Where Spencer lived, and with whom...

"Five tombstones were found for the Rogers family and recorded in the Cemetary records. There are five tombstones in a row all the same size from left to right. (1) Spencer Rogers Jr. 1854-1873 (2) John C. Rogers 1837-1873 (3) Emma G. Rogers 1849-1934 (wife of Arthur Rogers) (4) Arthur C. Rogers 1841-1921 (husband of Emma Rogers) (5) Spencer C. Rogers 1817-1886 (father of Arthur Rogers)."  

Written in conjunction with posting a photo of a headstone, by another Rogers descendant on Ancestry, HughRobertMcVeigh, posted with the title:

Spencer C Rogers Sr 1817-1886, 

dated January 6, 2011 

 I must admit, the "P." as his middle initial looks as if it was added later, since it barely fits. But it's a big question since we've been chasing Spencer Clack Rogers.  

I jut found out where these headstones are located. I looked on Ancestry at Arthur Rogers death certificate, which says he was buried in Elmwood Cemetery, Shelby County, TN. 

Spencer Rogers..one more bit of important information from the Rogers Family Bible, which was talked about on my last post.

"The Rogers Family Bible: entry in hand writing in Bible, as typed in 1954 by George Elmore Rogers, Sr. and copied to his 4 sons and their descendants. SPENCER C. ROGERS Son of Rev. Elijah and Catharine Rogers, was married to Miss. Mary A. Simmons, all of Nashville, by Elder J. R. Graves, in Nashville, Tennessee, on the 14th _____ 1859."

This is substantiated by a Tennessee Marriage record for Davidson County, 1859 near bottom of the page.

  Spencer C. Rogers married Mary A. Simmons, July 14,1859 in Nashville TN.

 
The 1860 census for Nashville Ward 4, Davidson County, Tennessee taken on Aug 30 of that year.

Spencer C. Rogers is 43 years old and is a Publisher, living in household number 804 or 911. He's doing quite well, with real estate valued $8000.00 and a personal estate of $20,000.00. His household of 9 people has Mary A, age 27  and various younger persons that might or might not be his children. So John C. at 23 is a bookkeeper.  The rest of the family all have "ditto" as their last names, under Spencer  C. Rogers.


Children's names are Arthur C. 18
Jane C. 15
Cornelia A. 13
Emma 10
William S 6
George M 6 months

My guess is that George at 6 months is the son of Spencer and Mary. The others may well be his children of an earlier marriage, as they are too old to be Mary's, which I'll talk about later.

The other interesting thing is to look at his neighbors. Most of the women within a few doors are sharing homes and are prostitutes as their occupation. Then the household of Watson Freeman number 805 or 912 has his occupation as a Glass Framer Guilder, who also has a pretty hefty income.

Nashville's red light district perhaps? I don't know the actually addresses. A publisher and a glass framer and gold guilder are interesting businesses to be in the same neighborhood.

But remember this was 1860. The south was about to go to war, and Nashville was going to be changing.

My cousin who worked on the Rogers Family tree and is a member of the DAR and a few other genealogy associations, Patricia Rogers Seliger, posted this to Ancestry on Jan 17, 2015.

MC Rogers Letter to SC Rogers

Feb. 1866

Huntsville, Texas

"This is a letter Micajah Clack Rogers wrote to his brother Spencer Clack Rogers. He asked about his only living child, William L. Rogers. He tries to remember genealogy, only that Clacks came from Loudon County VA, Rogers came from Farquier Cty VA, meeting in Sevier Cty, TN, and MC is living with Thos Gibbs and his 2nd wife. Spencer is a publisher of Sunday School books."

I've struggled through reading this, (and will transcribe it soon) not finding any information about Spencer, besides that he is thought to still be publishing some materials for a Sunday School. But since it's a primary source of another ancestor trying to figure out his own ancestors, I've saved it onto another post in larger format so I can spend a few hours transcribing it. Then I'll publish that back onto the Ancestry site.

The next information on paper is the 1870 census from Memphis Ward 5, Shelby Tennessee.

