This is a Message Board Post that is gatewayed to this mailing list. Author: waroper Surnames: Roper, Lewis, Wall, Clark, Carstarphen, Wright, Hart, Burnett Classification: queries Message Board URL: http://boards.rootsweb.com/surnames.roper/1931.2/mb.ashx Message Board Post: Ritty ROPER is shown variously as "Writter" ROPER (Angelica LEWIS' Will in 1783), "Retty" ROPER (Ann Lewis ROPER's Will), and Ritty ROPER. It seems likely that Ritter or Ritty was a nickname for Henrietta and Ritty may have been named for Henrietta Clark ROPER, the wife of Samuel ROPER (d bef 10 Feb 1812 - Chesterfield, VA), suggesting a possible family connection between Joseph ROPER and Richard ROPER. Samuel ROPER identifies his wife as "Ritter" ROPER within his Will. It is likely that Samuel ROPER and Henrietta CLARK married about 1778, so this marriage would have taken place only about two years before the birth of Richard and Ann Lewis ROPER's daughter Ritty ROPER. Both Henrietta and "Ritter"/"Ritty" are somewhat unusual names. The appearance of the given name in this family therefore seems to me to be unlikely to be a mere coincidence, as there are NO OTHER contemporary Henriettas or Ritters in the ROPER family. Richard ROPER might be a brother of Samuel ROPER, of Chesterfield, but this is merely a speculative ascription made solely for the purposes of further inquiry and investigation. (It is essenial to understand that there is NO EVIDENCE that Richard ROPER was born in 1700, as many have fraudulently asserted NOR that he was born in 1735, which is the other INVENTED date of birth for which there is also neither evidence nor even a reasonable basis to speculate.) * * * * * It seems most likely that Ritty ROPER was one of the two additional females shown in her mother's household in 1790: Ann ROPER: 0 - 2 - 3 -- 0 - 0 [Northampton, NC 1790] * * * It is less clear whether Ritty was residing with Ann ROPER in 1800 or 1810, as it appears that one of Ann Lewis ROPER's daughters was residing in her household and the other seems to have possibly resided elsewhere at the date of these Census enumerations: Anne ROPER: 0 - 0 - 1 - 0 - 0 -- 0 - 0 - 1 - 0 - 1 -- 0 - 1 [Northampton, NC 1800] Anne ROPER: 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 -- 0 - 0 - 0 - 1 - 1 -- 0 - 1 -- 2 - 0 - 1000 [Northampton, NC 1810] Given Ann Lewis ROPER's status as a widow with four young children, it may have been necessary to place one of the children in the home of an aunt, the child's paternal grandmother, another relative or neighbor. Since Anne ROPER's son John ROPER is known to have remained in Northampton and died there, it seems most likely that John ROPER is the male shown in Anne ROPER's household in 1800. * * * * * THE 1820 CENSUS As noted in the first post within this thread, Ann Lewis ROPER seems to have died before June 1818. Ritty then appears in the 1820 Census as a head of household. Ritty ROPER: 1 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 -- 0 - 0 - 0 - 2 - 0 -- 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 -- 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 -- 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 [Northampton 1820] See: "United States Census, 1820," index and images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/XHGS-JFV : accessed 06 Jul 2014), Ritty (Unknown) Roper, Not Stated, Northampton, North Carolina; citing "1820 United States Federal Census," Ancestry.com; p. 256, NARA microfilm publication M33, roll 85, National Archives and Records Administration, Washington D.C.; FHL microfilm 0162801. Ritty ROPER seems to be age 26 to 44 in 1820 (b abt 1776-94) with another female of similar age residing in her household. That Ann Lewis ROPER named both of her daughters -- Retty ROPER and Sarah ROPER -- in her Will in 1816 suggests the possiblity that Sarah ROPER is still unmarried and residing with Ritty ROPER in 1820. The boy shown in Ritty's household to be under age ten may be Ritty ROPER's nephew John ROPER, son of Charles and Sally ROPER, or possibly nephew Thomas ROPER. * * * * * THE 1830 CENSUS I have been unable to find Ritty ROPER in the 1830 Census. I actually visually