At the Hartsville Genealogical Research Library in Hartsville, S.C. in their Doris G. Gandy Chesterfield Surname Collection there is a Roscoe family file. Much of the file consist of notes and letters from or to various persons pretaining to the Roscoe family. With-in this file are several letters from a Mrs. Jesse Wilson Roscoe (Floris Bee Deaton Roscoe) of Grenada, Mississippi who I had the pleasure of knowing and corresponding with over a ten year period until her death in 1985. Her husband, Jesse Wilson Roscoe was born in Marlboro County S.C. in September of 1918. His parents were Oscar Raymond and Harriet Rosco. His grandparents were were George Washington Roscoe and his 2nd wife Jane Adams. His great grandparents were John Roscoe and Lucy Clark. Floris Roscoe was very interested in researching her husbands Roscoe ancestors and finding the connections between these ancestors and the other Roscoe or Rascoe families that were contempories with John Roscoe in Marlboro and Chesterfield Counties. Floris Roscoe apparently met with much silence and noncooperation from her husband's Roscoe relatived and other Roscoe in the Marlboro/Chesterfield area. One story that she relayed to me was that There was another man who claim to be yet another John Roscoe and illigitimate brother of George Washington Roscoe and that this man sometimes went by the sur-name "Minder". Floris Roscoe said her in-laws referred to the "Roscoe" descendants of this man as the "Minders Bunch" and they did not acknowledge any relationship between their families. Floris speculated that they were related however and that possibly some past disagreement resulted in the split up of the family. In one of her letters in the Hartsville Genealogical collection, Floris speculates that John Roscoe, her husbands, great grandfather, had been married to Minda (sur-name unknown) and had had several children by her including Oliver Roscoe, Riley Roscoe, Rachel Roscoe, Marie Roscoe, Jane Roscoe, Elizabeth Roscoe, and possibly others, all of whom can be located in the censuses of Chesterfield County in the 1850,1860, and 1870 censuses. Floris believes that John Roscoe left his family and ran off with Lucinda or Lucy Clark and had yet another family in Marlsboro County which was her husband's ancestors. Floris became convinced that the Roscoe that her husbands relatives referred to as the "Minder Bunch" actually referred to the children of John and Minda and there descendants in Chesterfield County and that perhaps the term "Minder Bunch" was actually "Minda's Bunch". Actually I don't believe that Floris ever proved or disproved this speculation wich was largely based on comparing the 1830 census of John Rasco family in Marlboro County with that of John Rascow family in the 1850 census of Marlboro County. If these John Roscoe were in fact the same person, Floris speculates that John's wife and children were different persons based on their ages then those in his household in 1850. That plus the story of the "Minder Bunch" is what Floris based her concludions on. On the other hand there is the claim that the "Roscoe across the river" (Chesterfield County), were not related to the ones in Marlboro County (Floris' in-laws). Perhaps John Ruscoe who shows up in Wadesboro, Anson County in the 1840's may have been in Chesterfield County earlier and could have been the husband of Minda. A least one of John Ruscoe sons (William D. Ruscoe) married and settled in Chesterfield County changing the spelling of his name to Roscoe. A daugther of John Ruscoe married and settled in Marlboro County. That this John Ruscoe may have been in Chesterfield County and been the husband of Minda is again only speculation and probably not true. A Delilah Rasco was in the 1810 census of Chesterfield County. Floris speculated that she may have been the widow of James Rasco who first appears in Marlboro County (Cheraw District) in the 1790 census. No other Roscoes or Rascoe appear in Chesterfield County censuses until 1850 although there continued to be Rascoe in Marlboro County in all the censuses back to 1790. Other records hint that there were other Roscoes in Chesterfield County in the 1820 and 1830 but they were not listed in the censuses. Oliver and Riley Rascow (Roscoe) households were enumerated in the 1850 census of Chesterfield County. Oliver had recently married Caroline Steen and had no children as of the census date. In his house appears a Mindu or Minda Rascow which is probably his mother and a Rachel Rascow which is likely his sister. In the same general area is the household of a Jane Minder. In her household are children Mary, Rebecca, Margaret, Joseph, and Effa. In the 1860 census of Chesterfield County, Minda Rascoe is listed in her own household with Marie (Mary?) Rascoe, Rebecca Rascoe, Josphine Rascoe, and Margaret Rascoe, which are probably some of Minda grandchildren and great grandchildren. In the 1870 census of Chesterfield a Joseph Rasco appears in the Chesterfield County Census. This is Joseph Franklin Roscoe who married Ruey Jane Cassiday. Floris Roscoe's research showed that Joseph had at least two sisters, one named Rebecca and one named Effie. The latter had ran off and married a Polson fellow. That Joseph Roscoe had a sister named Rebecca is confirmed by Glenn Perdue a descendant of Joseph F.Roscoe. Floris and Glenn both told me that Joseph and his sister(s) were suppose to have been illigitimate children of an unknown Roscoe female and an Indian named Joe Johnson but they had no proof of this claim. When Joseph F. Roscoe died, his death certificate did not show the names of his parents but where it normally would have it showed he was adopted. When Rebecca Roscoe died, her death certificate did not show who her father was but it listed her mother's name as Jane Roscoe. It is my opinion that this Jane Roscoe and the Jane Minder on the 1850 census are one and the same based on what Floris and Glenn have told me, the given names listed, the locations, and other circumstancial evidence I have gathered. Still none of this is proven. Rebecca Roscoe appears to have never married but she had at least two daughter, Margaret "Maggie", Jane "Janie", and a son names Joseph Rascoe. Margaret also appears to have never married but had children of her own which seems to have been raised by Rebecca. Jane had children also out of wed-lock who Rebecca raised. The son Joseph married Catherine Purvis or Parker and moved to Coffee County Alabama. He retained the spelling of Rascoe for his sur-name rather then Roscoe. I have quite a large collection of material on the Rascoe/Roscoe families of Marlboro, Chesterfield, Darlington Counties of S.C., Richmond, Anson, Charlotte, Cabarrus, Cumberland, and other counties of N.C. as well as Rascoe who left South Carolina in the early 1800's and migrated to Georgia, Alabama, Kentucky, and Texas. If anyone else has simular data and would like to correspond or exchange information, I would be pleased to hear from you. Will also be happy to do look-ups in the Cemetery records of Chesterfield County for anyone needing such. James R. Rasco < jrrasco@aol.com >