INTRODUCTION

The Rogers Name

Most authorities agree that the name Roger, Rogers, is derived from the word Hruod in Frank, Hrother in the North, and Ruhm in the modern German, meaning fame, or glory. Charlotte M. Yonge, in her “Christian Names,” says that the Italian Ruggiero is the prime favorite of the Italian poets. In the German it is Roger or Rudiger, while in the Spanish it is Rogerio. Historical tradition associates it with all that is true and noble; and another meaning ascribed to it is “one of whose word is reliable.”

Others claim that the name is derived from the French, since we read that Roger I, Count of Sicily and Calabria, and the founder of the Norman dynasty in these countries, was born in Normandy, France, about 1031.

This suggests that the English Rogers families were possibly originally Norman French and went to England with William the Conqueror.

The Rogers Coat of Arms Motto:

("NOSTROQUE DEO")

"OURSELVES AND OUR POSSESSIONS TO GOD".

The Rogers Coat of Arms shown above is the Arms of the Rogers, Baronets of Devonshire, of which family was John Rogers, the Martyr, progenitor of several families. Coats of Arms very similar to it are used by the Rogers of Wisdome, Co. Devon, Bart.; Yarlington; Barons Blackford, and many others. Numerous other branches of the family have Coats of Arms resembling it.

This is the most widely used of all Rogers Coats of Arms and has been in existence for many centuries. It is described in BURKE'S GENERAL ARMORY, BURKE'S LANDED GENTRY, BURKE'S PEERAGE AND BARONETAGE, BETHAM'S BARONETAGE and other reliable works on heraldry, in some cases accompanied by illustrations. It is the Arms of the New England families descended from the Martyr, and has been used for generations by their descendants and by many other American branches of the Rogers family.

HERALDIC LANGUAGE ENGLISH DESCRIPTION
Arms Argent, a chevron gules between three bucks courant sable. A silver shield bearing a red chevron between three running bucks, all black. Crest On a mount vert, between two laurel branches of the last, a buck courant proper. On a green mount, between two green laurel branches, a buck in natural colors.

Motto Nos nostraque Deo. (Latin). We and ours to God.

Brief Synopsis of the
Ancestors of the Rogers Line of
Charlotte Dehliah Rogers

1. Charlotte Deliah Rogers, the daughter of Charles Henry and Valetta Isabelle (Wilkes) Rogers was born 28 May 1898 in East Galesburg, Knox County, Illinois. She married Fredrick Hubert Blake 29 May 1917 at Galesburg, Knox County, Illinois. Charlotte Rogers was a woman of short stature standing a mere 4 feet 11 inches tall. Her husband Fred Blake was over 6 feet tall and this size difference made them a striking couple. Fred and Charlotte (Rogers) Blake settled on an 90 acre farm in central Illinois west of Monmouth near Kirkwood where they raised sheep, hogs, cattle, wheat and corn. Charlotte also started a very successful catfish bait business she named "Ma's". She developed two very popular and good selling baits - one named Ma's and the other Zip. These were "stinky" cheese baits made from fermented cracked corn and left over cheese scraps from the cheese factories in Wisconsin. She died 7 August 1985 in Monmouth, Warren County, Illinois and was buried 10 August 1985 in Oquawka Cemetery, Oquawka, Henderson County, Illinois.

Charlotte and Fred Blake were the parents of 5 children:
  a. Isabelle Mona Blake
b. Russell Keith Blake
c. Irene Louise Blake
d. Madeline Claire Blake
e. Vernon Eugene Blake

2. Charles Henry Rogers, the son of James Phillips and Sarah Francis (Deal) Rogers was born 28 January 1873 in Adrian, Hancock County, Illinois. Charles Rogers resided for the last 40 years of his life in Knoxville, Illinois where he was self-employed as a water well driller. He drilled the first well at what is now Dickson Mounds State Park near Lewiston, Illinois. Charles started well drilling in 1902 with a horse-powered drilling rig. Geneva (his daughter) used to watch the horse when she was very young to make sure it was getting along without difficulty. After a couple of years as a well driller, Charles quit and went to work at the brickyard in East Galesburg. He later returned to well drilling and was helped for a while by his son, Forrest. Charles also taught his grandson, Russell Keith Blake, son of his daughter Charlotte to drill. Russell went into the well drilling business forming his own company, "Blake Well Drilling" of Galesburg, Illinois. Russell's father Fredrick Blake, Charlotte's husband also spent some time drilling with Russell as well as Bill Blake, son of Charlotte's oldest daughter Isabelle. Charles Rogers married Valetta Isabelle Wilkes 28 November 1894 in Knoxville, Knox County, Illinois. He died 29 October 1963 in Knoxville, Knox County, Illinois and was buried 22 October 1963 in Knoxville Cemetery, Knoxville, Knox County, Illinois.

Charles and Valetta Rogers were the parents of 3 children:
  a. Geneva Louise Rogers
b. Charlotte Deliah Rogers
c. Forrest James Rogers, Sr.

After the death of Valetta (Wilkes) Rogers, Charles married a widow Martha A. (Parr) Sprinkle. Martha was the widow of Stewart Sprinkle and the mother of 4 children. No children were born to the marriage of Martha and Charles Rogers. Martha died 5 January 1924 in Canton, Fulton County, Illinois.

After the death of Martha, Charles married again for a third time to a widow by the name of Jimmie L. Wiley. Her maiden name is not known. Jimmie was the mother of four children from this pervious marriage. No children were born to the marriage with Charles Rogers. This marriage ended in divorce.

3. James Phillips Rogers, the son of Charles and Eliza (Phillips) Rogers was born 19 June 1842 in Warren Township, Trumbull County, Ohio. James Rogers was a tall dark haired man with a bicycle mustache. The mustache was curled up at the ends. He moved with his parents to Knoxville, Illinois, in 1844 and has resided, at or near Knoxville all his life, with the exception of 14 years that he lived in Hancock County, Illinois, and at Keokuk, Iowa. James P. Rogers lived at the "Old Rogers Place" and farmed it. He rented the farm from the Buckleys' who had bought it from Alanson Charles. James P. Rogers and Charles H. Rogers raised asparagus. James P. Rogers also worked in the brickyard at East Galesburg. At this time the farm had been cut down to 30 acres. He married Sarah Francis Deal, 22 February 1866 in Monmouth, Warren County, Illinois. He died 4 October 1906 in Williamsfield, Truro Township, Knox County, Illinois and is buried in Knoxville Cemetery, Knoxville, Knox County, Illinois. James and Sara Rogers were the parents of 5 children:
  a. Kate Deal Rogers
b. Mary Elizabeth Rogers
c. Charles Henry Rogers
d. Fannie E. Rogers
e. Nellie Belle Rogers

4. Charles Rogers, the son of Ichabod, Jr. and Anna (Ingraham) Rogers was born 5 April 1799 in Sharon, Litchfield County, Illinois. The obituary for Charles Rogers says that when he was 6 years old (abt 1805) he went to Vermont with his grandfather and lived there until he was 16 (abt 1815). He married Eliza Phillips, 31 December 1830 in Stockbridge, Madison County, New York. Charles and Eliza lived the first 7 years of their marriage in Lockport, New York. Charles assisted in getting out timber for the Mohawk and Hudson Railroad, one of the first railroads built in the United States, which connected Schenectady and Albany, New York. According to deeds, Charles Rogers of the County of Niagara, State of New York, purchased land on November 8, 1833, from a group of men from the Kingdom of the United Netherlands represented by David E. Evans, their attorney, in Township Number Fifteen in the Sixth Range of said Township, West part of Lot Number Four. They may have built a house or other building on the land. On June 4, 1835, Charles and Eliza Rogers sold their land, next living in Trumbull County, Ohio from about 1837 to 1844. In 1844, they moved as pioneers to Knoxville, Knox County, Illinois where they lived the rest of their lives. "Charles Rogers hauled lumber from Chicago by either horse or oxen drawn wagon to build the Rogers' house at Knoxville, Illinois. The date of construction of the house is not known. It was a large house in which Charles Rogers, James P. Rogers, Charles Henry Rogers (1), Charles Henry Rogers (2), Alanson and Charlotte Charles lived at various times. The house is located on the Knox Highway, (Knoxville-Galesburg highway) south of the Knox County Fair Grounds. The Rogers House was said to have had a real fancy old-fashioned stairway. Information from the 1886 Portrait and Biographical Album of Knox County, Illinois: Charles Rogers was Knox County Treasurer 1849-1851. He was chosen Township Collector when Knox Township was organized on April 5, 1853. Charles died 24 February 1898 in Knoxville, Knox County, Illinois and was buried 26 February 1898 in the Knoxville Cemetery, Knoxville, Knox County, Illinois.