So there had been a war, and in 1870 Spencer was 53, a Publisher, but living in a household with a 32 year old Printer, and his wife and daughter. Also living in that household were 6 other men, ages differing, some clerks, one a Wholesale Coffee Dealer, and one a Com. Merchant. Neighbors were a shirtmaker and a shoemaker. And Memphis is quite a distance from Nashville Tennessee.

Here's the 1880 census, again in Nashville, sixth ward, Davidson County, TN.

Now a street name is given at the far left at top of the page, but I'm not at all sure what it is...Linewiter or Lunmter, or something along those lines. Spencer is a boarder in the household of William Driver, a 77 year old retired sea captain.  Spencer is 63 himself, and lists his occupation as an editor. The other occupants of the household include William's daughter, Ruth Driver, age 22, and a black 19 year old woman, Mary Lishey as a servant.

And if Spencer had had those older children, living with him and his new wife Mary Simmons Rogers in 1860, why wasn't he living with any of them in Nashville when he was 63, rather than boarding with the Drivers? Many possibilities exist for family dynamics.

I'll look into the earlier family which had a different wife soon.

The family of Spencer Clack Rogers - his siblings

So to continue about Spencer Clack Rogers. Born as youngest brother to my great X3 grandfather Micajah Clack Rogers. Another sister also carried the Clack middle name...or perhaps added it later on.

I noticed that Micajah had served in the North Carolina militia during the War of 1812, until Aug. 1813. He had been just 17, and a Private.  This was before the birth of Spencer C. Rogers in 1817. And so there wasn't much connection for them growing up.

Spencer Clack Rogers, living in Nashville TN most of his life, may have had another family living in Chattanooga TN. There were 2 married daughters of this family who, when they died in different states, had Spencer C. Rogers on their death certificates as their father. And they both have Jane Chandler Rogers as their mother, having been born in Chattanooga TN. They died in the 1930s, and so I accept that these women were my cousins.

But back to the original family. Some of my information comes from the Rogers Family Bible, which I believe received its first entries when a Rogers married a Gibbs. Actually there were two of each who married. And they also moved from their home places in Tennessee or South Carolina to north western Louisiana.

In the Rogers Family Bible, records go back to Henry Rogers, who was father of Rev. Elijah Rogers. Elijah married Catharine Clack and they lived in Sevier County Tennessee as it became a state. They had both been born in Virginia. And then they had many children, and I have learned about a couple which were added to the ancestry list who weren't in the Family Bible. But the person who said these were also daughters of Rev. Elijah and Catharine was a reputable historian, and the descendants of these offspring still live in Sevierville TN. So I consider they are also part of the family. That gives the offspring numbering twelve born, and four boys who died in infancy.

Spencer Clack Rogers was the youngest, coming after 2 brothers who died young.  His next older sibling was Amanda M. L. Rogers, just 4 years older than himself. Then 2 years older than Amanda was Dialtha Perry Rogers. A year older would have been Caleb who died young, and he might well have died before Spencer was born, but there's no record of his death.

Spencer's next older sibling was Matilda Langford, 10 years older, then Elizabeth Clack Rogers, 12 years older than him.  Another brother had been born in 1802 but had probably died by the time Spencer was born in 1817. His next older sibling was Mary Ellen Rogers born in 1799, so 18 years older, and who married in 1816, the year before he was born. The next older brother was Robert Henderson Rogers who had been born in 1796,  and finally the oldest, Micajah Clack Rogers born in 1795.  Robert didn't marry till he was 30, (1827)  but may have been working in Alabama according to some of his descendants.  Micajah had already fought in the War of 1812 as I mentioned above. And he was married in 1819.

It seems that Spencer grew through his childhood in a household with an older (43 years old) father (who was a preacher) and many sisters, and just 2 very much older (men in fact) brothers. His mother had lost four of her sons early in their lives, so by the time Spencer came along when she was 38, I imagine she coddled him. And all those young girls probably helped care for him as well.

More about his own adult life next time...

Trying to unravel an ancestor...

Spencer Rogers...who was he or they really?
It's just that there were 2 big families (different wives, different towns, different children)

It's not that his name was Jack Smith or anything either.

And the different families were 10 years apart on census records...but the children were too old to have been his (supposed) wife's.

