- L. T. ROGERS. The following contains a few facts in the life
of L. T. ROGERS, of Milton
- Junction, Wis., with a brief account of his ancestry. James
ROGERS, the 1st (who was by his family tradition a son of John
ROGERS, the martyr, that was burned at Smithfield, England, for
his religious belief and his non-adherence to the rules of the
established Church of England, during the reign of Queen Mary),
came over from England in the ship "Increase" in 1635,
and, according to his family history, settled first at Stratford,
Conn., where he married Elizabeth ROWLAND, the daughter of one
Samuel ROWLAND. He afterward removed to Milford, Conn., and then
located at New London, Conn., on the river Thames, where he spent
the remainder of his days and reared his family. He was prominent
in both civil and ecclesiastical affairs; six times he was chosen
a "Representative to the General Court." Between the
years 1660 and 1670 he had a greater interest in the Port of
New London than any other person. He became quite wealthy; his
landed possessions were very extensive, consisting of several
hundred acres on Great Neck, from four to five miles southwest
of the city of New London, on the north shore of Long Island
Sound; several town lots, and 2,400 acres east of the river Thames,
held in partnership with Col. Pynchion, of Springfield, Mass.
His children were as follows: Samuel, Joseph, John, Bathsheba,
James, Jr., Jonathan, and Elizabeth. He and his family, with
the exception of Samuel and his wife, became dissenters from
the Established Church in Connecticut, and during the years 1674
and 1675 embraced the doctrine and faith of the Seventh Day Baptists,
and united with the Seventh Day Baptist Church, of Newport, R.I.,
which was organized Dec. 23, 1671, as the first Seventh Day Baptist
Church in America. His son John ROGERS afterward dissented from
the Seventh Day Baptists and formed a new sect, which were, and
are now, called, Rogerene Quakers. They are a small sect, and
are located northeast of the city of New London, Conn.
- James ROGERS, the 1st, by his will gave his lands east of
the river Thames to his sons Samuel,
- Joseph, and John; to his son James, the Goshen farm; and
to Jonathan, the Magunk Farm on Great Neck. To his son Joseph
he also gave the Brewin Neck farm, west of Jorden Cove - the
sons paying the daughters their shares in money.
- The said Joseph ROGERS, son of James, the 1st, and Elizabeth
(ROWLAND) ROGERS, was
- born May 14, 1646, and married Sarah (surname not given.)
Of his children we have no account, except of James, the 3d,
who was born in 1672, and married one Sarah STEVENS and lived
on his Great Neck farm. At the age of forty-nine he was accidentally
killed by a gun set by the Indians to kill game. His wife died
Jan. 4, 1752. Of his children we have no account, except of James,
the 4th, who was born July 6, 1717, and who married Mehitable
NEWBURY and died in 1790. He owned several farms, a plantation,
and many slaves. His children were: Mehitable, Sarah, Elizabeth,
James the 5th, Ames, Solomon, Hannah, Stevens, Mary, and Isaac.
- Isaac, the youngest son of James the 4th and Mehitable (NEWBURY)
ROGERS, was born June
- 30, 1762, and married Mary GRIFFING, of Lynne, Conn., April
13, 1786, and died at the age of seventy-eight, his wife living
to be about ninety years old. His children were: James the 6th,
David, Napoleon Bonaparte, Fanny, Isaac, Jr., Joseph Griffing,
and Thomas Jefferson.
- Isaac, Jr., the fourth son of Isaac ROGERS, Sr., and Mary
(GRIFFING) ROGERS, was born
- Nov. 3, 1793, and married Elizabeth TINKER, daughter of Ezekiel
and Elizabeth TINKER, in the fall of 1820. She died Jan. 5, 1827,
leaving one son, Lester Tinker ROGERS (the subject of this biography),
aged five years and two months. After a few years the said Isaac,
Jr., settled in business in New York City, and in the year 1839
married one Mary WHITE, of Middletown, N.J., and through her
influence and others, they went with the Mormons to Nauvoo, Ill.,
and thence to Salt Lake City. He afterward went to San Francisco,
Cal., after his household goods that had been shipped around
Cape Horn. He was taken sick and died there, at the age of fifty-five.
- Ezekiel TINKER, above mentioned, was the second son of Samuel
and Anna (LESTER)
- TINKER, and a descendant of John TINKER, who came to New
England in 1637, and married one Sarah BARNES. He was the Attorney
in the Middlebury Court, founded the city of Greton, Mass., and
was an extensive fur trader with the Indians. He is supposed
to be a relative of Thomas TINKER, who came over with the noble
band of Pilgrims on the "Mayflower," in 1820 [1620],
who, with his wife and one child, died soon after their arrival,
as stated by Gov. Bradford. The said Ezekiel TINKER was born
July 20, 1762, and died Oct. 12, 1835. He married Elizabeth BEEBE,
daughter of Othniel BEEBE, who died during the War of the Revolution.
Ezekiel TINKER was a soldier of the Revolution, and drew a pension
from the United States Government. His children were Lester and
Elizabeth; Lester died at sea while a young man, and Elizabeth
was, as above stated, the wife of Isaac ROGERS, Jr., and the
mother of L. T. ROGERS, and died at the age of twenty-one years.
