Person:Allen Luper (1)

Allen LOOPER and Mary IVEY had the following children:

+4 i. Charity LOOPER. 5 ii. (daughter) LOOPER was born about 1826 in Rhea Co, TN. !I believe Allen and Mary had a daughter this age because of the 1830 census. +6 iii. Gilbert LUPER. +7 iv. John A LUPER. +8 v. William LOOPER. +9 vi. Isham LOOPER. +10 vii. James LOOPER. 11 viii. Archibald LOOPER was born in 1840 in Benton County, AR. Since his father is listed in the Benton Co census for 1840, it seems like that Archibald was born there. +12 ix. Willis LUPER. 13 x. Eliza LOOPER was born in 1843 in Washington Co, AR. 14 xi. Jordan LOOPER was born in 1846 in , Washington Co, Arkansas. Jordan was the youngest of the children of Allen and Mary Luper, possibly born after Allen's death, or close to that time. Jordan gives his birthplace when he enlisted in the Arkansas Union Cavalry. He enlisted in the military on 27 Aug 1863 in Fayetteville, Washington Co., AR.4 Enlisted on 27 Aug 1863 Unit 1 Arkansas Cavalry Co L, pvt, age 18, born Washington Co, AR. This enlistment was on the same day as Gilbert Luper age 38, probably his brother. 3. Gilbert LOOPER was born on 18 Apr 1806 in NC. He died on 23 Mar 1869 in Washington Co, AR.

My family had no tradition of being anything but white. It was supposedly illegal for blacks to marry in NC, but Allen Luper and Mary Ann Ivey did obtain a marriage bond in 1822, and Allen's brother John obtained a bond for his marriage to Mourning Haynes in 1819. Allen's grandfather, Gilbert Cox, was a wealthy man and was counted as white once and "free colored" twice. His widow was counted as white in 1820 and the hshlds of his son Isham Cox, sons- in-law Silas Ivey and John Britt were always white. His daughter Sarah Ivey, widow of Isham, was counted as "free colored" in 1820, but as white in Bledsoe Co TN in 1830. I believe Elizabeth Brumble was the sister of Gilbert Cox, and she ad her family have a similar history of sometimes being counted as white and sometimes as colored. My point here is that whatever race they were, by the time of the Revolution, they must have been fairly white skinned, for all practical purposes living as whites, perhaps by reason of their wealth.