Almost thirteen years ago a researcher posted a Query at the Genealogy.com ROPER Message Board inquiring as to information about two ROPER grandchildren of William LEA/LEE, of Wilkes County, GA:
"Searching for William Roper and his sister Sarah Roper, heirs to William Lee and Nance Ann Graves. Roper children listed as grandchildren [sic] in William's 1794 will in Wilkes Co., Ga. Roper children probably born in N.C. and may have remained in N.C. Their mother may have been Sarah Lee ."
Secondary sources seem to believe that this William LEA migrated to Wilkes County, Georgia, from Caswell County, NC, about 1788. The source and reliability of this secondary information about the timing of the LEA migration is UNKNOWN to me.
See:
"William & Sarah Roper-Caswell/Orange Co." (July 28, 2001 at 19:17:00)
http://genforum.genealogy.com/roper/messages/840.htmlSecondary sources show William LEA's Will to be recorded with Wilkes County, Georgia Will Book 1792-1801 at p. 112.
The Will is purported by secondary sources to make these bequests:
"Lea, William. To Wife Nancy for life or widowhood, the plantation whereon I now live, all the furniture within the walls, stock, etc., and slaves Ben, Jude, Jenney and Osborn. To son Thomas slave Hannah. To son John slave Daniel. To son Jonathan slave Dinah. To dau. Nancy for life slaves George, Milly and Elix, the still, 100 acres of land, etc., at her death the land to be given to my son Solomon, the negroes and stock to Nancy's five children (not named). To grandchildren William and Sarah Ropers slave Jenny at the death of my wife, when they come of age. To grandau. Susannah Lea slave Osborn at wife's death. £30 to be divided among the heirs of my dau. Rosanna Gean at wife's death. Aquilla Burroughs, John Lea, and Joseph Henderson, Excrs. Signed Jan. 9, 1794. Probated May 3, 1794. Spencer Runnels, Geo. Griggs, John Henderson, Test."
William LEA's Inventory was apparently recorded on 01 Jul 1794 at Pages 62-4.
Secondary sources further report that estate papers reflect the following additional information:
"In the lifetime of Aquilla Burroughs, (the other excr.), and after the death of Nancy Lea the wid of the testator, towit on 28th, day of Jan. 1809 a certain negro woman and her two children which by the will belonged to the wid for life, final division to two grandchildren, were exposed to public sale, Richard Peteet became the purchaser."
A LOT of additional information, some seemingly specific and credible, about William LEA appears at this Ancestry page, seemingly maintained by the Caswell County Historical Association:
http://wc.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&d...* *
A careful inspection of the actual William LEA Will, however shows the extent to which secondary sources paraphrase, sometimes leaving out key details. Here is what William LEA's Will actually says in regards to his ROPER grandchildren:
"6th I give to my grand children William & Sarah ROPERS negroe Jenny, after the death of my wife to be equally divided among them when they or either of them comes of age, ... "
See: "Georgia, Probate Records, 1742-1990," images, FamilySearch (
https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.3.1/TH-1971-30353-22178-76... : accessed 14 Apr 2014), Wilkes > Wills 1791-1819 vol C and GG-HH > image 138 of 524.
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REASONABLE INFERENCES TO BE DRAWN FROM THE LEA WILL
The secondary source who posted the cited Genealogy.com Query seems to assert that William LEA had a daughter named "Sarah" who was married to a ROPER. While perhaps this is indicated within some other evidence, what I garner from the William LEA Will is that William and Nancy LEA had an UNNAMED DAUGHTER who predeceased him (d bef 1794) and that this daughter had a son named "William ROPER" and a daughter named "Sarah ROPER."
Although some other secondary sources seem to infer either that the Mother of William and Sarah ROPER might be LIVING or that the Father might be already DEAD, in my view, the wording of the Will, as represented in posted transcriptions, would seem to me to imply that the unnamed Mother was DEAD, but that there would be NO IMPLICATION as to the continued life of the Father.