- Lester Tinker ROGERS, son of Isaac, Jr., and Elizabeth (TINKER)
ROGERS, was born in
- Waterford, New London Co., Conn., Nov. 8, 1821, his mother
dying when he was five years and two months old, and his father
being in poor health, he was taken home by his Grandfather TINKER,
and cared for until he was fourteen years old, at which time
his grandfather died. His advantages for education were rather
limited. He attended the district school winters, and worked
on the farm summers. During the summers of 1836 and 1837 he attended
school in the city of New York some two months each year, and
in the latter took the measles and came near dying, after which
his health was poor. In the summer of 1838 he attended school
in the city of New London, Conn., and in January, 1841, entered
De Ruyter Institute, in Madison County, N.Y., where he remained
three and a half terms, when he was called home to take care
of the farm and his aged grandmother; this finished his education.
In the fall of 1837 in his native place, under the preaching
of the Rev. Alexander Campbell, Mr. ROGERS made a public profession
of religion, and five years afterward united himself with the
Waterford Seventh Day Baptist Church, and, firmly believing this
to be the only Bible Sabbath, has continued in its observance.
- On the 7th day of January, 1845, Mr. ROGERS was married,
in Otselie, Chenango Co., N.Y.,
- to Elizabeth, daughter of Erastus and Mary (BUTTS) MILLER,
and returned to the farm in Waterford, Conn. To them, on the
31st of October, 1846, was born a son, whose name was James Lester
ROGERS. On the 11th day of March, 1848, his wife died, and on
the 20th of March, 1849, his son James Lester died. After his
wife's death he left the farm and followed the George's Bank
halibut fishing business for two season. In the spring of 1851
he started on a tour of the West, traveling through the States
of New York, Michigan, Illinois and Wisconsin. After spending
five months and traveling 3,700 miles, he returned home, and
followed farming for two years. In the fall of 1853 he returned
to De Ruyter, N.Y., and on the 8th day of April, 1854, married
Sarah Melissa CORN, a lady of Scotch descent, daughter of Deacon
Pardon and Esther (WALKER) CORN, of De Ruyter. The following
summer and fall he worked with his brother-in-law, the Rev. James
C. ROGERS, at daguerreotypeing, and in the fall of 1855 removed
to Milton, Wis., and bought a farm on section 18. Here he lived
ten years, but during the War of the Rebellion, in the cold January
of 1863, while enlisting men to avoid the draft on the town of
Milton, he took a severe cold, which settled on his lungs, from
the effects of which his health was very poor for several years.
In the fall of 1864 he took a trip with a team into Iowa and
Minnesota, and in the summer of 1865 again visited his native
State; in 1866 he sold his farm and removed to Milton Junction,
and worked for several years as a carpenter and joiner until
the work became too laborious for him. After removing to Milton
Junction, he was elected Justice of the Peace, which office he
held for four years. He was then appointed Notary Public and
Conveyancer by Gov. Lucius Fairchild, which office he has held
ever since, under Govs. C. C. Washburn, William R. Taylor, Harrison
Ludington, William E. Smith, and Jeremiah M. Rusk (eighteen years.)
- In the spring of 1856, when the Rock River Seventh Day Baptist
Church was organized, our
- subject was one of the constituent members, and on the 1st
day of June following he was chosen one of the Deacons of the
new church, and on the 28th day of the same month was ordained
to that office, and on the 2d day of June, 1861, was chosen Clerk
of the Church - both of which offices he still holds in the same
church. When the Rock County Central Association of the P. of
H. was organized, he was chosen Secretary, which office he held
for two years, when he was elected Master of the Grange for one
year. He was again elected Secretary in the year 1878. Since
then he has held the office of Chaplain of Du Lac Grange several
times, and is at this time Chaplain of the Rock County Pomona
Grange. He has held the following offices in the town of Milton:
Assessor, six years (from 1858-1862, inclusive, and again in
1866); Justice of the Peace, four years (from 1867 to 1870 inclusive);
Supervisor, three years (1863, 1875 and 1876); Town Clerk, eight
years (1881 to 1889 inclusive, and still holds that office).
His children by his last wife were as follows: Delana Franceanya,
born Oct. 9, 1857; Benedict Wescote, Oct. 9, 1858; Elizabeth
Arloine, born Sept. 9, 1867, died Feb. 16, 1884. His son, Benedict
Wescote ROGERS, studied medicine with Dr. Henry PALMER, in Janesville,
one year, and attended lectures three years in the College of
Physicians and Surgeons, in Chicago, where he was graduated on
the 10th day of March, 1885. After remaining about six months
in Chicago, he removed to Rockford, Ill., where he practiced
medicine one year, and was married, Oct. 5, 1886, to Mrs. Adda
GARNHART, of that place. He then returned to Chicago, where he
now has a successful practice.
- Mr. ROGERS is a member of the Rock County Pioneers' Association,
and his time is almost
- wholly taken up with public business, which testifies to
his executive ability, and also shows that his labors are highly
appreciated by his fellow-citizens. He is one of the progressive
residents of his township and county, and has been very active
in maintaining a temperance sentiment in the community. Politically,
he has been a supporter of the Republican party since its organization.
He is strongly in favor of the Anti-saloon movement, and utterly
opposed to license for the sale of intoxicating liquors as a
beverage.
-
- Taken from "The Portrait and Biographical Album of
Rock County, Wis." (c)1889, pp. 796-798.
-
- Courtesy of Carol
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