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.

Wabash Valley Tapscotts - The Birch Gang

Terry Bullock, a cornucopia of information, photos, and newspaper articles about the Wabash Valley Sanders and their Tapscott connections, often distracts me with interesting stories that refuse to release me from their grip until I research them and commit the findings to paper. Once again she has pulled me away from family history grunt work with her tale of Sebastin (also “Sebastian”) Fox and his possible encounter with the “Birch Gang.” In this blog, let’s first take a look at the Birches.

Anderson Township

Rough, hilly, and once heavily wooded, much of Clark County's Anderson Twp, where the Wabash Valley Tapscotts finally settled, was poor for tillage. And some of the worse land was in the northwest, the area of the Tapscott homelands. The township is divided by Mill Creek, whose tributaries (Hurricane Creek, Haw Branch, Blackburn Branch, Auburn Branch) disrupt what should be unbroken prairie land.

Robert and his cohorts burying loot
(The Banditti of the Prairie, D. H. Cook
and Co, Publishers, Chicago, 1856).

Anderson Twp was once known for being wild and untamed, a reputation that may have been due as much to gossip as fact. Nevertheless, in the second quarter of the 1800s it was the home of Robert H. Birch, claimed to be a robber and murderer, though that was never proven in court. Known as “three-fingered” Birch, with a number of other aliases, Robert had arrived around 1831 in Anderson Twp as a child with his father, John, and brother Timothy. In 1832 John Birch owned property in Section 4 just north of what would be Henry’s Land.

As a youth, Robert became involved with a group of criminals who were terrorizing central Illinois. In Clark County, the group was  known as the “Birch Gang,” though little indicates that Robert was the leader. On 4 Jul 1845 near Rock Island, Illinois, Colonel George Davenport was murdered and Robert, William Fox, brothers John and Aaron Long, and Granville Young were accused of being participants. The Longs and Young were hung for the crime; William Fox and Robert Birch escaped. In later years Birch reformed and led a reputable life.

This lays the groundwork for Sebastin's tale, the subject of our next blog.

Wabash Valley Tapscotts - Marshall Illinois Marriage Announcements

Early village newspapers were really literary magazines. Front pages were filled with stories, poetry, advice, aphorisms, and what some took for humor—“How to Make a Cannon…Take a long hole and pour brass or iron about it.” What little news crept into front pages was from major cities, taken from other papers. Inside pages had local news, which for marriages was often poetic, gossip-filled, and sometimes scandalous (e.g., Samuel Tapscott and Susan Tingley, 14 Sep 2015 blog). The following marriage notices are from the Marshall Republican:

23 Apr 1909: In order to keep their friends from finding out the great secret Mrs. Lucy Swope and James Obrist went to Effingham Wednesday of last week and were married in that city returning home Thursday morning. This is the bride’s third adventure on the sea of matrimony and the groom’s first attempt at steering the matrimonial craft o’er life’s tempestuous sea.

27 Aug 1909: Monday morning the train on the Vandalia from the west due at 7:04 brought Mr. Jeff Walters and Goldia Mae Jacobs of Vevay Park Cumberland county to the County clerk’s office where they secured the papers authorizing them to trot in double harness and hied themselves to Judge Martin’s matrimonial parlors where they were soon made one. This was a runaway match but as soon as the knot was tied they turned right around and ran back again.

10 Sep 1909: Benton Willey, age 36 and Myrtle Gudgeon age 29, both of Terre Haute were married by Esquire Benson Martin in his matrimonial parlors at noon Wednesday. The groom was a former resident of this city and it is his first marriage. The bride is a bashful young creature, but has managed to survive the shock of two former marriages and seemed to enjoy the thought of a third matrimonial alliance.

