James Rogers' son Larkin Rogers/Rodgers (1794-1878)

James Rogers (1760-1842), a Revolutionary War soldier, had at least one son, who probably was the force behind the memorial marker for his father. The son, Joseph Larkin Rogers was born Aug 19, 1794 in Sevierville, Sevier County, Tennessee.

His mother, Elizabeth Rogers is not clearly known, as several women are proposed in different Ancestry trees, but not to my satisfaction at this time.

Larkin served in the War of 1812, as a private in the 2 regiment (Pillow's) of West Tennessee Volunteers.

By 1816 his name appears in Madison County, Alabama Territory, in the Census and Census Substitutes Index.

On March 18, 1817 he married Hannah Holland, also in Madison County, Alabama. Their first of 13 children was born in that county, but the next were born in Pickens County, Alabama. They lived there, except for one son possibly born in South Carolina, named after his grandfather, James M. Rogers, born in 1840.

But also in 1840, Larkin and Hannah Rogers appeared in a Census in Regiment 39, Morgan County Alabama.

Apparently the child born in 1840 had not yet been born, because the youngest male is age 5-9. However, Ancestry is saying there were also boys 1 yo and one 3 yo in 1840. They aren't listed.  There is a female under 5 on the census, so that's little Rebecca Jane who had been born in 1835. Charles S. had been born in 1833, so he is probably the one son that is listed as 5-9 years old. The boy listed as 10-14 would have been Jacob M, born in 1829, so he was 11 in 1840.

The male age 30-39 would be Larkin probably, though having been born in 1794 he would actually have been 46 that year.

Two females age 5-9 would have been Hannah Matilda, born in 1831 (thus 9 years old) and Elizabeth Ann, born in 1824, so she was 16 actually. That would have been hard to hide as a 9 year old. They had lost Mary P. who lived from 1822-36, and Ludisa who lived from 1826-27 (see info below, on 1950 Census where her short life is contradicted by her marriage and motherhood!)

And last but not least, Hannah was counted as being between 30-39, though born in 1799 would make her 41.  It is possible/probable that their oldest daughter, Sarah Louisa, born in 1818, had already left their home, as well as James Barba, born in 1820.

So the census gives them 5 children living with them, and their oldest 2 aren't mentioned, while the youngest 2 are also missing on this table.

In the 1850 Census, Larkin's family were living in Itawamba, District 6, Mississippi.  Larkin and two older sons were farming, and he had 9 of his children living with them, as well a a 2 year old grandson. All the children were listed as having been born in Alabama. I also discovered that my Ancestry tree was incorrect in saying Ludisa died in 1827, at age one. She is the daughter who had married a Mr. Richardson and has a 2 year old son living with them, James A. Richardson. She is included in the 1860 census as well, by then living with her second husband and 2 more children.

In the 1860 Census for Itawamba County, MS, Larkin and Hannah are in their 60s, and they have several adult children also farming with them, and 2 grandchildren, sons of their deceased daughter Elizabeth Rogers Gandy.

Having such a unique name, Larkin appears even on the 1870 Census for Lee County, District 4, MS. He stated by then that he was 68 (note his giving different ages may have caught up with him, but in reality he was 76.) It is quite possible that he never knew exactly when he was born. Hannah was then listed as also 68, and James is 30, Isabella is 26, and Becky J. is 35 (Rebecca).

Larkin Rogers died 1 July 1878, and Hannah died 2 February 1892, both in Plantersville, Lee County MS.  He is buried in Union Cemetery where he (or a descendent) placed a memorial stone in honor of his father James Rogers (1760-1842).

James Rogers (1760-1842)

Now I'm going to look closer at the siblings of Rev. Elijah Rogers (1774-1841)...other children of Henry Rogers Sr. (1741-1794) and Elizabeth Lankford Rogers (1743-1787).

Eldest in my Ancestry tree was James Rogers, born 2 July 1760 in Culpepper County, Virginia colony.

His 5 siblings were all born in different parts of Virginia apparently. I note that James Rogers also had different records of his life in different parts of both Virginia, Tennessee and Mississippi. I'm not sure they are all about the same James Rogers/Rodgers. The spelling varies in different areas also.

