This is a Message Board Post that is gatewayed to this mailing list. Author: waroper Surnames: Roper, Butler, Whitehead, Crowder Classification: queries Message Board URL: http://boards.rootsweb.com/surnames.roper/1932.10/mb.ashx Message Board Post: Frank: I wanted to share one additional misgiving about the ascription of Joseph W. ROPER as Nancy ROPER's son. The MOORE Family Bible merely shows this entry: "Joseph ROPER m Miss WHITEHEAD" The MOORE family KNEW Miss WHITEHEAD's surname, but seem NOT to have known or to have forgotten her given name. Realize that this was the Bible of Benjamin MOORE, grandson of Charles ROPER and Ann GOODWYN, and Nancy ROPER, daughter of Charles ROPER and Elizabeth BUTLER. Benjamin and Nancy Roper MOORE were living in Williamson County, TN, adjacent to David W. ROPER and Rebecca Roper CROWDER for a couple of decades. Both David and Rebecca had migrated to Williamson from Dinwiddie after living alongside Nancy ROPER of Dinwiddie throughout their lives. As you noted within your post, there was also ongoing correspondence between members of the MOORE family and relatives in Dinwiddie after the MOOREs settled in Tennessee, of which we have extant surviving examples. This raises a rather troubling question. If Nancy ROPER, of Dinwiddie, was Joseph ROPER's widow, WHY DIDN'T ANYONE IN THE MOORE FAMILY KNOW HER GIVEN NAME? It is EASY to imagine that a cousin living in a distant place might forget (or never know) the given name of a cousin's spouse who married and DIED YOUNG, especially if the cousin was living at some place distant from the family seat and was NOT someone with whom the family was well acquainted. It is much harder to reconcile the idea that the names of various widows living at the very seat of the ancient family plantation and residing not merely in close proximity but literally ADJACENT would have been UNKNOWN to a double cousin couple like Benjamin and Nancy Roper MOORE. This is all the more true given the appearance of David W. ROPER and Rebecca Roper CROWDER in Williamson County. I think the case that Joseph W. ROPER was a son of Joseph ROPER and a grandson of Charles and Elizabeth Butler ROPER is very persuasive and reasonably conclusive. But the case and evidence for Nancy ROPER as a widow of this Joseph ROPER seems to me to remain somewhat thin. I DO think you have laid out the case nicely, such as it is. But the Dinwiddie Personal Property Tax records would very likely prove to be reasonably conclusive if anyone from this family ever takes an interest in the matter. 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>