The Difference Between Johnson County Tapleys and Emanuel County Tapleys

Once upon a time, there was an independent woman named Sarah (Sally) Tapley.  She was the daughter of Newhampton (New) Tapley.  The identity of her mother is unknown.  Sally was born in South Carolina in 1775 (during the Tapley migration from North Carolina to Georgia).  When Sally's parents moved further south to what was then Washington County, Georgia but later became Montgomery County and still later Emanuel County, she came with them and spent the rest of her life in that area.

Though she never married, she gave birth to three children, all sons, two of them twins.  Through her twins, James M. Tapley and George Washington (Wash) Tapley, she wound up having many hundreds, maybe thousands, of descendants.

James M. Tapley (May 2, 1814 - August 2, 1884) lived his entire life in an area that was part of Montgomery County until Emanuel County was created in 1814.  The area remained a part of Emanuel until 1858, when it was cut off in the formation of Johnson County.  Generally called the Oaky Grove area, it now forms the northeastern corner of Johnson, near the borders of Emanuel and Washington counties.

James M. Tapley is buried in the Oaky Grove Church Cemetery:

 

 James' descendents moved into Emanuel County and multiplied there over the next century.

Georgia map with Emanuel County highlighted

  

George Washington (Wash) Tapley (May 2, 1814 - after 1880) is believed to have lived his entire life in the area that is now eastern Johnson County.  He is also buried at Oaky Grove, but in an unmarked grave.

Wash's descendents tended to stay in Johnson County.  This is the twin I am descended from, along with almost every one I have written about in this blog.

Georgia map with Johnson County highlighted

We (those of us who consider ourselves Johnson County Tapleys or are descended from them) call James' descendants "Emanuel County Tapleys" or "those other Tapleys."  We are all related, of course; just at more of a distance. And I know very few of them and very little about them.   

So now you know the difference!


Maps courtesy of wikipedia.org. 
Some information taken from Tapley:  A Family of Georgia and the South by Ray Tapley, 1993.