12 Nov 1909: Saturday Austin Sweet, an attorney of Terre Haute met Miss Alma Shook of Yale, in this city. They secured a permit from County Clerk J.W. Fredenberger to trot through life in double harness. They then hunted up Elder John A. Sweet who tied the knot matrimonial for them. They had attempted to keep the marriage a secret from their Terre Haute friends, but on their arrival at their Terre Haute home Sunday they were greatly surprised at the reception given them by a number of friends who met them at the station.

26 Nov 1909: Grover Hybarger, son of Mr. and Mrs. Samuel Hybarger of Paris, who formerly lived here and Miss Bertha Sidenstricker also of Paris, were married secretly at New Castle, Ind., in July last. Mr. Hybarger was working at the time for the American Express company at Indianapolis and Miss Sidenstricker was visiting her brother there when they slipped away to New Castle where they were married. They revealed the fact to her brother, James Sidenstricker at Indianapolis but concealed it from their parents until recently when Grover was transferred by the American Express company to Paris when they divulged the secret and decided to set up house keeping.

20 May 1910: Sunday Abel Bennett, bachelor, and Mrs. Minnie Bennett, both of Orange township, were married at the home of Richard Keller of Orange township by Rev. T.C. Bailiff. The brides maiden name was Cox and we understand was the widow of a brother of the man of her second choice.

21 Jan 1910: A romance culminated here Tuesday when Oscar Mason of Mayfield, Kentucky, applied for a license to marry Miss Minnie Robinson of Parker township. Seven years ago Dr. John F. Kirksey of Mayfield, met and woed and won Miss Amanda Robinson, a sister of Mr. Mason’s bride and in a visit to her sister at Mayfield, Miss Minnie became a victim of cupids darts and capitulated to her southern wooer.

Fauquier County Tapscotts - Henny Penny

I just heard yesterday of the death on 23 Jun 2019 of another Tapscott cousin, the gregarious Charles Henry Colvin, known to most of the family as “Henny Penny.”

Charles was a member of the Fauquier County, Virginia, Tapscotts, the only son of Henry L. and Viola (Tapscott) Colvin, and a great great grandson of Harriet Tapscott. Harriet, the progenitor of many of the Fauquier Tapscotts, is believed to be a granddaughter of Ezekiel Tapscott, via James and Elizabeth (Percifull) Tapscott (see blogs of 1/13/2013, 1/15/2013). That would make Charles and me sixth cousins.

Omitting passages naming some still living relatives, let’s let Henny Penny tell his own story (from a work in progress on Tapscott, Colvin & Nickens Ancestors by Nakia Lorice Long):

Hello family, This is Charles Henry Colvin, Nickname “Henny Penny,” My life started on 17 February 1934 at 1722 Montello Ave. N.E. Washington D.C. I attended Crummell Elementary School, Brown Junior High School, and Phelps Vocational High School for one and a half years, I transferred to Armstrong Technical High School where I graduated. While in High School I earned my Varsity Letter for playing baseball.

Upon graduating from High School I was employed by the Defense Department of the U.S. government from which I retired after 37 years of service. On December 1956, I was drafted into the U.S. army and served 2 years active duty, 2 years active reserve, and 2 years standby reserve duty before receiving my discharge. On 4 September 1960 I married Audrey Mae Whiting of Prince George Va. We had two children. . . . I retired in 1989 and moved to LaPlata, Md. Where I have been living since my retirement.

Charles’s death comes exactly five weeks before the 2019 Tapscott Reunion in Fauquier County (Mary Frances and I will be attending). We will miss you, Henny Penny.

Wabash Valley Tapscotts - Susan Frances Sanders

No. I haven’t died. It’s just that my new book, Henry’s Children, The Tapscotts of the Wabash Valley, is becoming considerably longer and more complex than anticipated.

Six children of Henry Tapscott the Traveler (the child of William the Preacher) and their descendants—William, John, James Wesley, Thomas, Nancy, and Jacob—have been covered. Bringing us to child seven, Sarah Ann Tapscott, wife of William M. Sanders, and that is a problem. For Sarah Ann and William had eight children, many of whom had several children. And generally there is too much information about Sarah and William’s descendants, not too little—too much to read, record, and digest. But there are still two unknowns, which Tapscott Family History readers might help me answer. And both involve Susan Frances Sanders, daughter of William and Sarah Ann.