James married, and the name of his wife was probably Elizabeth. But there are a couple to choose between on various Ancestry family trees.  My tree had Mary Elizabeth Profitt Polly Brazil. But there was also a marriage record of James Rogers to Polly Brazil in 1832 when James was 72 years old.  I haven't found any record of his marriage to Mary Elizabeth Profitt, though the same record to Polly Brazil is used to substantiate the Mary Elizabeth Profitt marriage to James.  Very strange. And my tree had combined the two names, which I think is unlikely.

There's also a record on 20 Dec 1790, in Greene County TN, of Elizabeth Hays marrying James Rodgers.

My DAR member cousin has only Elizabeth Hays as James Rogers/Rodgers wife. So once again I'm going to remove someone from my tree, but her statistics will remain in my files. Goodbye Mary Elizabeth Profitt. But not Polly Brazil! I have a record of her marrying a James Rogers in 1790. (And of course it could have been a grandson of our James by then, but I honestly can't find one.)

Oh shucks. The records of Elizabeth Hayes are of her marriage to James Frederick Rodgers, born in 1773. Not one born in 1760 who served in the Revolutionary war, as his grave marker indicates, including a birth date. Elizabeth Hayes and her James had many children, but in Alabama, and not including one son that I think is definitely his, Joseph Larkin Rogers. So at this point, I don't think Henry's oldest son, James ever married Elizabeth Hayes either.

For now, I have named the mother of his 2 children "Elizabeth unknown Rogers." 

There's a memorial marker for James Rodgers, with the dates I'm using, also giving him credit for being in the Virginia Company in the Revolutionary War.  This grave marker is in Union Methodist Church Cemetery in Plantersville, Lee County, MS. Lee County is right next to Monroe County MS, which is the place he died.

Only one son is included in the information for this marker, named Joseph Larkin Rogers, who is also buried in this cemetery. But in actuality, James Rodgers isn't buried there. The cemetery was established in 1855, about 13 years after James died. So it's just a memorial marker.

I'm going to look at his son Joseph Larkin Rogers, who went by Larkin. He was also a farmer.  Next post!

Rev. Elijah Rogers' siblings

Just now I've looked to see who else was in the "patriarch's" family, children of Henry Rogers, Sr. (1741-1794) and his wife Elizabeth Lankford Rogers (1743-1787).

First I'll just list them in order, with dates, as they stand on my Ancestry tree. These could change as I look at hints on my tree, which often happens as I find any records. But going this far back has limitations, especially for a family that originated in Virginia, and most of whom moved into western North Carolina which became east Tennessee in their lifetimes.

James Rogers (1760–1842)

BIRTH 2 JULY 1760 • Culpepper, Virginia

DEATH 1842 • Monroe, Mississippi

George Rogers (1764-1858)

BIRTH 6 FEB 1764 • Somerville, Fauquier, Virginia

DEATH 18 NOV 1858 • Sinking Creek, Wayne, Kentucky

Bathsheba Rogers Amonette (1764-unknown)

BIRTH 1765 • Virginia

DEATH Washington Co Tenn

Josiah Rogers (1766-1834)

BIRTH 1766 • Franklin, Virginia

DEATH 12 AUG 1834 • Sevierville, Sevier County, Tennessee

Henry Rogers, Jr. (1767-1841)

BIRTH 1767 • Fauquier, Virginia

DEATH 11 MAY 1841 • Sevierville, Sevier, Tennessee

Martha Rogers Cannon (1770-1844)

BIRTH 1770 • Virginia

DEATH 1844 • Sevier, Tennessee

Elijah Rogers, Rev. (774-18421)

BIRTH MAY 1774 • Fauquier, Virginia

DEATH 11 MAY 1841 • Sevierville, Sevier, Tennessee
*my great times 4 grandfather

Ah ha, as I read through these aunts and uncles, as well as Rev. Elijah Rogers, I found some startling information on Henry Rogers, Jr.  The tree as it stood when I started looking at it, gave him as wife, Catharine Clack Rogers, who was the wife of Rev. Elijah Rogers. Of course his wife could have been  another woman, who I think was mixed up as to whether she was Rev. Elijah's wife Catharine, or another woman named Beulah Fairfax or Rhoda Clack. And which record was used to cite her name as some combination and as Henry Jr.s wife? An application to Sons of the American Revolution...giving Rev. Elijah Rogers and his father Henry Sr. It doesn't even say Henry was married to Catherine. But with our web ability strained today, I can't even read the original over on Ancestry. I won't be able to research this mistake, because I've removed Henry Jr. from my family tree.

