!Ref=Elizabeth Harris: Emily was the second child in a family of five. At that
time her father owned hundreds of acres of land in Lee Co, Va.and was the
largest land holder. He was a very hard worker, a Baptist, and a Democrat. He
had 5 slaves, and slaves were not common in the area. The slaves were freed
after the war but they refused to leave. They were given homes on the place as
they married.
When Emily was 17, she and Lindsay Crockett Roop married on 31-Aug-1860.
They had one child when the war between the states started. They were living on
her father's property and her husband went to war, also her older sister's
husband (Asa Roop). Both daughters returned with their children to their
father's home. During the war, raids were made by Northern soldiers. In order
to preserve foods like potatoes, meat, and dried foods, Emily, the child, and a
slave were moved to another place of the farm and off the main road. The food
was stored in a dugout under the house. The food, clothing, and all was taken
during a raid. A string of new hand made wool socks and stockings had been
"scoured out" to soften and hung up to dry and they were snatched from the
line.
After the war, the family moved to a rented farm in the Flatwoods Comunity.
They grew grain which was shipped by boat to Chattanooga, Tenn. They prospered
and in a few years moved back and bought a small farm which joins the Harris
farm. They continued to buy more and more land until they owned several hundred
acres. They kept many tenants on the land, and they raised cattle, horses,
mules, sheep, and hogs. Tanning bark was sold, and new land cleared. Lindsay was
a good carpenter. Their last dwelling is still standing and in good condition
on Highway 58. There is a stream of water flowing from the cave, called Roop
Cave, in the hill behind the house.
Emily had eleven children, one died in infancy. She was a hard working
mother. As long as she was able she did a lot of spinning and weaving. She
never sat down without her knitting or some hand work. Women were hired to wash
wool and pick it clean. The Wool (wool that was sheared by hired men) was sent
to the Carding Machine Shop, run by water, where it was processed and returned.
At home it was made into rolls, spun into thread, reeled and made into hanks,
dyed, and was ready for spinning then weaving. Women were hired for spinning
and the daughters learned to weave and spin. Emily made most of the clothing:
shirts, suits, and dresses for the family. Each spring, she bought one or more
bolts of fifty-yard unbleached cotton domestic; some was used to line wool
pants.
Emily was a good cook. Her oven was a round affair with lid which baked on
the hearth. A dozen eggs were used to bake two cakes, one white the other
yellow. She made good light bread. Dried foods, as apples, beans, and pumpkin
were kept. Apple butter was stored in two gallon crocks, molasses stored in
barrels.
As many as fifteen hogs were killed at one time. all spare parts were saved
to make soap. Two large kettles were used for making soap. The soap was put out
to dry in a long trough made from a carved out tree. Workers were often paid
off with soap as the poor people had no way to make soap. She would buy socks
of wood ashes to put in the hopper to get the lye to make soap. They ate a lot
of sheep, some beef, much pork. Mince meat was made from beef heads.
Like her father, Emily was a Baptist and a Democrat. She often read the
bible and gathered the children around her on Sunday and read to them. She fed
a lot of preachers and often kept them overnight. Preacher Larry Terry spent
his days at the Harris' who lived a mile up the road. He also spent much time
at the Roop's. Saturday was church day for the Baptist in Jonesville. The
Methodist met on Sunday. This system was followed until about 1895. The family
always went to the Annual Methodist Camp Meeting. This meeting was held in a
large open shed a few miles west of Jonesville. They took food in a trunk and
traveled in a wagon filled with chairs. The family, friends, relatives,
children, and all that could find room went along.
One hot summer day, Emily, with her small daughter, Rettie, was picking beans
in a corn field. She was startled to see a large panther not many feet away
watching them. At once she put the child in front of her and slowly walked
away. The men gathered with their dogs and chased it finally into the river
where it drowned.
After Lindsay died in 1904, Emily lived with her youngest son, Frank, at the
home place until her death on 2-Feb-1917. Both are interred in the Roop Ceetery
on top of the hill above the house.
(Written by Elizabeth Harris of Jonesville, Va.)
(Compiled by Roger S.Roop in 1995)

Ref=Morrison Slagle (Rin-1113)Jan.1996: Lists death at Roop Home, Roop
Cave/Spring, Lee Co, Va. and burial at Roop Cem., US-58, Jonesville, Lee Co,
Va.