inspected EVERY 1830 Census page for Northampton, NC, looking for Ritty. It seems most likely that Ritty is residing in another household that year. One possibility is that she had rented her land out to someone to farm and then continued to live on the property and that the farmer working the land was identified as the head of household without regard to land ownership. Another possibility is that Ritty lived elsewhere in 1830, in another household. However, Ritty ROPER is shown to have filed guardianship accounts in Northampton, NC, in both 1829 and 1830. Moreover, her two wards -- nephew John ROPER and niece Martha ROPER -- each married in Northampton, NC, in 1836 and 1831, respectively, suggesting a continued presence in the county. Perhaps a closer inspection of other extant Northampton records, including tax lists and the probate records for other neighbors may give other evidence of Ritty's continued presence in the county between 1820 and 1840. Absent the discovery of a record showing her appearance in another place, I believe that we still ought to assume that Ritty continued to live in Northampton throughout her life. After first visually inspecting every Northampton Census record looking for Ritty possibly misindexed, I again visually inspected EVERY Northampton Census record for 1830 looking for records in which there were females in BOTH the 40 to 49 AND 50 to 59 age range. While I found several records which had both a 30 to 39 AND 40 to 49 year old female, I found the desired pattern ONLY in five records, as further shown below: Carter JONES:... 0 - 2 - 2 - 1 - 0 - 0 - 4 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 -- 0 - 1 - 1 - 1 - 0 - 0 - 1 - 1 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 -- 1 - 3 - 5 - 6 - 0 - 0 -- 3 - 4 - 2 - 4 - 0 - 0 [Image 9 of 88] Eliza JOHNSON:.. 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 -- 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 1 - 0 - 1 - 1 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 -- 2 - 1 - 1 - 0 - 0 - 0 -- 0 - 2 - 0 - 1 - 1 - 0 [Image 11 of 88] Rebecca EDWARDS: 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 -- 0 - 0 - 0 - 1 - 0 - 0 - 1 - 1 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 -- No Slaves [Image 67 of 88] John CARSTARPHEN: 0 - 2 - 5 - 2 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 -- 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 1 - 0 - 1 - 1 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 -- 2 - 1 - 2 - 0 - 0 - 0 -- 2 - 1 - 0 - 1 - 0 - 0 [Image 37 of 88] James WRIGHT:... 0 - 1 - 0 - 1 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 1 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 -- 1 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 1 - 1 - 0 - 0 - 1 - 0 - 0 -- 3 - 1 - 2 - 1 - 0 - 0 -- 2 - 2 - 1 - 1 - 0 - 0 [Image 83 of 88] I also found this record which closely matched the sought after pattern and could plausibly include Ritty and Sarah ROPER is Ritty's age was unreported: Olisa SYKES: 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 -- 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 1 - 1 - 2 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 -- 1 - 0 - 1 - 0 - 0 - 0 -- 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 [Image 75 of 88] * * The records for Elizabeth JOHNSON and Rebecca EDWARDS seem to be poor candidates, as the head of each household is likely to be one of the elder females. Moreover, in 1840, there are these Census record for an Elizabeth JOHNSON and Rebecca EDWARDS during a year that Ritty ROPER reappears in the Northampton enumeration: Eliza JOHNSON:.. 