Charles and Eliza Rogers were the parents of 6 children:
  a. Infant
b. Charles Henry Rogers
c. Herman Knox Rogers
d. Elizabeth Rogers
e. James Phillip Rogers
f. Charlotte “Lottie” Rogers

5. Ichabod Rogers, Jr., the son of Capt. Ichabod and Anne (Harvey) Rogers, was born about 1757. Although records of his birth have not been located, it is believed he may have been born in the Sharon, Connecticut / Dutchess County, New York area where his father and mother are found to be living. We believe he married Anna (Nancy) Ingraham about 1792 / 1794. The record of this marriage has not been located. During the Revolutionary war, Ichabod enlisted in the Continental Army on July 18, 1776 and served in Bradley's Regiment under Captain Simeon Smith with General Washington on Long Island and in the vicinity of New York, and shared in the fatigues and perils of that disastrous period until his discharge 28 December 1776. No information is given on his record, but an account of the unit during the war is given in "History of the Town of Sharon, Connecticut" by Charles Sedgwick on pages 67 to 76. From information found in the newspaper account of his burying record we know Ichabod, Jr. died 2 April 1806 in Sharon, Litchfield County, Connecticut. According to the obituary of Charles Rogers, after the death of Ichabod, Anna Rogers and their children moved to Addison County, Vermont with her father.

Ichabod and Anna Rogers were the parents of 4 children:
  a. Henry Rogers
b. Elizabeth Rogers
c. Charles Rogers
d. Nancy Rogers

6. Capt. Ichabod Rogers was born about 1734. Birth records have not been found for his birth, but inscriptions on his tombstone give enough information to be able to determine the year of his birth. Research as well as DNA testing has shown Capt. Ichabod to be a descendant of James and Elizabeth (Rowland) Rogers of New London, Connecticut. Ichabod is thought to be a child of the marriage of Capt. James and Freelove (Hurlburt) Rogers having been born after the death of his father. Capt. Ichabod Rogers married Anne Harvey about 1756. In August of 1757, Ichabod Rogers served in the French and Indian war with the militia of Capt Moses Lyman's company, with Lieutenant Stephen Smith of Litchfield and Lieutenant Ebenezer Norton of Goshen, in Colonel Eben Marsh's Regiment "for y Service at y Time of Alarm for y Relief of Fort William Henry and Places" for 14 days. Also serving in that regiment was Ethan Allen. This battle was documented in the movie “The Last of the Mohicans”. Capt. Ichabod died 18 April 1777 in Sharon, Litchfield County, Connecticut and is buried in the Sharon Burying Ground in Sharon, Connecticut.

Capt. Ichabod and Anne Harvey were the parents of at least 6 children:
  a. Ichabod Rogers, Jr.
b. Elisabeth Rogers
c. Patience Rogers
d. Joel Rogers
e. Sarah Rogers
f. Stephen Rogers

After the death of Anne (Harvey) Rogers, Capt. Ichabod married Sarah, the widow of Hezekiah Gillet. Sarah was the mother of William Gillet. The maiden name of Sarah is not known. There were no children born to the marriage of Sarah and Capt. Ichabod Rogers.

7. Capt. James Rogers, Esq. was born 2 February 1675 in New London, Connecticut. He married twice. He was prominent in the community and had political ambitions. In 1708 he was admitted to the bar. In 1714 he was made Captain of the fourth train (militia) band of New London, Connecticut. In 1715 he was attorney for New London. He was deputy to the General Court sixteen times and at one time he was speaker to same. He moved to Norwalk, Connecticut, about 1726, and became very prominent in that community. In 1708 he was admitted to the bar, with a number of others, among whom was Roger Wolcott of Windsor, Connecticut. He owned and lived upon a farm at Great Neck, after removing about 1726 to Norwalk.

He married first, Elizabeth Harris, about 1701. There were 7 children born to this marriage:
  a. Mary Rogers
b. Edward Rogers
c. James Rogers
d. Elizabeth Rogers
e. Esther Rogers
f. Dr. Uriah Rogers
g. Jedediah Rogers

After the death of Elizabeth, Capt. James Rogers married for the second time to Freelove Hurlburt, a woman 17 years younger than him. To this marriage were born 9 children:
  a. Claron Rogers
b. Samuel Rogers
c. Nehemiah Rogers
d. Hannah Rogers
e. Stephen Rogers
f. Moses Rogers
g. Aaron Rogers
h. Lemuel Rogers
i. Capt. Ichabod Rogers

8. Capt. James Rogers, Jr. was born 15 February 1652 in Milford, Connecticut. James Rogers, his father, as well as all of his brothers, except Samuel became dissenters from the established church and became members of the early Rogerene Church that was established by his brother, John. He owned a great deal of land and also a tannery. His household articles were very numerous and very costly. He owned and was captain of a large ship that he ran between foreign ports and America.

"His ability to navigate and command a foreign bound vessel at such an age (21 years old) is sufficient guarantee of the skill and enterprise of this youth." Mary Jordan was a passenger from Ulster, Ireland on this ship. He married Mary Jordan upon landing, and in after life he often said that she was the richest cargo that he ever carried. They were married 5 November 1674.

Capt. James and Mary Rogers were the parents of 8 children:
  a. Capt. James Rogers, esq.
b. Mary Rogers
c. Elizabeth Rogers
d. Sarah Rogers
e. Samuel Rogers
f. Jonathan Rogers
g. Richard Rogers
h. William Rogers

9. James Rogers was thought to be born 2 February 1615 in Stratford on Avon, Warwickshire, England. He immigrated to this land in April 1635 on the Ship Increase landing in Massachusetts Bay. In 1637 James Rogers was one of the six men from Saybrook, who, under Capt. John Underhill took part in the Pequot War. He then moved to Stratford, Connecticut where he acquired property and from then went to New Milford, Connecticut where he acquired considerable property and became a baker on a very large scale. He supplied all of New England, New York, Virginia, and Barbadoes with biscuit. Milford became too small for the operations of this great businessman. His friend, Governor Winthrope, induced him to settle in New London, where he took a place next to the Governor's. On this lot, Mr. Rogers built a dwelling-house of stone.

He moved to New London prior to 1660. He was elected representative to the general court six times. He soon became by far the largest landholder and the richest man in the colony. His landed possession became very extensive, consisting of several hundred acres on the Great Neck, a tract of land at Mohegan at the place called Pamechog, now called Massapeag, several house lots in town, and twenty-four hundred acres on the eastside of the river, which was held in partnership with Colonel Pyncheon of Springfield. In addition to his large baking business, he took charge of the town mill. He also carried on by far the most extensive domestic and foreign trade of any man in New London County. Between the years 1661 and 1670 he had a greater interest in the trade of the post than any other person. He was a baker and did an extensive business furnishing biscuit for seamen and for the Colonial troops between the years 1661 and 1670.

