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/1899.4/mb.ashx Message Board Post: John ROPER (b 08 Jan 1788 - NC, d Oct 1863) and David ROPER are mentioned within several very early published township and county histories. While these are often secondary rather than primary accounts, the publishers of these histories seem to have taken some care in getting their facts right. Moreover, the histories were each published during the lifetimes of the children and grandchildren of the subjects, when memories of events were still fresh and are therefor less reliant on speculation and conjecture. I am including the full text of the most immediate mention. Those interested in a better understanding of the life and times of John ROPER and the context of each mention are encouraged to follow the links to the online versions of each cited work where the history appears in its entirety. I have included EACH ROPER MENTION I found in each cited book, even though this strays slightly from the central focus of this thread on John ROPER (b 08 Jan 1788 - NC, d Oct 1863). I would add the caution, several times repeated below, that while I endeavored to identify every ROPER mention, I am NOT certain that I succeeded in finding all mentions. Those with a keen interest in this family are therefore encouraged to read the histories in their entirety (which I did NOT DO) to double check my work. If you find another ROPER mention in any of the works cited, please let us know by posting the mention as a Reply! * * * MENTIONS IN THE HISTORY OF SPRINGFIELD (1878) Even before the publication of the Goodspeed History of Greene County, George S. ESCOTT published a his History and Directory of Springfield and North Springfield (Springfield, MO: [Springfield] Patriot-Advertiser for George S. ESCOTT, 1878). This history gives a very vivid early account of the history of the settlement of Springfield written within the lifetime and recollection of the some of the earliest settlers and their children. "In the same year [1832] came Thomas P. Whitlock, the father of W. P. Whitlock, of this city. He arrived in June, from Hardeman county, Tennessee, and settled in what is now Franklin township, in the north part of the county, near where he still lives. He brought with him a wife and one son. He has had, in all, a family of eight children, all but one of whom are still living. We also learn the names of Zachariah Simms, Benjamin Johnson, Henry Morrison, David and John Roper, Drury Upshaw, and Larkin Dewitt, all of whom settled about the same time in that part of the county." [at Page 35] https://archive.org/stream/historydirectory01esco#page/35/mode/1up * Apparently quoting from correspondence or a journal of a Mr. MILLER, we are further told: "The first meeting-house, or church for worship, was built of oak logs in 1833, at a spring in the woods about half a mile north of Capt. Geo. Jones' present residence, and was occupied by the Methodists and Cumberland Presbyterians. I believe the first marriage ceremony ever performed in the neighborhood of Springfield was that of Lawson Fulbright, who married David Roper's daughter in 1831, who lived four miles northeast. The next, in the same year, was Junious Rountree, who married Joseph Miller's daughter, Martha, at the place where Squire Beiderlinden now lives. She was the mother of the wives of Geo. Beal, Newt. Williams, Joe Winfield and --- McCall." [at Page 47] See: https://archive.org/stream/historydirectory01esco#page/47/mode/1up * There may be OTHER mentions within this History which went UNNOTICED by me. The SEARCH feature failed to even identify the mentions cited above and I only just skimmed the book. The book contains MUCH rich history of Springfield and Greene County and ought to be a MUST READ for the Greene County branch of the ROPER family! * * * * * MENTIONS IN THE HISTORY OF GREENE COUNTY (1883) The ROPER family is mentioned in several places within the published History of Greene County, Missouri (St. Louis: Western Historical Company, 1883). The mentions of David ROPER and his immediate family are somewhat more prominent than those of John ROPER, no doubt owing to his longer presence in the County. I found ROPER mentions on these pages -- 148, 155-6, 556, 728, 876, 878-9, 895 -- but there may be others. I have summarized these mentions below. The complete published History of Green County is available online at Google Books. "CHAPTER I [beginning page 125] PIONEER HISTORY ... Some time in 1831, James K. Alsop, Samuel Scroggins and Daniel Johnson settled on the Little Sac, and were followed, in 1832, by John Headlee, and two brothers-in-law, Benjamin Johnson and James Dryden. In the same year came Thomas P. Whitlock, the father of W. P. Whitlock. He arrived in June, from Hardeman county, Tennessee, and