Wabash Valley Tapscotts - Frances Ann Tapscott

I haven’t died, and I am still working on Henry’s Children, the Tapscotts of the Wabash Valley.

It is often difficult to trace the lives of those who left no present-day descendants—descendants to keep track of ancestors, to pay for memorials, or to report parents in records. Of their twelve children, Henry and Susan (Bass) Tapscott (founders of the Wabash Valley Tapscotts) had four who, today, have no known descendants—John, James Wesley, Frances Ann, and Lydia Ann. I just finished writing the chapter on Frances.

Born in 1839, Frances Ann was the last of Henry and Susan’s children to be born in Indiana, before the family moved to Illinois. On 28 Oct 1858 in Clark County, she wedded Samuel James Lockard (often misspelled “Lockart” or “Lockhart”). His sister, Mary Ann Lockard, had married Frances Ann’s brother Jacob just four day earlier.

Born in Ross Co, Ohio, on 1 Oct in either 1837 (according to his death certificate) or 1838 (according to the 1900 census and his grave marker), Samuel was one of nine children of James and Belinda (Cutright) Lockard.

Samuel and Frances farmed a while in Marshall Twp in Clark County, but by 1870 they had moved to Terre Haute, where Samuel was a carpenter, the job he had most of his life. The 1880 census shows the couple (Frances with the name “Fairy”)  still living at 1012 Walnut Street in Terre Haute. Then tragedy struck. In Jan 1881, forty-two-year-old Frances was laid to rest in Terre Haute’s Woodlawn Cemetery, after dying of “paralysis,” whatever that may mean. She left two children—Martha and Fred.

Samuel lived another forty years in Terre Haute, where he married twice more. On 9 Mar 1882 he wedded Lucinda H. Murphy. Born 8 Aug 1840 in Pulaski Co, Kentucky, Lucinda had two earlier husbands—Michael Sowder, who she married in Pulaski on 24 Apr 1860, and Roland M. Smith who she wedded in Marion Co, Indiana, on 17 Sep 1865. Lucinda died in Terre Haute on 21 Dec 1897 and was buried there in St. Joseph Cemetery.

On 12 Apr 1899 Samuel  married a third time when he wedded Samantha B. Sanders. Born on 7 June 1860 in Sullivan Co, Indiana, to William and Mary A. (Hughes) Sanders, she almost always gave her middle name as “Belle,” possibly short for “Isabelle” or “Isabel,” which is shown in one census record. Samantha does not appear to have been related to the Sanders of Marion Co, Indiana, who had married into the Clark County Tapscotts. Like Samuel’s previous wife, Samantha had been married twice before. On 19 Jun 1887 in Sullivan County, she had married Henry C. Robinson, and on 15 Jun 1891 in Terre Haute she had married William P. Walker.

St. Joseph Cemetery marker, with
a missing body (Find A Grave).

From her second marriage, Samantha had a child, Earl Walker, who ended up in Terre Haute living with Samuel and Samantha. By 1920 things had turned around. Samuel, who was getting up in years, and Samantha were living with Earl and his wife, Ruth, in East Chicago, Indiana. It was there that he died, “from old age.” on 4 Jul 1926. Samantha, who went back to using the name “Walker” (after all, she had a son with that name) lived almost a quarter century more, dying on 27 Aug 1949 in rural Rosedale, Indiana, where Earl had moved.

In St. Joseph Cemetery, Terre Haute, stands a marker for Samuel J. Lockard showing a birthdate, but no death date. The marker was apparently erected following the death of Samuel’s second wife, Lucinda, who is buried there. But Samuel was actually interred in Elmwood Cemetery, Hammond, Indiana.

Next time we'll take a look at Frances Ann's peripatetic children, Martha and Fred.

Wabash Valley Tapscotts - Isaac Nathaniel Sweet

The last blog presented the rather strange relationship between Isaac and Jennie (Sanders) Sweet. Now an industrious family history researcher, Terry Bullock, has sent me some newspaper articles that gives the probable source of the apparent division. Isaac’s behavior was, to say the least, highly questionable.