He and his sons were more esteemed and liked by the indians than any other men in the colonies. Uncas, Chief of the Mohegans, blood brother of Samuel Rogers, one of the sons of James Rogers, promised Samuel that he would protect him with all of his warriors in case of emergency. Samuel decided to test the faith of his friend, Uncas. "When prepared for the experiment, he fired a signal of alarm, which had been concerted with his tawny friend, in case either should be disturbed by an enemy, and in half an hour's time grim bands of warriors were seen on the hills and soon came rushing down with the sachem at their head to the rescue of their friend. Rogers had prepared a feast for their entertainment, but it was probable that they relished the trick nearly as much as the banquet."

Rev John Rogers, son of James, founded the Rogerene Church in America, and suffered great religious persecution. James Rogers and all of his sons, except Samuel became dissenters of the Church of England and joined the Rogerene Church.

James Rogers married Elizabeth Rowland in February 1639 or 1640 in Stratford, Connecticut. James Rogers died on 6 February 1687 in New London, Connecticut. James and Elizabeth Rogers were the parents of 7 children:
  a. Samuel Rogers
b. Joseph Rogers
c. John Rogers
d. Bathsheba Rogers
e. Capt. James Rogers, Jr.
f. Jonathan Rogers
g. Elizabeth Rogers

English Ancestry

Here is where our research has stopped for now. Many researchers have sought to find the parents of James Rogers of New London. Historical documents showing the connection to a particular Rogers’ line in England have not been found to this date (research from the book “James Rogers and His Descendants”, in 1902 by James Swift Rogers.) There are several records showing this line that have been proven wrong, but none so far has been able to prove which line is the correct one.

If tradition could be accepted as fact, we must believe that nine-tenths of those in this country bearing the name of Rogers, are descendants of John Rogers, the first martyr in Queen Mary’s reign. None are more positive of such descent than are the descendants of James, of New London. By some it is asserted that complete records were destroyed when the house of Peter Rogers, in New London, at the time of the massacre, was burned by the British, led by Benedict Arnold. Another version is published in the “New London Day,” of June 15, 1894: --

“Capt. Henry Hammond Rogers had a store of information, such as few men get, even in as long a life as his. Much of this information he communicated to his son, H. Stennett Rogers, at various times. One of the Captain’s very interesting monologues with his son was as follows:

  “’When a youth, I was told by Deacon Jethro Beebe, then seventy years old, and a member of the Seventh Day Baptist Church, Waterford, that in the year 1300, Aaron Rogers, a merchant of Rome, Italy, in consequence of religious persecution, fled for his life and took up his residence in London, England. There he resumed his business as a merchant and became wealthy. He was the great grandfather of John Rogers, who was burned at Smithfield. James Rogers, (James Rogers of New London, Connecticut born about 1615) the grandson of John the martyr, came to America. Jonathan Rogers was his youngest son.’”

John Rogers:
The compiler of the First Authorized English Bible
The Pioneer of the English Reformation
And it’s First Martyr


Bible translator and commentator, Protestant martyr, by Willem de Passe

John Rogers
(Information extracted from the above named book written in 1861 by Joseph Lemuel Chester) as well as other sources.

Lineage of Rev. John Rogers, the Martyr


There is a dispute, however, over this traditional Rogers lineage, and at the heart of it is the descent coming from John Rogers, b. about 1500, who was burned at the stake in England for his religious views of Reformation, and for printing the Bible. He has become known as "John Rogers, the Smithfield Martyr" down through history from that time, and there is evidently a lot of controversy about his particular line of descent, with many families claiming to be descended from him. The document I am including does not appear to be the same as our line of descent until after it is in our country, where it does conform to our line, but to confirm that would take many hours of research, and then you would just have either confirmed or eliminated only one theory. The truth is that there appears to be little documentation of his direct line of descent, so there will probably always be controversy about it. Whatever the case may be, until documentation is shown to discount our line as it is, it shall stand.

[Going back in history to the 1500s] Rev. John Rogers, a reformed English clergy [living in England], led by William Tyndall, had prepared for the press much of the Bible translated into English [At that time only landed gentry could own a bible]. Soon after Queen Mary arrived in London, John was the first martyr. He was burned at the stake at Smithfield on February 4th in 1555, (Encyclopedia Americana).

JOHN ROGERS (c. 1500-1555), English Protestant martyr, was born in Deritend, an area of Birmingham then within the parish of Aston. His father was also called John Rogers and was a lorimer – a maker of bits and spurs – whose family came from Aston; his mother was Margaret Wyatt, the daughter of a tanner with family in Erdington and Sutton Coldfield . Rogers was educated at the Guild School of St John the Baptist in Deritend at Pembroke Hall, Cambridge University, where he graduated B.A. in 1526. Between 1532 and 1534 he was rector of Holy Trinity the Less in the city of London. Holy Trinity the Less was an ancient church within the boundaries of the City of London that was destroyed during the Great Fire of London in September 1666.

In 1534 John Rogers went to Antwerp, Belgium as chaplain to the English merchants of the Company of the Merchant Adventurers of London. Here he met William Tyndale, under whose influence he abandoned the Roman Catholic faith, and in 1536 married Antwerp native Adriana de Weyden (b. 1511, anglicised to Adrana Pratt).

After Tyndale's death Rogers pushed on with his predecessor's English version of the Old Testament, which he used as far as 2 Chronicles, employing Coverdale's translation (1535) for the remainder and for the Apocrypha. Tyndale's New Testament had been published in 1526. The complete Bible was put out under the pseudonym of Thomas Matthew in 1537; it was printed in Paris and Antwerp by Adriana's uncle, Sir Jacobus van Meteren. Richard Grafton published the sheets and got leave to sell the edition (1500 copies) in England. At the insistence of Archbishop Cranmer, the "King's most gracious license" was granted to this translation. Previously in the same year, the 1537 reprint of the Myles Coverdale's translation had been granted such a license.

The pseudonym "Matthew" is associated with Rogers, but it seems more probable that Matthew stands for Tyndale's own name, which, back then, was dangerous to employ. Rogers had little to do with the translation; his own share in that work was probably confined to translating the prayer of Manasses (inserted here for the first time in a printed English Bible), the general task of editing the materials at his disposal, and preparing the marginal notes collected from various sources. These are often cited as the first original English language commentary on the Bible. Rogers also contributed the Song of Manasses in the Apocrypha, which he found in a French Bible printed in 1535. His work was largely used by those who prepared the Great Bible (1539-40), and from this came the Bishops' Bible (1568) and the King James Version.

Rogers matriculated at the University of Wittenberg on 25 November 1540, where he remained for three years, becoming a close friend of Philipp Melanchthon and other leading figures of the early Protestant Reformation. On leaving Wittenberg he spent four and a half years as a superintendent of a Lutheran church in Meldorf, Dithmarschen, near the mouth of the River Elbe in the north of Germany.

Rogers returned to England in 1548, where he published a translation of Philipp Melanchthon's Considerations of the Augsburg Interim.

The quotation that follows is from Foxe’s Book of Martyrs, by John Foxe, Chapter 16.

John Rogers, Vicar of St. Sepulchre's, and Reader of St. Paul's London


"John Rogers was educated at Cambridge, and was afterward many years chaplain to the merchant adventurers at Antwerp in Brabant. Here he met with the celebrated martyr William Tyndale, and Miles Coverdale, both voluntary exiles from their country for their aversion to popish superstition and idolatry. They were the instruments of his conversion; and he united with them in that translation of the Bible into English, entitled "The Translation of Thomas Matthew." From the Scriptures he knew that unlawful vows may be lawfully broken; hence he married, and removed to Wittenberg in Saxony, for the improvement of learning; and he there learned the Dutch language, and received the charge of a congregation, which he faithfully executed for many years. On King Edward's accession, he left Saxony to promote the work of reformation in England; and, after some time, Nicholas Ridley, then bishop of London, gave him a prebend in St. Paul's Cathedral, and the dean and chapter appointed him reader of the divinity lesson there. Here he continued until Queen Mary's succession to the throne, when the Gospel and true religion were banished, and the Antichrist of Rome, with his superstition and idolatry, introduced.

