This is a Message Board Post that is gatewayed to this mailing list. Author: waroper Surnames: Roper, Rosser Classification: queries Message Board URL: http://boards.rootsweb.com/surnames.roper/1939.6/mb.ashx Message Board Post: The second volume of Dr. Stephen BRADLEY's abstracts of Brunswick, Virginia, Deed records is titled: "Brunswick County, Virginia, Deed Books, Volume 2, 1744-1755, 1764", Abstracted by Dr. Stephen E. BRADLEY, Jr. (Lawrenceville, VA: Stephen E. Bradley, Jr., 1997). At the North Carolina State Library, this book was shown to have Library of Congress call number "GR 929.3 V8br B811bd v.2". While Volume 1 showed only ROSSER records, there were several ROPER records within Volume 2, ALL pertaining to a property patented by John ROPER, of Charles City County, VA. Here are the five abstracted references to that property: "John ROPER of Charles City Co to John JOHNSON of Brunswick Co 9 Nov 1746. £20 VA. 200 acres which was part of a 1601 acre patent to sd ROPER dated 1 Aug 1745, on the north side of Bryery Creek, joining Richard HAGOOD, Thomas TWITTY. Wit: Richard HAGOOD, William JOHNSON, Thos. TWITTY. Proved 5 Feb 1746. St. Clack CC." Brunswick, VA, Deed Book 3, Page 254 [at BRADLEY Page 16] * "John ROPER of Charles City [Co] to Thomas TWITTY of Brunswick Co. 2 Jun 1748. £5 VA. 1200 acres which was part of a 1601 acre patent to sd John ROPER dated 2 Aug 1745, on the South side of Mill Creek. Wit: William LINSEY, Richard RUSSELL, George HAGOOD. Proved 2 Jun 1746. St. Clack CC." Brunswick, VA, Deed Book 3, Page 440 [at BRADLEY Page 28] * "John ROPER of Charles City Co. to George HAGOOD of Brunswick Co. 2 Jun 1748. £5s5 VA. 100 acres which was part of a 1601 acre patent to sd ROPER dated 2 Aug 1745, on both sides of Bryrie Creek. Wit: Thomas TWITTY, William LINSEY, John ROBERTS. Proved 2 Jun 1748. St. Clack CC." Brunswick, VA, Deed Book 3, Page 442 [at BRADLEY Page 28] * "John ROPER of Charles City Co. to Edward GOING of Brunswick Co. 2 Jun 1748. £5 VA. 100 acres which was part of a 1601 acre patent to sd John ROPER dated 2 Aug 1745, on the south side of Mill Creek, joining SIMMONS. Wit: Thomas TWITTY, William LINSEY, John (x) ROBERTS. Proved 2 Jun 1748. St. Clack CC." Brunswick, VA, Deed Book 3, Page 444 [at BRADLEY Page 28] * "George HAGOOD of Brunswick Co. to Thomas TWITTY of same. 3 May 1749. £6s5 VA. 100 acres which was part of a patent to John ROPER dated 1 Aug 1745, on both sides of Bryery Creek, joining John JOHNSON, Richard HAGOOD, Richard RUSSELL, Benjamin LANIER, George HAGOOD, Thomas TWITTY. Witnesses omitted. Proved 1 Jun 1749. St. Clack CC." Brunswick, VA, Deed Book 3, Page 560 [at BRADLEY Page 39] It should probably be noted that a David RUSSELL is shown on deeds of trust regarding land near Red Oak Creek a generation later. Whether David RUSSELL is related to Richard RUSSELL bears further investigation. * * * * * These are the ONLY ROPER references identified by Dr. BRADLEY within Brunswick Deed Books 3, 4 and 5. However, there is also a possibly very significant additional mention also on Page 39, which I had NOT noticed while visiting the North Carolina State Library. This is a conveyance by George HARPER of St. Andrews Parish in Brunswick Co to Micajah PERRY of same dated 14 Apr 1749. The significance of this entry is that William ROPER, of Anne Arundel, was shown within Maryland deed records to be mortgaging his Maryland land to a Micajah PERRY, of London, four decades earlier. Micajah is hardly a common name and the appearance of a Micajah PERRY a generation later in Brunswick certainly bears further investigation! A Nathaniel HARPER is shown a generation later to be residing nearby David