settled in was is now Franklin township, in the north part of the county. He brought with him a wife and one son. Zachariah Simms, Benjamin Johnson, Henry Morrison, David and John Roper, Drury Upshaw, and Larkin Dewitt, all settled about the same time in that part of the county. John Briscoe, with his sons-in-law, Jacob and Andrew Roller, arrived from Tennessee in 1831 or 1832, and settled in the south part of the county." [at page 148] See: http://books.google.com/books?id=H3o8AAAAIAAJ&dq=History of Greene County Missouri Roper&pg=PA148#v=onepage&q&f=false * * "Partial list of early settlers in what was then Campbell township, Greene county, in August, 1833: John Roberts, Peter Apperson, John D. Shannon, James Carter, Joseph Porter, Chas. P. Bullock, Chesley Cannefax, Wm. H. Duncan, E. Brantley, G. Gay, Randolph Britt, J. P. Campbell, Samuel Martin, John Patten Campbell, James Fielding, Daniel Gray, Thomas Caulfield, E. R. Fulbright, G. N. Shelton, Joseph Price, Sr., Radford Cannefax, David Roper, Moses Mattews, Zenas Rountree, A. Morris, J. R. Robberson, G. Maberry, A. Stillion, John Buden, James Wilson, Joseph Smith, John Fulbright, Stephen Fisher, Wm. Stacey, Wash. Williams, A. Shaddock, Spencer O'Niel, F. Leeper, Wm. Price, Thos. Horn, Wm. Stout, A. S. Borne, Kindred Rose, Edward Thompson, James R. Smith, Cornelius Terrell, Newell Hayden, Larkin Dewitt, J. McKinney, David Johnson, Martin B. Borne, Joseph Weaver, B. W. Cannefax, C. Hottler, J. L. Martin, Wm. Fulbright, Wm. McFarland, J. Woods, Richard C. Martin, John Sturteva! nt, L. Fulbright, Watson Forbes, John Roberts, Jr., John R. Brock, John Ross, H. C. Morrison, John Slagles, George Shoemaker, Abram Slagles, Jerry Pierson, James McCarroll, John McKay, Elisha Painter, Joseph Rountree, Alexander Younger, D. B. Miller, David Wilson, Junious Rountree, Thomas F. Wright, Samuel Lasley, Gilbert McKay, Littleberry Hendrick, James Cooper, John Roper, Drury Upshaw, James Dollison, James McMahan, James Renfroe, John Pennington, William Birdsong, Thomas Stokes, John W. Triplett, A. J. Burnett, R. Harper, S.G. Martin, John Williams, James Price, Jr., Simeon Postion, Thomas Patterson, Robert Patterson, Wm. Ross, R. Ross, Samuel Painter." [at Pages 155-6] See: http://books.google.com/books?id=H3o8AAAAIAAJ&dq=History of Greene County Missouri Roper&pg=PA155#v=onepage&q&f=false * * "The first marriage in the neighborhood was that of Lawson Fulbright and a daughter of David Roper, living four miles east, in 1831." [at Page 728] See: http://books.google.com/books?id=H3o8AAAAIAAJ&dq=History of Greene County Missouri Roper&pg=PA728#v=onepage&q&f=false * * "Lawson Fulbright married Elizabeth Roper, a daughter of David Roper, who lived in the North part of the township [Campbell], some time in 1831, and a claim is made that this was the first marriage in the township, but it is not probably that it antedated Rountree's marriage." [at Page 876] See: http://books.google.com/books?id=H3o8AAAAIAAJ&dq=History of Greene County Missouri Roper&pg=PA876#v=onepage&q&f=false * * "ANTIOCH (CHRISTIAN) CHURCH Was organized in 1854 on section 5, township 29, range 22. Names of the original members were John Wood, Elizabeth Wood, James G. Wood, John M. Wood, William White, Margaret White, E. White, Weloy Roper, Minerva Roper, John Robinson, Susan Robinson and E. White. The first church was erected in 1859, a brick building costing $200. It was dedicated in the autumn of 1859 by Elder Charles Carlton. The number of present members is 114. The pastors that served the church were Elder Joel Hardin, Charles Carlton, J. T. Roberts, and Kirk Baxter (present pastor). The cemetery in connection with this church is an important one. The site of the church and cemetery comprises 20 acres. The first interments in the cemetery were made in 1860, when the bodies of Mrs. William White, Margaret Fry and a child of Elisha White were reburied here, having first been given sepulture on the White farm some years before. The bodies named and that of Russell Roper, a boy; twelve years old, were reburied here in the fall of 1860. The present cemetery comprises about four acres." [at Pages 878-9] http://books.google.com/books?id=H3o8AAAAIAAJ&dq=History of Greene County Missouri Roper&pg=PA878#v=onepage&q&f=false * * "CHAPTER XXXIV FRANKLIN TOWNSHIP. ... POSITION AND DESCRIPTION Franklin township comprises all of congressional township 30, and the south twenty-four sections of 31, in range 21. In character the topography of the country is varied, although inclined to be rough and broken. Like many other portions of Southwest Missouri, a great deal of the soil is poor and unproductive, with occasional fine farms and many fertile spots. Only a comparatively small portion of the township is prairie. ... EARLY HISTORY Franklin township had