This is a Message Board Post that is gatewayed to this mailing list. Author: waroper Surnames: Roper, Lawson Classification: queries Message Board URL: http://boards.rootsweb.com/surnames.roper/1887.3/mb.ashx Message Board Post: Frank: Within your post above relating to John ROPER, you show these counts for John ROPER in the 1785 Halifax County Tax Lists: Roper John 5 0 0 The first figure is shown to be "White Souls". The second is shown to be number of dwellings. The third figure is number of other buildings. What inferences do you think we should draw from the fact that John ROPER seems NOT to own any dwellings in Halifax County, VA? Does this mean that he resides ELSEWHERE? Or does he reside within Halifax County within the dwellings of another taxpayer? Or do you think that the John ROPER family was simply camping out under the stars in Halifax County? * Interestingly, it seems that one of the few Halifax taxpayers who had more than a single dwelling was Widow LAWSON, who is shown to have three dwellings. Have you identified the more precise identity of the Widow LAWSON from your study of other Halifax deed and tax records? * * * The COMBS Family found it to be helpful to obtain the Personal Property Tax data for EACH YEAR from Halifax to further inform their inquiry: http://www.combs-families.org/combs/records/va/halifax/ Do you think that the tax data for other years would give greater clarity to this John ROPER and WHERE he actually lived? 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>