One might draw a very weak inference that William and Sarah ROPER might have been orphans with their father predeceasing them, as well, but it seems to me that this inference would strain what can be reasonably garnered from the Will.
While it is certainly true that there are some grandparents who make specific bequests to grandchildren without regard to the continued life and survival of the intervening generation and it is also NOT necessary for ANY parent to treat ALL children equally, after the decline of the English primogenitor (and to an extent even before), basic familial sense of fundamental fairness tends to dictate that either ALL children OR ALL sons and ALL daughters (treated separately) be given a roughly equivalent share of accumulated family wealth.
Thus, when a child predeceases the parent and the parent has a sense that fairness might require a division or sharing per stirpes, the decedent is left with two alternatives. Where the son-in-law is living, ALL of the grandchildren are young and the son-in-law HAS NOT REMARRIED, a simple expedient, WHERE THE SON-IN-LAW IS TRUSTED is to make a single bequest to the son-in-law, trusting that he will then provide for and pass wealth along to his children (the decedent’s grandchildren).
By contrast, where the son-in-law is NOT trusted OR where the son-in-law has OTHER children, either by prior marriage or a marriage subsequent to the death of the decedent’s daughter, a bequest to the son-in-law is very likely to be used for the care and upbringing of ALL the son-in-law’s children sugesting the dvisability of a specific bequest MADE to the grandchildren directly.
Therefore, in my view, the failure to make the bequest to the ROPER son-in-law does NOT support even a weak inference that the son-in-law is already dead. Instead, there are multiple plausible explanations, some more likely than others, including that the son-in-law has other children by a prior or subsequent marriage.
I think the failure to mention the daughter by name and make a bequest in her favor supports a strong inference that the daughter is dead, but that NO SIMILAR INFERENCE can be reasonably made as to the survival of the son-in-law.
The strongest inference which can be drawn from the Will is that William LEA believed his grandchildren to be minors at the 09 Jan 1794 date of his Will. Thus, it seems to me that both of these ROPER grandchildren would have been born about 1773-93.
*
After Nancy LEA died, the slave Jenny and her two children were sold and the bequests to the two ROPER grandchildren were apparently paid about 1809. I have NOT seen the underlying probate records cited by secondary souces as to these distribution, which need to be re-examined
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There is some indication that William LEA and/or one of his sons might have lived adjacent to John ROPER in Halifax, Virginia. Frank BATCHELOR pointed out to us in a prior post:
"The 1782 Halifax County, Virginia Personal Property Tax List
Transcribed by Jeffrey C. Weaver, August 2, 1998
McNight, James 1 - 1 - 6
Lee, William 1 1 2 - 6
Caldwell, John 1 2 7 - 28
Roper, John 1 0 2 - 5
Caldwell, Allen 1 6 3 - 16
Colson, Geo. - - 1 - 4"
See:
"Re: Location of the Halifax County, VA, ROPER Property" (8 Mar 2013 5:29PM GMT)
http://boards.ancestry.com.au/surnames.roper/1775.3.1.2.2/mb...* *
Secondary sources suggest that this William LEA previously resided along County Line Creek in Caswell County, NC, where he is represented to own 1,052 acres according to the 1784 Tax Lists (I have NOT seen the referenced Tax List).
The proximity of William LEA's land to the ROPER property is suggested by these deed abstracts posted at Dave ROPER's North Carolina ROPER Families Page:
"A:520: William Lea to Major Lea for 100 lbs, 240 acres on Country Line Cr adj Wm. Lea's corner, a beach on Roper's Br, corner James Lea's line. 19 Dec 1780."
"J:344: Major Lea to Hearndon Lea for 50 lbs 86.5 acres on Country Line Cr adj John Lea, Roper's Br, being part of tract major Lea surveyed for himself. 3 Mar 1796. Wit: J. Carter, John Lea."
"N:133: John Roper to William Yates for 50 lbs 50 acres W side Country Line Cr. at Roper's Spring Br. 13 Nov 1798 Wit: Saml S. Farley, Abner Robinson."
