This is a Message Board Post that is gatewayed to this mailing list. Author: waroper Surnames: Roper, Butler Classification: queries Message Board URL: http://boards.rootsweb.com/surnames.roper/1932.2/mb.ashx Message Board Post: I would further add a note about the early Methodist clergy, a subject about which I continue to learn. I haven't seen any really good reference that explains this well and have instead stitched together an understanding by the study of many early primary records. I mention this because it is KNOWN that Charles ROPER was solemniing marriages in Dinwiddie and that he was a Methodist minister. But calling Charles a minister is actually probably a misnomer. Charles ROPER seems more likely to have been merely a Methodist preacher, though possilby ordained as a deacon (maybe by Bishop Asbury himself). The process of becoming a Methodist minister was very FORMAL and seemingly well documented. The process of becoming a Methodist preacher was equally informal and mostly reflected in only records of a particular congregation. The Methodist Church held annual "Conferences" for various regions and each regional conference acted independently to select and ultimately ordain ministers by a vote of the existing ministers in that Conference. The first step was to be "Admitted on Trial". This seems to have meant that a particular promising Methodist preacher or exhorter was selected by the Conference to be a minister for a trial period of one or more years. Once admitted on trial, the new minister was assigned to a circuit and then pretty much lived out of his saddle, traveling from church to church and conducting services on whichever day of the week he arrived there. In places where there wasn't a Methodist Church building, services were conducted in a meeting house, a private home or outdoors. In the summer, Methodist church "camps" were quite common. People came from some distance and encamped at a place where a Methodist minister conducted a revival of sorts and services over a several day period. Only after the minister admitted on trial had performed to the satisfaction of the Conference was a candidate admitted to the "full connection" by a further vote of the ministers at the annual Conference. ALL Methodist ministers were EXPECTED TO RIDE CIRCUIT and exceptions were only made, again by a vote of the annual Conference, for health and family reasons. A minister could be "seated" at a place for an extended period ONLY because of some disability. Ministers were REASSIGNED from one circuit to another ANNUALLY. Thus, by definition, those who had adopted the lifestyle of a Methodist minister were not only in the saddle moving DURING the year, but at the conclusion of a one year circuit assignment, they would then be typically REASSIGNED to another different circuit. Thus, to identify someone as an "itinerent Methodist minister", as I have seen in some older accounts in ROPER family histories involves a certain amount of tautology/redundancy, since ALL Methodist ministers were essentially itinerant. This was the very nature of the circuit work! Methodist preachers might be attached to a particular church or congregation. Methodist ministers belonged in the saddle riding from place to place on circuit. * * * In my view, this is one of the reasons that there seem to be NO RECORDS that Rev. David ROPER, of Rutherford, NC, was a Methodist minister. He WASN'T. He was more likely a Methodist preacher for a local congregation. Charles ROPER seems likely to have preached from the Roper Church in Dinwiddie. Charles ROPER was probably also a preacher, possibly ordained as a Deacon. Charles ROPER seems never to have been a Methodist minister. The PUBLISHED records of the Methodist Church conferences shows ONLY those who were elected to various roles in the church (e.g. "Admitted on Trial", "Admitted to the Full Connection", etc.), as well as assignments to various circuits. Those who aspired to election and might have been candidates for election are NOT mentioned in the published records. It is UNCLEAR whether the extant original underlying records from which the published histories were compiled contains the identities of Methodist preachers who sought election, but failed. A study of Methodist archival material is sorely needed to further advance ROPER genealogy! * * * There is precisely ONE ROPER in the South who was actually ADMITTED as a Methodist minister by the formal Methodist Conferences. Appallingly, this ROPER ancestor has been victimied by much of the most egregious and offensive of the genealogical fraud washing across the Internet. This was Frederick ROPER. The family history fictionalists who INVENT ancestors, invent and alter facts and create various fraudulent ascriptions and lineages have HIJACKED some of the truthful information about Frederick ROPER and FALSELY ASCRIBED IT to the purely FICTIONAL "Richard Frederick ROPER" who is asserted to have been married to Ann LEWIS, of Northampton. The REAL Frederick ROPER was the ONLY ROPER who was ACTUALLY a circuit riding Methodist minister in the American South. He did NOT die in Greenville and he was NEVER married to Ann LEWIS. But an appreciation of the actual role of Frederick ROPER in the Church can inform our study and understanding of other members of Charles ROPER's family who were also heavily involved in the Methodist Church. It seems to me to be axiomatic that is one aspires to a particular profession or calling that one might look to someone perceived to have already been successful at that calling in pursuing such a career, particularly if the successful person is RELATED. Thus, it seems to me that IF Charles ROPER ever thought that he might want to be a Methodist MINISTER as opposed to a Methodist preacher, one thing that he might do is study under others who had made some successful study of the Bible and had experience preaching. Charles ROPER's brother David was SIXTEEN YEARS OLDER than Charles ROPER, Jr.. Jesse ROPER was SEVEN YEARS OLDER than Charles ROPER, Jr. Joel ROPER was eight years YOUNGER than Charles ROPER. It makes sense that Charles ROPER would have spent at least some time with his two older brothers in preparing for the ministry. It also makes sense that he might have sought out assistance of Frederick ROPER, who had actually been formally admitted as a minister on trial. This may have involved spending some time away from Dinwiddie. Whether this was a matter of weeks, months, or more than a year remains to be determined. Continued ownership of land in Dinwiddie is hardly conclusive as to whether Charles ROPER was in Dinwiddie during any particular year, including 1790. 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>