The circumstance of Mr. Rogers having preached at Paul's cross, after Queen Mary arrived at the Tower, has been already stated. He confirmed in his sermon the true doctrine taught in King Edward's time, and exhorted the people to beware of the pestilence of popery, idolatry, and superstition. For this he was called to account, but so ably defended himself that, for that time, he was dismissed. The proclamation of the queen, however, to prohibit true preaching, gave his enemies a new handle against him. Hence he was again summoned before the council, and commanded to keep to his house. He did so, though he might have escaped; and though he perceived the state of the true religion to be desperate. He knew he could not want a living in Germany; and he could not forget a wife and ten children, and to seek means to succor them. But all these things were insufficient to induce him to depart, and, when once called to answer in Christ's cause, he stoutly defended it, and hazarded his life for that purpose.

After long imprisonment in his own house, the restless Bonner, bishop of London, caused him to be committed to Newgate, there to be lodged among thieves and murderers.

After Mr. Rogers had been long and straitly imprisoned, and lodged in Newgate among thieves, often examined, and very uncharitably entreated, and at length unjustly and most cruelly condemned by Stephen Gardiner, bishop of Winchester, the fourth day of February, in the year of our Lord 1555, being Monday in the morning, he was suddenly warned by the keeper of Newgate's wife, to prepare himself for the fire; who, being then sound asleep, could scarce be awaked. At length being raised and awaked, and bid to make haste, then said he, "If it be so, I need not tie my points." And so was had down, first to bishop Bonner to be degraded: which being done, he craved of Bonner but one petition; and Bonner asked what that should be. Mr. Rogers replied that he might speak a few words with his wife before his burning, but that could not be obtained of him.

When the time came that he should be brought out of Newgate to Smithfield, the place of his execution, Mr. Woodroofe, one of the sheriffs, first came to Mr. Rogers, and asked him if he would revoke his abominable doctrine, and the evil opinion of the Sacrament of the altar. Mr. Rogers answered, "That which I have preached I will seal with my blood." Then Mr. Woodroofe said, "Thou art an heretic." "That shall be known," quoth Mr. Rogers, "at the Day of Judgment." "Well," said Mr. Woodroofe, "I will never pray for thee." "But I will pray for you," said Mr. Rogers; and so was brought the same day, the fourth of February, by the sheriffs, towards Smithfield, saying the Psalm Miserere by the way, all the people wonderfully rejoicing at his constancy; with great praises and thanks to God for the same. And there in the presence of Mr. Rochester, comptroller of the queen's household, Sir Richard Southwell, both the sheriffs, and a great number of people, he was burnt to ashes, washing his hands in the flame as he was burning. A little before his burning, his pardon was brought, if he would have recanted; but he utterly refused it. He was the first martyr of all the blessed company that suffered in Queen Mary's time that gave the first adventure upon the fire. His wife and children, being eleven in number, ten able to go, and one sucking at her breast, met him by the way, as he went towards Smithfield. This sorrowful sight of his own flesh and blood could nothing move him, but that he constantly and cheerfully took his death with wonderful patience, in the defence and quarrel of the Gospel of Christ."

Noailles the French ambassador, speaks of the support given to Rogers by the greatest part of the people: "even his children assisted at it, comforting him in such a manner that it seemed as if he had been led to a wedding." He was the first Protestant martyr of Mary's reign, and his friend Bradford wrote that "he broke the ice valiantly."

From the source: John Rogers: the Compiler of the First Authorized English Bible; the Pioneer of the English Reformation; and Its First Martyr, by Joseph Lemuel Chester, Longman, Green, Longman, & Roberts, London. 452 pp we find the following:

There can be little doubt that John Rogers was born “about the year 1500, and probably at the little village or hamlet of Deritend, in the parish of Aston, Warwickshire, England, then in the suburbs of, but now quite surrounded by the city of Birmingham.”

John Rogers, the martyr married Adrian Pratt alias De Weyden of Brabant, Antwerp, Belgium who was born in 1511, daughter of Weyden De Pratt, in 1536 at Branbant, Antwerp, Belgium. John Rogers was burned at the stake on the 4th of February, 1555 at Smithfield, London, England.

From the visitation of Warwick, 1563 it is recorded that John and Adrian Rogers had eleven children, thus given:
  1. Susan Rogers, born in 1537 at Branbant, Antwerp, Belgium who married John Short, merchant of London

2. Daniel Rogers, was born abt 1538 at Wittenburg, Saxony-Anhault, Deutschland. He came to England with his family in 1548 and was naturalized with them, by special Act of Parliament, in 1552. After his father’s death, he returned to Wittenberg and studied for some time under Melancthon, but came back to England eary in Elizabeth’s reign, and completed his education at Oxford where he took his degrees as early as August 1561. He was of Sunbury, county of Middlsex, clerk of the council to Queen Elizabeth (ob. 1591), married Susan, daughter of Nicasius Yetsworth/Yetswiert, clerk of the signet, and secretary of the French tongue. He died 11 January 1590. The children of Daniel and Susan Rogers were a son and a daughter, viz:
  a. Francis Rogers who married a daughter of _______ Cory and had a son
  1. Francis Rogers(a son)

b. Posthuma Rogers, (daughter) who married _______ Spears

3. John Rogers, born about 1540 in Wittenburg, Saxony-Anhault, Deutschland. He came to England with the family in 1548 and was naturalized with them, by special Act of parliament in 1552. It is doubtful if he left the country after his father’s death, as he matriculated as a pensioner of St. John’s College, Cambridge, May 17th , 1558, only about three years after his father was martyred. He afterwards migrated to Trinity College, of which he became a scholar. He proceeded B.A. in 1562-3, was soon after elected Fellow, and commenced M.A. in 1567. In some old pedigrees he is styled as “Proctor of the Civil Law,” but, in 1574, he was created LL.D., and on the 21st of November in that year, he was admitted to the College of Advocates. He married Mary Leete, daughter of William Leete, of Everden, county of Cambridge, D.C.L. He died 3 Jul 1601 at Moulsham, Chelmsford, Essex, England (will probated) was a proctor of the civil law.

The children of John and Mary Leete Rogers were:
  a. Cassandra
b. Elizabeth
c. Hecuba
d. Constantine
e. John
f. Edward
g. Mary
h. Varro (a son)

Another source at (http://dgmweb.net/genealogy/FGS/R/RogersJohn- MaryLeete-JoanGarlinge.shtml) has a second wife for John: Joan Garlinge – Will proved 10 Nov 1612, brother: William Garlinge of Totham, ESS. Joan married 2nd in 1604, John Hamond, surgeon of Mouisham, Chelmsford Parish, ESS. Five other children are thought to be children of this John Rogers at this source:
  a. Thomas Rogers, baptized 30 Jan 1574
b. Mary Rogers, baptized 28 Apr 1576, m. William Griffin
c. Elizabeth Rogers, baptized 21 Jul 1577
d. Richard Rogers, baptized 15 Apr 1579
e. John Rogers

4. Augustine Rogers, born at Wittenburg, Saxony, Prussia 5. Ambrose Rogers, born 1542 at Wittenburg, Saxony-Anhault, Deutschland 6. Bernard Fitz Rogers, was born 1543 at Wittenburg, Saxony-Anhault, Deutschland, married Mary abt 1564 at Scotland, moved from Scotland to England and died in 1583. Barnard's children were:
  a. Thomas Matthew Rogers b. 1565
b. Jiles [Giles] Rogers
c. Samuel Rogers -- was father of:
  i. Robert Rogers who married Francis Russell -- Robert and Francis were parents of :
  1. Hugh Rogers

7. Samuel Rogers, born 1545 at Wittenburg, Saxony-Anhault, Deutschland
8. Philip Rogers, born 1547 at Wittenburg, Saxony-Anhault, Deutschland
9. Elizabeth Rogers, born 1551 at Wittenburg, Saxony-Anhault, Deutschland, married James Proctor, chancellor of Salisbury
10. Hester Rogers, born 1553 in London, Middlesex, England, married Henry Ball, physician
11. Barnaby Rogers, born 1554 at London, Middlesex, England
12. Susannah Rogers,* born 15??; died 29 Sep 1565; buried St Mary Woolnoth Parish, London, married William SHORTE (Could this be the Susan Rogers married to John Shorte listed as child no. 1? It is recorded that there were only 11 children born to this family.)

