We've all seen those commercials for Ancestry.com on TV. Someone who doesn't know much of their family history decides to check it out, signs up, clicks on a few green leaves, and voila! They have some distant relative who did some amazing thing. History comes to life. Well, here's my story:
A few years back my great-grandmother was about to celebrate her 97th birthday. That's not a particularly significant birthday, but then again at that age, every birthday is significant! So I decided I wanted to do something nice and put together a decent family tree for her. I looked online for resources, and Google led me to Ancestry.com. You can start for free, so I played around a bit and started building my great-grandma's tree, complete with her 5 children, 19 grandchildren, 38 great-grandchildren and 14 great-great grandchildren. And then guess what...
Wouldn't you know it... some leaves popped up! It wasn't long until I was building a family tree that extended way beyond my great-grandma's line.
I was most curious to learn about my paternal line. For one, doesn't it seem like someone who carries the same last name as you is more family than one who doesn't? Is that just me? Secondly, and probably more importantly, I have never really known much about the Rogers family, beyond my dad's generation. His father died when my dad was 19, and I had no idea of his parents. That is, until I sucked it up and paid for a subscription to Ancestry.com.
If you don't know how it works, Ancestry basically partners with a bunch of databases and records keeping sites around the world, and coupled with user input they build a gigantic search engine of information. You can find old documents (and I mean OLD... like several hundred years back) such as birth certificates, census records, marriage licenses, draft cards, and on and on and on.
You do have to be careful and scrutinize every piece of data, though. It's easy to find other people's family trees and just copy the information that they have, only to realize later that they got confused or tagged Hezekiah Rogers from Kentucky instead of Hezakiah Rogers from Virginia... and everything is wrong from there. But at the same time it is very satisfying when you find records that corroborate additions you have made to your tree. Even more satisfying is when you find out pretty cool information about your ancestors! Even cooler is when that information takes you around the world and you can relive some of that history! (More on that later...)
So, from the branch of my tree that I knew little to nothing about a couple years ago, here's what I can tell you now about the Rogers family:
When I saw that my great(x12)-grandfather, Rev. John Rogers IV, was a pastor with the nickname "Roaring Rogers", I had to learn more. The first article I found about him had this to say:
In 1605 he became vicar of Dedham, Essex, where for over thirty years he had the repute of being 'one of the most awakening preachers of the age.' On his lecture days his church overflowed. Cotton Mather reports a saying of Ralph Browning that Rogers 'would do more good with his wild notes than we with our set music.' His lecture was suppressed from 1629 till 1631, on the ground of his nonconformity. His subsequent compliance was not strict. Giles Firmin, one of his converts 'never saw him wear a surplice,' and he only occasionally used the prayer-book, and then repeated portions of it from memory. He died on 18 Oct. 1636, and was buried in the churchyard at Dedham. There is a tombstone to his memory, and also a mural monument in the church.
Click here for his Wikipedia page.
We had been talking about a vacation to London, and when I read that there was a monument to my great-times-12-grandfather in a 500 year old church not too far from there... we had to go! We decided to stop in England for a week on our way back from the States this summer, and my parents were even able to join us!
Dedham is a couple hour drive to the Northeast of London. I had contacted the church a few months prior, and one of the church wardens (trustees), a very sweet woman named Suzanne, had told me she would dig up what information she could find and provide us a tour if we were to come up. We didn't have any other plans for Sunday, so we decided to make our way to Dedham for some church!
The service was very enjoyable, and the girls even (mostly) behaved themselves. After service, we were able to meet Suzanne and a couple other wardens who were able to share some lore about Roaring Rogers. One common story was that during his funeral, the church was so packed with people that the balcony collapsed. And only by a miracle of God, no one was killed! He would also frequently "thunder the Gospel of Salvation" from the turret of the church to 1200 people in the courtyard.
Suzanne took us up the spiral stairs to the "muniment room", where the church stores their historical archives. It was an experience just getting up there, as it involved an extremely narrow, and extremely old spiral staircase. But it was worth the effort! Suzanne showed us several old documents about Roaring Rogers and other historical Dedham Church figures, and even gave us some books to keep!
We enjoyed a terrific lunch across the street at the Sun Inn, then returned to the church to explore the grounds, and specifically to search for John's grave. Lucy and Ellie "helped" search.
