(Click on image to enlarge)
According to Elin Christianson's book, Hobart's Historic Buildings, the Hobart House was built in 1870 by Edward Roper, so I suppose he is the proprietor mentioned in the article, who defied public opinion in hosting this "disgraceful exhibition."
I am not sure what the popular objection was to the cockfight — because it was inhumane to the animals? or because it attracted "Chicago roughs and gamblers"? The sub-headline of the article, "Another Gathering of Roughs at Hobart, Ind.," implies that this wasn't the first time.
Now let me just remedy my ignorance about Edward Roper.
He was born in England in 1843 to James and Charlotte (Baker) Roper. The family came to the United States about 1851[1] and showed up in Hobart in the 1860 Census. In 1866 Edward married Margaret Rhodes (Indiana Marriage Collection). The 1870 Census records them in Hobart, Edward giving his occupation as saloon keeper. By the 1880 Census he had gone into farming.
Years ago I posted a photo in which the second-from-left subject is identified as Edward Roper:
(Click on image to enlarge)
Image courtesy of the Hobart Historical Society.
The approximate date of the photo is 1884, so this may be from Edward's farming years.
It appears that Edward quit farming to resume his old occupation by 1887, when we find his application for a license to sell liquor being rejected. According to the "County Board" column of the Crown Point Register of December 15, 1887: "Strong opposition to granting the license was made by citizens of Hobart. Evidence was introduced to show that Roper kept his saloon open Sundays and that he kept a disorderly house." (An item in the "Hobart" column says that his wife opposed his license as well.)
The next record I have of Edward and Margaret is the 1900 Census. At that time they were living in Hammond. Sometime later they were divorced, apparently, as that is Edward's marital status in the 1910 Census, when he was living in a Chicago hotel or boardinghouse and working for a meat packer. It's possible he married again (I'm not sure I've found the right person), but he was described as divorced in the record of his death in Chicago in January 1913, when "he was struck by a switch engine"[2] while on his way to work.
He and his former wife are buried in Ross Cemetery.
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[1] "Death of Philip Roper, Sr.," Hobart Gazette, 11 Oct. 1918.
[2] "Hobart," The Lake County Times (Hammond, Ind.), 30 Jan. 1913.
4 comments:
There was a Roper Apartment building in Gary. Probably named after them?
I haven't heard of this before. It was a big family, so it's possible some descendent I don't know about went into Gary and built an apartment building.
I went looking around and found this :https://www.livingplaces.com/IN/Lake_County/Gary_City/Jefferson_Street_Historic_District.html
Apparently Ella Roper, who was married to Jarvis, who owned the mill in Hobart, became a little bit of a real estate tycoon in Gary. She bought up lots that were later subdivided into houses. So at some point, they named an apartment building after themselves it seems. There was something left of it on the 2009 Google Maps image. It was a 2 story building.
Good internet sleuthing! :)
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