They were Rogers - maybe.  And they were my cousins. So I thought maybe I could straighten their history out.

And hoorah for checking out every possible census of those wives.  There were two men named Spencer Rogers. One was my uncle Spencer Clack Rogers. The other was Spencer Joseph Rogers, who as of now doesn't seem related to me.

There are still many entwined records to clear out. I've worked on this off and on for over a month. And I'm just going to post what I have so far...and add another post as I learn more. (Don't hold your breath.)

This all started by my reading a letter my great great grandfather Micajah Clack Rogers wrote to his youngest brother Spencer Clack Rogers, who apparently was a printer.  Grandpa Micajah asked about his only living offspring, William Rogers...in the 1867 letter, and spoke at length about the recent Civil War.  Since Uncle Spencer lived in Tennessee, and Granpa Micajah in Texas, there were questions as to what Spencer's roll had been during the war.  His wife and children weren't mentioned.I've not found a mention of William Rogers on either of the Spencer Rogers' lists of census.

I have no idea when the last time Micajah might have heard from his brother. There's no address on the letter, except where Micajah lived in Huntsville, TX. Micajah does mention Tennessee, but both the Spencer Rogers lived in that state.

The one in Chatanooga, Hamillton County, is probably not my Uncle Spencer.

So I'll try to focus on the one who was most likely my Uncle.

Spencer Clack Rogers, lived most likely in Nashville, Davidson County, Tennessee.   I'll be back again soon to give whatever facts I might be able to discern.


 Micajah Clack Rogers (1795-1873)

Micajah Clack Rogers was the oldest of children of Rev. Elijah Rogers and Catharine Clack Rogers of Sevierville TN.  Spencer Clack Rogers was the youngest. This is the information given in the Rogers Family Bible and transcribed in the 1950s by my grandfather George Rogers.

Catharine Clack Rogers was a daughter of Lt. Spencer Sterling Clack and Mary Beavers (deBeauvillers/Beiber) Clack.

Handsell House summary

YouTube video in 2010 about Handsell House...HERE

"Indiantown Road in Vienna, MD seems unassuming at first glance. Open fields of farmlands, trees, and houses at distant intervals, no one would have guessed it has one of the only remaining colonial plantation houses left in the state. This structure is known as the Handsell House, named for the term "handsell" which means "honest money." This name was given to refer to the area's function as a trading post with American Indians. The house, when it was built, changed hands several times in its early life. It became a site of much strife through the 1700s, first because of more and more Englishmen encroaching upon the natives' territory, and also because of British raids taking place there around the time of the Revolution.

"When I visited the house, I met the restoration crew in the midst of their cleaning operation and study of artifacts. They were working towards their goal of developing an accurate picture of the original house, which they hope to utilize when they restore it to its former beauty. Hopefully in a few years, after the work is finished and word gets out, the house will be top on the list of visitors to Dorchester County. (from YouTube description)

Jamboree at Handsell House a video

The link above goes to a video from 2012, where lots of things were happening at the Handsell House in Vienna, Dorchester County, MD.

2nd Annual Nanticoke River Jamboree held at Handsell, the historic site near Vienna, MD. The event featured groundbreaking on a Native-American lodge, War of 1812 reenactors, talks about Harriet Tubman and local African-American history, a program on Native-American life skills, nature walks, Colonial-era blacksmiths, and tours of Handsell. The Jamboree was sponsored by the Nanticoke Historic Preservation Alliance (NHPA).

The Nanticoke River Jamboree is an annual event held at Handsell  to celebrate the natural and historic resources of the Nanticoke River watershed area and three cultures who have occupied this land.  Each year the Jamboree features exhibits and demonstration by regional environmental and historic groups, a variety of living history performers and demonstrations by spinners, sheep-shearers, wood turners, open hearth cooks and more!  In addition you will find music, food and activities for the whole family. 

The 2019 Jamboree was held Oct. 12 of this year, (2019) before I (your blogger) even knew about it! Here was their preview, with lists and descriptions of the demonstrations:

Historic Handsell to Host Nanticoke River JamboreeOctober 12 (2019) @ 10:00 am - 5:00 pm

Visitors to Dorchester County’s largest living history event will enjoy hands-on interaction with a variety of activities on October 12 at the 9th annual Nanticoke River Jamboree at the historic Handsell site near Vienna.

