c. 1924 Robert Venable Roper (1883-1967), an Owner of Stone Mountain, Georgia Writes Regarding the Revealing of Robert E. Lee's Head Early in the Carving of the Confederate Memorial there, no date (c. 1924), or place [Stone Mountain], Autograph Note Signed, "Robert Venable Roper", regarding the Revealing of Robert E Lee's Carved Head on Stone Mountain, to be on Lee's birthday (Jan. 19th), Choice Crisp Extremely Fine.
A rare historic Confererate Memorial signed note, no date [1924], or place [Stone Mountain], Autograph Note Signed, "Robert Venable Roper", 1 page, measuring about 5 1/2" x 1 7/8". This note regarding the Revealing of the Carved Robert E Lee's Head on Stone Mountain on Lee's birthday (January 19th), Choice Crisp Extremely Fine. "Robert Venable Roper" was a woman, not a man, she writes: "We hope to unveil Gen. R.E. Lee's "head" on his birthday (Jan 19th). Wish you could be here with me. With lots of love, - Devotedly Yours, -- (Signed) Robert Venable Roper". Handwritten on stiff cardstock thick paper, with a tiny "S.M.C.M.A." copyright located at bottom left.

In 1887, "Stone Mountain" was purchased for $45,000 by the Venable Brothers of Atlanta. The Confederate Memorial Carving on the face of Stone Mountain is the largest bas-relief sculpture in the world, and depicts three Confederate leaders on horseback: President Jefferson Davis, and Generals Robert E. Lee and Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson. A member of the Venable family, it was Robert Venable Roper's wife, the other beneficiary of William Venable's estate, who sought to stop the transfer of the land at Stone Mountain to the Stone Mountain Confederate Monument Association on the basis that she had not been consulted. In the end her one-fourth share in the estate was deeded separately. Despite this family disagreement, Robert V. Roper was present at a number of social functions held by the mountain to commemorate work there. A nice reference to a historic moment in the early history of Stone Mountain! Extensive mounting traces on verso. Robert's father Sam Venable deeded the north face of the mountain to the United Daughters of the Confederacy in 1916, on the condition that it complete a sizable Civil War Monument in 12 years.
Robert Ridley Venable (1883-1967), was the daughter of William Hoyt Venable (1852-1905), who married Sarah A. Miller and served as a Georgia State Senator, sitting one term as President of the Georgia State Senate. William was a member of the Atlanta Police Board, a prominent Mason, a Knight of Pythias, and active in the city's clubs. Unusually for a daughter, she carried the first name "Robert", she was named after Dr. Robert Ridley of Atlanta, apparently in his honor. She had one sister who survived their father alongside her, Coribel Venable Kellogg, who shows up alongside her repeatedly in the historical record.

Crucially, William Hoyt Venable and his brother Samuel Hoyt Venable were the Venable Brothers who owned Stone Mountain itself: the brothers ran rock quarries in DeKalb County, Georgia, and granted a 12-year lease for the carving of the Confederate memorial begun by Gutzon Borglum, before the State of Georgia purchased the property in 1958. As William's daughter, "Robert" inherited a share of the mountain through her father's estate.

In 1916, she, along with her uncle Samuel, her aunt, and her sister, formally transferred the north face of the mountain for the Confederate memorial project. The Find a Grave biography of Samuel Hoyt Venable records that in 1916, Samuel H. Venable, jointly with his sister Elizabeth Venable Mason and their nieces Coribel V. Kellogg and Robert V. Roper, deeded to the “United Daughters of the Confederacy” the steep side of Stone Mountain and the adjacent land for the purpose of a Confederate Memorial. By that point she was going by her married name, Roper.



A period history of the mountain likewise lists Mrs. Robert Venable Roper as one of the parties who deeded the face of Stone Mountain and ten adjoining acres to the UDC, with the stipulation that the land would revert to the original owners if a suitable monument wasn't finished within twelve years, the deadline that was, in fact, missed, leading the Venable family to reclaim the property in 1928.
[Civil War, Confederate States of America, Reconstruction Era] [Confederate Memorial Culture, Robert E. Lee, Stone Mountain] [Manuscripts, Documents, Autograph Notes Signed]