Recently received the following tidbit of information about Francis D. Ropp from "Cousin Jim":
"Found something interesting... a 1961 copy of birth cert of Francis D. Ropp (b. 2/2/1918) (this is Francis Douglas Ropp, my grandfather). It lists Ernest J. Ropp as the father (a mechanic born in France) and the mother as Mary J. Currie (born in Nova Scotia). Guess the "Holleran" name I had was an error."
Good information. Now we have some more searching to do with this new information.
Thanks for sharing, Jim!
Tuesday, April 24, 2012
Wednesday, March 7, 2012
Alice ROPP
Well, its about time I got something new to share with the family...
Not much has been written here about Alice ROPP. Alice was the daughter of François and Frederique ROPP, but she did not come to America with the rest of the family in 1893. I have a photo that was shared by a distant cousin who is also researching this family.
Last summer I received information that Alice was married to Frank KNIGHT on September 5, 1898 as published in the Town Clerks report for Boylston in 1899. Today I received a copy of the actual marriage certificate which shows Alice's relationship to François and Frederique, and also shows a corrected date of September 5, 1899.
In addition, it proves that Alice was in the United States by 1899. Did she come before the rest of her family? Did she come later? This is still unclear to me.
And, of course, now I know some more information about Alice's husband, Frank as well. This is not my immediate family, but its interesting to me that I have this information and thought it worth sharing with anyone else who may be researching this family. My direct line to François and Frederique is through Alice's brother, Ernest, but it is nice to know something about the whole family when trying to piece the story together of this "mystery family" (at least they are to me.) and their relocation from Europe to America.
Thank you to the Boylston Town Clerk who turned around my request for this document in record time. I'm very appreciative.
 |
| Alice ROPP KNIGHT circa 1926 |
Not much has been written here about Alice ROPP. Alice was the daughter of François and Frederique ROPP, but she did not come to America with the rest of the family in 1893. I have a photo that was shared by a distant cousin who is also researching this family.
Last summer I received information that Alice was married to Frank KNIGHT on September 5, 1898 as published in the Town Clerks report for Boylston in 1899. Today I received a copy of the actual marriage certificate which shows Alice's relationship to François and Frederique, and also shows a corrected date of September 5, 1899.
In addition, it proves that Alice was in the United States by 1899. Did she come before the rest of her family? Did she come later? This is still unclear to me.
And, of course, now I know some more information about Alice's husband, Frank as well. This is not my immediate family, but its interesting to me that I have this information and thought it worth sharing with anyone else who may be researching this family. My direct line to François and Frederique is through Alice's brother, Ernest, but it is nice to know something about the whole family when trying to piece the story together of this "mystery family" (at least they are to me.) and their relocation from Europe to America.
Thank you to the Boylston Town Clerk who turned around my request for this document in record time. I'm very appreciative.
Monday, October 31, 2011
Monday, October 10, 2011
Still Here. Honest.
I realize it's been a while since my last post, so I wanted to let folks know I am still here. My research time has been shifted to another family line the later half of this summer, as I made it through another brick wall in early August and have been soaking up as much information about that line as I can.
And in the last week I've taken on a new task altogether. I've decided to try to stop the chaos in my office that is genealogy and organize, sort, and get rid of all the paper. I've started a new blog to journal out the progress on that effort at http://paperlessgenealogy.blogspot.com and invite you all to join me there too.
There are certainly ROPP papers that I have in piles in my office right now that will crop up as I continue my research. In the mean time, if you're a cousin and have any breakthroughs of your own, feel free to email them to me so I can post them here or add them as a comment.
And in the last week I've taken on a new task altogether. I've decided to try to stop the chaos in my office that is genealogy and organize, sort, and get rid of all the paper. I've started a new blog to journal out the progress on that effort at http://paperlessgenealogy.blogspot.com and invite you all to join me there too.