Designed as an event for families, the Jamboree will feature open-hearth cooking as experienced by African American slaves, displays and hands-on demonstrations by Native Americans who once lived on the site, and crafts of early European settlers who built the house at Handsell hundreds of years ago.

In addition to displays and demonstrations by people in period dress, this year’s Jamboree will showcase model boats crafted after historic vessels of the Chesapeake as a tribute to Dorchester’s 350th Anniversary and the Smithsonian Water/Ways Exhibit. Examples include native dugout canoes, skipjack, deadrise oyster boat, crab scrape, log canoe and skiff, among others.

“The Jamboree is a way to take people back in time, to partake in a fun variety of historic skills and craft activities that African-Americans, Native Americans, and European settlers engaged in during three centuries in America,” said Midge Ingersoll, a trustee and president of the Nanticoke Historic Preservation Alliance, which owns and maintains Handsell.

Handsell honors three cultures that made up its history: Native Americans who lived in a sprawling Chicone Village at the site, European settlers who built the house at Handsell around 1770, and African Americans, who worked as enslaved and free people at Handsell. The Jamboree’s purpose is to educate visitors through living history presentations.

In the kitchen at Handsell, Jerome Bias, of the Slave Dwelling Project, will be demonstrating activities from a 19th century plantation kitchen while discussing life as an enslaved cook. Dontavius Williams will be performing “The Chronicles of Adam,” an interpretation of life as an enslaved person of the 19th Century. Noah Lewis will portray “Ned Hector,” a Revolutionary War soldier. Nearby, Roberta Perkins, a “laundress,” will be discussing 19th century life as an enslaved woman, recently freed, for the family at Handsell.

Living history interpreter Rachel O’Connell will demonstrate many favorite 18th century activities such as: trapball, croquet, Game of Graces (hoop toss), Shut the Box (dice game), lawn bowling, mirror box, Newtons Inertia toy, tablecloth pull trick, friction tug o war, bed of nails, and singing wine glasses.

Antique doll specialist Carolyn Hoiler, of Crisfield, will display and discuss early period dolls. In addition to the new performers, traditional crafts people and living history interpreters will also be exhibiting at the Jamboree as they explore life in the 18th and 19th centuries. This year there will be more craftspeople than ever and will include basket weaving, wood lathe turning, doll making, spinning, rug-hooking, wool dyeing and broom making.

Representatives from the Pocomoke Indian Nation, the Lenni-Lanape of Delaware, Hermann Jackson of the Nanticoke of Delaware and Nause-Waiwash Band of Indians as well as Handsell’s own Village Volunteers will explore many life skills of the Native people who once lived at Chicone. These demonstrations include fire-making, weaving, pottery, chipping of implements, and techniques used for the building of the longhouse. These demonstrations occur in the Chicone Village (longhouse, garden and work shelter) and are ongoing through the day.

Drew Shuptar-Rayvis, a new addition to the Jamboree family travelling from Connecticut, whose traditional name is Pekatawas MakataweU (Black Corn) is an Algonkian living historian of the 17th and 18th century of Accomac and Pocomoke descent. He has interpreted Algonkian life for a multitude of institutions and will be interpreting late 17th century Pocomoke life on behalf of the tribe for the Jamboree. Acclaimed flutist Ron Warren will be entertaining visitors with his mystical native-inspired music throughout the day.

Handsell is located on the site of the pre-historic Native Village at Chicone, later set aside as an Indian Reservation (1721-1769). Today it is a State and National Register Listed Historic site, held with a Maryland Historic Trust Preservation Easement on a Maryland Scenic By-Way and listed on the Michener Chesapeake By-Way and John Smith Historic Water Trail.

Partner organizations for the 2019 Nanticoke River Jamboree are the Harriet Tubman UGRR Visitors Center and State Park, National Underground Railroad Network to Freedom, and the National Park Service. Business sponsors include NRG Energy, Healing Hands Animal Hospital, Dorchester Center for the Arts and Chesapeake Country 106.3 FM.

And of course Handsell House has a FaceBook site as well.