Francis Rogers

Update 10/2013: No further information on John Rogers in the town records of Greenfield, which I have browsed completely. When I finished, I went to ancestry.com and found stuff. There is an ancestry family tree "Overfield-Hall-(etc)" that has John Rogers, born 1781, in Greenfield, NH married to Polly Eaton, with names and birthdates of all children. The ages and sexes of the children match exactly with John Rogers' 1810 census entry in Greenfield, and John Rogers' 1820 census entry in New London, NH. The ancestry family tree includes Francis, born 1803, and Stephen, born 1817. The source for all of this is another ancestry family tree that I have not seen yet. To me this is overwhelming proof, but it's not enough to counter the "Stephen G Rogers" bandwagon on public family trees. We're getting there. Weak point of the ancestry tree: They got carried away with the place "Greenfield" and have John, Polly, Stephen, and Stephen's youngest sister all born in Greenfield. They say Polly died in Greenfield. John was actually born in Goffstown, and FamilySearch birth records have a Polly Eaton born in Goffstown in 1785, which fits perfect. Polly's birth record names her parents, who are already on Geni. My merge has been done.

Update 7/2013: Early town records of Greenfield, NH are not easy to use. There are a few marriage records here and there, and occasionally there is a family record: husband, wife (no maiden names), and some children with birth dates. About half of the over 1000 pages are tax records for each year 1792-1825. In the 1803 section, I found John's tax record. John's last year in Greenfield was 1815. So Stephen was not born in Greenfield.

William Rogers was one of only two Rogers that had households in Greenfield in 1792. His last year there was 1805. This William, I believe is John Tirrell Rogers' brother, although 1792 is pretty early for him to have a household. John Tirrell Rogers' brother William Rogers Jr. still oddly fits this data. He was 16 in 1792. The 1800 census has him in Greenfield with female partner, no children. Somewhere online he was researched and is said to have married in Hartland, Vermont in 1803, first child born in 1804. Only discrepancy here is that William of the Greenfield town records was a taxpayer here until 1805.

The wealthier Rogers in 1792 is Robert, who is not known to be related to John or William. This Robert apparently died in 1808, replaced on the 1809 tax rolls by Widow Rogers. As I was breezing by the 1813 section, I noticed a family record for Abner Rogers. Abner first shows up in the tax records in 1808, and was one of two Rogers taxpayers left in the town in 1818. I'd never heard of Abner before. The Rogers presence in Greenfield peaked 1803 or earlier until 1811, with about 5 taxpaying Rogers each year.

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My inclusion of Francis Rogers as brother of Stephen Rogers is based on original research from census data, including proximity of residences, pre-1850 census families where the members who are not head-of-household would fit in, and parallel movements of their families pre- and post-1850.

10/2013: Overfield-Hall-(et al) Family Tree on Ancestry.com identifies Francis(b.1803) and Stephen(b.1817) as children of John Rogers, born 1781 in New Hampshire. John died after 1850 probably in Pennsylvania where he went to live with his second son Hughey after 1830. Their mother's name is Polly. Mary Rogers, age 66 was living in the household of Samuel Stewart in 1850 next door to Stephen Rogers and family in Lowell, Orleans, VT, but I don't know who this Mary is. Polly Eaton Rogers had a twin sister named Mary, but that Mary's married name is Ferrin. Stephen and family were also enumerated in Eden, Lamoille, VT in 1850 and they were probably living in both towns, which are adjacent to each other across the county line. Eden is the hometown of Stephen's wife Irene (Stone) Rogers.

In 1810, John Rogers lived in Greenfield, New Hampshire. 1 male 26-44(John); 1 female 26-44(Polly); 3 males under 10(Francis, Hughey, Robert); 1 female under 10(Betsy).

In 1820, John Rogers lived in New London, New Hampshire. 1 male 26-44(John); 1 female 26-44(Polly); 1 male 16-17(Francis); 2 males 10-15(Hughey, Robert); 2 females 10-15(Betsy, Margaret); 1 male under 10(Stephen); 3 females under 10(Evlina, Almira, Mary). Note that Margaret is slightly mis-categorized (born 1811).

1830 census of Kellyvale, Orleans, VT (Kellyvale became Lowell in the 1830's) - Francis Rogers was enumerated right next to John Rogers.

John Rogers: 1 male 50-60; 1 female 40-50; 3 females 15-20; 1 male 10-15 (Stephen?); 1 female 10-15; 1 male 5-10; 3 females 5-10; 1 female under 5.

