Since I am presently concentrating on the RUPP, RUPE, ROOP, ROUP, ROOPE, ROUPE, RUPPE families I thought I would share heirlooms which are still in the family only not in my possession.
My great-grandfather Walter F. ROOP was a blacksmith, coal miner, artist, poet, photographer, and cartoonist. He left us precious memories including this photo of the Gauley River. Walter took three photos at Jodie in Fayette County, West Virginia, in 1921, tinted them by hand, and put them together to make this panorama view.
“Homemade” panorama titled “Gauley River” by Walter F. ROOP
The year 1921 was a very productive year for my great-grandfather. Not only did he make the panorama photo of Gauley Bridge, he also made ink drawings which were passed on to his children and are now in the possession of two grandchildren and a great-grandchild.
“Panther and Deer” by W. F. Roop dated December 26, 1921
“The Grizzly” by W. F. Roop
His granddaughter Peggy Jean Ramsey Baker recounted how the Panther and Deer and The Grizzly drawings were copied from pictures in a big book (maybe some sort of history book). She saw the pictures which were approximately 2×2.5 inches in size in the book as a child. She believes there was a third drawing of “some sort of cat in tall grass.”
When I wrote my post on Walter in 2014 my cousin Linda Roop let me know she has the third drawing and shared a photo of it. It’s in the original frame made by Walter F. ROOP but she was not able to get a good photo due to the size and it being behind glass.
Isn’t it wonderful how the three drawings are now united even though they are at home with Walter’s descendants through his children Edith Estelle, Myrtle Hazel, Walter Gordon and Alfred Lee?
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© 2016 Cathy Meder-Dempsey
