Francis was born. Besides, James Tapscott's will, which names all his children and step children, makes no mention of Robert Frances. I would very much like to see a male descendant of Robert Francis Tapscott by an all-male line, take a yDNA test and join the Tapscott Project, but so far I have had no volunteers. Come on. We need you! In the meantime, below is what I have written about Robert Francis Tapscott in the 2nd edition of my book Henry the Immigrant (still a draft). Please forgive some missing endnotes, which do not always come through in these blogs. Note that there is a chance, albeit slim, that Robert was the son of a James Tapscott, but not the James of Botetourt County, rather James E. of Fauquier County. I am still looking into this as well as the possible Baker or Newton Tapscott connection.

The origin of Robert Francis Tapscott, who married Lucy Frances Wood (daughter of Alexander Wood and Elizabeth Kirtley) and whose family and descendants appear in Clarke County, Virginia, censuses beginning in 1850, remains a mystery. Robert is first named in a 4 April 1843 Clarke County record: “James T. [Thomas] Wood made Oath before me Clerk of the Court of the County aforesaid that Lucy F. Wood who is about to intermarry with Robert Tapscott of the County of Fauquier is over twenty One years of age and an inhabitant of this county.” That Robert was from Fauquier County could indicate that he was a child of James and Elizabeth (Percifull) Tapscott, or possibly an illegitimate child of Elizabeth. Robert was born 8 March 1817, the last year that James could have still been living. That a marriage record for Joseph Baker Tapscott, Robert’s oldest son, stated that he and his bride were “colored” might indicate a mixed-race offspring of Elizabeth, who is known to have had such descendants. The 1840 Fauquier County census shows Elizabeth’s household with no white, but several free black males. Note, however, no document other than Joseph Baker Tapscott’s marriage record indicates the possibility of a mixed-race origin.

Clarke County is located near Hampshire and Jefferson Counties, now in West Virginia, where the three sons of James and Susanna (Baker) Tapscott resided. Furthermore, Robert Francis married a Wood, and Susanna Baker’s mother was a Wood, as was her first husband, John. And the middle name of Robert and Lucy’s oldest child was “Baker.” In view of these facts, particularly the middle name “Baker,” Robert Francis Tapscott would appear to be a possible grandson of James Sr. and Susanna—a son of Newton, Baker, or Chichester. (He cannot have been a son of James Sr., who was deceased by 27 February 1807, ten years before Robert Francis was born. But no relationship between Lucy Wood and Judith Howard Wood is known. Moreover, Robert and Lucy were married by Rev. Joseph Baker, for whom their first-born may well have been named. The 1820 Romney, Virginia census shows the Newton Tapscott household with one male child, who has never been identified. Likewise, the 1830 census for Shepherdstown, Virginia, shows the Baker Tapscott family with four male children, but only three sons are known. But the obituary of Newton Tapscott’s widow, Louisa, specifically states that she left only an infant daughter, and the only known marriages of Baker and Chichester occurred years after the birth of Robert Francis Tapscott.

Robert Francis died 24 June 1874 and is buried in Old Chapel Cemetery, Clarke County, Virginia. His wife is said to be buried there also, but no grave is now found.

Charles Sweetfield Tapscott

John Fox and I have been discussing the origins of Charles Sweetfield Tapscott, who often went solely by his  initials "C. S. Tapscott", and his son Beverly Rogers Tapscott. We have seen the relatively unusual male name "Beverly" among other Tapscotts. Beverly Alexander Tapscott was a son of Robert Francis Tapscott of Clarke County, Virginia, whose origins are still uncertain (but hopefully will be revealed with DNA testing). Beverly W. Tapscott was Robert Francis Tapscott's grandson. Perhaps this indicates that Robert Frances Tapscott was part of the James Tapscott line, which, as we shall see, is Charles Sweetfield Tapscott's line, but we certainly cannot make this leap with this meager evidence.

Beverly Rogers Tapscott is known to be the son of Charles Sweetfield and Nellie E. Murphy Tapscott from the 1930 census for Buckingham County, Virginia. A West Virginia marriage record for C. S. Tapscott and  Nellie E. Murphy states that Charles was the son of "W. W." Tapscott and "May W." There is little or no doubt, for a variety of reasons, that these are William Wallace Tapscott and Mary Willis Hamner (William's second wife). But the marriage record actually gives Charles's stepmother, the only mother Charles knew. He was born 9 October 1883, and Cornelia S. (Baber) Tapscott, William's first wife and Charles S. Tapscott's actual mother, died three days later, 12 Oct 1883, almost certainly due to Charles's birth. William Wallace did not remarry until 5 Aug 1884. Obituaries for Mary Willis Tapscott and for one of Charles S. Tapscott's brothers show that "C. S." Tapscott was a member of the family and Mary Willis Tapscott's stepson.

The problem is that Charles Sweetfield Tapscott was born 9 October 1883, but he does not appear with William Wallace and Mary Willis Tapscott in the 1900 census. Instead there is a "Charles D." born in Feb. 1892. But we never see a Charles D. Tapscott again, at least a Charles that is likely. Charles D. Tapscott in the 1900 census is almost certainly an mistake. The error was probably due to Charlotte Ann Tapscott, who was born in Feb 1891 or Feb 1893 according to various sources (and not unlikely, therefore, to have actually been born in Feb 1892) being confused by a busy census enumerator or a neighbor with her brother Charles S. Tapscott. Their first names are somewhat similar. Neither Charlotte or Charles Sweetfield appear in the 1900 census with William Wallace and Mary (and they should), but "Charles D." does.

Since Charles Sweetfield Tapscott is the son of William Wallace and Beverly is the grandson, then we know that Charles and Beverly are descended from Henry the Immigrant through his son James. The line is James - George Sr. - William H. - Benjamin G. -William Wallace - Charles Sweetfield - Beverly Rogers., a line that I have been able to document well. Thus, Charles S. and Beverly R. Tapscott are part of the James line (as opposed to the Edney or Captain Henry line).  I would love to find a male descendant of Charles S. or Beverly for a DNA test.

Do you have comments or do you want sources for the data presented above? Contact me.