Francis Rogers: 1 male 20-30; 1 female 20-30 (H C - died before 1843 - mother of Mary Jane and Henrietta).

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1840 census of Lowell, Orleans, VT - all on page 330. Use line numbers shown at the left to see how close the families were living to each other.

18 Stuart, Samuel: 1 male 50-60; 1 female 50-60; also 4 boys and 1 girl.

22 Rogers, Stephen: 1 male 20-30; 1 female 20-30 (Irene).

25 Rogers, Francis: 1 male 40-50; 1 female 30-40; 1 male 15-20 (?-not here in 1830); 1 female 15-20 (?-not here in 1830); 1 male 5-10; 2 females 5-10 (Mary Jane, b.1830); 1 male under 5; 1 female under 5 (Henrietta, b.1838).

26 Stuart, Wm: 1 male 20-30; 1 female 20-30; 1 male under 5.

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After the death of Francis' first wife (<-Source is some biography of Martha Ripley) Francis went to New Hampton, NH to marry Hester Ann George. He took her to Lowell, VT right away. The entry for Josiah George, Hester's father, in History of Sanbornton, New Hampshire, 1881, states that Francis is a native of Greenfield, NH. Francis & Hester did not stay in Lowell for long. They went to Fort Atkinson, IA (having a child in Wisconsin on the way) where Francis was one of the pioneer citizens. Later the Army closed Fort Atkinson, and after a couple of years, Winneshiek County was divided into townships and the Fort Atkinson area became Washington Township.

Stephen & Irene stayed in Vermont until the early 1850's when they went to Washington Township, Winneshiek, IA where they were enumerated in the 1856 Iowa State Census. Before 1860 Stephen's oldest daughter Ellen married Henry F Crane, a Vermonter who had a farm in Mercer County, Illinois. Stephen and family followed them to Illinois, where they were enumerated in 1860.

There you have most of what convinced me to put Francis in the family tree here.

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William Cutter's Genealogical and Personal Memoirs Regarding the Families of Boston and Eastern Massachusetts, 1908, Vol. 4, Pages 2001-2005.

Francis Rogers, father of Mrs. Hannah Clara Rogers, was born in Vermont[sic - should be New Hampshire] in 1803, and died in Iowa, November 23, 1879[sic - should be 1877]. He resided in Lowell, Orleans County, Vermont, removed to Fort Atkinson, Iowa, where he was one of the first settlers, then to Missouri, returning to Iowa, where he passed the remainder of his life. He married in Lowell[sic*], Massachusetts[sic*], February 4, 1843, Hester Ann George, daughter of Josiah George Jr., of Sanbornton, New Hampshire. (See George family). They were married by Mr. Ebenezer Fisk.

These probable errors are worth exploring here. The text here is a "revision" of Runnels' History of Sanbornton, NH, which says the Rogers' were married in New Hampton, NH by Reverend Mr Fiske. Hester's mother, Peace (Hodgdon) George, was a devoted member of the Second Free-Will Baptist Church in New Hampton. This church was organized and led by Reverend David Fisk, who died in 1834. The pastorate devolved onto his son Rev. Ebenezer Fisk, who presided for twenty years. Highly unlikely that all parties involved in the wedding would have gone to Massachusetts to perform it. A primary source record of this marriage is online that doesn't say much, but confirms that it took place in New Hampshire.

One thing I appreciate in this revision of Runnels is the account of Francis Rogers' last years. Runnels had Francis dying in Missouri, but here we read that he went back to Iowa, which I believe because findagrave found his grave in Winneshiek County, Iowa.

...Children: ...1. Martha George, born November 7, 1843; married Warren Ripley, of Cambridge[sic - should be Abington, then Lawrence], Massachusetts; she is now a practicing physician at Minneapolis, Minnesota.

...2. George Henry, born August 30, 1845; married, 1870, Mary Metcalf; he is now a ranchman in Idaho, formerly in Audubon county, Iowa.

...3. Benjamin Franklin, born September 15, 1850, a grocer at Lawrence, Massachusetts; married June 24, 1880, Harriet Frances Moulton[sic - should be Wingate].

...4. Dr. Hannah Clara, born November 27, 1854. married Edward E. Rutter, of Lawrence. Massachusetts. (See Rutter family).

[Family tree note: One child, Lucy Marilla, born 1849, was left out of this list.] -----------------------------------------------------------------------------