The first known problematic behavior occurred two years before Isaac married, on 24 Oct 1890, when Isaac “terribly stabbed” his cousin George Cline (Isaac’s father, Austin, and George’s mother, Mary Jane, were children of Nathaniel and Elizabeth Sweet) at Mt. Pleasant Church  in Martinsville Twp. Isaac pleaded self-defense. His next known escapade occurred over a quarter century later, when “Isaac Sweet, former constable,” was fined $100 and cost and given ninety days on a penal farm for liquor law violation. This was not all that big a transgression. After all a lot of people, many respectable, were violating the Volstead Act in the 1920s. But more serious things were to come. On 13 Apr 1929, again designated a “former constable,” Isaac was arrested in Terre Haute for forging an assignment of title in the sale of an auto. (Though it has apparently nothing to do with this, just two days earlier, in Terre Haute, Isaac’s brother, Austin, had been killed by a constable, see Austin Sweet Jr.)

Conviction for automobile fraud carried a fine of $1,000 to $5,000 and imprisonment of two to ten years. Isaac was paroled by circuit court judge John P. Jeffries under the condition that he return to his former home in Illinois and stay out of Terre Haute. But despite the restriction, on 28 Aug 1930 Isaac was arrested in Terre Haute on a charge of “hog stealing” and turned over to the Sheriff of Marshall, the theft having apparently occurred in Clark Co. Then on 30 Apr 1932, again in Terre Haute, Isaac was arrested for assault and battery with intent to kill after stabbing a grocery clerk in a quarrel over the purchase of a bottle of pop. Isaac’s known malfeasances started and ended with a stabbing, indicative of an anger management problem. Surprisingly, not one of Isaac’s escapades can be found in a Clark County newspaper.

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Wabash Valley Tapscotts - Amelia Jennie Sanders

Like a mystery? So do I. And the story of Amelia Jennie Sanders, another member of that huge Sanders family descended from Sarah Ann Tapscott, presents several. I hope to clarify things for my book Henry’s Children, the Tapscotts of the Wabash Valley.

As a child she appeared as “Amelia” in the 1870 Marion Co, Indiana, census and in the 1880 Clark Co, census but thereafter she was just “Jennie.” In Clark Co on 5 May 1884 she married Clement V. Shade. Born 5 Aug 1863 in Mt. Gilead, Ohio, to John and Rachel (Graham) Shade, Clement was the brother of Joseph Shade, husband of Jennie’s sister Susan. Clem (as he was usually known) and Jennie had a single child, Cleveland Leslie, but by 13 Apr 1892, when Clement married Josephine (“Josie”) Church)— Jennie and Clem had apparently divorced. That same year, on 17 Sep 1892, in Coles Co, Illinois, Jennie married Isaac Nathanial Sweet, brother of Richard Morgan Sweet, who had earlier married Jennie’s cousin Cora Isabelle Tapscott. It was a tight-knit community.

Clement and Josephine went on to have four children (Charles, Glen, Fred, and Ruth) before Clem died in Martinsville on 17 May 1932. Josephine lived another 30 years, passing away on 3 Oct 1962, also in Martinsville. She and Clement were interred in Auburn Cemetery. But let’s get back to the Tapscott descendants.

When first married, Isaac and Jennie lived in Martinsville Twp where, in 1900, Isaac was farming, but then Isaac began spending more and more time in Terre Haute taking on a variety of occupations. In 1910 he appears in two censuses, with Jennie in Martinsville Twp, where he is still listed as a farmer, and as a boarder in Terre Haute, where he is working as a streetcar conductor. And he continued to spend much of his time in Terre Haute. In 1920 Isaac once again was found in two censuses, with Jennie and son Austin in Martinsville, and with Austin and a housekeeper, Jeannette Sluder, in Terre Haute. But Isaac is now a constable, a job continued five more years while living in Terre Haute.

And then things get strange. In 1922 the Terre Haute city directory shows Isaac with a wife, “Jennie,” and in 1925, with a wife “Jeannette.”  Was “Jennie” really his housekeeper Jeanette? Did the directory publisher make a mistake listing “Jeannette” as his wife? Could his wife Jennie have also been known as “Jeannette”? In 1922 he was a constable, but, in 1925 he was listed as a “barber and constable,” quite a combination. Then in Terre Haute in 1927 he is a notary public and in 1929, a “Lawyer,” where the directory entry shows his wife as “Jeanett.” Wow! Very confusing. Cross checks of addresses and other information confirm only a single Isaac N. Sweet at the time.

Martinsville, Illinois c1900 (Penny Postcards , USGenWeb).

