Lassen County Biographies

Hon. Isaac Newton Roop

Transcribed by Craig Hahn, Nov. 2004

This file is part of the California Genealogy & History Archives http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~cagha/index.htm


 
The part taken by this gentleman in the settlement of this region and the 
formation of a government fully appears in the preceding pages. He was one of 
the four gentlemen admitted to the bar by Judge Mott in 1862. In 1865 he was 
elected district attorney of Lassen county, and served two terms. It is related 
of him that while he was serving in this capacity, the grand jury presented an 
indictment against a man who had stolen a horse. Roop drew up the document in a 
few minutes, and presented it to the foreman, who read it and remarked: 
�Governor, I�m afraid this is rather brief. That complaint would not hold in any 
court.� �Why not?� asked Roop; �I�ve got whereas in three times.� Roop was a 
popular man, jovial and good natured, always ready to tell a story or laugh at 
an anecdote.
 
Illustrated History of Plumas, Lassen & Sierra Counties, with California from 
1513 to 1850. - Fariss and Smith, San Francisco,  1882. p 376

Governor Roop�s grandfather was a German, and his grandmother a native of 
England. His father, Joseph Roop, married Miss Susan Engle, and reared a family 
of nine sons and two daughters. The subject of this sketch was the fifth son, 
and was born in Carroll county, Maryland, March 13, 1822. In 1838 the family 
moved to Ashland county, Ohio. December 24, 1840, Isaac married Miss Nancy 
Gardner, born in Alleghany county, Pennsylvania, December 22, 1822, and settled 
on a farm adjoining that of his father, and also manufactured and dealt in 
lumber. Three children were born to them: Susan Engle, November 13, 1841; John 
V., November 27, 1843; I. J., November 30, 1845. June 20, 1850, Mrs. Roop died, 
and in September Mr. Roop started for California, leaving John in charge of his 
grandfather Roop, and I. J. and Susan with their grandfather Gardner. Mr. Roop 
clerked in a store at Oak Bottom until June, 1851, and then went to Shasta and 
kept public house. In October he went to Bear river, and lived there until 
March, 1852, when he was appointed postmaster as Shasta. June 14, 1853, he was 
burned out, and lost about $10,000, all he had. He then went over the mountains, 
and located a land claim at Honey Lake valley. His after history�how he made his 
settlement, engaged in the formation of a government for Nevada and became the 
governor, was admitted to practice law, and participated in all the public 
movements in this section�is fully detailed in the preceding pages. He practiced 
law in Susanville until the time of his death, February 14, 1869. He was a 
member of the Masonic fraternity, and was buried with honors, a large concourse 
of citizens attending his funeral. His two sons served in the Union army during 
the war. I. J. Roop died from the effects of a wound received at the battle of 
South Mountain. John V. settled in Iowa after the war, and in 1877 removed to 
Blue Springs, Nebraska. Susan came to California in 1862, and lived with her 
father. She married A. T. Arnold, December 27, 1864, and still resides in 
Susanville. 
 
Illustrated History of Plumas, Lassen & Sierra Counties, with California from 
1513 to 1850. � Fariss and Smith, San Francisco,  1882. p 412