Susan Frances is believed to have married Robert Jones in Marion County, Indiana, on 3 Sep 1873, but the sole evidence is a single marriage record with Susan F. Sanders as the bride and let’s face it, “Susan F. Sanders” is not an unusual name. And nothing is known of the origin or ending of Robert Jones.

And on 8 Feb 1877, just a little over three years after she may have married Robert Jones, Susan Frances Sanders is known to have married Joseph Shade in Clark County, Illinois. But Joseph’s first wife was Ada Swafford, about whom, like Robert Jones, we know absolutely nothing, other than that she married Joseph in Clark County on 1 Dec 1874.

Does anyone know anything reliable about Robert Jones of Marion County, Indiana, or Ada Swafford of Clark County, Illinois? Any chance we have a name wrong?

Wabash Valley Tapscotts - The Cunninghams of Clark County

I was pleased to see a recent "NICE SEEING YOU AGAIN ROBERT" comment by Phil Cunningham attached to the blog "The Merry Cricket" (29 Sep 2015). Phil is the great great grandson of William H. and Mary Ann (Reed) Cunningham, an Ohio-born couple who founded the Clark County Cunninghams. It turns out that he and I are third cousins (through Jackson Lowry) and also fourth cousins (through Nathaniel Sweet). Way back in 2003, when I was still very much a family history novice, Phil shared with me the research he had done on the “Descendants of Fairy Lowry,” which included Cunningham history, helping me unravel the genealogy of James Cunningham, husband of Mary Mallory, daughter of Emma Tapscott.

“Gertie,” Ruby, and Mary Mallory, daughters of Emma Tapscott, were heavily involved in early nineteenth-century Possum Ridge teenage society. (Possum Ridge School was located in Anderson Twp, Clark County, about two miles southeast of Freedom Baptist Church across Hurricane Creek.) Among their friends were Ruth, Reba, and Joy Cunningham, cousins of James Cunningham. So, of course, it was inevitable that Emma and William Mallory’s youngest child, Mary (born 8 Sep 1903) should meet James.

Born in Marshall, Illinois, 23 Dec 1899, James (“Jim”) Cunningham was one of eight children of Andrew (“Andy”) and Elizabeth Catherine (Smitley) Cunningham, a Clark County farm family. In his younger days, James worked as a farmhand in nearby Humboldt and as a general laborer. In 1923 he was working for American Car Company, a streetcar manufacturer, when he and Mary were married 3 July at the home of Rev. R. (Reuben) S. Wheeldon in Auburn.

The married couple soon returned from their first home in St. Louis back to Clark County, moving from farm to farm—in 1924 to the Charles Cline farm in the Freedom area of Anderson Twp, by 1930 to live with Mary’s widowed father, William, by 1933 to the farm of Mary’s widowed aunt Edna Tapscott when Edna briefly moved to Marshall, and in that same year to “Mr. Hollenbeck’s farm.”

But farming was not for James. By 1933 he had joined R. S. Wheeldon, the preacher at his wedding, in running the Wheeldon and Cunningham grocery on Marshall’s Main Street. Although the market was almost destroyed in a fire that year, James continued in the business, which became the James Cunningham Market after Wheeldon moved to Palestine, Illinois.

Rev. Reuben S. Wheeldon was a leading figure in the Pilgrim Holiness Church, founding during his life, churches at several locations including Marshall, Palestine, and West Terre Haute. Known for his tent-meeting revivals, he ran grocery stores in many of those towns, selling groceries during the day and preaching nights and weekends. Working alongside Wheeldon, James Cunningham became increasingly active in the Pilgrim Holiness Church. In 1934 he served as a church delegate to a conference in Frankfort, Indiana, in 1935 he was visiting other towns as an evangelist while continuing work in Marshall as a “merchant,” and in 1937 he was made a deacon and a trustee of the local church. In 1938 James was the pastor of Asbury Pilgrim Holiness Church, about four miles north of Greenup, Illinois.