And the Ancestry trees that name her as Henry's wife, also give Henry and Beulah four of Elijah and Catharine's children! There they are, which is totally incorrect. 

And the worst part of the misleading information on Henry Jr.s name, is giving him the same date of death as Rev. Elijah Rogers, May 11, 1841. Something is just not right here!

My cousin, Patricia Rogers, is a member of the DAR, Daughters of the American Revolution. I just checked her tree, and Henry Jr. doesn't have any wife or children listed. Oh, indeed, when I looked a second time, there isn't even a son of Henry Sr. named Henry Jr. She must be checking the same things I am today!

I will share the typed copy from the Rogers Family Bible, transcribed by my grandfather, George E. Rogers, Sr. 

OK...I found that it only indicates Rev. Elijah married to Catharine Clack Rogers...and it doesn't include any of Rev. Elijah's siblings. So these were added to Ancestry from another source. 

And I also noted that a cousin of my grandfather (who still lived in Sevier County TN) was the source of some of the details that my grandfather typed up for his sons. Also many of the details that were included came from a genealogist who was hired to look into our ancestors. Nothing wrong with that, if only she had given her source materials. The ones that are cited from "Virkus" are dependent upon ...wait for it... the family trees submitted by descendants so they could be part of the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR.) I've often found mistakes in these entries.

For now, I will go with my cousin and move poor Henry Jr. into a questionable status. Rather than deleting him, I'm just removing him as a child of Henry Sr. and his wife.

I love looking for more information, and finding things I may have forgotten over the years. Who knows...

My grandfather mentioned the Rogers Family Bible had been with his cousin Myron Ross. I know they visited sometimes. But I believe the last I know of the possession of the Bible was another cousin, a Gibbs I think. 

Great (X4) Uncle Joshua Gist Rogers (1813-1880)

One of Micajah Rogers' younger brothers, Joshua Gist Rogers was born after my great x3 grandfather had left his parents home to fight in the war of 1812. Their parents were Rev. Elijah Rogers and Catharine Clack Rogers. Joshua Gist Rogers was born in 1813 in Sevier County TN.

He appears on the tax rolls of Sevier County in 1837, listed right before his father Rev. Elijah Rogers.
He was then in the census of 1840, which just lists ages and numbers of members of that age.  I don't know who the elder woman (50-59) living with him might be. He and his wife Mary Ann Cowan had just 3 childrenat that time, a boy and 2 girls, under 5 years old.  It is recorded in Ancestry that they were married in 1835, but there's no record available.

Some other Ancestry trees have his wife named Mariah Cowan, with different birth and death dates. However, most of the census reports (shown below) give Mary Ann Cowan as his wife.

There are no documents about their deaths, but Ancestry is estimating they both died around 1880.  As you may note, the census records have the childrens' and the parents' ages all over the place.

Ancestry gives place of death for Mary Ann as Natchitoches, LA, while Joshua is assumed to have died in Mississippi, both around1880.

Sevier TN 1840 Census, Joshua Rogers
Males, under 5 - 1 (Oliver Gist)
Males, 20-29 - 1 (Joshua, actually 38 years old)
Females, under 5 - 2 (Catherine & Matilda)
Females, 20-29 - 1 (wife, Mary Ann Cowan Rogers, age 20 probably)
Females, 50-59 - 1 (?)

The 1850 Census of Warren, Mississippi for Joshua Rogers
Joshua Rogers   36
Catherine Rogers  14
Oliver Rogers  12
Martha Rogers 9
Amanda Rogers 7
I wonder where his wife and Matilda were for this census...??

1860 Winn County, LA Census:

Joshua Rodgers  45  Farmer

Mary M. Rodgers (gives her age as 30?)