See:
http://www.roperld.com/rnc1617.htmDave also shows this abstracted record:
"NC Gen. Soc. Journal V.3 p.191: William & Nancy Ann (Graves) Lea from Caswell Co. NC c1788 to Wilkes Co. GA. William d Wilkes Co. GA c1794. Legatees: Thomas Lea, John Lea, Jonathan Lea, Nancy Lea, & her five Chn: Rosanne Jean, Sarah Lea, William & Sarah Roper
(grandchn), wife Nancy Lea."
I believe that this abstract also SUFFERS from having made an UNSUPPORTED inference that William and Nancy had a daughter named "Sarah", which seems NOT to be supported by the Will transcription I have seen. Again, perhaps there is some evidence as to the name of the LEA's daughter, but if so, it doesn't seem to be posted.
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Although I have seen secondary sources which seem to identify the UNNAMED daughter of William LEA as "Sarah" and some other records which seem to ascribe the son-in-law's name as "William ROPER," I have seen NO PRIMARY EVIDENCE which would support either ascription.
On the other hand, there are a number of ROPER names which we commonly associate with the ROPER properties at or near Rattlesnake Creed or Country Line Creek.
In 1790, the only two ROPERs shown on the Tax Rolls for Caswell County seem to have been James ROPER and William ROPER. On the other hand, it seems as though no researcher has ever bothered to try to gather all of the extant Caswell Tax lists. There seem to have clearly been two different David ROPERs at this location in the years both before and after this Tax List. James ROPER is KNOWN to have had a brother George ROPER who was from Caswell County.
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AGES AND YEARS OF BIRTH OF THE LEA CHILDREN
The secondary sources seem NOT to have fixed the ages of the various LEA children. Using some of the posted data abstracted within these secondary posts, it seems to me that we can make at least several reasonably strong inferences about the age ranges.
The Will identifies these LEA children:
Thomas LEA
John LEA
Jonathan LEA
Nancy LEA
Solomon LEA
Unnamed Deceased Daughter m ROPER
Possibly Unnamed Deceased Son, Father of Susannah LEA
Rosannah LEA m JEAN or GEAN
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Thomas LEA was apparently shown as a landowner in Caswell County from 1781-6. Assuming that Thomas LEA would have attained his majority by his shown date of ownership of this land, Thomas LEA seems likely to be born before 1761.
William LEA is shown to have sold land to son John LEA in 1786, by which time William LEA was presumably no longer a minor. John LEA is also shown to have married Elizabeth BRADLEY on 23 Apr 1780. This seems to support an inference that William LEA, Jr., was born before 1762.
Jonathan LEA is shown to have marriage Mary HIGHTOWER on 16 Oct 1786 in Caswell. Assuming that Jonathan was at least age 18 by his date of marriage, we might infer that Jonathan LEA was born before 1768.
Rosannah LEA is shown to have married Sherwood JEAN in Caswell, NC, on 20 Feb 1786. Assuming that Rosannah was at least age 16 at her marriage, we might infer that Rosannah was born before 1770.
Thus we seem to have these age ranges:
Thomas LEA (b bef 1761)
John LEA (b bef 1762)
Jonathan LEA (b bef 1768)
Nancy LEA
Solomon LEA
Unnamed Deceased Daughter m ROPER
Possibly Unnamed Deceased Son, Father of Susannah LEA
Rosannah LEA (b bef 1770) m GEAN or JEAN
*
While the order in which names of children are listed in a Will would typically support a weak inference that this is the birth order of the children, it seems to me that close correspondence of the order listed to the order in which William LEA's children begin to engage in commercial intercourse and marry supports a much stronger inference as to birth order.
I believe that we might make a reasonably strong inference that the UNNAMED daughter of William LEA who is shown to have married a ROPER is likely to have been born before 1769. To the extent that the unnamed daughter was born at the later end of this range, at 1769, it seems likely that she married about 1785-90. If the unnamed daughter was born earlier, then the date range for the married would also be correspondingly earlier.