And what was Jennie Sweet doing while Isaac was working at a variety of jobs in Terre Haute? A large number of Marshall newspaper articles in the Marshall Public library database (120 in the 1920s alone) show her living in the Martinsville area or traveling to Indiana (to Brazil or Indianapolis), usually with Austin, to visit relatives. In some cases she stayed in Indianapolis for significant periods. And in 1922 Jennie moved into a house once occupied by her son Olin in the Mt. Pleasant area of Martinsville Twp; Isaac was not mentioned.

In the 1930 census Jennie and Isaac were both living in Clark County, but not together. Jennie is living in Martinsville Twp with her son Austin, daughter Pearl, and Pearl’s children, and she is listed as widowed. Isaac is living in Wabash Twp, with a housekeeper “Jennett Neal” and no occupation.

Were Jennett Neal, the “wife” Jeanett, and Jeanette Sluder the same person? Probably. the censuses give birth years of about 1884 (considerably different than the birth year of 1866 for Jennie). “Neal” and/or “Sluder” may be married names. On 1 Sep 1935, almost three years after the death of Isaac Sweet, a “Jeanett Neal,” birthdate 4 Mar 1885, married Thomas Long in Terre Haute. The death certificate (which omits parentage) for “Jeanette” Long who died in Vigo County on 7 Jan 1945 gives a birthdate of 4 Mar 1884. We know nothing more about Jennett/Jeanett/Jeanette Sluder/Neal or her relationship with Isaac.

Isaac and Jennie marker (Find a Grave).

Born 14 Feb 1870 in Martinsville, Isaac Sweet died 4 Dec 1932 in Martinsville Twp. Jennie, who was born May 1866 in Indiana, died in the town of Martinsville on 21 May 1952. Apparently separated during much of their marriage, the couple rest under a single marker in Mt. Pleasant Cemetery, Martinsville Twp.

Can you help me write my book? Did Isaac and Jennie really live separate lives? How could Isaac hold jobs as farmer, streetcar conductor, constable, barber, notary public, and lawyer? And who was Jennett/Jeanett/Jeanette Sluder/Neal?

Wabash Valley Tapscotts - 1899

I’m still working on the descendants of Sarah Ann Tapscott, who married William M. Sanders. One of their children was Edward F. Sanders, who was born 22 Nov 1861, near Glenns Valley in Marion County, Indiana.

Edward’s story is intriguing, with most of the intrigues arising as a result of his first marriage, involving people other than Edward, and centered around the year 1899. It is said that Edward lived his entire life in Marion County, Indiana, where he was born. He did live most of his life there, but he lived a few years in rural Marshall, when his father moved there about 1877 after his mother, Sarah, had died. It was in Clark County that on 27 Dec 1887 he married Emma Lucy Tingley, the sister of Edward’s sister-in-law Alfaretta.

Emma and Edward’s marriage was short-lived. Around 23 Dec 1896 in Marshall, Emma was granted a divorce after Edward failed to appear for a hearing. He may have been back in Marion County, Indiana, where he would live most of the rest of his life.

And now we get to the intrigues.

On 8 Nov 1899 in Clark County, Emma married J. W. Smith. J. W. was Jacob Warren Smith, a local homeopathic physician.  The doctor went by “J. W.” professionally, “Jacob W.” in his early life, and “J. Warren” in later years, making family history research difficult.

The year 1899 ended with Dr. Smith marrying Emma (Tingley) Sanders, but it began with being shot four times, later being tried in Kentucky for murder, and then being divorced from his first wife. What a year! The story was told by the Clark County Herald.

On 1 Jan 1887 in Clark County Jacob W. had married Rosanna (Ulery) Soward, the widow of Michael Soward. At the time J. W. was not a doctor, so Rosanna used the money she received from her late husband to send Smith through medical school. But Rosanna’s son Guy was not happy about his heritance being spent and he became increasingly angry at his stepdad. Then on New Year’s Eve, 31 Dec 1898 things came to a head. At his home in Martinsville, where he had his office at the time, Dr. Smith encountered Guy and the new year started with a bang. Five bangs in fact, as Guy emptied his revolver at his stepfather. Dr. Smith was hit four times, in the hand, the arm, and twice in the back, but the injuries turned out to be minor.