Matilda Rodgers  22 

Oliver G. Rodgers 21

Martha E. Rodgers 19

Ann A. Rodgers 17 (Amanda)

George W. Rodgers 6

Elijah L. Rodgers 4

1870 Louisiana, Winn, Ward 4 census:

Joshua Rogers 54 

Mary Ann Rogers 40

Amanda Rogers 20

Eliza H Rogers 14 (Same age as Elijah, but listed female here)

Mary Rogers 8

James F. Rogers 5

Pleasant Rogers 2

1880 Census -2nd Ward, Natchitoches, Louisiana:

Joshuay Rogers 65

Mary Rogers 48

Amanda Rogers 21
James Rogers 14
Pleasant Rogers 9
John Rogers 7

Rev. Elijah and Catharine Rogers had another son, Henry, born in 1815. He probably died young, as there is no notation in any records beyond his birth.

The youngest son of Elijah and Catharine Rogers, Spencer Clack Rogers, was born in 1817, and I've already blogged about him HERE.

Great (x4) Aunt Amanda M. L. Rogers Henderson (1812-1876)

The next chronological birth of Rev. Elijah and Catharine Clack Rogers was Amanda M. L. Rogers.
She was born May 30, 1812 in Sevier County, TN (the Rogers homestead is described as "at the fork of the French Broad and Little Pigeon Rivers," by the Rogers Family Bible.

Amanda had older brothers who went to fight in the War of 1812, including my great times 3 grandfather Micajah Clack Rogers (1795-1873).

Amanda grew up on the farm, while her father preached at times. (I haven't found that he had his own church.) She had 3 younger siblings as well as at least 6 older ones. Two additional brothers had probably died before she was born, but there's no evidence as to when they died.  One of her younger brothers, Henry, died within his first year.

She married William Taylor Henderson (1807-1859) when she was 18, in 1830. OR she married him in 1836 when she was 25, according to some other Ancestry trees.  I would go with the later date, because her first child wasn't born until 1838. But this son, Samuel L. Henderson didn't have clear information as to where he went after the census of 1850. On that census for Monroe County TN, William T. Henderson his wife Amanda had these children as well as Samuel: Henry, Matilda, Amanda, William Jr, and Katherine Reagan and Mary H. Reagan.

Matilda also is known as Caroline or Cate.  The two Reagan children ages 15 and 17 may have been relatives.

By the census of 1860 for Sweetwater, Monroe County TN, Amanda (40 years old) was a head of household, with the occupation of seamstress. Her husband, William had died the previous year. She lived with her Henderson children, Henry, Caroline, John, Mariah, William, but not Samuel who would have been 22. And there was now a younger daughter, Catherine just age 8. The Reagan children no longer were part of her household.

But here's the fun of looking at the original census documents. Guess who was living right next door (or across the road perhaps) to the Amanda Hendersons? Samuel and Nancy Henderson, ages 74 and 72. Yes, they were her in-laws, parents of her husband, William T. as well as his siblings on the census (I think) Martha, Lawrence and Hugh Henderson, ages 40, 33, and 23.

Another connection is that Amanda's father-in-law Samuel Henderson (1786-1867) was brother to Catherine Henderson Cannon (1777-1827) the mother of Cyntha O. Cannon Rogers (1800-1855) my great times 3 grandmother, and wife of my GGG Grandfather Micajah Clack Rogers (1795-1873). So I guess that makes Samuel Henderson a Great times 5 uncle of mine.

Amanda lived till 30 July 1876, dying in Madisonville, Monroe County, TN and she was buried in Henderson Cemetery, Monroe County, TN. Her son William T. Henderson Jr., a postman, was appointed administrator of her estate when probated in Feb. 1877.

Great (times 4) Aunt Dialtha P. Rogers Mullendore (1810-1884)

I'm continuing to look at the siblings of Great times 3 Grandfather Micajah Clack Rogers (1795-1873).

Rev. Elijah and Katharine C. Rogers' next child was Caleb Butler Rogers, born in 1809. No more records about him, so he probably died young. His birth did get entered into the Rogers Family Bible however.

Next birth was Dialtha Perry Rogers, born on 11 Feb 1810. She married when 19 years old in 1829 to John Mullendore (1800-1889).

One record indicates 4 sons and 3 daughters: Lafayette, Wallace, Elijah, David, Amanda, Alice, Chrissie. This source is "Kinfolks: a genealogical and biographical record of Thomas and Elizabeth (Stuart) Harlee, Andrew and Agnes (Cade)" in Vol. 3, 7, Robinson Section, 7MC702 James Clack under Mullendore.