This would seem to make the unnamed LEA daughter more a contemporary of Keziah YATES, who was named in her father's Will in 1779 and married William ROPER in 1781. The identity of James ROPER's wife is also known. Other possible ROPER husbands from this early a period in Caswell would seem to be one of the David ROPERs or George ROPER.
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POSSIBLE IDENTITY OF THE HUSBAND OF THE UNNAMED LEA DAUGHTER
To the extent that the ROPER grandchildren of William LEA might be found within Caswell County, NC, WHICH IS FAR FROM CERTAIN, the most obvious candidates to be the husband of the unnamed LEA daughter would seem to include:
William ROPER (b bef 1759) [the William ROPER shown to have married Keziah YATES]
James ROPER (b abt 1756-60?, d 18 Nov 1835 - Simpson, KY)* [the Revolutionary War Veteran]
John ROPER (b. bef. 1756, d. aft. 1820 - Cumberland, KY)
George ROPER (b abt 1765, d 04 Feb 1845 - Jefferson, IL) [the Revolutionary War Veteran]
David ROPER (b Oct 1765, d bef 16 Sep 1839 - Pulaski, KY) [the Revolutionary War Veteran]
David ROPER (b bef. 1742) [who received land by deed in 1762]
David ROPER (b bef. 1737) [who first obtained land at Rattlesnake Creek]
* Most transcribers have stated that James ROPER represented within his Revolutionary Pension Application that he was born Jun 1745 - Caswell, NC. However, I showed in my posts "When Was James ROPER (b abt 1756-60, d 18 Nov 1835 - Simpson, KY) Really Born??" [27 Nov 2012 9:51PM] and "Re: When Was James ROPER (b abt 1756-60, d 18 Nov 1835 - Simpson, KY) Really Born??" [14 Feb 2013 5:08AM] that James ROPER gave conflicting testimony orally and in writing about his age, was exceptionally infirm and feeble at his application and that there is much reason to doubt the accuracy of his age.
See my thread:
“James ROPER (b Jun 1745 - Caswell, NC, d 18 Nov 1835 - Simpson, KY)” (27 Nov 2012 3:23PM)
http://boards.ancestry.com/surnames.roper/1721/mb.ashx*
The ONLY two ROPERs shown to be actually residing in Caswell County, according to the extant Tax Lists for 1790 seem to have been William ROPER (b bef 1759) and James ROPER (b abt 1756-60?, d 18 Nov 1835 - Simpson, KY).
John ROPER (b. bef. 1756, d. aft. 1820 - Cumberland, KY) was living just across the Virginia state line in Halifax County, Virginia, seemingly adjacent to a William LEA.
Revolutionary War Veteran James ROPER is shown by his Pension application to have married for SECOND TIME to Mary NEIL/O'NEILL on 27 Mar 1792 in Caswell, North Carolina. To the extent that he was previously married with young children, he might very well have lost his first wife during childbirth and remarried quickly. If James ROPER's first wife was the unnamed LEA daughter, it seems more likely that grandchildren William ROPER and Sarah ROPER might have been born at the later end of the date range of 1773 to 1794 and BEFORE his remarriage on 27 Mar 1792.
George ROPER’s pension application showed that he had one son, David C. ROPER. For George to be the father, it seems that we must assume that George was married twice (accounting for David) and that William and Sarah predeceased him.
It seems to me that the three primary candidates to be the father of William and Sarah are William ROPER, James ROPER and John ROPER. I would say that I would currently rate the prospects as: (1) James ROPER, (2) John ROPER and (3) William ROPER, in that order.
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John ROPER, of Caswell, NC, is also shown to be the purchaser of "picked cotton" at the estate sale of John YATES, conducted on 20 Mar 1799. April Court 1799. Caswell Will Book "C," page 390.
See: "North Carolina, Probate Records, 1735-1970," images, FamilySearch (
https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.3.1/TH-1-19424-99962-56?cc... : accessed 11 Apr 2014), Caswell > Wills, Inventories, Settlements, 1777-1783, Vol. A > image 598 of 642.
