Meeting of Roper Family Genealogists for Families with Virginia Origins
(Majority USA Roper Family Union I)
11-13 Oct 2002

L. David Roper
540-951-7047 (9 AM-9 PM)
roperld@vt.edu
http://arts.bev.net/roperldavid

• Location of Meeting
• Items to Discussed
• Timetable
• Other Interesting Places to Visit in the Area
• List of Those Who Attended the Meeting
• Pictures Taken at the Meeting
• Organizing Committee for Roper Union II meeting in 2003

A meeting was held on 11-13 October of six 7th cousins who were interested in a discussion of the Roper family genealogy for Roper families that originated in the USA in the state of Virginia. We started planning for a future Roper Union II for the diverse Roper families who have been shown to be related by genealogy or the Y-chromosome project: http://www.roperld.com/ropergenetics.htm

I recently visited the New Kent and Charles City County areas where most of our Roper families originated. The Northampton/Accomack Counties area where William Roper [b 1606, a member of the Virginia House of Burgesses] was in the early 1600s is 100 miles farther east. He may be the ancestor of the NKC/CCC Ropers of the mid 1600s. (His wife Katherine Graves is a relative of mine through my mother.)

Location of Meeting

During my visit there I stayed at the Jasmine Plantation B&B (http://www.jasmineplantation.com/) in the country about 1/4 mile off of Rt. 155 one mile north of Providence Forge and three miles south of Exit 214 on I64 in NKC and found it to be a very nice and interesting place to stay; and it has a large meeting room where we had our meetings.

Items Discussed

Richard Samuel Roper (http://www.roperld.com/roper.htm#ropersam) of Annapolis MD has agreed to help plan the meeting and the future Roper "Union" for next year. Items discussed are:

• Comprehensive review of early (1600-1800) Ropers in Virginia.
• Possible English origins of the early Virginia Ropers.
• Recent results of the Roper male-line Y-chromosome project (http://www.roperld.com/ropergenetics.htm) I am running.
• Planning a future Ropers of Virginia "Union".
• Connections between early Ropers in Virginia, Maryland, North Carolina and South Carolina.
• Discussion of the most fruitful areas for future studies.

Much Roper information was brought to share. I brought copies of NKC/CCC Roper information on a CD for each participant.

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Timetable

• Our first session was 7-9 PM in the JPB&B meeting room. Subway sandwiches and drinks were provided at cost from 6-7 PM.
• Sat 12 Oct: Met from 10-12 AM in JPB&B meeting room. Subway sandwiches and drinks were provided from 12-1 PM. 2-5 PM we took a 51-miles car tour of Roper sites (See map: http://www.roperld.com/graphics/RoperNKCCCCVA.gif). 6-8 PM we had dinner together at Indian Fields Tavern 5 miles west of Charles City Courthouse on Rt. 5, with discussion of a future Roper "reunion" after dinner.
• Sun 13 Oct: Richard Samuel Roper and I attended the 11 AM church service at St. Peter's Episcopal Church (which was on the tour the previous day), where John Roper was on the vestry in mid 1600s. (Thomas Roper may have helped lay the bricks in 1704.) Have lunch on your own and leave when you must. We met the rector and senior warden and discussed the possibility of having a memorial service for John Roper there next year.

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Other Interesting Places to Visit in the Area

• James River Plantations (http://www.jamesriverplantations.com) within 10 miles on Rt. 5 west of Charles City Courthouse
• Colonial Williamsburg (http://www.colonialwilliamsburg.com) 29 Miles east on I64.
• There is a small but excellent Center for Local History library , open WF 10-4 & MTuTh 9-4, at 10600 Courthouse Rd., PO Box 128, Charles City Va, 804-829-5609. It is 9 miles south of the B&B on Rt. 155.

List of Those Who Attended the Meeting

Pictures Taken at the Meeting

Organizing Committee for Roper Union II in 2003

This group agreed to serve as the organizing committee for the Roper Union II on 10-12 October 2003 meeting:

• Dave Roper: Maintain an updated web page about the UII. Maintain an e-mail list of family members who might be interested in attending. (Please regularly send me such.) Maintain an e-mail list of family members who say they will attend.
• Dick Roper: Arrange for a place to meet. Should that involve collecting registration fees after we decide what the fee should be? Arrange the memorial service for John Roper.
• Mary Alice O'Brien Lamm and Myra Brown Lewis Daniel: Prepare registration materials, e.g. name tags, maps, local information. Would you contact family members who do not have e-mail addresses?
• Spot Roper: Try to interest as many Ropers who are Virginia residents to attend Roper Union II. Make a list of all Ropers who attend whose families never left Virginia; we could especially notice them at the meeting.

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L. David Roper
540-951-7047 (9 AM-9 PM)
roperld@vt.edu
http://arts.bev.net/roperldavid