Dolores Hope (Tingley) Berbaum

Four generations of Wabash Valley Tapscotts
Edna Earl (Wright )Tapscott, Nellie (Tapscott) Tingley,
Jerry Berbaum, Dolores Hope (Tingley) Berbaum, July 1943.

Dolores Hope (Tingley) Berbaum, who passed away 22 Nov 2016 in Urbana, Illinois (obituary), was my cousin and the source of much Tapscott information for my still unfinished book “The Wabash Valley Tapscotts.” She gave me her copy of The Merry Cricket, which describes the lives of the relatives and neighbors of the Tapscotts who inhabited Martinsville, Auburn, and Anderson townships in Clark County, Illinois, at the turn of the last century (blog of 29 Sep 2015) and provided for copying several photos of Tapscotts and their relatives (e.g., blog of 9 Aug 2016). Dolores and her son Jerry also allowed the recording of an extensive oral history of the Clark County Tapscotts. And she authored a detailed “John Wesley Tapscott Family” tree for June Tapscott Leathers, who passed it on to me. Besides, Dolores was a friend who will be greatly missed.

Dolores was the daughter of Nellie Pearl Tapscott and Walter Albert Tingley, the granddaughter of John Wesley Tapscott and Edna Earl Wright, the great granddaughter of William Tapscott and Mary Angeline Wallace, and the great great granddaughter of Henry (“The Traveler’) Tapscott and Susan Bass who founded the Wabash Valley Tapscotts.

Ithamar

“Ithamar” (Hebrew אִיתָמָר) was the youngest son of Aaron, a Biblical high priest, and the eldest son of "Bell" (Tapscott) and Morgan Sweet. The unusual name makes Ithamar Sweet easily traceable, though one must take into account mistaken and alternative spellings. “Ithmar,” “Ithamer,” “Ithemar,” “Ithenear” are all found for Ithamar Sweet.

Born in Martinsville, Clark County, Illinois, Ithamar’s birth date is a little uncertain. The age of 30 years, 10 months on his grave marker indicates a birthdate of Dec 1887, a date that appears wildly incorrect based on the birth dates of his siblings. His brother Robert is known to have been born on 31 May 1887. A Texas death record shows a birthdate of 29 Dec 1884, a date that agrees with census data, is a reasonable nine months, three weeks following Bell and Morgan’s marriage, and fits in well with the birth dates of the other Sweet children.

On 16 Jun 1906 in Danville, Illinois, Ithamar enlisted in the Army, achieved the rank of sergeant, and was discharged 15 Jun 1909, in Walla Walla, Washington. He reenlisted the following day and was shipped off to Fort Stotsenburg, at Luzon in the Philippines. On 15 Jun 1912 Ithamar was discharged at Ft. Clark in Texas, but he apparently reenlisted since he spent the rest of his life as a reserve officer in the Army.

Sometime between 1910, when he was still single in the Philippines and 1913, when his first child was born, Ithamar married Frances Isadora (“Fannie”) Baker, a Texas girl. Born 25 Dec 1889 in Brownwood, Texas, Frances was the oldest daughter of John William and Minnie (Conklin) Baker, a Texas farm family. Ithamar’s transfer by the Army to Texas, had brought with it a chance to meet Minnie.

In 1915 Minnie and Ithamar lived in Marfa, Texas, where soldiers at Camp Marfa patrolled the Rio Grande during the stormy Mexican Revolution. In 1915 the couple lived in Eagle Pass, Texas, where an unsteady Army camp was increasing in strength due to WW I.. In 1917 Ithamar, who was then a first lieutenant, submitted his resignation as a reserve officer, but he was still serving at the Army Post at Eagle Pass on 24 Oct 1918, when he died of bronchopneumonia, probably brought on by influenza. An estimated 675,000 Americans died from the misnamed 1918 “Spanish Flu” pandemic. A much lower 116,708 Americans died from all causes during WW 1 military service.

Ithamar was returned to Clark County, where he rests in Mount Pleasant Cemetery. He left a single child, Eugene Madison Sweet (15 Jul 1915-30 Oct 1989). His and Minnie’s other child, Ithamar Jr., born 5 Dec 1913, died by 1915.

