This is a Message Board Post that is gatewayed to this mailing list. Author: batchelorw Surnames: Classification: queries Message Board URL: http://boards.rootsweb.com/surnames.roper/1876/mb.ashx Message Board Post: Tennessee Roper can first be seen in the 1820 Maury County, TN census, residing near David Y. Roper: David Y. Roper 2-0-0-0-1-0 2-0-0-1-0-0 No slaves Page 2 Tennessee Roper 0-0-0-1-0-0 1-0-1-0-0-0 One slave Page 2 David is 26-45, with a presumed wife 16-26, and they have two males <10 and two females <10. Tennessee is 16-26, and his presumed wife is 16-18. They have one female <10. Tennessee Roper is found on the same census page as David Y. Roper and, thus, is probably related to David Y. Roper, either as a brother or as a cousin, but not as a son, since David's presumed wife of 16-26 would be too young to be the mother. The Ricketts Roper Bible can be found on Ancestry.com when searching for information on Tennessee Roper and his wife Martha Harper. The actual images of the Bible show the lineage of Tennessee Roper, giving both Births and Marriages. From what I gather from secondary sources, the bible was published in 1864 and is now in the possession of C. Albert Ricketts, Jr., a descendant of a Samuel S. Ricketts, who married Mary Roper, daughter of Tennessee Roper and Martha Harper. A copy appears to be located in the Tennessee State Archives MS Div. AC, No. 70-24, page 1, births. This is my transcription of the birth page from the bible as posted on the Internet: "Births Tennessee Roper was born July 2nd 1798 Martha Harper was born Sept 12th 1798 Mary Roper was born March 4th 1820 Sarah Roper was born April 14th1821 John Roper was born April 5th 1823 Kisiah Roper was born April 5th 1823 Selina Roper was born April 5th 1825 Ephram H. Roper was born Nov 22nd 1827 William Roper was born August 19th1830" On the same page of Births, in a column to the right, we find the following births: "Tennessee Roper Jun was Born Nov 22nd 1832 Martha L Roper was Born July 22nd 1835 Nancy E. Roper was Born Dec 10th 1839 Mary Jane Walker was Born March 19th 1827" All of the entries above appear to be in the same handwriting and possibly listed in the bible at the same time. The old script "f" appears for all double "ss". There is an added entry at the end in handwriting that is not as elegant as all the other entries and which reads (from what I can make out) "Mary Jane Walker Born March 19 1827." I specifically noted that there are two separate columns, one headed with Tennessee Roper, b. 1798, and the other headed Tennessee Roper, b. 1832. This indicates to me that one column is listing the wife and children of Tennessee Roper, Sr. and the other is listing the children of Tennessee Roper, Jr. This is my transcription of the "Marriages" page of the Ricketts Family Bible "Marriages Tennessee Roper and Martha Harper was married April 8th 1819 A. J. Langham and Sarah Roper was married Oct 19th 1836 Saml S. Rickets and Mary Roper was married Nov 4th 1840 Saml S. Rickets and Mary J. Walker was married Dec (?) 24th 1851" All of the above marriage information appears to have been in the same elegant handwriting as the Births information and to have been entered at the same time. There is additional information written in what appears to be a different handwriting, with blue ink instead of black ink, which is the following: "Wm L. Ricketts and Nancy Ladora Montague was married. Tennie R. Ricketts and Isabella Tennon was married. Aug. John A. Pitts and Melissa Ellen Ricketts. was married Nov 5th 1872 John J. Williams and Mary Elizabeth Ricketts was married January 13th 1874" There is a separate hand written record that can be found on Ancestry.com under the heading of Tennessee State Marriages, 1780-2002, which shows the marriage of Tennessee Roper to Martha Harper on April 6, 1819, by George Johnston J.P, and which is two days off the Bible entry. As can be seen above in the Bible "Marriages" records, a Wm. L Ricketts married a Nancy Ladora Montague. Three separate Montague families, Thomas Montague, Abraham Montague, and Mary Mauntague, can be seen on the same pages with William Roper in the 1820 Maury, TN census. Tennessee Roper, b. 1819 can also be found in the 1830 Maury, TN census, on the same page as David Y. Roper, five households away. The only Ropers shown in Maury, TN in 1830 are Tennessee Roper and David Y. Roper: Tennessee Roper 2-0-0-0-1-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0 1-3-0-0-1-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0 5 slaves Tennessee is shown 20-30, and his wife is shown 20-30. There are two males <5, one female <5, and two females 5-10. David Y. Roper 0-1-1-1-0-0-1-0-0-0-0-0-0 2-0-1-1-0-0-1-0-0-0-0-0-0 20 slaves David is shown as 40-50, with his presumed wife also 40-50. There is one male 5-9, one male 10-15, one male 15-20, two female <5, one female 10-15, and one female 20-30. Both David Y. Roper and Tennessee Roper appear is the 1836 Maury, TN tax list. No other Ropers are shown. What is interesting about this record is that Tennessee Roper is shown with 6 slaves valued at 3300, while David Y. Roper is shown with only 2 slaves valued at 1600. Tennessee Roper next appears in Wayne County, TN in the 1840 census. Wayne County is one county over from Maury County, and toward the southwest of Tennessee: Tennessee Roper 1-0-2-1-0-0-1-0-0-0-0-0-0 2-0-1-3-0-1-0-0-0-0-0-0-0 No slaves Tennessee Roper is now 40-50, and his wife is 30-40. Secondary sources show Tennessee Roper dying on October 29, 1843, and his wife Martha Harper dying on October 8, 1843. I can find no primary source for this. Also, if secondary sources are to be trusted, it appears that almost none of the children of Tennessee Roper survived, with the exception of Sarah and Mary. (There was a widespread flu epidemic in the United States in 1843 which killed many people.) 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>