Moses Roper (c.1815-1891)

Moses Roper (c.1815 - 1891) was born in Caswell County, North Carolina, the son of a mulatto house servant (African-Indian) and her master, Henry Roper, a planter who exchanged mother and son for slaves from a neighboring plantation when Roper was six years old. As an adolescent, Roper led a peripatetic existence, repeatedly being sold or traded throughout the South before he was returned to Caswell County in 1832. During the next two years, Roper made many attempts to escape, each time being punished, then sold or exchanged to some other plantation owner in the county. At the end of 1833, Roper was purchased by a north Florida trader, whose bankruptcy led to the eighteen-year-old slave's employment as a steward on a New York-bound packet. Once anchored in New York, Roper jumped ship and ran for freedom-first stewarding a canalboat on the Hudson River, then working as a farmhand in Vermont, until he saw newspaper advertisements for his capture as a fugitive slave. Roper left Vermont and briefly settled in New Hampshire before moving to Boston. There he began his affiliation with the abolitionist movement by signing the constitution of the American Anti-Slavery Society. But by late 1835, Roper, fearful of arrest and return to slavery, signed up as a steward on the vessel Napoleon and sailed for England

Several prominent British abolitionists assisted Roper once he arrived, especially Dr. John Morrison, John Scoble, and George Thompson, who were impressed with Roper's desire to secure an education and to serve the African missions. With the help of these British patrons and the assistance of Dr. Francis Cox, who bore a significant part of the expense, Roper successfully attended boarding schools in Hackney and Wallingford and later spent some time at University College in London during 1836. Throughout this period, Roper also attended many antislavery meetings and gave speeches on his slave experiences to people who were as impressed by his stature (Roper was 6'5") as they were by his account - an account that was one of the first given by a former slave to British reform audiences.

Photograph Identification Project Entry #7

Three Girls at Esso Pump in Yanceyville

Above is an undated photograph (thought to be in the 1940's) of three lovely young ladies standing beside the Esso gas pump at Johnnie Gunn's Caswell Motor Company. In the background is the house then owned by John Yancey Gatewood (home of famous Yanceyville artist Maud Gatewood), which building today houses the Richmond-Miles History Museum and is the headquarters of the Caswell County Historical Association. Note the child's toys in the front yard. Query what a gallon of gasoline cost at this pump.

Click on the photograph for a larger image.

Can you identify any of the girls?
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Don't forget the other photographs in this series:

1. Kids on a Rock

2. Old Tractors

3. Lady and Barefoot Boy

4. Little Rascals of Jones School

5. Girl Scouts on Square in Yanceyville

6. Girl Scouts at Bartlett Yancey Elementary School
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As with respect to all the images that have been posted as part of the CCHA Photograph Identification Project, the owner of the photograph, through the Caswell County Historical Association, retains all rights. Accordingly, copying, posting, publishing, and any other manner of distribution or use is prohibited without first obtaining the express written authorization of the copyright holder. Contact the CCHA if you have questions.

Photograph Identification Project Entry #6

Girl Scouts at Bartlett Yancey Elementary School

Above is an undated photograph of the Yanceyville Girl Scout Troop in front of the old Bartlett Yancey Elementary School (long demolished). Click on the photograph for a larger image.

Can you identify these people? One of the troop leaders, Pattie Griffin Gunn (1895-1956), is to the far right.

For those who can handle large files this photograph is available in much higher resolution at Girl Scouts. This, hopefully, will facilitate identification of the young girls and their adult leaders.

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Don't forget the other photographs in this series:

1. Kids on a Rock

2. Old Tractors

3. Lady and Barefoot Boy

4. Little Rascals of Jones School

5. Girl Scouts on Square in Yanceyville
_______________

As with respect to all the images that have been posted as part of the CCHA Photograph Identification Project, the owner of the photograph, through the Caswell County Historical Association, retains all rights. Accordingly, copying, posting, publishing, and any other manner of distribution or use is prohibited without first obtaining the express written authorization of the copyright holder. Contact the CCHA if you have questions.

Terrell Chairs

Above and below are images of what are believed to be authentic Terrell chairs from Anderson Township, Caswell County, North Carolina. Click on the photograph for a larger image. See also Terrell Chairs.