Frances remarried, to George M. Doney, on 27 Sep 1919 in San Antonio, Texas, and Eugene adopted his stepfather’s last name, going by “Eugene Madison Doney” or “Eugene Sweet Doney.” The family settled in Lynwood, California, where George became the Chief of Police. But things did not go well for George. In 1930 the police department was under investigation for misappropriation of funds, and on 31 May 2016 when George was interviewed by members of the district attorney’s office, he named names and implicated colleagues. The following day, Police Chief Doney was found dead in his car with a bullet wound in his chest, and clutching a revolver. He left a note fit for a B-grade gangster movie:

To the District Attorney's office: I told you a pack of lies. The men of this police force are all OK. I was the crook, so drop that statement your man got out of me, because they are square guys and never take a nickel from anybody that I know. This is the truth, so help me God. ____ never paid me or not one else one cent, so drop any charges you have made.

St. Louis Post Dispatch, 3 Jun 1930.

The story made newspapers nationwide. The police department concluded that George had committed suicide out of remorse for turning on his friends in the department. But was it a suicide, or a cover-up by murder? Some thought it was the latter.

Frances, who appears to have been married one more time, briefly, to a man named “Nugent,” lived for a while in Medford, Oregon, but returned to California, where she died 10 Jan 1959 in Shasta County.

Cora Isabelle Tapscott

Family of Richard and Cora

The book, The Tapscotts of the Wabash Valley, is coming along, albeit very, very slowly. One problem is the sheer number of individuals covered. Henry the Traveler, who founded the Wabash Valley clan, has 199 descendants with 155 spouses through 4 generations, which is as far as this book goes. The earlier book, Henry the Immigrant, covered only 132 descendants of Ann Edney (both Tapscotts and Georges) with 122 spouses through 4 generations. While many of the Wabash Valley Tapscott men had few descendants (see “not good husband material” in blog of 28 Aug 2015), this was definitely not true of the women, One example is Cora Isabelle Tapscott, daughter of William and Mary Angeline (Wallace) Tapscott, who is the cause of multiple pages in the current book.

Born 21 May 1869 in Anderson Twp, Cora Isabelle (usually called “Bell” or “Belle”), had a brief childhood. Before age fifteen, she was married, on 1 Mar 1884, in Clark County. The groom, Richard Morgan Sweet, was twenty-two. Morgan, the name he always used, was one of fourteen children of Mary Ellen Johnson and Austin Sweet Sr., a Clark County veterinarian and farmer.

Richard Morgan and Cora Isabelle
Sweet, at Martinsville home, c1932.
 (Courtesy of Sharon Poteet.)

Bell and Morgan, who lived all their married lives near Martinsville, wasted no time. Their first child, Ithamar, was born 29 Dec 1884, their last, Nila, was born 4 Apr 1908. In between were born twelve children, a child every two years.

On 23 Oct 1932, Bell Tapscott passed away. Morgan, who went from farmer to blacksmith in his later years, lived another few years, dying on 13 Apr 1937 at his daughter Nila’s house. Bell and Morgan are interred in Mt. Pleasant Cemetery, in Martinsville Twp.

Sons of William and Mary (Wallace) Tapscott. L to R James
William, John, Millard, Joseph. (Courtesy of Sharon Poteet)

Millard F. Tapscott, “Tinker,” the youngest of the sons of William and Mary Angeline (Wallace) Tapscott, of Clark County, Illinois, appears in a most interesting story of probate and litigation.

Born 4 May 1867 in Clark County (two years after the end of the Civil War), Millard spent most of his life as a bachelor farmer. After living for many years with his parents, William and Mary, he was suddenly on his own when his mother died in 1904 and his father moved in with Millard’s sister Emma and her husband William Mallory. Millard stayed on the family farm, apparently inheriting the land, at least eventually, though no probate proceedings are found, and living in his parents’ partially log-constructed house.

Millard was forty-seven years old when he finally married, on 19 Sep 1914 in Vigo County, Indiana, but it was a marriage that was far less than successful. His wife, Samantha, was the daughter of Thomas McNary, an Auburn blacksmith, and Reba (Cox) McNary. And she was the widow of William Henry Johnson, whom she had married 27 Oct 1889, and who had died 3 Feb 1913 of pneumonia after fathering four children, two of whom died young.

Millard and Samantha did not hit it off well. It has been claimed that the two had divorced, but no records show that an official divorce took place. However, around 1920, the couple separated and Samantha “released her rights to the property by contract in writing.” The contract came back to haunt her when Millard died on 17 Nov 1926 at the home of his niece, Alma Thompson, daughter of his sister Emma (Tapscott) Mallory.

