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/1718.5/mb.ashx Message Board Post: In posting my notes relating to James ROPER (d 1833 - Richmond County, NC) two years ago, I neglected to pull in my notes from the Revolutionary War Pension Applications. This SAME James ROPER is the James ROPER who made an appearance before the Richmond County, NC, Court on 20 Jul 1832, where he made a sworn declaration in support of his Revolutionary War Pension Application (No. S7413). This James ROPER swore that he was age 70 at the date of his application (b abt 1761-2). James ROPER further stated: "That he enlisted in the Army of the United States in May 1777 and served in the 2nd Battalion of the North Carolina line under officers whose names & ranks he thinks were as follows viz., Craddock [John Craddock] Captain, H. Murfree [Hardy Murfree] Major and Patton [sic, John Patten] Colonel that he resided in the County of Northampton North Carolina at the time he entered the service that he marched to Alexandria and after some delay at that place occasioned by the smallpox he proceeded to or near Valley Forge where he joined General Washington's Army & passed the winter that in the succeeding spring he marched towards New Jersey and was at the Battle of Monmouth that sometime afterwards he marched to Charleston South Carolina passing through Wilmington North Carolina and was discharged in November 1780 which discharge he now has in his Possession" This information appears in the able transcription of Will GRAVES posted at: http://revwarapps.org/s7413.pdf Will GRAVES also notes that some of the application materials for James ROPER, of Simpson, KY, appear within the files of James ROPER, of Richmond, NC, showing that confusion of these two Veterans is of ancient rather than recent origin. Serious researchers should review ALL of the images in BOTH FILES to be assured as to the contents. * * * The death of James ROPER in 1833 may have prematurely truncated the application process. * * * In my original post, I showed four separate bases for ascription of James ROPER's year of birth making inferences from the Census records: (b abt 1766-74) [1800] (b bef 1766) [1810] (b bef 1776) [1820] (b abt 1761-70) [1830] I then gave this analysis of the possible inferences to be drawn from the Census data: "If all four of these were correct, we could infer that this James ROPER was born in 1766. If the 1800 age range was erroneous, but the others reliable, we would have b abt 1761-6. If the 1810 age range was erroneous, but the others reliable, we would have b abt 1766-70. If the 1800 and 1810 age ranges are correct then the year would seem to be rather precisely 1766, leaving aside an error based upon the time of year the enumeration was taken and james' precise birthday. 1766 is most likely with the range 1761 to 1770 seemingly giving a high probability of accuracy." * However, upon review, it is clear that the analysis given is ERRONEOUS because I made a MATH error in respect of the 1800 implicit years of birth. That year, James ROPER was shown to be age 26 to 44 which I asserted implied "b abt 1766-74". But the CORRECT age range for a person age 26 to 44 would have been "b abt 1746-74". Thus, the CORRECT ranges would be: (b abt 1756-74) [1800] (b bef 1766) [1810] (b bef 1776) [1820] (b abt 1761-70) [1830] NONE of these Census returns is INCONSISTENT or ANOMOLOUS and if ALL the information is CORRECT, we are given an age range of 1761-5. Since James ROPER's deposition at the Richmond Court reflects that he is age 70 (b abt 1761-2) in 1832, 1762 MUST be taken as the best estimate of his year of birth (recognizing some variability based upon possibility that he might still turn age 71 sometime after 20 Jul 1832). In my view, the sworn testimony by this James ROPER before the Richmond County, NC, Court in 1832 as to his age (70) should be treated as conclusive, absent some strong contrary evidence. In this instance, the Census data is completely consistent, putting to bed any serious doubts. * * * I also noted that "There are James ROPERs in Caswell, Burke and Northampton Counties in 1790." It seems to be conclusively established that James ROPER, of Caswell, NC, was the Revolutionary War Veteran who migrated to Simpson, KY. The Pension Application of James ROPER, of Richmond, NC, rather conclusively shows that this James ROPER previously resided in Northampton County, NC. Thus, we should ascribe the 1790 Census record for James ROPER, of Northampton County, NC, to this James ROPER. 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>