*Source: "Genealogical Gleanings in England." New England Historical and Genealogical Register, by Henry F. Waters, 1890. 44(3): 296-308 lists a 12th child: 1565. Sep. 29, Susanna, wife of William Shorte, grocer, and daughter to Mr. Rogers, late burned in Smithfield. [Parish Register of St. Mary Woolnoth, Burials, p. 188]

[Footnote:] If Col. Chester had seen the [above] entry he might have been spared much labor in proving the family of the proto-martyr. This entry, taken with the pedigree found in the British Museum, constitutes proof positive.--Editor.

[http://dgmweb.net/genealogy/FGS/R/RogersJohn-AdryanDeWeyden.shtml] One of the pedigrees mentioned in the book “John Rogers” by Joseph Lemuel Chester would seem to indicate that Daniel was the fifth child, the three daughters and a son, Ambrose, preceding Daniel in birth order. The other mentions Daniel distinctly as the oldest child. The Will of Daniel Rogers, preserved at Doctors’ Commons, describes Ambrose as his youngest brother and, of course, is authoritative on this point.

The father of James Rogers, the martyr, it would seem, was John Thomas Rogers of Deritend, Aston Parish-- the fifth generation of descent from John Fitz Rogers, who married a daughter of Sir Simon Furnseup, descended from the Earls of Bush;” – who by his wife, Margery M. Wyatt, had three sons and two daughters:
  1. John
2. William
3. Edward
4. Eleanor who married Robert Mylward of Alnechurch
5. Joan also married

Further information on John Rogers, the Martyr can be found at:

1. John Rogers: the Compiler of the First Authorised English Bible, Joseph Lemuel Chester, (1861), London: Longman, Green, Longman, and Roberts, OCLC 257597540,
http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=-oALAAAAYAAJ

2. The Bible in English, David Daniell, (2003), Yale University Press, ISBN 0300099304

3. "Rogers, John (c.1500–1555)", Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (Online ed.), Oxford University Press,
http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/23980

4. Encyclopædia Britannica, Eleventh Edition, online at:
http://encyclopedia.jrank.org/RHY_RON/ROGERS_JOHN_c_1500_1555_.html

5. Fox’s Book of Martyrs, by John Foxe, edited by William Byron Forbush
http://www.biblebelievers.com/foxes/findex.htm
http://www.ccel.org/f/foxe/martyrs/home.html
http://www.gutenberg.org/files/22400/22400-8.txt
http://www.biblestudytools.com/History/AD/FoxsBookofMartyrs/
http://www.sacred-texts.com/chr/martyrs/index.htm

The John Rogers Bible


The descendants of the line of James Rogers of New London who was born in 1615 have possession of a bible thought to have belonged to the Rev. John Rogers, the Smithfield martyr. A Bible that, it is alleged, belonged to John Rogers the Smithfield martyr, is carefully preserved in the archives of Alfred University, Alfred, New York. Its history, as told by William H. Potter, of Mystic River, is as follows:

Judith Rogers, daughter of Capt. Jonathan Rogers, married Thomas Potter, of Hopkinton, Rhode Island, then a part of Westerly. She was his second wife, and had, when married, or upon the death of her father (as the oldest child) the Bible which James’ brought over from England in 1635.

The Bible was printed in 1549, in the days of King Edward VI, under the patronage of Thomas Cranmer, primate of England, who was burnt at Oxford, March 1, 1556, in the third year of Mary’s reign. This book, as tradition in the family says, was the property of John Rogers, prebendary of St. Paul’s, London, who was burnt at Smithfield, Feb. 4, 1555, being the first Protestant martyr in the reign of Bloody Mary.

James Rogers, one of the descendants of the martyr, brought the Bible to this country at his immigration in 1635. It had, he said, been concealed in a feather bed during the rest of Mary’s reign.

He used it as a pillow in his travels and sojourn in the wilderness as a sort of talisman, to protect him from a nightly attack of the savages. It eventually came into possession of Jonathan, fifth son of James; descended to his only son, Jonathan, and came into possession of his oldest child, Judith, as above said.

The children of Thomas and Judith (Rogers) Potter were: Judith, Mary, Thomas, Caleb, Jr., Clarke, Sarah, and Catharine. Mary, commonly called Polly, a maiden, who remained with the old folks, inherited the homestead and also came into possession of the precious Bible. She kept it very close, but was persuaded about the year 1836 or ’37, to commit it in charge of William H. Potter (a descendant of Thomas Potter, who married Judith Rogers) to have it rebound. It had been rebound once before Judith Rogers inherited it. It was carefully rebound a second time, and taken by W. H. Potter to New Haven, to compare with ancient copies of the Holy Scriptures in the library of Yale College, where it was examined by antiquarians and pronounced a version as early as A.D. 1549. It was then returned to Polly Potter, who has since died, leaving it in possession of her niece, Mrs. Saunders, now, 1857 residing at Potter Hill, R.I.

The following is taken from a compilation by Prof. E. M. Tomlinson, of Alfred University, describing the book: --

Cranmer’s first edition, to which this accurately corresponds, was first published in 1539. We give this the date of 1549, for fear of antedating. 1539 might with more propriety have been its date.

The book itself is a small, thick quarto, containing the New Testament (the translation of Cranmer of 1539), the Psalms, and a portion of the Liturgy of the Protestant Church at that time. The title page and a few of the first and the last leaves have been lost, the book having been twice rebound. It is printed in the large, full ancient German Text, with ornamental initial letters to a portion of the chapters, and a few marginal references. The chapters are divided [as] in King James’ version, but they have no division into verses, capital letters in the margin indicating the commencement of paragraphs as they appear in each chapter. In various parts of the book we find brief notes and memorandums by different persons relative to its carefully cherished and authentic history.

In Austin’s Genealogical Dictionary, p. 106, Samuel Hubbard, of Rhode Island, is quoted as writing in 1675, “I have a testament of my grandfather Cocke’s printed in 1549, which he hid in his bed-straw lest it should be found and burned in Queen Mary’s days.” Samuel Hubbard was the grandfather of Naomi Burdick, the wife of Jonathan Rogers (the father of Judith Rogers Potter). Both the “Potter Bible and the “Burdick Bible” are described as “testaments,” and this fact, taken with the story of concealment, leads one to infer that the same book is referred to in both instances.

In an article on “John Rogers the Martyr,” printed in the New England Historical and Genealogical Register, in April, 1851, is this clause: -- John Rogers printed, finished, and introduced into England in 1537 the folio Bible, being the first complete edition of both the Old and New Testaments: revised and published by him alone under the assumed name of “Thomas Matthew.” He printed on the last leaf these words: “To the honoure and prayse of God was this Byble printed and Fynished in the Yere of oure Lord God. A. M. D. XXXVII.”