There are certainly ROPP papers that I have in piles in my office right now that will crop up as I continue my research. In the mean time, if you're a cousin and have any breakthroughs of your own, feel free to email them to me so I can post them here or add them as a comment.
Wednesday, August 17, 2011
Another ROPP Success story.
Sorry it's been so long between posts. Unfortunately I don't have a lot of time to write anything great now either except to share some new news I got via email today.This fall I will be giving a talk at the Maine Genealogical Society's Fall Conference on using social web sites for accelerating your genealogy research and findagrave.com is a great example of just that.
A few months ago I asked for photos from the Milbury cemetery where François and Frederique are buried. Today I got the following email from findagrave:
Great News!
Find A Grave contributor, patricia wade has fulfilled your photo request for
François Ropp. To see the new photo(s), visit François Ropp's online memorial by
clicking on the link below:
http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=68622717
If you'd like to thank patricia wade, click on the following link to leave them a
message:
http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=leaveMessage&cid=47582291
A successful photo request is a great example of the Find A Grave system working. If
you're happy with the services provided by Find A Grave, please consider removing
the ads from the François Ropp Online Memorial. Please click on the following link
to learn about sponsoring memorial pages:
https://secure.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=ra&RAid=68622717
Thanks,
Find A Grave
http://www.findagrave.com
If you're so inclined take a few minutes to look at these photos a very kind (and new) findagrave volunteer took and posted online for our family, and thank her for her efforts. This is a great service!
A few months ago I asked for photos from the Milbury cemetery where François and Frederique are buried. Today I got the following email from findagrave:
Great News!
Find A Grave contributor, patricia wade has fulfilled your photo request for
François Ropp. To see the new photo(s), visit François Ropp's online memorial by
clicking on the link below:
http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=68622717
If you'd like to thank patricia wade, click on the following link to leave them a
message:
http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=leaveMessage&cid=47582291
A successful photo request is a great example of the Find A Grave system working. If
you're happy with the services provided by Find A Grave, please consider removing
the ads from the François Ropp Online Memorial. Please click on the following link
to learn about sponsoring memorial pages:
https://secure.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=ra&RAid=68622717
Thanks,
Find A Grave
http://www.findagrave.com
If you're so inclined take a few minutes to look at these photos a very kind (and new) findagrave volunteer took and posted online for our family, and thank her for her efforts. This is a great service!
Tuesday, June 14, 2011
Frederique ROPP - The wait is over
A BIG Thank you to the Boylston Historical Society and Museum (http://www.boylstonhistory.org/) for the information they recently sent me for a small research fee, which was, in my opinion worth every penny!
Here's some information about the ROPP family of Boylston folks may or may not have known:
1) records of the historical society indicate Frederique owned property on Maine Street Cricle from 1893-1929 In 1901/31 the property is listed as "heirs of F. Ropp" In 1934 the owner is listed as Marcellus Ropp (or Ropper?) of Worcester.
2) Frederique died at 75 yrs, 10 mths, 20 days of pneumonia on May 4, 1928. The historical society says she is the daughter of John Ropp and Sophia Roux of France, but I'm not sure about the ROPP, since I assume that is a married name (although I understand its possible to marry someone of the same surname)
3) Frederique's daughter, Alice, was married September 5, 1898 in Boylston to Frank M. Knight (Source: Town clerks' report, 1899)
4) A very interesting article was sent to me about the ROPP family that waspublished in the "Boyston Historical Series" Vol 13. I won't reproduce the whole article here for copyright worries, but here's the gist of the story...
