This is a Message Board Post that is gatewayed to this mailing list. Author: waroper Surnames: Roper, Martin, Mulkey, Murley Classification: queries Message Board URL: http://boards.rootsweb.com/surnames.roper/1698.3.1.2.1.1.1.1.1/mb.ashx Message Board Post: In my prior post, I perhaps falsely credited MARTIN genealogists with care in the ascription of Hannah MARTIN as John C Roper's (b 02 Aug 1796 - VA, 16 Dec 1876 - Dallas, MO) wife. While this ascription MAY still be correct, at a minimum the death certificate of John C Roper's (b 02 Aug 1796 - VA, 16 Dec 1876 - Dallas, MO) son John C. ROPER (b 10 Apr 1825 - KY, d 21 Jun 1914) calls into question whether there was another possibly previous wife OR whether the ascription was ever correct at all. John's death certificate identifies his parents as "J. C. Roper," born Kentucky (which birthplace is incorrect) and "Hannah Mulkey," born Kentucky. The informant was John C. ROPER's son George ROPER. It might be easy to dismiss the grandson's indication of the identity of his grandmother, who had died five years before his birth. But the elder John C. ROPER lived until 1876, when George was 26 years old. Moreover, and perhaps more importantly, enumerated in the Census record immediately adjacent to David ROPER in the Cumberland, KY, 1820 Census is the household of a Daniel MURLEY, age 26 to 44, show is shown to have three daughters age 10 to 15 and two daughters under age ten. It seems quite plausible that this Daniel MURLEY or a brother might have had a daughter named "Hannah" of marriageable age in 1818 when John C. ROPER was likely to have been married. Both a Daniel and a William MURLEY are enumerated in Cumberland County, Kentucky, in the 1830 Census enumeration. There is also a MULKEY family shown in the Missouri records, but some MURLEY researchers seem to believe that the MURLEY name might have been mangled en route from Kentucky to Missouri. I do NOT have a view as to whether this is the case, but find it singularly coincidental that George ROPER would think his grandmother's maiden name was MULKEY and that his great uncle would have a Daniel MURLEY as an immediate neighbor. (I have long doubted the published assertions by many family historians that John C. ROPER married Hannah when she was age 11 in 1813, but then waited six years to have their first child.) The assertion that Hannah's maiden name was MARTIN appears within the History of Laclede County, Missouri. John C. ROPER's death certificate is currently posted at the Missouri State website at this link: http://www.sos.mo.gov/images/archives/deathcerts/1914/1914_00025776.PDF Perhaps those with a keen interest in this family can revisit their sources and ascertain the basis for the ascription of MARTIN as Hannah's maiden name. My FEAR is that this will turn out to be another erroneous GUESS based solely on the middle name of John C. ROPER's first child. 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>