ROPER and William ROPER adjacent to Red Oak Creek very near the Nottoway River. * * * * * In addition to the ROPER entries, there are also additional mentions of John ROSSE, John ROSSER and John ROSER on pages 40, 52, 65 and 93 of BRADLEY's Abstracts. The first of these is a conveyance of 290 acres of land south of the Meherrin River by Thomas COOK of St. Andrews Parish to John ROSSE, of Albemarle Parish, Surry County, dated 14 Dec 1748. The land is described as joining near the head of Oconechie Swamp, the head of Hall's Branch [Brunswick, VA, Deed Book 3, Page 575]. My suspicion is that this conveyance, of land probably later situated within the boundaries of Greensville County, VA, marks the first actual appearance of John ROSSER as a resident of Brunswick County. Two additional mentions of John ROSSER on 27 Mar 1750 reflect John ROSSER witnessing two conveyances to John VINCENT of parcels on the South side of Fountains Creek [Brunswick, VA, Deed Book 4, Page 129-30]. This is an area later in Greensville County, VA, very near the North Carolina Colonial line. Immediately opposite is Northampton County, North Carolina. * Another reference, showing John ROSER (signing a MARK), involves an admittedly ambiguous John ROSER witnessing a deed from Robert HINES or HYNDS to Thomas MORRIS. The parcel is shown to be on the North side of Great Swamp, joining Francis STEED, Hall's Branch, Simon LANE, and Robert HYNDS. George WYCHE, James LANIER and Joshua CLARK were the other witnesses to the deed dated 12 Nov 1751 [Brunswick, VA, Deed Book 5, Page 138]. The mention of Hall's Branch suggests this is the John ROSSER in the Southern part of Brunswick County near the North Carolina Provencial Line. The final ROSSER mention seems to show John ROSSER adding to his holdings by the purchase of a 75 acre parcel from Simon and Mary LANE on 12 Jul 1754. The land is shown to be on the north side of Great Swamp and bounded by LANE, ROSSER, Hall's Branch, and Thomas MORRIS [Brunswick, VA, Deed Book 5, Page 585]. The ROSSER mentions are important to ROPER genealogy ONLY in avoiding confusion about ROPER and ROSSER records. It is helpful to know that there WAS a very early John ROSSER who settled in Brunswick, WHERE he settled and how this location differs from the location where the ROPERs were found. * * * * * Finally, it is appropriate to mention some of the surnames shown in the Index which might be worthy of further examination in respect of an inquiry about Charles and Ann Goodwyn ROPER's family. This is NOT intended to be a comprehensive list, but rather simply reflects the surname mentions on the several Index pages I copied for future reference: BROWDER, BUTLER, CANNON, KANNON, LEDBETTER, LUCY, PETERSON, QUARLES. Further study of the CARTER, CLARK and LAMBERT famliy in Brunswick might also yield some insight into prior connections to the ROPER family. The presence of a JORDAN family in Brunswick reminds us of the unexplored murky relationship between the ROPERs and JORDANs in Chesterfield and Powhatan. Similarly, the appearance of a SCISCON/SCIZON family in Brunswick might inform a further inquiry into the SASSEEN family into which the Chesterfield ROPERs intermarried. * * * * * Overall, an examination of these early Brunswick records reflects the COMPLETE LAZINESS and INCOMPETENCE of ROPER family history research regarding the important Charles ROPER family. This branch of the family has remained almost completely UNEXAMINED for decades while dishonest researchers continue to elaborate various fraudulent lineages purporting to connect various branches of the ROPER family to New Kent. 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>