In 1940 James was studying at Bible Holiness Seminary in Owassa, Michigan, while his wife was doing laundry. From then on the family moved from place to place while James served as pastor and/or evangelist in Robinson, Illinois, Dryden, Michigan, Cincinnati, Ohio, and Joliet, Illinois. Then, in 1956, he was offered the position of pastor of the Fort Lauderdale church in Florida, the state in which he spent the rest of his life.

Mary (Mallory) Cunningham passed away in Pinellas County, Florida, on 11 or 12 Apr 1970 and was interred in Mount Pleasant Cemetery in Clark County. James lived another three years before dying 27 Aug 1973 in Melbourne, Florida. His last position was pastor of the Wesleyan Church in St. Petersburg, Florida, the Holiness Church having merged with the Wesleyan Methodists in 1968. He was laid to rest alongside Mary.

Wabash Valley Tapscotts - Nancy Ellen Easterday Clouse

While researching Wlliam Siverly, husband of Nancy Tapscott, a Wabash Valley Tapscott, I encountered his nephew John B. Siverly. And with John, came a mystery.

We know a lot about John B., though we have no documented proof that his middle name was “Benjamin,” as claimed by some. John B. Siverly was born 14 Oct 1860 in Anderson Twp, Clark County, to Jacob and Elizabeth (Fuller) Siverly. On 16 Jun 1889, John and Lucinda H. McKenzie were married. But the married rapidly disintegrated, lasting only long enough to produce a son, Robert Franklin Siverly, born 25 Mar 1890. Lucinda (“Cindy”), who never remarried and went back to the name “McKenzie,” died on 5 Dec 1919. Robert died just months later, on 17 Jun 1920 at age 30, leaving a wife and four children. But enough about Lucinda and Robert, who play, at best, minor roles in our mystery.

On 29 Oct 1895 in Clark County, John B., now presumably divorced from Lucinda, married Nancy Ellen Clouse. The couple had four sons—George Franklin, Clarence Douglas, Ernest, and Harold Leslie. Then on 9 Jul 1909, after less than fifteen years of marriage and three days after giving birth to Herman, Nancy died. The two older boys stayed with John; the two younger boys were farmed out to Siverly relatives.

And who was the now expired Nancy Ellen (Clouse) Siverly? Though she appears to have been born in Mar 1880, she is not found in the 1880 census, which has an official date of 1 Jun. But her birth date may be a little off or she may have been omitted because she was just weeks old, perhaps with a questionable survivability. Unfortunately, for all practical purposes, there are no 1890 census records. Thus, we first see Nancy in a census in 1900, only after she had married John Siverly.

At first it seems likely that Nancy was a daughter of Moses and Pina Ann (Plunkett) Clouse. Pina’s obituary states that she had nine children, five girls and four boys. But we find only eight children named in censuses, and only four girls. A daughter is missing. And the number of living children claimed by Pina decreased by one between the 1900 and 1910 census, before and after the death of Nancy Ellen Siverly. Thus, everything fits together.

Or does it? When Nancy’s son Clarence applied for a marriage license in 1926, he gave the “Full Christian and maiden name” of his mother as “Nancy Easterday.” And when son Ernest married, also in 1926, he gave his mother’s name as “Nancy Easterday.” And when Harold died in 2000, his obituary stated that he was born in Clark County to “John L. and Nancy Easterday Siverly.” Could Nancy have actually been an Easterday with “Clouse” her name from a previous marriage? The answer is almost certainly no. Her death record show that "Clouse" was her maiden name. Moreover, born in 1880, Nancy was only fifteen years old when she married John. There was insufficient time for an earlier marriage.

So, who was Nancy Ellen Easterday Clouse?