My Ancestry tree lists13 children...quite a few more than that "Kinfolks" version.

Abraham Layayette Mullendore, 1830-1914
Mary Amanda Mullendore Brown, 1832-1918
Dr. Elijah Leonidis Mullendore, 1835-1907
Robert Bruce Mullendore, 1838-1865
John Newton Mullendore, 1840-1841
Suzanne (Kate) Katherine Mullendore Montgomery, 1842-1904
William Wallace Mullendore, 1843-1899
Nancy Matilda Mullendore Catlett, 1844-1928
Dialtha H. Mullendore, 1845-1854
Jane Elizabeth Mullendore McCown, 1846-1926
Malvina Caroline Mullendore, 1848-1917
David R. Mullendore, 1851-1921
Sally Josephine Mullendore Massey, 1855-1940

Though several of them died in childhood, there were many more who married and had families of their own...which are distant cousins of mine. Some of them may well be living in Sevierville today.

Her great-grandson was J. A. Sharp, a historian of Sevierville, who I've written about before on this blog. He was the son of Suzanne (Kate) Katherine Mullendore Montgomery's daughter Alice Dialtha Montgomery Sharp.

John Mullendore and Dialtha P. Rogers share a memorial in Shiloh Memorial Cemetery, Pigeon Forge, TN. John died on Nov. 7, 1889. Dialtha died 20 Sept. 1884.

I'm sharing this with my Sepia Saturday friends this week. It's another case of not being able to match the lovely prompt photo, a young woman sitting for her portrait.  As Great (x4) Aunt Dialtha Rogers Mullendore raised so many children on a farm, I imagine she was glad to just sit down sometimes!

GGGF Micajah Clack Rogers' next younger sibling

Siblings of Micajah Clack Rogers, (1795-1873) children of Rev. Elijah Rogers (1774-1841) and wife Catharine Clack Rogers (1778-1850)  Please note (maybe you did, maybe you didn't) that I'm spelling Mrs. Catharine Clack Rogers' name the way my grandfather spelled it from the Rogers Family Bible, when he transcribed it for his 4 sons onto typed pages with carbon copies. Not an electric typewriter either. There were correspondences with other descendants of Rev. Elijah and Catharine Rogers who still lived in Tennessee, in which their family trees called her Beulah Fairfax, and lovingly Aunt Katy. That was the first we out in Texas heard of the other names, as well as 2 daughters, Diatha and Elizabeth Rogers.

The next child Catharine Clack Rogers gave birth to was Matilda Langford Rogers, born on 14 October 1807.  There isn't much known (on Ancestry) about little Matilda, who grew up in Sevierville, Tennessee. She married Jan 10, 1828 to Jonothon or Ignatius Riggins.  The Riggins children were: James Howard, John Calhoun, Henry, Katherine, and Mary (Molly) Howard.

And the last note which I usually can add here, doesn't have any information. We don't know when Matilda died, or where. Probabaly in 1841. Her youngest child had been born in 1837. There is an interesting story about her youngest daughter, Mary (Molly) Howard Riggins, (born 1837) who married John McClure Biggs in 1857 and "removed with him to Texas."

Their daughter, Lily (1868-1948) married William J. Sims of Houston Texas. Lily Biggs Sims relayed the story that when her mother (Mary Howard Riggins Biggs) was orphaned as a baby, she had been raised (in Sevier County TN) by her grandmother Catharine Clack Rogers till the age of 15, when Mrs. Rogers died.  Lily Biggs Sims also related how the Rogers family were descended from John Rogers, the martyr who had been burned at the stake back in England. This is still part of the history of our Rogers family.

Catharine (Mrs. Elijah) Rogers died in 1850, and could easily have fostered her granddaughter, Molly Riggins before she married Mr. Biggs and moved to Texas. There's certainly joy of the first hand story (well, as transcribed in an unknown "Family Chronicle" on pg. 662) about the Riggins, Biggs, Sims line from Matilda Langford Rogers Riggins.

And I'm pleased to find a print from a photo of Mary (Molly) Howard Riggins Biggs. She lived until 1920. It's a bit amazing that this granddaughter of Rev. Elijah and Katharine Clack Rogers was raised in their household and lived till the 20th century.