This is a Message Board Post that is gatewayed to this mailing list. Author: waroper Surnames: Roper Classification: queries Message Board URL: http://boards.rootsweb.com/surnames.roper/1898.2.2.1.1/mb.ashx Message Board Post: Frank: Good Point! We have assembled and assessed quite a bit of information about both Revolutionary War Veteran George ROPER and George W. ROPER, of Roper's Knob, very quickly and need to go back over all of this for consistency! We must also AVOID clinging to a tentative ascription which is unsupported by or inconsistent with the primary evidence. The anomaly in the data MAY indicate that any ascription of George W. ROPER as a son of John ROPER is simply ERRONEOUS. BEFORE we began discussing George W. ROPER within the context of our investigation of Revolutionary War Veteran George ROPER, I was somewhat more inclined to suspect that this George W. ROPER might be from either the Dinwiddie, Virginia, ROPER family OR the family of one of the Virginia ROPERs who ended up in South Carolina. In my view, the better approach is to await the receipt of more PRIMARY DATA from the Tax Rolls before actually declaring a conclusive ascription. I think in just sorting through the extant information about George W. ROPER and identification and correct ascription of his children that we have advanced the genealogy. I do NOT know if you had noticed, but a misascription of the Todd County, KY, ROPERs as being descended from Tennessee ROPER has not only gained widespread acceptance, but made it into print in a History of Todd County, KY. * Accepting without insisting upon an ascription of George W. ROPER as the son of John ROPER, of Halifax, VA, I would have one further observation about a source of "error" as to the Census data. It is UNCLEAR to me whether you have actually looked at any of the photographs of or map data for Roper's Knob, Tennessee, but the terrain is stark and rather daunting, which is precisely WHY this location played a pivotal role in Tennessee Civil War battles near Nashville. The U.S. Geological Survey shows the summit of Roper's Knob to be 994 feet (303 meters): http://geonames.usgs.gov/apex/f?p=gnispq:3:::NO:3:P3_FID,P3_TITLE:1300056,Ropers Knob The contour interval on most of the USGS 1:24,000 maps is twenty feet. If one looks at the base contour of Roper's Knob, there are three additional contours BELOW the reference contour of 700 feet before one gets to the grade of Spencer Creek to the North or the town of Franklin to the West, putting Spencer Creek at about 640 feet. See: http://geonames.usgs.gov/apex/gazvector.getesrimap?p_lat=35.9378411&p_longi=-86.8425006&fid=1300056 The grade isn't that daunting from the 640 foot contour to the 700 foot contour, but in most directions the climb is VERY STEEP from 700 feet to the summit. By the most gradual approach, one traverses about a half a kilometer to climb from about 640 feet (195 meters) to 994 feet (303 meters), a vertical rise of 108 meters. Thus, the gradual approach is more than a 20% grade. But the less arduous portions have a lesser grade and portions of the journey have a greater incline. The total vertical distance traversed is about the equivalent of climbing to the top of the Statue of Liberty. There was probably NO SOURCE OR WATER at the summit and water probably had to be brought up from Spencer Creek or a well near the base. Imagine carrying sufficient water to the summit to hydrate a family on a daily basis! The summit seems to be an unlikely place to raise livestock, due simply to the logistical challenge of hydrating any large animals. The advantage of the location would have been exceptional views and would also be reasonably defensible to surprise Indian attack. As a practical place to live, the location seems to be rather wanting, except possibly for visual signaling, interesting in war, but probably not particular useful in peacetime commerce. My overall point in respect of the verity of the Census data is that if you were a Census enumerator, actually climbing to the summit would be something to be avoided! A better strategy would be to wait for a member of the family to come down to Spencer Creek to get water! Thus, the source of the Census information might very well be the member of the family consigned to water runs! The Census enumerator would have faced the choice of climbing to the summit for perhaps more reliable figures or accepting whatever report could be obtained without the climb. In my view, human nature suggests that the Census figures for Roper's Knob might be particularly unreliable! Important Note: The author of this message may not be subscribed to this list. If you would like to reply to them, please click on the Message Board URL link above and respond on the board. <br>