Title: Louis (Robson) Ropson Papers
Inclusive Dates: 1939-1979

Creator:

• Ropson, Louis, 1903-1979

Call Number: UWGB Mss 5

Quantity: 5.6 c.f. (4 archives boxes, 3 record center boxes, and 3 flat archives boxes)

Archival Locations:

UW-Green Bay Cofrin Library / Green Bay Area Research Ctr. (Map)

See the catalog entry for information about possible additional materials and access to the collection.

Abstract:

Papers of Louis Ropson, a resident of Dyckesville, Wisconsin, in Kewaunee County, who was a farmer, musician, and self-taught master violin, viola, and cello maker. The papers contain a considerable amount of information on the genealogy of the Ropson (Robson) and Collins families. There are numerous descriptive registers of archival collections in several cities and villages in Belgium, as well as other miscellaneous materials dealing with Belgian genealogy. Additional materials include his correspondence course materials; papers concerning the making of violins, violas, and cellos; runs of several music and Walloon literary journals; catalogs of musical instruments; scripts of some plays in Walloon; tape recordings of music and conversations in Walloon; a few phonograph records; and family photographs. The collection also includes a violin made by Ropson which is numbered “1”.

Language: English, Walloon, French

URL to cite for this finding aid: http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/wiarchives.uw-gb-uwgbmss005

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Louis Ropson, the son of Joseph Ropson and Mary Collins, was born on June 8, 1903, in Red River Township, Kewaunee, Wisconsin, about a mile east of Dyckesville. He lived on the same farm, and in the same house, his entire life. His father and brother were killed by lightning in 1907. In 1927, he married Elsie Vandermuelen who died in 1974. They had no children. The spelling of the name varies in many of the records. It appears as both Robson and Ropson throughout the collection.

Mr. Ropson saw himself as a farmer but he had many other interests and activities. For fifty years, he was church organist at Dyckesville, Wisconsin for St. Louis Catholic Church. He walked fourteen miles to take music lessons from a priest (see Belgian-American Oral History Tape BT 5/1976) and paid for the lessons with money he earned as church organist. When the priest could teach him no more, he enrolled in counterpoint correspondence courses through the University of Wisconsin Extension. Because he lacked knowledge of the English language (Walloon, a French patois, was his first language) he also took a correspondence course in English grammar.

Mr. Ropson started building violins and later violas and cellos, approximately 1934-1936. He continued building them until his death in July 1979. When his wife was alive, she helped him with the finishing of the instruments. He started building grandfather and grandmother clocks in the 1960s. He told an interviewer that he only sold clocks to people he trusted.

Mr. Ropson spoke and read both French and Walloon and was very fond of the literature and music of Belgium, particularly in Walloon. He subscribed to a number of Walloon publications, which are a part of this collection.

The collection is divided into five series; Genealogy, Correspondence Courses, Violins and Other Instruments, Periodicals (in Walloon), and Miscellaneous.

The papers contain a considerable amount of information of the GENEALOGY of the Ropson (Robson) and Collins (maiden name of the mother of Louis) families, including hand-written family trees and pedigree charts, and copies of birth, marriage, and in several cities and villages in Belgium, as well as other miscellaneous materials dealing with Belgian genealogy. Also included is general correspondence with cousins, Walloon authors, and others, written in English, and French or possibly Walloon.

Comments by his CORRESPONDENCE COURSE teachers reflect Mr. Ropson’s difficulty with the understanding of the English language and his desire to comprehend the languages. The papers include the exercises for both the grammar and counterpoint courses, along with Mr. Ropson’s comments and questions and those of the teachers.

The papers concerning the making of VIOLINS, violas, and cellos are quite complete. The material on organs is scanty. The collection does not contain a complete record of all the instruments he made. Included in the collection is a nearly complete run of the International Violin and Guitar Markers and Musicians Journal from 1962-1971. The collection also includes a few catalogs of musical instruments. There is correspondence with appraisers and individuals interested in purchasing his instruments and there are a few manufacturing patterns for instruments.

The PERIODICALS include runs of El Bourdon Falaises, 1965-1974; Les Cahiers Wallons, 1947-1979; and Le Guetteur Wallon, 1965-1968. These are literary periodicals in the Walloon language, which contain poetry, literature, and music.

The MISCELLANEOUS series includes the scripts of some plays in Walloon, tape recordings of music, poetry, and conversations, letters, correspondence between Louis Ropson and friends and relatives in Belgium, a few phonograph records, and family photographs. Many of the photographs, particularly from the United States, are unidentified.

The collection includes a violin made by Ropson which is numbered “1”.

See also Louis Ropson in the Belgian American Research Collection vertical file; Ropson Family photographs (74-82, 995), and an oral history interview, which are available in the Archives Department and the through the UWDC State of Wisconsin Collection.

Separations from the collection include books, which have been cataloged and added to either the regular or special collections holdings of the Cofrin Library; a map of Marinette County, 1931; and a few maps of Belgium, which are located in the map collection in the Archives Department.

Access Restrictions

There are no access restrictions on the materials, and the collection is open to all members of the public in accordance with state law.

Use Restrictions

The researcher assumes full responsibility for conforming to the laws of libel, privacy, and copyright, which may be involved in the use of this collection (Wisconsin Statutes 19.21-19.39).

Acquisition Information

Presented by the Ropson estate, 1982.

Processing Information

Processed by Dorothy Heinrich, 1982, and Tony LaLuzerne, 2019.

