John William ROPER ^{1 2}

1820C: under 10 yrs, w/mother
1840C: Dallas Co., AL- 20 to 30 yrs, 1 son & 1 dau 5-10, 1 dau under 5, near neighbor of Edward Holloway
1850C: Natchitoches, LA- 37 yrs, b. SC, farmer, w/wife, 4 children & Thos. Oliver, 26 yrs, b. AL.
W L Baird and wife, Mary Law, were a neighbors
1860C: Natchitoches- 46 yrs, b. SC, planter, w/wife & 2 daughters

  Research Notes:

The family spent some time in Alabama on the way to Louisiana.
On Sep 15, 1854, John W Roper purchased 79.7 acres in Sect 5 N<<SW ,TSP 12N, R9W. This would be a mile or so NE of Coushatta.
(N<<SW - "<<" could mean illegible . 80 acres would be 1/4 of 1/4 Section.
In 1860, he was listed as the holder of 17 slaves. His home at that time was "Egyptian Bend" on Little River near Montgomery, SE of the town of Natchitoches.

( from the files of Mary Alice Hunter (ggranddaughter of J W Roper))
John William Roper (b.1812 d.1862)
(Mary Alice with other family members visited the site of the plantation around 1963, a few out building were still standing. The main house was gone, except for a portion of the front porch and remnants of some brick columns.)

An Abstract from the Succession of John W Roper was filed in Natchitoches, La. on 30 Nov 1869 (# 5667).
The inventory included:
320 acres of land on Little River @ $25 per acre = $8,000
Personal property of $8,570
Credits of $171
Totaling $16,741
It cited the widow, Martha E. Holloway and two minor children, Martha E. and Luci K.
The appraisal was done by Allen Wheeler and G. W. Thompson. Thompson owned land bordering the Roper property. There was no date of death on the inventory or stated in the abstract.
ltr-Roper1-01 Neighbors of the Ropers
ltr-Roper11-02 - Egyptian Bend operations
ltr-Roper6 cites post war financial problems
ltr-Roper7 notes John left SC because he did not get along with his step mother

  Medical Notes:

John W was suffering from serious liver problems in the spring of 1862 at his home on the Little river in Natchitoches Parish, LA as noted in a letter from his daughter to Jarret Law.
A letter written by Mattie (daughter, Martha) in April of 1862
" Papa received your letter a few days ago but as he is sick and cannot answer it I will answer it for him, he has been confined to his bed four weeks. Dr. _______says he is better to day, well I know I hope he is, his liver is diseased it is perfectly ________and has been for three weeks, he was first taken with cholic, but now it is his liver he has the jaundice but he is not as yellow as he has been."
ltr-Roper6-08& 09 Eleanor says he died during the first year of the war.

John married Martha Elvira HOLLOWAY, daughter of Edward HOLLOWAY and Elizabeth, about 1832 in SC. (Martha Elvira HOLLOWAY was born in 1813 in SC,^{1 2 3} died in Jan 1899 in Salado, Bell Co., TX ^{1 2} and was buried in Salado Cemetery, Bell Co., TX ^{1 2 4}.)