Quoting from Rev. R. P. Stebbins’ “Leominster,” we find another Bible claimed to be “the genuine Martyr Bible.” Mr. Carter, of Lunenburg, Mass., has in his possession the “Rogers Bible.” Tradition is uniform in saying that the martyr’s Bible was brought to this country, and this book has been handed down from the branch of the family in Boxford. It is printed in black letter, without verses. Sections are marked on the margin with letters of the alphabet. The first part is gone to the thirty-eighth chapter of Exodus. It has been burned pretty badly, and the tradition is that it was burnt at the stake. At the commencement of the Book of Psalms and of the Apocrypha, there are title pages, but no date; there is the monogram, or mark of the printer, however, which helps to decide the age of the book. The late C. C. Baldwin, librarian of the American Antiquarian Society, examined this Bible and thus writes to Mr. Carter: “This mark was used by an ancient printer, by the name of John Cawood, to designate the books printed by him. He printed only one edition of the Bible, which was in 1549; at least I cannot ascertain that he printed more than one. These two circumstances –the mark and the single edition printed by him – make it very manifest that this Bible was printed in 1549. And as John Rogers did not suffer at the stake until Feb. 4, 1555, it is possible that this may have been the identical copy which belonged to him.”

From the above widely differing statements the reader must draw his own conclusions. Patient searching has thus far failed to disclose facts to substantiate any of the traditions. But the question as to which was the particular copy used by the martyr, pales into insignificance compared with the well established facts that he not only published a Bible, but that he forfeited his life for his devotion to its sacred precepts as he interpreted them.

ANCESTRAL LINE OF JOHN ROGERS, SMITHFIELD MARTYR


Following is the ancestral line of John Rogers, the Smithfield Martyr as compiled by Charles Rogers, son of Forrest Rogers. This line originally connected to James Rogers of New London, born in 1615 in England through Thomas Rogers of the Mayflower. This connection has since been proven to be wrong and it is known that Thomas of the Mayflower does not descend from the line of John Rogers, the Smithfield martyr and James Rogers of NewLondon, Connecticut is not the son of Thomas Rogers of the Mayflower. Since documentation of early descendants of James Rogers of New London, Connecticut claim ancestry to the Smithfield martyr and have possession of a bible written and edited by him, I am including this ancestral line in this book. It is my deepest desire that the parents of James of New London may someday be known and this ancestral chart would assist in the lineage of our Rogers line when this connection is found.

1. Sir Tancred de Hauteville, was born about 970 AD, and died about 1058. He was Commander of ten knights in the militia of duke Robert of Normandy. His second wife was Fressenda. Source of the following is: History of MF Planters by L.C. Hills: The Rogers Family: Sir Tancred de Hautville, born c970. died after 1058, a nobleman of Hautville near Cautauces, Normandy, married firstly c.992 Moriella; married secondly c.1013 Fredistand. There among their sons were Robert, Roger and William.

Robert "Guiscard" born 1015, became a great General, commanding Norman troops in Italy, and was created Duke of Apulia 1059; King of Naples and had other honors, and died in 1085. His brother Roger became Grand Count Roger I 1089-1102 of Sicily. He was born 1030 and died in 1101/2. Duke Robert and his brother Grand Count Roger were largely responsible for the Norman conquest of Sicily, and the Fitz Roger name in South West England is said to have arose from descendants of these brothers.

Their son of descent was:

2. Roger de Hauteville, Grand Count of Sicily, was born 1030 and died 22 June 1101. Roger was the youngest of twelve sons of Tancred. The Hauteville family conquered the southern part of Italy and the Island of Sicily. Roger and his brother Robert Guiscard (the cunning) were the most outstanding commanders of the family. Rogers’ third wife was Adelaide. Their son was:

3. Roger II, Grand Count of Sicily, King of Sicily and the southern part of Italy, was born 22 December 1095 and died 26 Feb 1154. Creator of the Norman Kingdom of Sicily, Roger II ruled one of the best governed states in the 12th century Europe where Italians, Greeks, Muslims, and Jews lived together in cosmopolitan society. He was a man of great energy and ambition. He was crowned king on Christmas Day 1130 in the cathedral of Palermo. Roger was married three times. His first wife was Elvira. There son was:

4. Roger, Count of Apulia – Although married to Elizabeth, Roger had a son Tancred who was born illegitimately to Emma, daughter of Count Achard of Lecce. Their son was:

5. Tancred, King of Sicily – died in Palermo on 20 February 1194. During the reign of his uncle William I, he conspired against the government and had to take refuge in Constantinople. He returned upon Williams’ death and obtained the Countship of Lecce in 169. When William II died in 1189, a faction of the Norman nobility, reluctant to let the Sicilian crown go to Roger II’s daughter Constance, wife of German King Henry VI, elected Tancred King. His wife was Sibylla, daughter of Roger of Acerra. Their son was:

6. William III – was born in 1184. William became king at the age of 10 upon the sudden death of Tancred. He was deposed by Henry VI of Germany and later sent to prison in Germany with his mother and three sisters. His fate is unknown. According to some reports, he died in prison. According to others, he became a Monk. His mother and sisters were released after several years. This genealogy accepts his release from prison to a life of obscurity or seclusion. His son was:

7. Unknown – The connection to William II is based upon writings of Aaron Fitz Roger, without knowledge of the name of this link. His son was:

8. Aaron Fitz Roger was a merchant in Rome, Italy. His son was:

9. Aaron Fitz Roger was a merchant in Rome, Italy and was greatly persecuted by the Roman Church. He fled with his family to London, England where he re-established his business and reared his family in peace and quiet. He brought over with him the coat of arms and traditions of his royal ancestors. He often alluded to his great-great grandfather, the King of both Sicilys. The name Fitz Roger implies descent from a King named Roger. The Rogers Family were given the right to bear the coat of arms accredited to Grand Count Roger I of Sicily. His son was:

10. Aaron Fitz Roger, oldest son of Aaron Fitz Roger came to England with his father. He was born in Italy and died in England. Aaron Fitz Roger born c1265 of Rome, Italy; died c1330 London, Middlesex, England. The family business was merchandising after settling in Kent, Gloucestershire and Somersetshire. His son was:

11. John Fitz Roger, of Dorset, England was born about 1335 and married about 1385 to Elizabeth de Furneaux born 1330, only daughter of Sir Symon de Furneaux (Furneup), Knight, descended from the Earls of Bush, of Ashington, and other manors in Somersetshire and Devonshire and Alice de Umfraville, widow of Sir John Blount, Constable of the Tower of London.

John gained great wealth by marrying Elizabeth. With John FitzRoger she was cofounder of 'Rogers House' of South West England. Sir Symon's only surviving child, and sole heiress, was his daughter, Elizabeth de Furneaux b. c1334. She m. 1351, Sir Blount, Knight and a Constable of the Tower, by whom she Alice later that year in 1351. Sir Blount d. 1358, leaving an attractive and wealthy widow, who inherited many large estates.

The Furneaux's were from France, near Coutances, Normandy, the same area as the Sicilian Rogers family. Odo de Furneaux, b. c1040 in Normandy came to England with William the Conqueror and his son Sir Alan de Furneaux was born c1075 in Normandy, but settled in Devon and received from King Henry I, a manor house and land near Honiton, Devon. He had four sons: Sir Alan Furneaux, a Justiciary, 1165; Philip Furneaux; William Furneaux, and the eldest, his son and heir Sir Geoffrey Furneaux b. c1117-22. Sir Geoffrey was appointed Sheriff of Devon. He was a very influential man; was knighted and married late - about 1155 and had four sons - Geoffrey Furneaux, b. c1158; Sir Robert Furneaux, b. c1160, Sir Alan Furneaux , b. c1162 and his eldest son and heir -Sir Henry Furneaux (b. c1156. He also became Sheriff of Devon. He married, c1180, Johanna, daughter of Robert Fitz William, who brought to her husband the manor of Ashington in Somerset. Having by right of his wife become Lord of the manors in Somerset, he ultimately settled there; and had a least one son, Henry Furneaux, b. c1181- 1214.

