The Ropers: plantations and hospitals

cdavis884
4 days ago
3 min read

By Lee Glover and Kristopher Kitchen

When the twenty-something-year-old William Roper arrived in Charleston from England during the early 1730s, he could hardly have imagined the lasting impact his progeny would have on the Lowcountry. Young William embraced life in the New World and soon proved himself as a successful merchant, factor and landlord in Charleston. After his first wife and two children died, he married Grace Hext, and they had four children. For this article, we will focus on their sons, William and Thomas.

William O. Roper married Hannah Dart, and they had four children. He supported his burgeoning family primarily as a merchant in the city proper, although he did own some crop-producing properties. However, one of his sons, Benjamin, much preferred the open country over city life, so that son moved to Johns Island and endeavored to be a planter.

Benjamin Dart Roper was born on July 8, 1776, just days after America declared independence from Great Britain. Benjamin married Barbara Caulder Jenkins, daughter of John’s Islander Micah Jenkins, who owned several properties, including Hope, which is known today as Kiawah River Estates. Micah was a prominent planter, and Benjamin grew to be a successful planter as well. Even though he was an attorney by trade, Benjamin eventually amassed more than 2,000 acres on John’s Island, where he cultivated almost 1,000 acres of mostly cotton crops.

Throughout his lifetime, Benjamin Roper’s holdings included The Oaks Plantation, previously owned by his father-in-law Micah Jenkins. Benjamin willed that property to his son, and eventually it was sold to Francis Legare in 1897. Legare folded it into Mullet Hall, which today is part of the Charleston County Equestrian Center.

Benjamin Roper also owned Briars Plantation along the Kiawah River. Today, some of those lands form The Golf Club at Briars Creek. When Anne Stanyarne, owner of Brick House Plantation, died in 1837, Roper acted quickly to acquire the property. Today, the Charleston Area Therapeutic Riding Center is located on part of the old plantation. Benjamin and his family lived on the island at Rush’s Plantation, and it was there he died in 1852 at the age of 75.

Benjamin’s uncle, Thomas Roper, only 16 years his senior, preferred city life where he thrived. Born in May of 1760, Thomas grew to achieve considerable wealth and status in the city of Charleston. However, his first call to action was in 1776 when, at age 16, he joined “The True Blues,” a volunteer militia that fought during the American Revolution. In 1794, Thomas was elected a major in the South Carolina Militia and became a lieutenant colonel in 1808.

Attorney Thomas Roper was highly active in the community as well. He served as chairman of the vestry for St. Philip’s Church, on the board of trustees for Charleston College and as a commissioner for the Charleston Orphan House. Politically, Thomas became the tenth intendant (mayor) for the city of Charleston in 1799. Sadly, his personal life was a bit more poignant.

In 1781, at the age of 21, Thomas married Lydia Harvey, an orphan from Beaufort. Together, they had 13 children. Tragically, Lydia and all but one child preceded Thomas in death. Ironically, Robert William Roper, his only surviving son, had no children.

This is the original Roper Hospital, constructed at Queen and Logan, and opened in 1856. It was damaged during the earthquake in 1886 and abandoned.

Per his will, when Thomas died in 1829, most of his estate flowed to his son Robert, with one caveat. Should Robert die without an heir, then Thomas’ fortune would transfer to the Medical Society of South Carolina. Thus, when Robert died in 1845 with no heir, the Medical Society became the recipient of Thomas Roper’s generous wealth. The society promptly established The Roper Fund, and in 1856, the first Roper Hospital was constructed in Charleston. Today, almost 300 years after William Roper, Sr., arrived in Carolina, Roper St. Francis Hospital has more than 120 facilities and employs more than 7,000 people to offer quality healthcare for Lowcountry residents.