Claude Allen Plug Tobacco Factory

Click to See Larger Image

By 1857 Milton had five tobacco factories. No fewer, than thirteen tobacco warehouses, prize houses where the raw tobacco was packed into hogsheads, and tobacco plug and smoking factories appear on the 1893 Sanborn Insurance Map. By 1925 not one remained in business and most of the buildings had disappeared. Claude Allen's Plug Tobacco Factory on the east side of Bridge-Warehouse Street is the only existing factory building. The factory is a late nineteenth century vernacular Victorian one-story frame structure now used as a barn. Across the gable-end facade is a loading dock with a shed roof, and along the south side of the building is a lean-to storage shed. The only exterior ornament is the small, decorative louvered ventilator window in the upper facade. The interior is a large, unpartitioned space with machinery, work tables, plug molds and packing crates scattered about. The factory office, a miniature version of the factory, stands in the side yard.

Source: National Register of Historic Places Inventory--Nomination Form, Milton Historic District, 27 August 1973.

This may be the only tobacco factory standing in Caswell County.

For photographs of another Caswell County tobacco factory and background information on these once-prevalent industries go to Leasburg Tobacco Factory.

More photographs follow:

Will Yancey and Rennie Griffin

The following was provided by a direct descendant of William Rufus Yancey and Rennie Griffin:

These are my great grandparents, my father's mother's parents. Since this photo was a studio shot and they look to be quite dressed up, I suspect it is a wedding photo, making it in 1893. William Rufus Yancey was born 8/8/1847 in Caswell Co., NC and was one of 8 kids. His parents were William Yancey and Demarius Oliver. Shortly after his birth, the family moved to Springfield, MO. Demarius died there in 1850. Then the family moved back to Caswell Co., NC. In 1864, when William Rufus was 17 yrs. old, he was a Confederate soldier with Company G, 70th NC Regulars. He was mustered out after Appomattox. For the next 25 yrs., there is no record of where he was or what he was doing. Chances are good he was farming in NC near Yanceyville.

On 11/1/1893, in Robertson Co., TX, he married Elorenya (Rennie) Griffin. He was 46 and she was 26 at their wedding. Nine months and eleven days later, my grandmother was born - Lillie Pearl Yancey. Pearl was the oldest of six children. I was lucky enough to know four of them, counting my grandmother. They lived in Hamilton Co., TX near Pottsville, TX for years. Their family moved out to west Texas near Midland in about 1910, but they moved back to near Blum, TX (south of Ft. Worth) after only a couple of years. There lies my "almost rich" story.

In about 1990, my father and I checked the records of Midland Co., TX to find where the Yancey's had lived. Turns out they had a house in Midland and a ranch about 15-20 miles south of town. William Rufus would head out to the ranch on most Sunday nights and stay out there until the next weekend when he would return to his family in town. I wish I knew the details, but that arrangement did not work out. The family sold the ranch and moved back to north central TX near Ft. Worth. The multi-square mile ranch eventually became one of the most prolific oil fields in the continental United States - the Pegasus Field, discovered by Continental Oil Company and still producing oil to this day. Millions of barrels of oil have come from the field, none to my family. So close.

William Rufus died in 1918 in Hill Co., TX at the age of 71. My grandmother was 24 at that time and married to my grandfather. Rennie Griffin (daughter of Thomas Griffin and Angeline V. Smith of Robertson Co., TX) lived another 19 years and died in Cleburne, TX at the age of 70. She drew a Confederate soldier wife pension for many years.

For more on the Yancey family go to the Caswell County Family Tree.

Photograph Identification Project Entry #5

Girl Scouts on Square in Yanceyville

This is an undated photograph of the Yanceyville Girl Scouts on the Square in Yanceyville, Caswell County, North Carolina. Click on the photograph for a larger image.

The young lady to the far left is believed to be Maud Florance Gatewood (1934-2004) (daughter of John Yancey Gatewood and Mary Lea Florance).

The young lady to the far right of the first row (dark suit and white blouse) probably is Margaret Stroupe Upchurch (daughter of Norman Stroupe Upchurch and Margaret Arnold Yarbrough).

If Maud Gatewood was around 12 years old when this photograph was taken the year would be around 1946.

To see more on the Gatewood and Upchurch families of Caswell County go to the Caswell County Family Tree.

Can you identify others in this photograph?

Do you have great photographs like this to share?

To identify people in this photograph or to arrange for sharing your photographs contact the CCHA.
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Don't forget the other photographs in this series:

1. Kids on a Rock

2. Old Tractors

3. Lady and Barefoot Boy

4. Little Rascals of Jones School
_______________

As with respect to all the images that have been posted as part of the CCHA Photograph Identification Project, the owner of the photograph, through the Caswell County Historical Association, retains all rights. Accordingly, copying, posting, publishing, and any other manner of distribution or use is prohibited without first obtaining the express written authorization of the copyright holder. Contact the CCHA if you have questions.