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.

Holding space

Yes, I know I started looking at the families of the siblings of Grandpa times 3 greats Micajah Clack Rogers. And I've paused. I've got a newsletter to put together before the first of the month, and it's going pretty well. So I'll be back here collecting what is known and sharing it in my own vernacular verbiage.

While on isolation, I've been researching ancestors again. There are so many waiting to meet, I'm now on fourth great uncles and aunts. What a hardy bunch of people if they made it past childhood! Even those women who had a dozen children lived long lives (unless they died in childbirth.) Well, they did have fulfilling busy lives, and the dates and places on census records give but a glimpse of them.

Just as entertaining as watching Netflix, which I've tried to do a few times.

Hope everyone is safe and healthy in the time of Covid-19.

Next in line of Rev. Elijah and Catharine Clack Rogers' children

My great times 3 grandfather, Micajah Clack Rogers, was the oldest. Then Robert, then Mary Ellen Rogers Randles, and then came...

Josiah Rogers, born in 1802, who has no other record of his existence. It is surmised that he died young.

Elizabeth Clack Rogers McCroskey was first mentioned HERE last year as I tried to understand the McCrorskey connection to my family.

She was born 15 Aug 1805, and married David McCroskey in 1828. In Sevier County, Tennessee.  They had 10 children.  Her last son was born in 1848 when she was 43 years old.

Elizabeth died on Dec. 8, 1864.
The 1850 census for Eastern Subdivision 12, Sevier County TN lists her and her husband and all 10 children. By the 1860 census they are living in District 7 of Sevier County TN. I don't know if they moved, or the districts were renamed.

In the 1860 census they have 6 McCroskey children living with them. And the household has 8 people in the Reed family, as well as 3 of the Hardin family.  This speaks of how mountain communities often merge families (especially on farms where they can work together) and even the mother-in-law might live where she can either help or be cared for.

Now that I've guessed that the Reeds and Hardins are families of married McCroskey daughters, I'm going  to go check to see who married whom.

Ha, that's a joke. I found Rachel Reed on the census, and there was a McCroskey daughter named Rachel. But she married Sylvanus Ball, not Sam'l Reed. And the mother in law (age 67 to David and Elizabeth's 55 years) doesn't seem related to them. Who were the Reeds anyway?

Then how about the Hardins? No luck there, because wife Sarah Hardin was 4 years older than Sarah (Sally) McCroskey, who is already listed on the census.

So the household had 2 other families, as well as the younger 6 children McCroskeys in 1860.

The last record of Elizabeth Rogers McCroskey is her headstone.

In the Trundle Family Cemetery, Sevierville, Sevier County, Tennessee

And David McCroskey remarried in 1865 and had 6 more children before his death in 1885.