Wabash Valley Tapscotts - The Mysteries of Susie

I hate to give up when it comes to tracing Susie Bell Tingley and her children  (see blog 22 Jan 2018). But I may have to. Susan (“Susie”) Bell (likely “Corabelle” or “Corabell”) married the last-born of Henry and Susan (Bass) Tapscott’s children—the scoundrel Samuel. Once I finish with Samuel Tapscott and his descendants, the book “Henry’s Children, the Tapscotts of the Wabash Valley” will be complete. (Except for a month or two of editing and indexing.) But, I’m afraid I may have to write Samuel and Susie’s section with some rather large gaps. Let’s start with Susie.

Susie Bell (thanks to Cheryl Naegel)

The biggest problem with Susan (Tingley) Tapscott is that she disappears for over thirty years. Except for a postcard that my distant cousin Cheryl Naegel (a cornucopia of information) sent me, no document is found with her name between 1894, when “Bell Fingley” (transcription error) gave permission for her daughter Estella Tapscott to marry, and Susie's death on 3 Dec 1930 at her daughter’s home in Burnett, Vigo Co, Indiana. She cannot be found in the 1900, 1910, 1920, or 1930 censuses, or anywhere else for that matter.

We do know, from the postcard and death certificate, that she married someone by the name of “Sturdevant” (presumably following Samuel’s death on 15 Jun 1903). But, unfortunately, we don’t know her spouse’s first name. All attempts to find the correct Susan (or Susie) Sturdevant in other records have failed.

We also know, from the postcard, that she was living in Decatur, Illinois in 1927. What is interesting is that in 1920, living in Danville, was a Susan Sturdevant born in 1855 (our Susie’s birth year) married to an Andrew Sturdevant. Wrong Susan as it turns out.

 HELP

Can anybody tell me anything about Susie's missing years?

The next blog will look at Susie’s children, some even more mysterious than their mother.

Wabash Valley Tapscotts - Draft Book Section, George Wilber Tapscott

Paul V. Tapscott's life was not all that interesting. That was certainly not true of his brother George. Let me know of suggested changes, corrections, additions.

Born 25 Oct 1884 in Hendricks Co, Indiana, George Wilber Tapscott was a life-long Indiana farmer. As a teenager he worked as a farmhand, as his father did at the time, and went on to operating rented farms in Hendricks, Boone, and Marion counties. On the way he got married and raised four kids. And it was the marriage that makes George’s story interesting, for the woman he married had a fascinating history.

On 6 Jul 1915 in Hendricks Co, George W. Tapscott  married Ellen J. Head. But Ellen was not a native of Hendricks Co or even of the United States. She had been born Ellen Jane Booker on 9 Mar 1885 in Chichester, England to William M. and Augusta Emma (Peskett) Booker.

On 21 Apr 1908, the S.S. Minnehaha steamed into New York harbors, arriving from London, England. On board, with Los Angeles her ultimate destination, was Nellie Campbell. Nellie, it turns out, was Ellen Jane Booker. “Nellie” was the name Ellen would use most of the rest of her life and Daugald Archibald Campbell was the father of her unborn child. Nellie had arrived in the U.S. three months or so pregnant. She would later claim that she had been married to a person of high standing in the Royal Navy, who had died at sea and been buried there.

In Los Angeles, on 30 Oct 1908, Violet Campbell was born to Ellen Jean [sic] Booker and Daugald Archibald Campbell. Though the birth was recorded as legitimate, it had occurred at Door of Hope, 3500 S. Main Street, a women's shelter.

In 1909 Nellie was apparently taken ill and placed in a California hospital. It was there that she met William T. Head, a well-to-do Boone Co, Indiana, farmer. As a result of that meeting, it was said that “the spark of love was kindled which time fanned into a flame, resulting in their marriage.” The two were united in Danville, Illinois, on 5 Apr 1910.

Born 20 Jun 1852 in Bullitt Co, Kentucky, William Thomas Head had outlived two previous wives, the second of whom died 29 Aug 1909, around the time that he met Ellen (“Nellie”) Booker Campbell. William was thirty-three years older than Nellie, and he had children by both of his previous marriages.

The “spark of love” was soon extinguished between William and Nellie. On 1 Sep 1910, less than five months after the marriage, William filed for a divorce. In an article titled “Nellie was very Naughty” a local newspaper reported William’s claims:

. . .during his courtship Nellie represented that she was a pious, religious, and virtuous woman, a church member of long standing and had sang in the choir of one of the churches near her home; that she had previously been married to a man of high standing in the English navy, but that he had died on a voyage and been buried at sea; that as a result of her former marriage she had one child, but he declares that all of said statements were false and made for the purpose of deceiving him and inveigleing him into a marriage with her.

 

He says that he explained to her that he was a farmer and would give her a good home; that he needed some one to look after his grand daughter, and that she would be expected to do the work usually performed by farmers' wives. At her request, he brought her child to his home where it has since remained.

 

Soon after their marriage she began to complain and find fault with the furniture and other things about the farm; circulated the report that she did not love him; but married him for his money; called him a d-d old fool, and used vile and indecent language in the presence of his grand daughter, and when he remonstrated with her, she would tell him to "go to hell," she would do as she pleased.