*
John ROPER, of Caswell, NC, is shown to be the purchaser at the estate sale of John LEA, conducted on 07 Jun 1803. See Caswell Will Book "E," page 14.
*
William LEA is shown to be the administrator of Henry ROPER, deceased in 1845 to 1848. Caswell Will Book "P", "GG," page 908.
* * *
The precise identity of the William ROPER and Sarah ROPER named within William LEA's Will remain UNIDENTIFIED. We KNOW that these seemed to be minors at the 09 Jan 1794 date of William LEA's Will (b abt 1773-93). This makes the grandson far too YOUNG to be the William ROPER who married Keziah YATES, although these grandchild could be children of William ROPER (b bef 1759), particularly if they were born either before William ROPER's marriage to Keziah in 1781 OR if William survived and remarried after Keziah ROPER's death.
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CANDIDATES FOR WILLIAM AND SARAH ROPER
One interesting set of candidates might be the William ROPER and Sarah ROPER who later appear in or near Sumner County, Tennessee.
I noted in another recent post the presence of William ROPER (b abt 1774 - NC) who is enumerated residing in Smith County, TN, in 1850. He would have been (barely) a minor at the date of William LEA's Will.
This possibility is made somewhat more intriguing by the marriage of a Sally ROPER ("Sally possibly a nickname for "Sarah") to William HARGIS in Sumner County, TN, on 21 Jul 1810. (There seems to be some disagreement amongst Indexers as to William's surname. He is shown in some indices as HARGAS and others as HAYES. I have NOT seen the underlying record, which needs to be re-inspected!)
What makes this seem LESS plausible is that Sarah ROPER would probably have first wed at age 16 to 20. If this was Sally ROPER's age range in 1810, then she would have been born 1790-94. While this is within the age range for her to have been a minor at William LEA's death, it is seemingly INCONSISTENT with the possibility that Sally ROPER would be a younger sister to William ROPER (b abt 1774 - NC). If anything, the age range is more consistent with the possibility that William ROPER (b abt 1774 - NC) might have been Sally ROPER's father.
Some further investigation into the age and genealogical information of Sally Roper HAYES would seem to be in order.
Another possible clue to the origins of William ROPER, of Sumner and Smith Counties, is perhaps the power of attorney granted by James YATES, of Sumner County, Western Territories, to brother William YATES, od Caswell, NC, on 01 Nov 1792. Caswell Will Book "C", Pages 27-8.
The image of this Power of Attorney is now online at the FamilySearch.org website at Image 415 of 642 within the file shown as "Wills, Inventories, Settlements, 1777-1783, Vol. A" (this file contains Will Books A, B and C).
See: "North Carolina, Probate Records, 1735-1970," images, FamilySearch (
https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.3.1/TH-1-19424-99097-8?cc=... : accessed 11 Apr 2014), Caswell > Wills, Inventories, Settlements, 1777-1783, Vol. A > image 415 of 642.
This record is abstracted within Caswell County, North Carolina, Will Books, 1777-1814, by Katharine Kerr Kendall, Mary Frances Kerr Donaldson, at page 42.
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Another possible candidate to be the Sarah ROPER named within William LEA's Will would be the Sary ROPER who married Robert BOYD on 18 Sep 1794. This construction would have Sarah ROPER MUCH OLDER, perhaps still a minor, but of marriageable age by September 1794.
* *
It should probably be here noted that David ROPER (d 1803 - Edgefield, SC) also seems to have had a son named William and a daughter named Sarah. However, he also seems to have had a younger son named Daniel. But it is also possible that this David ROPER had more than one wife. There is more than a little evidence that this David ROPER might have been in Rutherford or Caswell County, NC.
* * *
I am NOT here attempting any ascription, but the healthy recent interest in the Caswell, North Carolina, ROPER families brought about by Frank BATCHELOR's recent investigations suggests that we ought to be considering the puzzle of the William and Nancy LEA grandchildren as we otherwise assess the Caswell, NC, and Tennessee ROPER families!
