Background
Roop was born in Carroll County, Maryland.
- Photos
- Works
- Photos
- Works
Isaac Roop
Edit ProfileCareer
In 1859, he was the first elected (provisional) governor of the newly proposed Nevada Territory. He was devastated by her loss ten years later when she died of typhoid fever on June 20, 1850, and became widowed with two sons, John and Isaiah, as well as a daughter Susan. Possibly motivated by grief or desperation, he pulled up stakes for California that same year and tried to rebuild his life.
In 1851 William Nobles (guide) started taking settlers over a route through the Sierra Nevada passing through the Honey Lake valley.
Included among these settlers were the 29-year-old Isaac Roop and his family. His first three years in California were spent in Shasta County, in farming and trading.
During this period he also held the positions of Postmaster and School Commissioner. He had accumulated in that time upwards of fifteen thousand dollars" worth of property, but in June 1853, lost it all by fire.
In September 1859, Roop was elected the first territorial governor of the proposed Nevada Territory.
At the time, Susanville was thought to be in Nevada instead of California. The new provisional government first convened on December 15, 1859, in the town of Genoa. Roop lived in the contested County of Roop.
He was elected in 1861 to the new Nevada Territorial Senate.
After the county"s dissolution in 1865, Roop returned to Susanville, California. There, he became Lassen County"s district attorney for two terms and stayed in the town that he had built and loved until his death in 1869.
Roop died in his residence in Susanville on February 14, 1869. Roop County, Nevada was named for him.
-
Born
-
Died
February 14, 1869 (aged 46) -
Nationality
United States -
Political Party
Whig Party