Clark County Herald, 10 Aug 1899,

Guy was arrested. The Herald reported “Young Soward has been rather on the wild order for several years. It is related that he was very fond of riding his horse at breakneck speed when just outside the city limits, firing his revolver as he rode, cowboy fashion.” Eventually, Rosanna would also be indicted for attempted murder. The family situation forbad domesticity and Dr. Smith moved from Martinsville to Marshall, living at the Marshall House hotel and setting up his office first above Ferry's drug store and then over Beamer's grocery. Rosanna, threatened with a charge of attempted murder, developed a plan to turn the tables—transform the victim into an accused.

When Smith was a boy of sixteen, he had killed a seventeen-year-old boy, Henry Craig, in Bath County, Kentucky. Though there are differing tales about how it occurred and what happened afterwards, it appears that, under indictment for murder, Smith left Kentucky, going to Ohio, Kansas, Missouri, and his original home in Seymour, Indiana, before ending up in Martinsville, where he met and married a well-to-do widow who paid for his education, Rosanna. Unfortunately, Dr. Smith told his wife about what happened in Kentucky, providing Rosanna a way to distract her accusers. In August 1899 Rosanna traveled to Kentucky and told her story. But officials there were not eager to spend money traveling to Illinois to bring Smith back for trial. So Rosanna actually paid for their travel, twice since two trips were needed owing to a problem with the original warrant. On 9 Sept 1899, a warrant for Smith’s arrest was delivered to the Marshall sheriff, and Smith was conveyed to the city jail in Owingsville, Kentucky, the seat of Bath County.

In a nutshell, Smith was tried, beat the charges, and returned to Marshall, where both Roseanna and Guy had now been indicted for his attempted murder. On 7 Nov 1899, Guy Soward was allowed to enter a plea of guilty to the charge of assault and to that of carrying concealed weapons. He was fined $50 on the first charge and $25 on the second. It was at Dr. Smith's request that this leniency was shown. At the same court Dr. Smith was granted a divorce from Roseanna. Less than twenty-four hours later, he married Emma (Tingley) Sanders, apparently the woman with whom he had “conducted himself improperly” according to charges related by the Herald.

Fauquier County Tapscotts - A Tapscott Family Reunion

This blog has often talked about Tapscotts of Fauquier County, Virginia (search for the word “Fauquier” and you will see what I mean).

Each year since 1983, with one exception, the Fauquier Tapscotts have held a reunion in Fauquier County the last weekend of July. Until recently the gathering was held in a rural field in the Cedar Run District, where many Tapscotts once lived. The creek that runs through the field, Cedar Run, was used for baptisms by Poplar Forks Church, two miles distant, where many Tapscotts are buried. In the earlier years, when the reunion was a two-day event, multiple tents were set up, allowing overnight camping to keep the party going. Since its initiation the reunion was only canceled once, in 2017 due to the threat of heavy rain, which never occurred. The event is now limited to one day and is held in a more convenient and comfortable site than the field, despite the field’s sentimental value. (Thanks to Mark Porter for this information.)

The earlier reunions were held near Poplar Forks
Church and Cemetery, where many Tapscotts rest.

On Saturday, 27 July, the 2019 reunion the was held at Northern Fauquier Community Park, Virginia.. And Mary Frances and I drove 1852 miles one way from Albuquerque to attend this 36^th gathering. We actually drove much further because the trip was not only to meet the Tapscotts, but to collect information on Mary Frances’s family, the Summers. (But that is another subject and a different blog, http://summersfamilyhistory.blogspot.com/).

We had attended the Tapscott reunion once before, in 2015, and had a great time. Then we had met sixth and seventh cousins, their spouses, their children. But this time was even better. Mark Porter did a superb job planning and coordinating the function, with help from funds manager, Bridget Harris. Mark’s dad, Conway, worked continuously grilling hamburgers and hot dogs. Greg and Daron Tapscott provided splendid live entertainment. But perhaps the best entertainer was “Duke” Bland, who did an outstanding job auctioning off donated items to pay for next year’s reunion.

And in addition to renewing old acquaintances and making new ones (including folks I had corresponded with for years but had never met), I met a descendant of Robert “King” Carter, who in 1723 had hired Henry Tapscott, “The Immigrant,” my 6^th great grandfather, to do carpentry for him. And I met a descendant of Bishop Enoch George Jr., whose grandmother was Ann Edney, whose first husband was Henry the Immigrant. Wow!

Great event, great people, great memories. We’ll be back next year.

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.