Christmas Past

Of course, I had grand ideas of collecting all kinds of family stories of Christmas traditions past....and no one particularly wanted to "play". Oh well, the holidays are fraught and people are busy. So I'll offer you a few things I do have. First is Bunny Tapply's Santa, which stood every year on her mantle. This has great sentimental value to the Charlie Tapply branch of the family.

Holly Jones did offer a couple of family pictures from the Beryl Tapply Jones branch of the family.

First the Jones clan in 1960. That's Holly in the middle in the blue sweater.

Next, you can see Beryl with all her family around her in 1970. That's Holly, I believe, in the white sweater behind her father.

I was challenged to find a good group photo of my family. (Dad was usually the photographer) I did find this gem from 1955 when I was still an "only" of about 3 and had just received my first tricycle. That's Prim Tapply Rogers looking much younger than I ever remember her! (That chair still sits in my house)

I've had an interesting year in my family history research. I've reconnected with an older member from my Smith branch and discovered a whole new set of cousins from the Cooke side in Ireland. I've added to the ancient and living branches of my tree and I make new discoveries all the time.
This is a wonderful adventure and I invite you to follow me into the new year. Happy Holidays!

Lil' Punkins for a Throwback Thursday

Melissa, Melanie and Holly Jones on the steps in Lunenburg some time in the late 50's. For my cousins, here's how we are related.

Another cute picture from the Tapply cousins and very timely.

A Nostalgic Look Back

From the left: Cindy Tapply Letarte, Susan Tapply Ingraham, William R Tapply Jr. and Joyce Tapply Bingham

To me, this photo looks like it ought to be a promotional photo for a classic TV sitcom. It's just such a nostalgic photo of a particular time. These are my Tapply cousins about 1960. The race car looks like something straight out of  "The Little Rascals".

Susan Tapply Ingraham explains that her grandfather Charles built a small subdivision of homes on Maple Parkway in Lunenburg, Massachusetts. Maple Parkway was on a small hill, so perfect for a race car in the summer or a sled in the winter. Here's what Susan was able to tell me about the photo:

"Some of the homes were built by Grandpa Charles and I think he named the road. Uncle Chuck, Charles Jr. built some. Uncle Bob, Charles's son raised his family there also. It was a wonderful neighborhood where all the boys would build their carts and race down the hill. We had huge games of capture the flag in the woods behind the houses and also went sledding on what is now Walmart Mountain. The Ruggles family, four boys, would hold Jimmy Fund fairs and the entire neighborhood would become involved. We had wonderful memories in that neighborhood that Grandpa Charlie began. Uncle Bob's daughter, Launa, still lives there. She has carried on the Tapply construction creativity in her remodeled childhood home" (The Jimmie Fund is a charity that raises money to fight pediatric cancer)

Mark Tapply added that the race car was built by his father, Chuck and by Robert Tapply's son, Buzz.
For those trying to keep score with all the Tapply names, here's a greatly simplified chart for the names in this post:

I love photos that evoke a certain period and this one really does!

The Tale of Charles Tapply- More Evidence Surfaces.

The uniform of a sapper with the Royal Engineers

This is the dress uniform of the Royal Engineers for a sapper. A sapper was responsible for building and repairing roads and laying and clearing mines. This was the future that stretched ahead for Charles Tapply in 1880 as he served with his unit at Chatham.  I found this information on the Royal Engineers: "The Royal Engineers were the corps most affected by technological advance. In addition to their traditional duties of fortification, road- and bridge-building, they also became responsible for the operation of field telegraphs, the construction and operation of railways, and even the provision of balloons that provided observers with a "bird's-eye" view of enemy positions."
The First Boer War was in progress and Charles was as likely as not to end up in South Africa. He was 23 years old. He had a wife and a child and a baby on the way. Had he volunteered or was he conscripted? Who knows? Facing the prospect of several years of hard service, he "did a bunk".

How do I know all this? Well, I was lucky enough to win a photo-captioning contest on the Ancestry FB page and won access to The Fold and Newspapers.com.  Most of the records are "premium" and there's arm-twisting to pay for a better membership, but I did manage to grab a couple of things.

First is the notice of deserters that appeared in the Police Gazette.

The listing here gives us a lot of useful information. He was serving with the Royal Engineers. We know this is our Charles because it names his hometown as Maidstone and his occupation as painter. It gives a physical description of black hair, blue eyes and dark complexion with a mark on the left arm. And it states that he had disappeared from Chatham. Chatham is in the far eastern part of Kent.

The next document is the record of his court-martial. I don't see a year at the top of the page, but I'm assuming that after the notice in the gazette with no result, they proceeded with a court martial in January of 1881.  

We also know that since Daisy was born in February of 1881, Charles stuck around through June or July of 1880.  The census in Maidstone 1881 shows Ellen and the two girls living with Charles' parents. From what I can find out, the census back then was taken in April, May or June.
My guess is the Charles hid out in the area until he could find passage to the U.S., but we don't know when or how he actually left.

Here again is the passenger list with "Mrs. Tapply", Annie and Daisy. No Charles.

And here is the "header page" for the passenger list, which tells us they arrived June 17, 1881 in New York from London. As I talked about in a previous post, it would have been Castle Island. No trace of Charles under an alias, so he came by other means.

Here's a rather charming stamp representation of the steamship Bolivia. I doubt traveling alone in steerage with an infant and a three-year-old was charming.

What do we know now? Well the "Grandpa deserted from the British Army" story is definite. The records are all there. If he really was on the run, then the chances of finding his name on any passenger list are slim.  I was bowled over to find his name on those two lists for the British Army even though that service was considerably less than distinguished. At this distance in time and place, it simply adds a little "spice" to his story.