Samantha petitioned the court stating that “as the surviving widow of Millard F. Tapscott, she is entitled to her Widow's Award in said Estate.” She stated that “on or about the 11” day of October A.D. 1920 she and the said Millard F. Tapscott signed an agreement, the purport of which agreement your Petitioner did not at that time understand, and that at that time Petitioner did not know her rights pertaining to the property of Millard F. Tapscott, and did not know what a widow's award meant, and did not understand the agreement and should not be held bound by said agreement because of the fraud which said agreement perpetrated against your Petitioner because of petitioners misunderstanding and lack of knowledge as to her rights.” Samantha claimed that “for many months prior to Millard's death, he and her had “resumed the marriage relation, and were living as man and wife, having repudiated aforsaid [sic] contract, and resumed the status of husband and wife.”

Find a Grave.

A child of Samantha from her first marriage, Violet Johnson, filed a claim for $500 against the estate “For care, washing for, ironing , sewing, getting up wood, cooking, keeping house and attention for three years at different intervals” and for $1000 for “Services as per contract.” Just what the “Services” were is not stated. The claim appears particularly unusual since Violet was unmarried and as Millard's stepchild, she was (more or less) a family member. One might expect that she would help out around the house, where she was presumably living, for no charge. Millard's brother and sisters, the estate heirs, got together and settled with both Samantha and her daughter for all their claims for $1000.

R. E. Tapscott, 6 Oct 2014.

Following her death, Samantha was buried with her first husband in Auburn Cemetery. The stone reads “Samantha His Wife.” Millard, who left no descendants, rests alone.

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.

James and Elizabeth (Lowry) Wright

During a very recent family history research trip to the prairie states, I had a chance to visit with my cousin Edgar Tingley and his wife, Marjorie. Though Tapscotts were a major source of conversation, Edgar and Marjorie did show me a photo of James and Elizabeth (Lowry) Wright (see blogs of 9/27/15, 10/11/15, 9/29/15), predecessors of some Clark County Tapscotts. Here is that photo, which shows James and Elizabeth alongside their home.

Clark County home of James F. and Elizabeth J. (Lowry) Wright c1906. Left to right:

(1) (probably) Mary Elizabeth (Wright) Shields, (2) Elizabeth (Lowry) Wright, (3) Richard Wright (son), (4) Dewey Oscar Shields (grandson), (5) James F. Wright, (6) John Wright (son). Photo courtesy of Edgar and Marjorie Tingley.

The youngest person in this photo, Dewey Oscar Shields, was born to Mary Elizabeth Wright and Henry U. Shields on 6 Feb 1899 in Sullivan, Moultrie County, Illinois. Married in 1897, Mary and Henry may have broken up by the time that Mary appears with her son Dewey, but without Henry, in the 1900 census. The marriage was certainly finished by the following year when, on 12 Nov 1901, Henry married Vina B. Grant.

The above photo was taken about ten years before 15 Dec 1915, when Mary Elizabeth (Wright) Shields married her second husband, the widowed Allen Wesley Pennell, a marriage which gave Mary Elizabeth another son, Wayne Andrew Pennell, born 30 Aug 1916.

Earlier, another cousin, Dolores Berbaum, had loaned me the photo shown below of the entire James and Elizabeth (Lowry) Wright family (except for a child that died as an infant)

.

James and Elizabeth (Lowry) Wright Framily, c1891. Standing, left to right:
Robert Wright, Mary Wright, Richard Wright, Edna Wright, Orlie
Wright. Seated, left to right: James F. Wright, John Wright, Elizabeth
(Lowry) Wright. Photo courtesy of Dolores Bierbaum.

Uncle Dickie

Rev. Richard Wright

Rev. Richard Wright, c1865
(courtesy of Patrick Joseph Shade)

We have spoken of Rev. Richard Wright, father of Isaiah Grant Wright, believed to have been the biological father of Grant Frederick Tapscott [posting of 5 Dec 2015]. It turns out that Richard, often referred to as "Uncle Dickie," was also the grandfather of Edna Earl Wright, wife of John Wesley Tapscott, a grandson of Henry the Traveler.

Thus, Uncle Dickie will remain a subject for discussion in this Tapscott Family blog. But more and more information about Rev. Wright is emerging, and he needs a space of of his own. A new series of postings on the "Wrights of the Wabash Valley" will soon appear in a separate blog.