Suzanne had told us that the tombstone was indecipherable, but we still hoped to find it. Thankfully, one of the documents she gave us provided just enough clues that we were able to pick it out!
So, that's my story... cradle to grave. Literally. :) It has been amazing learning about my ancient family's past and finding out a bit more about the people, events and experiences that had to happen exactly as they did for me to end up who I am, where I am, when I am.
Here's the most mind-blowing part: This was the story of one of my 12th-great-grandparents. I have 16,383 more.
There are a lot more stories out there waiting to be found!
A few years back my great-grandmother was about to celebrate her 97th birthday. That's not a particularly significant birthday, but then again at that age, every birthday is significant! So I decided I wanted to do something nice and put together a decent family tree for her. I looked online for resources, and Google led me to Ancestry.com. You can start for free, so I played around a bit and started building my great-grandma's tree, complete with her 5 children, 19 grandchildren, 38 great-grandchildren and 14 great-great grandchildren. And then guess what...
 |
| (Hint: click on pictures to see full size) |
Wouldn't you know it... some leaves popped up! It wasn't long until I was building a family tree that extended way beyond my great-grandma's line.
I was most curious to learn about my paternal line. For one, doesn't it seem like someone who carries the same last name as you is more family than one who doesn't? Is that just me? Secondly, and probably more importantly, I have never really known much about the Rogers family, beyond my dad's generation. His father died when my dad was 19, and I had no idea of his parents. That is, until I sucked it up and paid for a subscription to Ancestry.com.
If you don't know how it works, Ancestry basically partners with a bunch of databases and records keeping sites around the world, and coupled with user input they build a gigantic search engine of information. You can find old documents (and I mean OLD... like several hundred years back) such as birth certificates, census records, marriage licenses, draft cards, and on and on and on.
You do have to be careful and scrutinize every piece of data, though. It's easy to find other people's family trees and just copy the information that they have, only to realize later that they got confused or tagged Hezekiah Rogers from Kentucky instead of Hezakiah Rogers from Virginia... and everything is wrong from there. But at the same time it is very satisfying when you find records that corroborate additions you have made to your tree. Even more satisfying is when you find out pretty cool information about your ancestors! Even cooler is when that information takes you around the world and you can relive some of that history! (More on that later...)
So, from the branch of my tree that I knew little to nothing about a couple years ago, here's what I can tell you now about the Rogers family:
Travis Rogers (1984 - )
A living legend
A living legend
David Rogers (1957 - )
Father of Travis
Father of Travis
Willard Rogers (1934 - 1976)
Not THAT Will Rogers, sorry...
Not THAT Will Rogers, sorry...
Charles Rogers (1900 - 1972)
Saw his WWI draft registration card
Saw his WWI draft registration card
Benjaman Rogers (1867 - ????)
The first Rogers to come to Kansas... God bless him!
The first Rogers to come to Kansas... God bless him!
Merritt Rogers (1838 - 1908)
Served Iowa in the Civil War from 1862-65. Mustered out at Houston, TX! Named one son Abraham Lincoln Rogers.
Served Iowa in the Civil War from 1862-65. Mustered out at Houston, TX! Named one son Abraham Lincoln Rogers.
Hezakiah Rogers (1806 - 1872)
Was a physician in Iowa in the 1850s.
Was a physician in Iowa in the 1850s.
Elijah Rogers (1775 - 1840)
Willed his survivors $2 each. Had daughters named Lucinda and Elizabeth.
Willed his survivors $2 each. Had daughters named Lucinda and Elizabeth.
John Rogers (1750 - 1809)
Slave owner... I guess we've all got at least one in the family...
Slave owner... I guess we've all got at least one in the family...
Thomas Rogers (1725 - 1786)
Son Nathaniel was a Revolutionary War soldier
Son Nathaniel was a Revolutionary War soldier
Captain William Rogers (1699 - 1749)
"He enjoyed many posts of honor and trust."
"He enjoyed many posts of honor and trust."
Rev. John Rogers (1666 - 1745)
Last in the line of Reverends Rogers. Served 1st Church Ipswich, Mass for 60 years.
Last in the line of Reverends Rogers. Served 1st Church Ipswich, Mass for 60 years.
