This Ancestor Stayed Home

 My  ancestry post for 52 Weeks 52 Ancestors about 'an ancestor who stayed home' means looking back at some of the women, who were expected to stay home for most of those years.

I choose one of the women who lived in Sevier County Tennessee, when it was first forming.

The family of Catharine Clack Rogers originated in Virginia, Loudon County was her mother's birthplace. Mother was named Mary de Beauvillers/Beaver born in 1745. Catharine's father Lt. Spencer Sterling Clack also was born in Loudon County (at the time it was in Fairfax County) in 1746.

Mary Beavers married Spencer Clack in 1766 in Loudon County VA. They had at least 8 children. I'm using some genealogical research from people living in Sevierville which look for evidence in original documents, as well as some "folk tales" passed along. Some of today's Ancestry Trees assume Mary Beavers Clack had 16 or more children. There is only evidence of these 8 however.

Many records have been lost, and there are several possibilities of Spencer Clack's parents.

But let's focus on Catharine (spelled the way my grandfather transcribed the Rogers Family Bible).

She was born in 1778 in Loudon County VA.  Her little brother Micajah Clack was born about a year later, and when he was just a toddler was struck and killed by lightening. This is a family story that has been handed down through the years. Incidentally, Catharine named her first son after him.

Though Catharine was part of the family which moved to Tennessee in 1787, (age 9) she didn't move much after that. She married Rev. Elijah Rogers in 1794. He was a Baptist preacher, known to travel to different churches in the area, as well as having a farm on the Little Pigeon River in Sevierville TN.

Catherine stayed home. Rev. Elijah lived until 1841 and she lived until 1850. 

The cemetery and church were located where these graves still are, and a park, by the Little Pigeon River in Sevierville. Catharine was probably buried there.

Catharine Rogers had 12 children, with one who died young, and two who have no known death dates. So at least 9 lived to adulthood. There are some documents verifying these children, but many ancestry trees have added many more!

Their oldest, Micajah Clack Rogers, my 3rd great grandfather moved to Texas when he was 50, with some of his children. His wife, Cyntha Cannon Rogers, stayed in Tennessee with the younger children and then moved to Texas before her death. There had been a personal note to Cyntha (which is now lost) which said he (Micajah) was sending the younger children back to Tennessee as there were no schools yet in Texas (in 1840).

I don't know if her father, Spencer Clack, was considered a hero when she was living, but since then there are various plaques in Sevierville honoring him.

Plaque on big stone near Sevierville TN court house.