as one of its first settlers, James K. Alsup, who came from Tennessee in 1831 and settled on the Little Sac, in section 17, tp. 30. An old gentleman named Daniel Johnson came the same year, and settled in section 7. Samuel Scroggins came also in 1831, and made an improvement on the Little Sac, on section 22, tp. 30. In the fall of 1832, John Headlee arrived from Maury county, Tennessee, and put up his first cabin on section 10, near the line between that and section 9. At the same time with Headlee came Benjamin Johnson and James Dryden, and settled on section 9. The widow Simms, the mother-in-law of Mr. Headlee, also came at the same time with him, and made her home in the township. Larkin DeWitt came the same year (1832) and settled on the Sac. Robert Ross, who came in 1832, lived farther east. Thos. J. Whitlock came to Greene county in 1832, locating first on the Kickapoo prairie, but soon after removing to this township, on the south side of! the Sac, on section 21. Thomas James was an early settler of the township. He was born in North Carolina, afterwards removed to Tennessee, and came to Greene county in 1835. Caleb Headlee, the father of Hon. Samuel W. Headlee, emigrated from Maury county, Tennessee, in 1836, and settled in the township. In the fall of 1834, David H. Bedell came from North Carolina and made a settlement in section 5, where he died in April 1860. Nearly all the early settlers of the township were from Tennessee, but a great part had originally come from North Carolina before reaching Tennessee. The Headlee and Bedell families trace their ancestry back to New Jersey. In the southern part of the township David Roper and family came from East Tennessee, and settled just over the township line on the south. David Appleby and James Appleby, with their families, came to section 55, from Bedford county, Tennessee, in 1833. About 1835 C. C. Williamson came from Kentucky and settled on section 29. About the same time came Erastus McMurray and his mother and brother. Further to the north, on section 7, came Daniel Johnson, from Illinois, as early as 1831. He made the first improvement on the prairie in that quarter. Drury Upshaw was another pioneer in the extreme northern part of the township, and the prairie now called "Upshur" prairie was originally named for him. Francis and Zachariah Simms and Henry Morrison, in other portions of the township, were early settlers. ITEMS OF EARLY HISTORY The first marriage in the neighborhood of the settlements in Franklin township was that of Lawson Fulbright and Elizabeth Roper, at the house of the bride's father, David Roper, in 1831. The ceremony was performed by Rev. J. H. Slavens, the pioneer methodist minister. At that time, however, old David Roper lived in what is now Campbell township. This is claimed by some to have been the first marriage of white persons in Greene county -- at least within the present limits." [at pages 895-6] See: http://books.google.com/books?id=H3o8AAAAIAAJ&dq=History of Greene County Missouri Roper&pg=PA895#v=onepage&q&f=false * * * * * MENTIONS IN THE HISTORY OF LACLEDE COUNTY ... (1889) Since John ROPER later migrated to Wright County, he is also mentioned with the book History of Laclede, Camden, Dallas, Webster, Wright, Texas, Pulaski, Phelps and Debt Counties, (Chicago: Goodspeed, 1889), as further shown below. >From within the Section on the History of Wright County: "CHURCHS Early Religious Movements. -- The first church organization in Wright County was the Cumberland Presbyterian, twelve miles up the Gasconade Fork from the present Hartville, at a campground established there about forty-seven years ago. The preachers were the two Bakers, Presbyterian; the Hights and John Cummins and John Roper, Methodist. Jonathan Hickman, who was present, is confident that there were neither Methodist nor Baptist societies here then, but he states that in the fall following a Methodist class and union school were organized. Later, Methodist Preacher John McEwin bought a log cabin from James Young, and therein held the first services at Hartville. At Mountain Grove, as well as at Mansfield, there are Cumberland Presbyterian societies, but their organization is quite modern." [at Page 404] See: http://books.google.com/books?id=B9IyAQAAMAAJ&dq=history of laclede county missouri&pg=PA404#v=onepage&q&f=false * * * (Within the Section on the History of Webster County) "Township 29, Range 17, was opened in 1845, Stephen Julian, Tanner Hailey and John Foster making purchases on Sections 25, 26, and 36 in December of that year. ... William Roper, in 1846, purchased on Section 17." [at Page 178] See: http://books.google.com/books?id=B9IyAQAAMAAJ&dq=history of laclede county missouri&pg=PA178#v=onepage&q&f=false 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>