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HomeHistory StoriesFrom the Files of the Lassen Historical Society: Susanville Namesake Susan Roop

From the Files of the Lassen Historical Society: Susanville Namesake Susan Roop

Susan Roop Arnold

By Susan Couso

Just who was Susan Roop? Most of us know that she was the daughter of Isaac Roop, and that he named his town ‘Susanville’ in her honor. But when Susanville was named in 1858, she was only 17 years old, certainly not old enough to have accomplished any great feats. So just what does make Susan Roop so special?

Susan Roop’s story helps us to understand what it was like to be a woman in the past, where women were seldom heard from unless they led a scandalous lifestyle.

We can look back at her life and try to imagine what it was like for her, but more importantly, she lets us know what life was like for so many, many women.

Susan was born in Ohio in 1841. She was the first child for her parents and was named after her grandmother, Susannah Engle Roop. Susan was only nine years old when her mother, Nancy, died of Typhoid Fever. Her life was disrupted completely, when she was sent to live with her grandparents, her two little brothers were sent to other family members, and her father left to go ‘out west’.

As a little girl the West was an exciting but scary unknown place that could easily take her only remaining parent’s life.

Susan saw her brothers occasionally, but her family life had been destroyed. She was just one of so very many children who had their lives changed forever, in at a time when death seemed to be a part of every family’s existence.

As the Civil War took hold of the nation, Susan’s brothers enlisted to fight. Her youngest brother, Isaiah, was wounded at the Battle of South Mountain, in 1862, where he lost an arm. He lingered until 1864 when, weakened by his injuries, he succumbed to Smallpox. Susan’s brother, John, survived the war and became a physician.

After 12 years without her father, Susan made a big decision. What propelled this decision will probably never be fully understood, but as a young woman of 21 years, she made the choice to go ‘out west’ alone, to see her father.

In 1862 she left Ohio and traveled to New York, where she boarded a ship. She sailed down to the Isthmus of Panama where she debarked and traveled overland to the Pacific Ocean. Her youngest son, Med, told of how Susan had ridden a mule across the Isthmus.

At the Pacific, she again boarded a ship and traveled up the coast to San Francisco. Once again she traveled by land to Carson City, Nevada. There, she was met by her father, a man who must have been somewhat foreign to her after many years in a wild country.

The two Roops took a short break before traveling to Susanville, and Susan Roop finally arrived at her new home in January of 1863. Susan became an emigrant woman, like so very many others, who had their life changed in ways that they could not have imagined.

In her new home, life was difficult and alien to her. Medical care was limited at its best. If something was needed, it usually had to be fabricated. The town was tough and hard and the law was not always there to help.

In the winter, Susanville was often cut off from the ‘outside world’ by deep snows and muddy impassable roads. And then there were troubles with the native people who were trying to make a living for themselves. Susan did the best that she could in a new world, like so many other women.

What Susan did then is what so many other women did. She married and raised a family. Together, she and Alexander Arnold had eight children. Susan never had a ‘career’ other than to support her husband, her family, and her church and community.

She had a natural talent as a caregiver, and was known to help anyone who needed it. Her son, Med Arnold, told of how she would come in the back door after a night out caring for some sick person, and then change her clothes and start to work making breakfast for her family.

She never won awards, but she fought tirelessly to protect the things that she loved. She felt that gambling and drinking were detrimental to the family, and to life in general, and she spoke against them. But she was not a public activist. She spoke to her family, and taught them her values and beliefs.

What Susan did was what so many other women did. She was the ‘backbone’ of her family, giving them the support that they needed to thrive. She was the ‘backbone’ of the community, doing what she could to help it thrive. Except for a very few years living in Palo Alto, while her son was attending Stanford University, she never left Lassen County. Susan, who died in 1921, was like so very many other women.

Alexander and Susan Arnold
Jeremy Couso
Jeremy Couso
SusanvilleStuff.com Publisher/Editor
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