 

He says that he explained to her hoods regarding him to his children, and caused them to cease visiting him; that she would use vile, suggestive and indecent language in the presence of strangers; that while professing to love him, she was planning to leave him, and was planning to visit lawyers with a view to compelling him to divide his property with her. Hat she averred she had been with other men, and they had taken liberties with her. He declares that he does not believe her child is the legitimate offspring of her former marriage. He says there no children and no hope of a reconciliation.

Nellie and George

Was there any truth to this? Possibly. But much seems to be unsubstantiated. Then, just two weeks later, the suit for divorce was dismissed. The couple stayed married until William's death, but how good the marriage was is difficult to say. The couple did, however, have a child, Thomas George Head, born posthumously 30 Mar 1914 in Union Twp, Hendricks Co.

William Thomas Head Sr. died 27 Feb 1914 and was laid to rest in Riverside Cemetery, Attica, Fountain Co, Indiana, with a marker listing his first two wives. And Nellie was free to marry again, which she did, the following year, when she married George Tapscott.

During the years that George traveled from county to county to rent and run farms, he and Nellie had four children, Esther, George, Marion, and John. Nellie’s first two offspring, Violet and William Thomas Jr., were also part of the family.

George died young, on 11 Jan 1936 in Indianapolis, of heart failure following removal of a cancerous kidney. Nellie continued living in Marion Co, in rural Indianapolis, raising four children (the two girls were  married by the time George died). Then, on 18 Jul 1960, Ellen J. (“Nellie”) Tapscott was found dead on a bed in the rural Indianapolis home of her daughter Violet with a plastic bag tied over head. She had committed suicide.

George and Ellen (Booker) Tapscott markers (Find A Grave)

Ellen and George rest side by side in the Knights of Pythias Cemetery, Lizton, Indiana. His cemetery marker is clearly inscribed with an obviously incorrect death of 1938. The year 1936 in his death certificate is confirmed by a newspaper death notice.

Wabash Valley Tapscotts - Draft Book Section, Paul V. Tapscott

Major and Sarah (Dinsmore) Tapscott had three sons, no daughters. The oldest son was Paul. Here is what I have written. Comments, suggestions, changes, additions?

Major and Sarah’s first born, Paul V., arrived 18 Sep 1880 in Hendricks Co, Indiana. About Jul 1909, when he was approaching age 29 (Major’s male descendants tended to marry late), Paul married Pearl D. Johnson, daughter of a Lebanon, Indiana, brick mason. Pearl was born to Willis D. and Emaline (Lee) Johnson on 10 Jan 1879, presumably in Lebanon. Pearl may have lacked documentation of her birth since in 1942 she asked the Morgan Co, Indiana, Circuit Court “to have the time and place of her birth determined.”

Paul and Pearl, a truly alliterative couple, started out married life in Montgomery Co, Indiana, northeast of Indianapolis, living there for a while in the 1920s with Paul’s widowed mother in the town of Crawfordsville. By 1930 Paul and Pearl were residing in the village of Brooklyn, Indiana, just a forty-minute drive to downtown Indianapolis. There, they lived out their married lives.

Brooklyn, Morgan Co, Indiana

When he retired in 1949, Paul had worked forty-seven years for Bell Telephone Company, where Pearl had also worked, as an operator. It may have been due to Paul’s and Pearl’s jobs that two Tapscott nephews, George William and Marion John, ended up working for Indiana Bell.

Paul died suddenly, passing away at his Brooklyn home 20 Jul 1950. Widowed, Pearl moved to Lebanon, Indiana, where she had spent her childhood. She died there on 14 Jan 1963, while living with a niece. She and Paul were laid to rest in the Knights of Pythias Cemetery, Lizton, Indiana. The couple had no children.

Wabash Valley Tapscotts - Draft Book Section,Major Josiah Tapscott

I'm now working on Major Tapscott, next to last of the 12 children of Henry the Traveler and Susan Bass. Here is what I have written about Major. Major's descendants come next. Complaints, contributions, interesting stories, etc. appreciated. See previous post.

Where his first name originated is anybody’s guess, but, Major’s middle name may have come from his presumed grandfather, Josiah Bass. Major’s death certificate gives his date of birth as 23 Mar 1848, in agreement with the date of Mar 1848 given in the 1900 census. Most other census data, however, indicate a birth year of around 1845 or 1846. Might he have knocked a year or two off his age as he grew older?

Sarah (Dinsmore) Tapscott. (Contribution
of LeAnna and Meredith McGuire)

In his younger years, he was always called “Major,” but later on he used the name “Josiah.” Major was born in Illinois, presumably in Clark Co, likely in Darwin Twp where he was living with his parents in 1850 but he and his progeny spent most of their lives in Indiana. Major had moved to Indiana by 1870, when he was working as a farmhand in White River Twp, Johnson Co, just south of Indianapolis, for John Presser, a rather well-to-do farmer. It was in that county that, on 6 Oct 1874, Major “Tabscott” married Fanny Dinsmore.