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 1 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 -- 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 2 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 -- No Slaves [Image 49 of 88] Rebecca EDWARDS: 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 -- 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 1 - 1 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 -- No Slaves [Image 39 of 88] This seems to me to rule out the Eliza JOHNSON and Rebecca EDWARDS records. The record for Carter JONES seems also to be an unlikely candidate, as there are four males age 40 to 49 and therefore the females age 40 to 40 and 50 to 59 seem most likely to be wives of one or more men in this household. Carter JONES is NOT shown in Northampton in 1840. The record for James WRIGHT might be plausible, particularly if Sarah / Sally ROPER married late in life. One bare possibility is that Sarah married a James WRIGHT and that Ritty and Sarah are both shown in James WRIGHT's household in 1830. There seem to be no WRIGHT households in Northampton in 1840. Thus, one bare possibility is that Sarah / Sally ROPER might have married and been included in James WRIGHT's household, but after James WRIGHT's death might have reappeared in a household headed by Ritty. I cannot emphasize enough that I mention this only as a bare possiblity rather than an assertion that this could form the basis for a conclusive ascription. * * John CARSTARPHEN The single best readily identifiable candidate household which might contain Ritty ROPER in 1840 is the household of John CARSTARPHEN. Immediately adjacent to this John CARSTARPHEN is a James HART and a Robert BURNETT. Robert BURNETT seems to have been the widower who was the second husband of Charles ROPER's widow Sally ROPER. See my post: "Robert BURNETT (b abt 1780-1, d aft 1840), of Northampton, NC, Second Husband of Sally --- ROPER" (7 Jul 2014 4:32PM GMT) http://boards.rootsweb.com/surnames.roper/1931.1.1/mb.ashx Robert BURNETT, shown to be age 50 to 59 in both 1830 and 1840, is enumerated at Image 37 in 1830 and 27 in 1840. One of Ann Lewis ROPER's sisters Mary LEWIS married a Mr. HART. Even more significant, Ritty ROPER's nephew John ROPER is enumerated adjacent to a James HART, age 55 (b abt 1795 in NC), in the 1850 Census. Thus, John CARSTARPHEN is adjacent James HART in 1830 and John ROPER is adjacent to James HART in 1850. This James HART seems to be the father of the Rebecca HART whom John ROPER married on 07 Jan 1836. There was a John CARSTARPHEN enumerated in Northampton in 1820: John CARSTARPHEN: 3 - 1 - 0 - 3 - 0 - 0 -- 0 - 0 - 2 - 0 - 1 -- 0 - 6 - 0 - 0 -- 2 - 0 - 0 - 0 -- 0 - 1 - 1 - 0 [Northampton 1820] There are three males age 18 to 25 in this household. Since the eldest male in the 1830 Census John CARSTARPHEN seems to be age 15 to 19, the John CARSTARPHEN heading the household in 1820 seems to be either dead or departed. There is one female age 45 or more in this household in 1820. But there are ZERO females in the household in 1820 in the 26 to 44 age range. This household has some incidents of that of an older widow residing with her family, including a number of sons. While the female age 45 or more in 1820 could be the female shown to be age 50 to 59 in 1830, this does not explain the appearance of an additional female in the age 40 to 49 age range. One bare possibility is that the female shown in the 1820 Census has died or moved away and that Ritty and Sarah ROPER have rented their land out to the younger John CARSTARPHEN. On the other hand, the appearance of five males age 10 to 14 and two males age 15 to 19 in the 1830 record cannot be readily reconciled with the showing of only three males under age 10 in 1820. The counts of the younger male children seem more consistent with the merger and consolidation of another household with that of the John CARSTARPHEN as shown in the 1820 record. Again, one bare possibility is that Sarah ROPER could have married a widower named John CARSTARPHEN who already had a large family, but who died before 1830 leaving behind a son of this same name. John CARSTARPHEN seems to have departed from Northampton by 1840. He may be the J. G. CARSTARPHEN who turns up in Jasper, Mississippi that year. In 1820, the Northampton Census returns were quasi alphabetical, so no proximty information can be inferred from this enumeration. * I want to emphasize that inclusion of Ritty and Sarah ROPER within the household of John CARSTARPHEN should be treated as only a bare possiblity which warrants further investigation, particularly as to the possibility that the CARSTARPHENs are related in some way OR that Sarah ROPER might have