This is a Message Board Post that is gatewayed to this mailing list. Author: waroper Surnames: Roper, Moorman, Morman Classification: queries Message Board URL: http://boards.rootsweb.com/surnames.roper/1751.3/mb.ashx Message Board Post: In Autumn 2012 and Winter 2012-3, I sought to elaborate our understanding of the William and Polly ROPER mentioned in petitions for a divorce presented to the Tennessee legislature. In so doing, I particularly focused on Martha ROPER, of Chester, SC, who I showed seemed to be the widow of William ROPER. While I developed quite a bit of helpful factual information about William ROPER and Martha PEAY, I believe that my suspicion that Martha might have been the notorious "Polly" ROPER was misplaced. One misgiving I previously had as to the possible ascription of Martha Peay ROPER as "Polly" ROPER was that her husband William ROPER seemed mostly connected only to North Carolina and South Carolina prior to his possible migration in trace with brother Green ROPER across the deep South. In reviewing some old notes, I have found another different candidate who seems to correspond rather precisely with the abstracted information readily available online. I should perhaps add that the precise facts associated with William and Polly ROPER can probably be discovered simply by reference to the PRIMARY RECORDS, the actually petitions rather than secondary abstracts of these petitions which serve mostly as finding aids for the underlying records. But since no one seems to want to be related to this William and Polly ROPER, even after a couple of decades of persistent mystery, no one has pulled the actual underlying records. * The notes I rediscovered are secondary reports primarily pertaining to the MOORMAN family in Albemarle, Virginia. The following account appeared within the book Albemarle County in Virginia: Giving Some Account of what it was by Nature ..., By Edgar Woods, at pp. 285-6: "MOORMAN Charles Moorman came from the Isle of Wight, England, and in 1744 was living in Louisa, not for from the Green Spring. He was a leading Quaker, and at that time he and his son Thomas were overseers of the Friends' Meeting House on Camp Creek, in Louisa. As early as 1735 they were both patentees of land within the present bounds of Albemarle. Charles entered four hundred acres "at the forks of the Rivanna, near the Blue mountains" -- the junction of Mechum's and Moorman''s Rivers -- and the entry of Thomas comprehended the present Carrsbrook, and was described as "including the Indian Grave low grounds." Seven years later Thomas entered a larger tract further up the Moorman's, and thus gave his name to that stream. Charles also purchased land on Totier Creek, where two of his sons, Thomas and Robert, afterwards lived. He himself appears never to have resided in the county. He married Mary, daughter of Abraham Venable, whose home was on Byrd Creek in Goochland, and his ! children were Thomas, Charles, Robert, Achilles, James, Judith, the wife of Christopher Anthony, Elizabeth, the wife of Christopher Johnson, Agnes, the wife of John Venable and Mary, the wife of a Taylor. Thomas Moorman was married twice, first to Rachel, daughter of Christopher Clark, and secondly to Elizabeth, daughter of Mourning Adams. He died in 1787, and left one son, Robert, who died in 1813, whose widow, Dorothy, became the wife of John T. Holman, and whose children were Dorothy, the wife of James L. Neville, Mary, the wife of Eli Tutwiler, Elizabeth Ann, the wife of Robert L. Jefferson, and Robert J. Charles married Sarah, daughter of William Moon. Robert married Sarah, another daughter of William Moon and had eight children, of whom Mary was the wife of William Roper, and Elizabeth , the wife of Benjamin Johnson, of Locust Hill on James River; these last were the parents of Janet, the wife of Austin M. Appling, Sarah, the wife of John Darneille, Louisiana, the wife of Edwin H. Gooch, and Dorothy, the wife of William A. Turner. Robert Moorman sold his land on Totier Creek to John Harris in 1792, and with the view of emigrating to South Carolina, appointed John Hu! dson and William Roper his attorneys in fact. Achilles married Mary, daughter of Robert and Mourning Adams, and removed to Bedford County. The land on Mechunk, which came to the wives of Thomas and Achilles from their father, Robert Adams, was purchased by Dr. George Gilmer, of Pen Park." A digital copy of this book is available online at the Google Books site: http://books.google.com/books?id=oX3hxtr5L24C&dq=&pg=PA285#v=onepage&q&f=false * Note the close conformance with the facts recited within the abstracts to the divorce petition. We have a William and Mary ROPER. "Polly" is a common nickname for Mary. This William ROPER has married Mary MOORMAN, daughter of Robert MOORMAN and Sarah MOON, which Robert MOORMAN is relocating to South Carolina about 1792 at rather precisely the date that William and Polly ROPER are shown within the divorce petition to have been married (29 Apr 1792): "They were married 29 Apr 1792 and in 1794 went to SC to visit her father, "from which place she positively refused to return with him." About a year later she returned to his house in VA "and pursued such a rotine (sic) of conduct as is not proper to place before your reputable body." William moved to TN in 1806, hoping to restore his marriage, but Polly had two male children "without the aid or assistance of your petitioner!!!"" * This ascription can be readily tested by review of the extant Virginia Personal Property Tax Records. We would expect to find William ROPER residing in or near Albemarle County, Virginia, from about 1792 to 1806 and then disappearing. We might find this William ROPER living near or adjacent to Robert MOORMAN. Deed records, probate records and militia records from Albemarle County might also inform our inquiry. Similarly, we can look for records for Robert MOORMAN in South Carolina. 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>