In 1898 a French Canadian man, Anthony Newell, came to Boylston looking for a job. He ended up joining the army and was sent to the Phillipines. (Presumably as part of the Phillipine-American war, though that is conjecture on my part) In 1902 Mr. Newell came back to Boylston (after apparently having contracted malaria while ooverseas) and was hired by Frederique. He apparently had a fancy for Frederique's daughter, Marie. At some point, Frederique took in another hired hand, John Burke. Newell grew jealous of Marie and Burke and eventually left his job. He left for Worcester, but eventually jumped back on the trolley headed back to Boylston. He confided in someone on the trolley that he was planning on killing 2 people and then killing himself... Needless to say the authorities were notified when the trolley came to a stop, and there was a standoff outside the Ropp home. Eventually Newell took off, but the Ropps were protected in their home overnight. In the morning, when the police decided to go out and start searching the area for Newell, they noticed a a calf was shot in the head, and Newell's body was found near the edge of the forest with a bullet wound through his chest.
The story ends by saying attempts were made to contact Newel's only known living relative, but were unable. He was buried in Pine Grove Cemetery in Boylston with only a few town officials at the burial.
How sad? I wonder if someone in the NEWELL family is trying to figure out what happened to Anthony? I wonder if there was anything really going on with Marie and John Burke... I wonder when Alice came to America, since she wasn't listed on the ship manifest with Frederique, François, Eugene, Marie and Ernest...
As always.... a few more answers.... a few more questions...
Here's some information about the ROPP family of Boylston folks may or may not have known:
1) records of the historical society indicate Frederique owned property on Maine Street Cricle from 1893-1929 In 1901/31 the property is listed as "heirs of F. Ropp" In 1934 the owner is listed as Marcellus Ropp (or Ropper?) of Worcester.
2) Frederique died at 75 yrs, 10 mths, 20 days of pneumonia on May 4, 1928. The historical society says she is the daughter of John Ropp and Sophia Roux of France, but I'm not sure about the ROPP, since I assume that is a married name (although I understand its possible to marry someone of the same surname)
3) Frederique's daughter, Alice, was married September 5, 1898 in Boylston to Frank M. Knight (Source: Town clerks' report, 1899)
4) A very interesting article was sent to me about the ROPP family that waspublished in the "Boyston Historical Series" Vol 13. I won't reproduce the whole article here for copyright worries, but here's the gist of the story...
In 1898 a French Canadian man, Anthony Newell, came to Boylston looking for a job. He ended up joining the army and was sent to the Phillipines. (Presumably as part of the Phillipine-American war, though that is conjecture on my part) In 1902 Mr. Newell came back to Boylston (after apparently having contracted malaria while ooverseas) and was hired by Frederique. He apparently had a fancy for Frederique's daughter, Marie. At some point, Frederique took in another hired hand, John Burke. Newell grew jealous of Marie and Burke and eventually left his job. He left for Worcester, but eventually jumped back on the trolley headed back to Boylston. He confided in someone on the trolley that he was planning on killing 2 people and then killing himself... Needless to say the authorities were notified when the trolley came to a stop, and there was a standoff outside the Ropp home. Eventually Newell took off, but the Ropps were protected in their home overnight. In the morning, when the police decided to go out and start searching the area for Newell, they noticed a a calf was shot in the head, and Newell's body was found near the edge of the forest with a bullet wound through his chest.
The story ends by saying attempts were made to contact Newel's only known living relative, but were unable. He was buried in Pine Grove Cemetery in Boylston with only a few town officials at the burial.
How sad? I wonder if someone in the NEWELL family is trying to figure out what happened to Anthony? I wonder if there was anything really going on with Marie and John Burke... I wonder when Alice came to America, since she wasn't listed on the ship manifest with Frederique, François, Eugene, Marie and Ernest...
As always.... a few more answers.... a few more questions...
Saturday, June 11, 2011
More Information on Frederique's life in Boylston, MA
I thought the family members watching the blog would like to know I got an email from the Boylston Historical Society earlier this week indicating they are sending me some information pertaining to Frederique and family, including "an interesting story" that appeared in the local paper.
I'm looking forward to seeing what that may be, and I'll definitely share with you whatever I may learn...
I'm looking forward to seeing what that may be, and I'll definitely share with you whatever I may learn...
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