married into this family. But the slim evidence outlined above is hardly conclusive. * * * * In combination, I believe that the adjacent appearance of James HART and Robert BURNETT next to John CARSTARPHEN requires further investigation as to the possible relation of CARSTARPHEN and the possibility that Ritty was living within his household. HART, BURNETT and CARSTARPHEN probate records need to be checked. The DEED RECORDS for Northampton, NC, need to be checked. * * * * * THE 1840 CENSUS Ritty reappears in Northampton in the 1840 Census enumeration. Ritty ROPER: 0 - 0 - 1 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 -- 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 1 - 1 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 -- No Slaves [Northampton 1840] [Image 17-8 of 88 at the Ancestry.com presentation of the 1840 Census data for this place.] See: "United States Census, 1840," index and images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/XHYJ-M8S : accessed 06 Jul 2014), Ritley Roper, Not Stated, Northampton, North Carolina; citing "1840 United States Federal Census," Ancestry.com; p. 93, NARA microfilm publication M704, roll 366, National Archives and Records Administration, Washington D.C.; FHL microfilm 0018096. There are two older females residing within Ritty's household. One is shown to be age 60 to 69 (b abt 1771-80) and the other is shown to be age 50 to 59 (b abt 1781-90). There is also a boy age 10 to 14 (b abt 1826-30) residing in this household. This child is too young to be the nephew and ward John ROPER, who had by then established his own household: John ROPER: 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 1 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 -- 2 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 1 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 -- No Slaves [Northampton 1840] [Image 43-4 of 88 at the Ancestry.com presentation of the 1840 Census data for this place.] The precise identity of the young male child in Ritty ROPER's household is UNCLEAR. John ROPER's 1840 Census record is consistent with his marriage to Rebecca HART on 07 Jan 1836. John and Rebecca have two young daughters under age 5. The 1850 Census record shows these to be Lucy and Celestia. See my these previous posts for more information about John and Rebecca Hart ROPER's family: "Re: 1850 Census Record of Thomas J. ROPER (b Apr 1848 - NC)" (30 Aug 2003 1:19PM GMT) http://boards.rootsweb.com/surnames.roper/634.1/mb.ashx "1860 Census Record of John and Rebecca ROPER, of Northampton, NC" (7 Jul 2014 3:33PM GMT) http://boards.rootsweb.com/surnames.roper/634.4/mb.ashx "Rebecca Hart ROPER's 1870 Census Record in Northampton, NC" (30 Aug 2003 4:17PM GMT) http://boards.rootsweb.com/surnames.roper/634.3/mb.ashx * * * * * THE 1850 CENSUS In 1850, Ritty ROPER, age 70, born NC, is shown to be residing within the household of John ROPER, age 41, and Rebecca ROPER, age 33, and their family in Northampton County, NC. [Image 134 of 159 at the Ancestry.com presentation of the 1850 Census data for this place.] See: "United States Census, 1850," index and images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/M4B6-ZV9 : accessed 06 Jul 2014), Rilly Roper in household of John Roper, Northampton county, part of, Northampton, North Carolina, United States; citing family 1122, NARA microfilm publication M432. This John ROPER is almost surely Ritty ROPER's nephew, the son of Charles and Sarah "Sally" ROPER. I previously transcribed and posted this Census record within another thread a little more than a decade ago: "Re: 1850 Census Record of Thomas J. ROPER (b Apr 1848 - NC)" (30 Aug 2003 1:19PM GMT) http://boards.rootsweb.com/surnames.roper/634.1/mb.ashx * * * * * RITTY ROPER's YEAR OF BIRTH Ritty ROPER's age (70) and implicit year of birth (1780) as given in the 1850 Census is probably entitled to be treated as the very best indication of when Ritty was born, though it is possible that she was a year or two older. It is unlikely that she is much younger given Ritty's father's death before 19 Dec 1782. Reviewing the sources of information about Ritty ROPER's age, we must first