Sarah Fanny Dinsmore was born 6 Aug 1858 in Boone Co, Indiana, to John and Jane (Holder) Dinsmore, an Iowa and Indiana farm family with at least six children. Sarah and Major lived most or all of their married life in Hendricks Co, Indiana, where they raised three boys, Paul, George, and Allen, while Major worked in assorted jobs—farmhand, laborer, school janitor. Some claim that a fourth child, a daughter, Maude, was born and died on 19 Nov 1875, but no reliable evidence has been provided. It is certainly possible, however, since the first documented child, Paul, was born almost six years after Major and Sarah were married.

Major passed away 29 Feb 1916 at the Protestant Deaconess Hospital in Indianapolis. Sarah died 8 Mar 1928 at the home of her son Allen in Indianapolis. The couple were laid to rest in the Knights of Pythias Cemetery, Lizton, Indiana, though no markers are found.

Wabash Valley Tapscotts - Henry's Children

No, I haven't died. I am just struggling to complete Henry's Children, The Tapscotts of the Wabash Valley. What a hell of a lot of people! And I'm only going through generation four, counting Henry the Traveler (founder of the Wabash County Tapscotts) as generation one.

The reason for stopping there is that all members of that generation are deceased, and I have a strict rule that in my books I will give no more than names for living people. There are a number of living people for generation five. I am one. I will make an exception about providing details for living people only if (1) they specifically request that some of their history be included or (2) they are a hot news item owing to fame or misfortune. The latter has yet to come to my attention for living descendants of Henry the Traveler.

I would like to make this book more than a dry history and I am asking your help. I plan to periodically post here a draft book section on one of Henry's descendants. (Without reference notes to make it more readable.) If you have additional information, possess a photo, or know some family or personal stories about the person, things that might be good for the book, please drop me a line (retapscott@comcast.net). Of course it you see blatant errors, upsetting details, stupid statements, inappropriate remarks, plagiarism, etc. please let me know those also. (I hope to catch bad grammar or typos myself.) Remember I am planning to give out free copies of this book (assuming it ever gets written), and those copies will go first to contributors of information, photos, etc. And the names of significant contributors will appear in the acknowledgments.

Look here for upcoming draft sections. And thanks a lot.

Hope to see you soon.

Bob Tapscott

Wabash Valley Tapscotts - A Trip to Gideon Mill

It’s exciting to find the actual words of an early relative. Many years after it happened, the 1 Apr 1954 issue of the Clark County Democrat reports a tale attributed to my great grandfather, William Tapscott, by Ben Strohm, one of the small boys in the photo below.

Gideon Mill, date unknown (Clark Co Genealogical Library).

The eldest of Henry and Susan’s children, William, was born 25 Aug 1826, presumably in Green Co, Kentucky, where his father was living in 1822, but possibly in nearby Barren Co, where the family resided in 1830. At age eleven or so William left Kentucky with his parents, eventually ending up in Clark County’s Darwin Twp with eight siblings. There he helped his father farm. William is claimed to have told the following tale about a 1840 errand to what became known as Gideon Mill, where today’s North Choctaw Road crosses Mill Creek:

William slept under a bolting

chest (Library of Congress).

I drove an ox team to mill to get some grinding done, but so many were ahead of me that I had to stay all night. For supper we ate parched corn. Mr. Duckwall fixed me a place to sleep under the bolting chest for breakfast we had bill of fare as for supper. The whopping I got when I returned home impressed the event on my mind.

Wabash Valley Tapscotts - Finding Fred

The last three blogs dealt with Frances Ann (Tapscott) Lockard, her daughter, Mattie, and her son-in-law, Joseph Watt. But Frances had a second child, Fred.

Fred’s actual first name, Frederick, is found in Terre Haute City Directories for 1887 and for 1890-1891. His middle name, George, is shown in the 1904 Alameda Co, California voter registration. But he nearly always went by “Fred G.”

Tracking Fred was laborious because when he went to live with his sister and her husband, Mattie and Joseph Watt, following the death of his mother, he took the surname “Watt” and it took a while to figure that out. The surname  change may have occurred because he was adopted by his sister and her husband though no record has been found. Fred was only twelve years old when Frances Ann died. And his father married again shortly afterwards.

Bowie Southern Pacific Hotel

Fred G. Watt lived in Terre Haute with his sister and brother-in-law in the 1880s, working as a pressman in 1887 and as a clerk at T. J. Griffith’s shoe store in 1890. In 1894, he was a salesman in Wheeling, West Virginia. Then he traveled with his sister to California, where he was a San Francisco hotel clerk in 1900 and an Oakland shoe salesman in 1910. Following the 1911 death of Mattie, Fred began work as a night porter for the Southern Pacific Railroad, ending up employed in the railroad hotel in Bowie, Arizona in 1920.

And it is in Bowie, where a beautiful train station with a first-class hotel and dining room once served thousands of passengers passing through, that we last see Fred. As far as we know, Fred was never married and had no children. Where he ended up is a complete mystery. Perhaps one of you readers know what happened to Fred. I don’t.