Rev. Dr. John Rogers (1630 - 1684)
5th president of Harvard University! (see Harvard's bio here)
Nathaniel Rogers (1598 - 1655)
First Rogers to sail to America, in 1636. According to the Dictionary of National Biography (1885), "Rogers' descendents in America at the present time are more numerous than any other early emigrant family."
5th president of Harvard University! (see Harvard's bio here)
Nathaniel Rogers (1598 - 1655)
First Rogers to sail to America, in 1636. According to the Dictionary of National Biography (1885), "Rogers' descendents in America at the present time are more numerous than any other early emigrant family."
Rev. John Rogers IV (1571 - 1636)
"Roaring Rogers"- More on him below!
"Roaring Rogers"- More on him below!
John Rogers III (1548 - 1601)
Shoemaker? Running out of clues...
Shoemaker? Running out of clues...
John Rogers "The Younger" (1500 - 1558)
Carpenter?
Carpenter?
John Rogers "The Elder" (???? - 1559)
Carpenter?When I saw that my great(x12)-grandfather, Rev. John Rogers IV, was a pastor with the nickname "Roaring Rogers", I had to learn more. The first article I found about him had this to say:
In 1605 he became vicar of Dedham, Essex, where for over thirty years he had the repute of being 'one of the most awakening preachers of the age.' On his lecture days his church overflowed. Cotton Mather reports a saying of Ralph Browning that Rogers 'would do more good with his wild notes than we with our set music.' His lecture was suppressed from 1629 till 1631, on the ground of his nonconformity. His subsequent compliance was not strict. Giles Firmin, one of his converts 'never saw him wear a surplice,' and he only occasionally used the prayer-book, and then repeated portions of it from memory. He died on 18 Oct. 1636, and was buried in the churchyard at Dedham. There is a tombstone to his memory, and also a mural monument in the church.
Click here for his Wikipedia page.
We had been talking about a vacation to London, and when I read that there was a monument to my great-times-12-grandfather in a 500 year old church not too far from there... we had to go! We decided to stop in England for a week on our way back from the States this summer, and my parents were even able to join us!
Dedham is a couple hour drive to the Northeast of London. I had contacted the church a few months prior, and one of the church wardens (trustees), a very sweet woman named Suzanne, had told me she would dig up what information she could find and provide us a tour if we were to come up. We didn't have any other plans for Sunday, so we decided to make our way to Dedham for some church!
 |
| Rogers family in front of Rogers family's old church |
The service was very enjoyable, and the girls even (mostly) behaved themselves. After service, we were able to meet Suzanne and a couple other wardens who were able to share some lore about Roaring Rogers. One common story was that during his funeral, the church was so packed with people that the balcony collapsed. And only by a miracle of God, no one was killed! He would also frequently "thunder the Gospel of Salvation" from the turret of the church to 1200 people in the courtyard.
 |
| Can you see the resemblance? |
 |
| I'd need to work on that goatee for quite a while to match him. |
Suzanne took us up the spiral stairs to the "muniment room", where the church stores their historical archives. It was an experience just getting up there, as it involved an extremely narrow, and extremely old spiral staircase. But it was worth the effort! Suzanne showed us several old documents about Roaring Rogers and other historical Dedham Church figures, and even gave us some books to keep!
 |
| The archivists at Dedham Parish Church were dedicated! |
 |
| Our guide, Suzanne, reading the back of a picture of Roaring Rogers. Lucy was riveted... mostly played with her dolls. |
We enjoyed a terrific lunch across the street at the Sun Inn, then returned to the church to explore the grounds, and specifically to search for John's grave. Lucy and Ellie "helped" search.
Suzanne had told us that the tombstone was indecipherable, but we still hoped to find it. Thankfully, one of the documents she gave us provided just enough clues that we were able to pick it out!
 |
| Document given to us by Suzanne, illustrating the condition of Roaring Rogers' tombstone. Good enough that we were able to use it to identify which one was his! |
 |
| Tombstone is a little worse for wear, but it's been exposed to the elements for almost 380 years! |
Here's the most mind-blowing part: This was the story of one of my 12th-great-grandparents. I have 16,383 more.
There are a lot more stories out there waiting to be found!
Very interesting!
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