necessarily give the GREATEST weight to mention of Ritty in her grandmother's Will dated 20 Jan 1783. We can be absolutely confident that Ritty was born BEFORE this date. We can also be reasonably confident that Ritty was born within about nine months of her father's death. Richard ROPER is known to have died bef the 19 Dec 1782 date of his Inventory. (No one seems to have bothered to look for the first probate mention in the Brunswick or Greensville Court records.) Implictly, the FAILURE to mention Sarah "Sally" ROPER in Angelica LEWIS' Will may also suggest the possiblity that Ann LEWIS might have been pregnant when Richard ROPER died and at the 20 Jan 1783 date her mother executed her Will. This could account for the omission of the name of this child and the more ambiguous indication that the residue of her estate be sold for the benefit of the younger children after Ann ROPER's death. Ann Lewis ROPER's 1800 Census record shows the presence of one female child age 18 to 25 (b abt 1775-82). If this is Ritty, the record somewhat narrows Ritty's age range and implicit year of birth to b abt 1775-82. But this female could also have been the other daughter Sally ROPER, so we cannot know with certainty to which daughter the record pertains. In 1810, again Ann Lewis ROPER has just one female residing within her household. This female is shown to be age 26 to 44 (b abt 1776-84), which is reasonably consistent with the possibility that either Ritty or Sarah ROPER might have been living with her. It should probably be noted that while Ann ROPER named BOTH daughters as a co-executrix ONLY Ritty ROPER applied and qualified for letters testamentary. This MAY be some evdidence that Ritty ROPER lived with Ann ROPER, while Sarah ROPER may have then lived elsewhere, possibly even out of county. We are then presented with two additional observations, from the 1820 and 1840 Census. In 1820, BOTH females in Ritty's household are shown to be age 26 to 44 in 1820 (b abt 1776-94). This is a wide enough range to cover BOTH Ritty and Sarah and the data is at least consistent with the possibility that Sarah was the other female residing in Ritty's household in 1820. However, it should be noted that the data is also consistent with the possibility that Charles ROPER's widow Sally might be residing with her sister-in-law. The 1840 record gives a little better clarity. In 1840, the elder of the two females in Ritty's household is shown to be age 60 to 69 (b abt 1771-80). While it is certainly possible that another older female is then residing with Ritty, the simplest and most likely explanation is that Ritty is the older female and that the age range shown pertains to her. To summarize, we thus have thus have these observations giving us a basis to impute Ritty's year of birth: b bef 20 Jan 1783 (Angelica LEWIS' Will) b bef 1790 (1790 Census) b abt 1775-82 [1800 Census, IF Ritty is living in Ann ROPER's household] b abt 1776-94 [1810 Census, IF Ritty is living in Ann ROPER's household] b abt 1776-94 [1820 Census] b abt 1771-80 [1840 Census] b abt 1780 [1850 Census] The implicit year of birth suggested by the 1850 Census data (b abt 1780) is actually consistent with EVERY OTHER observation, which reflects remarkably consistent data supporting treatment of this Census as the single best estimate. But this may still imply a bit of false precision. If one were to EXCLUDE the 1850 result, we would still conclude that Ritty was born about 1776-80. While we would should probably show Ritty as b abt 1780, we should recognize the possibility that Ritty might have been born a year or two earlier. One possiblity is that she was born soon after Samuiel ROPER's marriage to Henrietta CLARK and Richard and Ann LEWIS may have had a special affection for Samuel's wife Henrietta. Angelica LEWIS' mention of Ritty ROPER BEFORE the mention of either Thomas or Charles may also reflect the birth order of the children. Ritty may have been the eldest child, though by all indications the four children of Richard and Ann Lewis ROPER seem likely to have been tightly clustered in age and years of birth. 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>