| The earliest Harper I have located in my
family's line is William B. Harper (I'll call him William the First,
because there was a string of William B.'s after him.) He was born
in South Carolina in 1788. At some point he migrated into the
western end of Tennessee, probably before it was legally opened for
settlement. Somewhere along the way between South Carolina and
Tennessee, he married Roseanna Love, who was born in Pennsylvania
November 1, 1788. I have found no record of their marriage, but they
settled in what is now Henry County, near Paris, Tennessee. His will
was probated in Henry county in 1842. He owned a lot of pigs when he
died.
Roseanna and her family appear in the 1850
Census for Henry County as follows:
*Roseanna Harper
*Josiah W.
*William B. (II)
*Elizabeth.
William B. II was not the oldest son. Family
sources say there were two older brothers, John Matheson, and
another, whose name has not come down to us. John Matheson migrated
to Texas prior to 1850. According to family sources, he had a
daughter whose married name was Darrington. That's where the family
Bible is supposed to be along with surviving pictures, but I've not
located the Darringtons.
William B II married Mary Ann Copeland in
about 1856. Deed records from Henry County, Tennessee indicate that
he sold his property there on September 4, 1857. The family probably
migrated to Texas in the same year along with his mother Roseanna,
brother, Josiah and sister Elizabeth. William B. II settled first in
Freestone County Texas near Cotton Gin and bought a piece of
property there with his brother Josiah W. Harper. Wm. B. II and his
brother Josiah mustered with the reserve company in "Beat No. 4" of
F Company of the Nineteenth brigade of the Texas militia. William B.
II is listed as 2nd Sergeant of the "Beat" and his brother Josiah is
listed as a private. The exact date of the muster is uncertain, but
certainly it was before the beginning of the Civil war.
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