The eldest sons, in the next two generations were called Matthew Furneaux I and Matthew Furneaux II, b. c1220, was a Sheriff of Devon under King Edward I (1276). Matthew II was b. c1245 and, c1270, married Matilda (or Maud), d/o Sir Warren deRaleigh of 'Nettlecombe' in Somerset. Sir Walter Raleigh, becoming famous two centuries later, descended from this Raleigh family. Matthew Furneaux II also had a son, Sir Matthew Furneaux III, ancestor of Thomas Rogers but not the eldest son in this generation, Lord of Ashington, his principal residence, he was knighted then summoned in 1295 into military service against the Welsh, and in 1296-98 and 1300 against the Scots. He was Sheriff of Somerset, Dorset & Devon variously and from 1304-1316, the year of his death. In 1312 he had custody of Devon and the King's Castle of Exeter; and in 1315 was custodian of the counties of Somerset & Dorset, and the Castle of Shireborn. He was a prominent member of the Furneaux family.

His son and heir was Sir Symon de Furneaux, b. c1271. Symon married Alice, daughter of Sir Henry de Umfraville of Penarth Point in Glamorgan Wales, and was a principal landowner of his county. He died without surviving male issue as his son William, born 1328, predeceased him. Among the many honors bestowed upon him was a Knighthood of the Shire of Somerset, in the Parliament of Edward III (1328). His recorded arms were: 'Gules, a bend between six crosses-crosslet, or; which are still preserved on some encaustic tiles in 'Cleve Abbey' - where he and his father were benefactors - to which, later heraldic authorities add a crest. The insignia & colors displayed by father & son were practically identical. This Coat of Arms, as well as the many other Coats of Arms of the Furneaux Family, can be seen in Burke's Armory and any other book listing Coat of Arms for England.

12. Sir John Fitz Roger, only child of John Fitz Roger, Gent. and Elizabeth de Furneaux, was born in 1385 and died on 4 October 1441. He married Agnes (Mordaunt) de Mereaunt (1415-1441) of Seamer, Suffolk County in 1406 when he was just past the age of 19. He was the manager of the vast Furneaux estates and bought 'Benham-Valence' and other properties in Berkshire and Dorset. He received a Knighthood through recognition of military service performed. He was one of the wealthiest people in his section of England. He and Agnes had two sons, John and Thomas. He died 4 October 1441 at his home at Bryanstone, and is buried at St. Martin's Church there. His will was dated 21 September and proved 10 November 1441. It was at this time the 'Fitz' to the Roger name was dropped and ultimately a terminal 's' added. His second wife was Anne, daughter and heir of Sir Thomas Etchingham, and widow of Dr. Audley.

13. Thomas Rogers, Gent. was the second son of Sir John Fitz Roger. He was born at Ashington, Somerset in 1408 in one of the Roger-Furneaux mansions, residing there until grown, then permanently settled at Bryanstone, Dorset. He was the Burgess, Mayor and Sheriff of Bristol in 1455, 1458 and 1459. He added an “s” on the end of his name and married about 1433. The name of his wife is unknown. Manor of Oare, Wilcot, Swanborough Hundred, Wiltshire was held by Thomas Rogers who died at “Benham-Valena” abt. 1471 / 1479 when it passed to his son William Rogers, then to his son Sir Edward Rogers whose son George Rogers married Jane Winter. (Victoria County History of Wiltshire). He had a son, Thomas, by his first wife who was born in 1435. In his second marriage he had a daughter, Elizabeth. Thomas Rogers (4th generation) never claimed the property of his father so it went to his sister.

[Genealogical Research in the book “John Rogers” by Joseph Lemuel Chester has the father of Thomas Rogers who married Catharine de Courtenay as Sir Henry Fitz-Roger (or Henry Rogers) of Bryanstone, who married Avice (or Amy) Stourton daughter of William, Lord Stourton (who died in 1477). This genealogy says Thomas who married Catharine de Courtenay appears to have had two elder brothers, viz. Sir John Rogers of Bryanston (who died in 1500), and James, a Doctor of Divinity; and also a younger brother, Richard.]

14. Thomas Rogers, of Bradford, Sergeant-at-Law was said to be the only Son of Thomas Rogers in one genealogy or the third born son of Sir Henry Fitz-Roger (Henry Rogers). He was born in 1435 and died at “Benham-Valena” in 1489. In 1478 he was created “Serviens ad Legem” and amassed a considerable fortune. He made his own coat of arms instead of using the coat of arms of his ancestors. This is supposed to be the Thomas Rogers (who died in 1485), who married Catherine de Courtenay of Powderham, County. If this is so, he is identical with him known as Thomas Rogers of Bradford, County of Wilts, who with eight others, formed the call of Sergeants at Law, June 9th 1477.

Thomas Rogers had 2 wives: 1st Cecilia, daughter and co-heir of William Besyll of Bradford (one of the principal men in Wiltshire, in the time of Henry VI.), by whom he had one son, William who had a son named William from whom is descended, among others, the family of Rogers of Rainscombe, County of Wilts, the present representative of which is Rev. Edward Henry Rogers.

In 1483, Thomas Rogers married 2nd, Catharine de Courtenay, daughter of Sir William Courtenay of Powderham, County of Devon by his wife Margaret, daughter of Lord Bonville. (Lineage of Catharine de Courtenay can be traced in unbroken line to Alfred the Great.) Pursuing the maternal ancestry of the Martyr, we find that Sir William Courtenay, the father Catharine, wife of Thomas Rogers of Bradford, was the eldest son of Sir Philip Courtenay (who died in 1463), by Elizabeth, daughter of Walter, Lord Hungerford. Sir Philip was the eldest son of Sir John Courtenay (who died before 1415), by Joan (or Anne), daughter of Alexander Champernowne of Beer Ferrers, and widow of Sir James Chudleigh, Knt. Sir John was the second son of Sir Philip Courtenay, Lord Lieutenant of Ireland (who died July 7th, 1406), by Margaret (or Anne), daughter of Sir Thomas Wake of Blisworth, County of Northampton. Sir Philip was the fifth son of Hugh de Courtenay, second of that name Earl of Devon (who died in 1377), by the Lady Margaret de Bohun (who died December 16, 1392). Lady Margaret was the second daughter of Humphrey de Bohun, fifth Earl of Hereford and third of Essex, Lord High Constable (who was slain at Borough Bridge in 1321), by the Princess Elizabeth Plantagenet, sixth daughter of Edward I., by Eleanor, daughter of Ferdinand, King of Castile. From Edward I, through Henry III, John, Henry II, Henry I, and William the Conqueror, even to Charlemagne.

Thomas and Catherine had 2 sons in the parish of Aston, County of Warwick:
  1. Thomas Rogers of Sutton Vallens, County of Kent, who appears to have been the first-born son, and

2. John Rogers of Deritend who married Margery Wyatt.

Source for the following: A Genealogical and Heraldic Dictionary of the Landed Gentry of Great Britain and Ireland, by Barnard Burke: Rogers of Rainscombe, Rogers, Rev. Edward-Henry of Rainscombe, co. Wilts, M.A. &. 1827. Burke states:

Burke States, “The family of Rogers were seated at Bryanstone, co. Dorset, till the close of the 17th century. Of that line was Thomas Rogers, Esq., serjeant-at-law, temp. Edward IV, who settled at Bradford. He married first, one of the daughters and co-heirs of William Besyll, of Bradford, and by her had a son, William. He married second, a daughter of ---- Courtenay, of Powderham, and widow of Sir Thomas Pomeroy, and by her had a son, George, of Luppit, County Dorset, whose son Edward (Sir) was of Cannington.

