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/1903.1/mb.ashx Message Board Post: Last year, I created a thread to discuss James W. ROPER (b abt 1791-1800 - NC, d bef 1850), of Mecklenburg, NC, and Sumter, AL: "James W. ROPER (b abt 1791-1800 - NC, d bef 1850), of Mecklenburg, NC, and Sumter, AL" (22 Jan 2013 12:58AM GMT) http://boards.rootsweb.com/surnames.roper/1767/mb.ashx That thread seems to be relevant to a discussion of Jesse and Obedience ROPER for four reasons. First, "Biddy" is nickname for Obedience. The Biddy ROPER who married James W. ROPER in Mecklenburg, NC, was the FIRST ROPER with the given name "Biddy" I have found anywhere in America. That this Biddy first appears in Mecklenburg one hundred miles to the west of Cumberland and thirty miles north of Lancaster, SC, only a decade after the disappearance of Jesse and Biddy ROPER seems UNLIKELY to be a coincidence. Second, James W. ROPER and Biddy ROPER had a son named Jesse ROPER (b abt 1834 - AL). The naming of a son "Jesse" by James and Biddy also seems unlikely to be a coincidence. Third, in this previous post, I noted the presence of an older female residing with James W. and Biddy ROPER at the date of the 1840 Census enumeration: "There is also now also a much older female, age 70 to 79 (b abt 1761-70), residing within this ROPER household, probably either James' or Biddys' mother." After finding Biddy T. ROPER's 1850 Census record showing her to be age 51 (b abt 1799 - SC), i failed to do the math and reassess the possible relationship. The older female in James W. ROPER's household was age 70 to 79 when Biddy was age 41, making the older female 29 to 38 years older than Biddy. James W. ROPER was shown to be age 40 to 49 in 1840 (b abt 1791-1800 - NC). If James was close in age to Biddy, the older woman might be more than one generation older than James W. ROPER, too. Fourth, the place of marriage of James W. ROPER and Biddy ROPER seems to be a reasonable place to at least look for any traces of Jesse and Obedience 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>