Katherine Graves Roper Sprigg

Katherine Graves Roper Sprigg was reportedly born about 1622. She lived in the Accawmack area, later Northampton County, Virginia, married first to William Roper Sr., and was the mother of William Roper Jr. and Verlinda Roper. By 3 March 1651, she was the wife of Thomas Sprigg Sr. Her reported death information is conflicting: the supplied life dates give 4 July 1668, while another account says she died before 1668.

Katherine Graves was reportedly born about 1622. She lived in Accawmack, later Northampton County, on Virginia's Eastern Shore.

About 1636, she reportedly married William Roper Sr., also a resident of Accawmack. The supplied notes describe him as first a lieutenant and later a captain, and state that he represented Northampton County as a burgess. They further describe his plantation as being on a small neck of land with waterfront access, where he carried on trade.

Katherine and William Roper had two children, William Roper Jr. and Verlinda Roper. The supplied notes state that William Roper Jr. received a calf in the will of his godfather, William Burdett. William Roper Sr. reportedly died about 1650 in Virginia.

Katherine subsequently married Thomas Sprigg Sr., who is described in the supplied notes as a justice of Northampton County, Virginia. The notes say that Katherine and Thomas had been neighbors in Northampton County. A deed dated 1 March 1651, co-signed by Thomas Sprigg, transferred property from Kathryne Roper to her daughter Verlinda Roper. On 3 March 1651, Katherine added a note concerning the deed in which she stated that she had the “approbacon of my nowe husband, Mr. Thomas Sprigge.” The note was signed “Kathryne Roper” and “Thomas Sprigg,” supporting that their marriage had occurred by that date.

Later material associates Thomas Sprigg with Maryland, including Calvert County and the area later known as Prince George's County. An account quoted in the supplied material identifies Katherine Roper as Thomas Sprigg's first wife and says that he later married Eleanor Nuthall. That account states that Katherine died before 1668, because a September 1668 Maryland Council order referred to Eleanor as the wife of Thomas Sprigg. The supplied life dates instead give Katherine's death as 4 July 1668; the exact date is therefore uncertain.

The supplied notes state that Katherine's descendants are eligible for membership in the Jamestowne Society.

Historical context

Katherine's known record in the supplied material centers on Northampton County, Virginia, in the early 1650s. Her 1651 deed and accompanying note provide evidence of her marriage to Thomas Sprigg and of a property transfer to her daughter Verlinda. Later accounts place Thomas Sprigg in Maryland, but the supplied material does not establish a precise date or place for Katherine's own death.

Sources & research

Northampton Co VA, Orders, Wills, Deeds: Book 4, 1651-54, page 189.

Kenneth Graves, Descendants of Capt. Thomas Graves, http://www.gravesfa.org/gen169.htm.

Sharon J. Doliante, Maryland and Virginia Colonials: Genealogies of Some Colonial Families, Genealogical Publishing Company, 1991.

John Frederick Dorman, Adventurers of Purse and Person, Virginia 1607-1624/5, 1987.

Henry Chandlee Forman, Tidewater Maryland Architecture and Gardens, a Sequel to Early Manor and Plantation Houses of Maryland, section “Sprigg’s Northampton and L’Enfant’s Garden.”

S276. The Maryland Calendar of Wills, Volume I: Wills from 1635 (Earliest Probated) to 1685. Jane Baldwin. Baltimore, Maryland: Kohn & Pollock, 1904.

S-2096736708, Repository #R-2142803482. Ancestry Family Trees. Online publication, Provo, Utah, USA: The Generations Network. Original data: Family Tree files submitted by Ancestry members. Page: Ancestry Family Trees. https://www.ancestry.com/family-tree/tree/11795205/family.

S-197484730, Repository #R-799740786. Ancestry Family Trees. Online publication, Provo, Utah, USA: Ancestry.com. Original data: Family Tree files submitted by Ancestry members. Page: Ancestry Family Tree. https://www.ancestry.com/family-tree/tree/56797399/family.

R-799740786. Ancestry.com. http://www.Ancestry.com.