William Rogers, Esq, the son of the first marriage married Jone, daughter of John Horton, Esq. of Ilford, and had (with a daughter, Cecily, married to Robert Maten) two sons, I. Anthony, married Dorothy Erneley, of Cannings, and had issue; and II. Henry, of whose line we treat. The latter, Henry Rogers, Esq., was father of Henry Rogers, Esq. of Heddington, who married Sarah, daughter of Thomas Hall, Esq. of Bradford, and had a son Robert Rogers, Esq. of Heddington, who married Anne, daughter of John Seager, Esq. of Bromham, Wilts, and was a. by his son, Henry Rogers, Esq. of Heddington, who, by Sarah, his wife, daughter of Francis Eagles, Esq. of South Broom, Wilts, was the father of Henry Rogers, Esq. of Heddington and Rainscombe, who married Ellen, daughter of Henry Pyke, Esq. of Rainscombe, and was a. by his son, Robert Rogers, Esq. of Rainscombe, who married Eliza, daughter of Thomas Smith, of Potterne, Wilts, and was father of Elizabeth, daughter of William Johnson, Esq. of Chippenham Hills, and by her had (with a daughter, Amella-Eliza, and a son, William) another son. The Rev. James Rogers, D.D. of Rainscombe, who married 1788, Catherine, youngest daughter and coheir of Francis Newman, Esq. of Canbury House, County Somerset, and by her (who died 1832) had issue, of whom the last survivor was Q. C., recorder of Exeter, b. 1791 who married 29 June 1822, Julia-Eleanora, 3rd daughter of William-Walter Yea, Esq. of Pyrland Hall,County Somerset, and sister of Sir Henry-Lacy Yea, Bart., and has issue, 1. Francis-Newman, his heir; 2. Edward-Henry, now of Rainscombe; 3.Walter-Lacy.

15. John Rogers of Deritend was the youngest son of Thomas and Catherine de Courtney. He was born at Bradford in 1485 and died about 1530. He married Margaret Wyatt in 1505.

John and Mary Rogers had 3 sons and 3 daughters as follows:
  1. John, who married Adryan Pratt, of Brabant
2. William
3. Edward
4. Ellenor, who married Robert Mylward of Alnechurch, County of Worcester
5. Joan also married, but the name of whose husband is not stated.

16. Rev. John Rogers was the oldest son and heir of John Rogers of Deritend. He was born about 1500 and died on 4 February 1555 at Smithfield, London, England. He married Adrian Pratt aka De Weyden who was more “richly endowed with virtue and soberness of life than worldly treasures.” [Fox]. The Rev. John Rogers published the entire Bible in the English language. It was the first complete edition of the Old and New Testaments. He was Vicar of St. Sepulchre. After the accession of Queen Mary on 16 July 1533, he delivered a sermon at St. Paul’s Cross, wherein he exhorted the people to adhere to the doctrine taught during the reign of King Edward and to resist the forms and dogmas of Catholicism, and to beware of all Popery, idolatry, and superstition. For this, he was sentenced to be burned to death at the stake as an excommunicated heretic. Pardon was offered him if he would renounce Protestantism, but with scorn, he refused it. The Roman Church, to its everlasting shame, refused to permit him to see his wife and children. His death, on 4 February 1555 was a martyr to free religion. The simple man with the humble name – John Rogers – who, obscure as his personal history has been and still is, probably did more for the cause of Christianity in England than any other single man who ever lived.

Children of John Rogers and Adryan Pratt are given thus:
  1. Daniel, of Sunbury, County of Middlesex, Clerk of the Council to Queen Elizabeth (ob. 1591), who married Susan, daughter of Nicasius Yetsworth /Yetswiert, Clerk of the Signet, and Secretary for the French tongue. The children of Daniel and Susan are:
  a. Francis (a son) married a Miss Cory and had a son also named Francis and Posthuma (a daughter) who married a Mr. Spears.
2. John, a Proctor of the Civil Law, who married Mary, daughter of William Leete, of Everden, County of Cambridge, D.C.L. The children of John and Mary Rogers are:
  a. Cassandra married Henry Saris, son of Thomas Saris of Horsham
b. Elizabeth
c. Heckuba
d. Constantine
e. John
f. Edward
g. Mary
h. Varro (a son)
3. Ambrose
4. Samuel
6. Philip
7. Augustine
8. Barnaby
9. Susan, who married John Short, Merchant, of London
10. Elizabeth, who married James Proctor, Chancellor of Salisbury
11. Hester, who married Henry Ball, Physician

The line of descent to James Rogers of New London is at this time uncertain. Research of Charlie Rogers shows the line of descent through Bernard Rogers, son of John and Adrian (Pratt) Rogers, who was born in 1543 at Wittenburg, Saxony-Anhault, Deutschland through his eldest son, Thomas Matthew Rogers who was born in 1565. Bernard Rogers married Mary about 1564 at Scotland, moved from Scotland to England and died in 1583. Barnard and Mary Rogers children were:
  1. Thomas Matthew Rogers born 1565, married about 1586, Miss McMurds
2. Jiles [Giles] Rogers
3. Samuel Rogers -- was father of:
  a. Robert Rogers who married Francis Russell –
Robert and Francis Rogers were parents of:
  i. Hugh Rogers
Early research believed Thomas Matthew Rogers to be the father of Thomas Rogers of the Mayflower and James of New London, Connecticut to be the son of Thomas of the Mayflower. Recent research and DNA tests have proven that Thomas of the Mayflower was not a son of descent of John, the Smithfield Martyr and that James of New London, Connecticut is not the son of Thomas of the Mayflower.

Further research needs to be done to verify the family line of James Rogers who came to America in 1635 on the Ship Increase who is thought to have been born 2 February 1615 in Stratford on Avon, Warwickshire, England and who died 6 February 1687 in New London, Connecticut. It is my prayer that this document of the research of so many will assist in the quest for the parents of our Rogers line and those other maternal direct lines that connect to it.

DNA Test Results


Charles Alva Rogers (Charlie), son of Forrest Rogers who was the brother of Charlotte Deliah Rogers has submitted his DNA to the Rogers DNA project at http://www.RogersDNA.com. We are fortunate that our Rogers line “cousins” are tech savy and have put together an awesome database to assist with unlocking the many Rogers lines in this country. There is much more information and links to other sources available at the Rogers DNA website which has given us the following information:

Our Rogers line is from the DNA Haplogroup I1a. Members of Haplogroup I1a were among the early arrivals in Europe. They originated in the Middle East and arrived in Europe perhaps 25,000 years ago (k.y.a.), prior to the last ice age and the development of farming. Ice age glaciers forced them south and they sheltered the Balkans (Albania area). As the glacial ice melted, this hunter-gatherer group expanded northward. Today its population is centered in Scandinavia where, despite being rivaled in numbers by another haplogroup (R1b), group I1a is often referred to as the Viking haplogroup. They are found throughout the British Isles and the I haplogroup averages about 16 % of the total population. Their numbers are strongest in East Central England and peak at nearly 1/3 of the population in York.

This information matches us with DNA test results of others of the line of James Rogers of New London, Connecticut who was born in 1615 in England and immigrated to this land in 1635 from London, England on the ship Increase and helps document our research connecting to this Rogers line.

Below is the migration chart from Haplogroup I1a. This map shows the migration of the early ancestors of this line as they moved from the middle east area throughout Europe. This migration matches what research has shown for the migration of the family lines of Sir Tancred de Hauteville which is the line our research shows is most likely our ancestral line.



Migration Map of Haplogroup I1a


Also noted on the page showing DNA results of famous people on this website is a man named Dr. William Harvey. He is a 3rd cousin 12 times removed to our generation. The Humphrey Harvey mentioned below is one of our direct line grandfathers. Dr. William Harvey’s DNA results are as follows:

Famous English physician William Harvey, who was the first in the Western world to describe systemic circulation, belonged to Y-DNA haplogroup E1b1b1, more specifically to the subclade E1b1b1c1 (M34). Most ancient ancestor known was Humphrey Harvey (1459-1526, Kent, England). Ysearch: B2YWY. Look also Harvey Y-DNA Genetic P

Credit has to be given to the research of Charles Alva Rogers and his sister, Lucille Rogers Wattles and her book “Rogers” and my sister, Kathleen, who have assisted me as I have compiled the information in these pages into one record.

Susan Blake Osborne, Compiler