	Series: Genealogy and Family Papers
Box   1 Folder   1	Pedigree Charts, circa 1960s
Box   1 Folder   2	Genealogical support material for Ropson (Robson), Collins, and other family surnames, 1965-1968
Box   1 Folder   3	Genealogy, Correspondence, 1905-1975
Box   1 Folder   4	Genealogy, Miscellaneous, 1952-1968
Box   1 Folder   5	Melin , Brabant, Belgium Voter List, 1966
Box   1 Folder   6	Register of Fiefs and Noblemen of Belgium, v.1, 1968
Box   1 Folder   7	Inventory of Registrar’s Office and Church Archives of Noirmont and D’Orbais, Belgium, 1957-1959
Box   1 Folder   8	Inventory of Registrar’s Office and Church Archives of Limelette and Wavre, Belgium, 1958
Box   1 Folder   9	Inventory of Registrar’s Office and Church Archives of Grez, Doiceau, Sart, and La Monte, Belgium, 1963
Box   1 Folder   10	Inventory of Registrar’s Office and Charuch Archives of Gentinnes, Grand Rosiere, and Hottomont, Belgium, 1957-1961
Box   1 Folder   11	Inventory of Registrar’s Office and Charuch Archives of Folx Les Caves, Belgium, 1958
Box   1 Folder   12	Inventory of Registrar’s Office and Charuch Archives of Autre, Eglise, Belgium, 1957
Box   1 Folder   13	Inventory of Registrar’s Office of Bomal, Belgium, 1959
Box   1 Folder   14	Correspondence, family and general, 1938-1978
Box   1 Folder   15	Deeds and Mortgages, 1876-1951
	Series: Correspondence Course	⇧
Box   2 Folder   1	Correspondence regarding English Language Correspondence Course, 1939-1940
Box   2 Folder   2	Lessons for English Correspondence Course, 1939-1940
Box   2 Folder   3-4	Counterpoint Music worksheets for Correspondence Course, circa 1939-1940
Box   2 Folder   5	Counterpoint Music Correspondence Course Lessons, 1939-1940
	Series: Violins and Other Instruments	⇧
Box   2 Folder   6	Manuscript record of instruments built by Ropson, 1944-1977
Box   2 Folder   7	Auction Catalogs – “Louis Ropson String Instruments”, 1980
Box   2 Folder   8-9	Correspondence and appraisals regarding Ropson built violins, violas and cellos, 1926-1953
Box   3 Folder   1	Newspaper Clippings, 1950-1976
Box   3 Folder   2	Violins and other stringed instruments – literature, 1944-circa 1965
Box   3 Folder   3	Violins and other stringed instruments – catalogs, 1922-1972
Box   3 Folder   4	Organs, electric and pipe – catalogs and literature, 1930-1952
Box   3 Folder   5	Miscellaneous, 1925-1977
Box   6	Violin Makers Journal, 1957-1964
Box   6	International Violin and Guitar Makers and Musicians Journal (title varies; some issues missing), 1962-1971
	Series: Periodicals	⇧
Box   4 Folder   1	L’Action Wallonne au Canada, August 1975
Box   4 Folder   2-4	El Bourdon Falaises, 1965-1974
Box   4 Folder   5	Le Cog Wallon (Montreal), no date
Box   4 Folder   6	Journal le Wallon, 1967
Box   5	Les Cahiers Wallons (Some issues missing), 1947-1979
Box   5	Le Geutteur Wallon, 1985-1968
	Series: Miscellaneous: Plays	⇧
Box   7 Folder   1	Catalogs for plays and literature in the Walloon language, 1967-1974
Box   7 Folder   2	Walloon plays (unknown author), no date
Box   7 Folder   3-4	Plays by Roger Duhautbois (in Walloon), circa 1930-1960
Box   7 Folder   5-7	Plays by Jules Evrard (in Walloon), 1930-1966
Box   7 Folder   8-9	Plays by Ernest Fivet (in Walloon), circa 1940-1960
	Series: Miscellaneous: Tape Recordings	⇧
Box   7 Folder   10	5 reel tape recordings of songs by Jullet (in Walloon), circa 1969-1973
Box   7 Folder   11	7 reel tape recordings of Ropson family conversations and music (in Walloon), circa 1960s-1970s
Box   7 Folder   12	6 reel tape recordings (unidentified, in Walloon), no date
Box   8	Various size reel tape recordings of conversations, letters, correspondence between Louis Ropson and friends and relatives in Belgium, circa 1970
	Series: Miscellaneous: Photos, Sheet Music, Phonograph Records, Certificate	⇧
Box   8	1 certificate from the Societe Rweyale Moncrabeau of Namur Belgium (Walloon folklore society) presented to Louis Ropson, no date
Box   8 Envelope	Photos and postcards of family, friends, scenery, buildings, farms, in both Wisconsin and Belgium. Photos also include Ropson in his workshop. Primarily unidentified, [ca. 1940s-1970s]
Box   8	7 LP phonograph records of Walloon popular music and one 45 rpm of Walloon folk music, circa 1960s
Box   9 Folder   1	Photographs – Instruments and Clocks, circa 1940s-1970s
Box   9 Folder   2	Photographs – Family, Friends, Belgium Trip, circa 1940s-1970s
Box   9 Folder   3	Photographs – Farms, Scenery, Buildings, Postcards (in Wisconsin and Belgium), circa 1940s-1970s
Box   9 Folder   4	Photographs – Slides and Negative, Belgium Trip, 1976
Box   9 Folder   5	Sheet music for voice, piano, and cello in Walloon, French, and English, circa 1920s-1960s
Box   9	Framed photo of Louis Ropson holding violin #1, circa 1970s