General Notes

RACHAEL RUTH CENTER TULL POWELL ROOP was born 14 April 1819 in Ohio, the daughter of Ebenezer Center and Mary Fetter.  The family soon moved to Edgar County, Illinois, and it was there that her father died, in 1835, when Rachael was just 15 years old.  Exactly how many children were in the Center family is unknown, but Rachael was the only black-haired daughter in a group of 7 daughters.  There were at least 3 brothers, as well, and perhaps a half-brother or two.

On 04 Feb 1835 in Edgar County, Illinois, almost 9 months after her father's death, Rachael married her first husband, Aaron Tull.  Little is known about Aaron, since he died of tuberculosis within a few years after they were wed.  But Rachael was left with a young son from this marriage, William Tull (born in 1838).

On 01 Nov 1841, Rachael married Theophilus Powell in Van Buren County, Missouri.  Theophilus was a circuit preacher for the Methodist Church.  He was 26 years her senior.  They probably lived on a farm in Missouri, as Theophilus had previously lived in Kentucky.  However lack of markets, low farm prices and malaria (which was prevalent there), discouraged many of the early settlers of Missouri.

The Powells began to hear stories of the wonderful Oregon country.  On 11 May 1845, Theophilus and Rachael Powell left Independence, Missouri in the great wagon train of 1845.  Rachael's mother, Mary Fetter Center, rode in their wagon, as did Lucy, a crippled sister.  Their destination was "The Settlement," as Oregon City was then called.  The wagon train left under the command of Capt. Solomon Tetherow, but after a few days he resigned and Capt. English took over.

It took 6 months to travel west. Finally, on 05 Feb 1846 Theophilus and Rachael chose a homesite six miles south of Silverton, Oregon.  They had 3 children then (William Tull, Rachael's son from her first marriage, and Mary Ann Powell and Isaac Jamison Powell, who had both been born in Independence, Missouri).  Martha Jane Powell was born in Oregon Territory just a month after they settled their claim.  Two more sons were born in the following years — John Wesley Powell and George Powell.

As in Kentucky and Missouri, Theophilus Powell preached in Oregon for the Methodist Church.  He helped to build Rock Creek Church near Needy, Oregon.

Theophilus Powell died on 20 Jan 1861, at Waldo Hills, and he was buried on his donation land claim under a tree.  On 13 July 1862, Rachael remarried Isaac Roop, a farmer from Needy and himself a widower with a family of half-grown children.  She evidently made the home a happy one, as years later William Tull, Rachael's first son, married Frances Roop, one of Jacob's daughters.  Rachael died on 24 Dec 1890 in Clackamas County, Oregon at the age of 71 years.  She is buried in the Rock Creek Cemetery between William Tull, her first son, and Jacob Roop, her third husband.  The cemetery is about only a mile away from the Roop home where Rachael had lived for the past 28 years.

— adapted in part from "Our Colonial Lines", third edition, by Gertude Brown Smith and Beulah M. Springstead (a family-published book of history and genealogy)

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Tombstone transcription:

RACHEL R.
WIFE OF
JACOB ROOP
BORN
APR. 14, 1819.
DIED
DEC. 24, 1890.
--
There is no parting in heaven

~~~~~~~~~

  Burial Notes

Rock Creek Cemetery

  Recorded Events in Her Life

• Gallery: Rock Creek Cemetery, in Needy, Clackamas County, Oregon, USA.

• She was described as having very long black hair, although most of her 6 sisters had red hair. ⁶

• Gallery: Rachel's gravestone with the memorial marker for her second husband, Theophilus Powell, in Needy, Clackamas County, Oregon, USA.

• She appeared on the 1830 US Federal Census in 1830 in Edgar County, Illinois, USA. ⁷
  
  E Center household in Edgar County, Illinois:
  Free White Persons - Males - Under 5:       1 [Jonathan]
  Free White Persons - Males - 5 thru 9:       1 [Samuel]
  Free White Persons - Males - 15 thru 19:       1 [Morris]
  Free White Persons - Males - 20 thru 29:       1 [Willard]
  Free White Persons - Males - 50 thru 59:       1 [Ebenezer Center]
  Free White Persons - Females - Under 5:       1 [Lucy]
  Free White Persons - Females - 10 thru 14:       2 [Rachel, unkn]
  Free White Persons - Females - 20 thru 29:       1 [Barbara]
  Free White Persons - Females - 30 thru 39:       1 [Mary Fetter]
  Free White Persons - Under 20:       6
  Free White Persons - 20 thru 49:       3
  Total Free White Persons:       10
  Total - All Persons (Free White, Slaves, Free Colored):       10

• Moved: Left Independence, Missouri to travel west with the great wagon train of 1845, 11 May 1845.

• She appeared on the 1850 US Federal Census on 24 January 1850 in Marion County, Oregon Territory, USA. ⁸ Marion County, Oregon Territory, USA (Rachael, age 37)

• She appeared on the 1860 US Federal Census on 19 July 1860 in Sublimity, Marion County, Oregon, USA. ⁹ Sublimity, Marion County, Oregon, USA (R., age 41)

• She appeared on the 1880 US Federal Census in 1880 in Lower Molalla, Clackamas County, Oregon, USA. ¹⁰
  

Name  Relation Marital Status Gender Race Age Birthplace Occupation Father's Birthplace Mother's Birthplace
 Jacob ROOP   Self   M   Male   W   63   PA   Farmer   PA   PA
 Rachael R ROOP   Wife   M   Female   W   61   OH   Keeps House   NY   PA

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• She was buried at the Rock Creek Cemetery in Needy, Clackamas County, Oregon, USA in 1890.