LIEUT. JOSEPH ROGERS, MAYFLOWER PASSENGER, BIO FROM SEVERAL SOURCES

LIEUT. JOSEPH ROGERS, MAYFLOWER PASSENGER, BIO FROM SEVERAL SOURCES

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH:

Joseph Rogers, the son of Thomas and Alice (Cosford) Rogers, was baptized/christened on 23 Jan

1602/1603 in Watford, Northamptonshire, England.

Thomas Rogers and his family emigrated from England to Leiden, Holland in The Netherlands by 1617, when he bought a house there. See biographical sketch of Thomas Rogers for more information about the years in Leiden and the problems encountered in arranging to emigrate to America.

After encountering many difficulties, the ship "Mayflower" left Plymouth, England on 6 Sep 1620 with 102 passengers, both Separatists and "strangers," plus a crew of about 40. The passengers included

both Thomas Rogers and one son, Joseph Rogers, who was about 17 years of age at the time. The father, Thomas Rogers, died during the first winter in Plymouth.

Joseph Rogers may have then lived in the household of Governor William Bradford, with whom he received his share of cattle in 1627. In the 1623 land division, Joseph Rogers received two acres - one for himself and one on behalf of his father.

He was made a freeman in 1633 and was taxed on 25 Mar 1633 and 27 Mar 1634. On 2 Mar 1635/6, he was granted permission to operate a ferry over the Jones River near his house, and on 7 Jun 1636 he was first recorded as serving on a jury.

By 1638 he had moved to Duxbury in Plymouth County, where he is noted as requesting land in that area in 1638 and was granted 30 acres of land on 5 Nov 1638. He is named on a committee for the Duxbury highway repair in 1638/39 and was made a constable of Duxbury on 3 Mar 1639/40. In Duxbury he was one of the purchasers or "old comers" to whom land was granted and on 6 Apr 1640 he and his brother John, who had come to New England later, were each granted 50 acres of upland.

Joseph Rogers apparently moved to Cape Cod at Eastham, Barnstable County, then called Nauset, in about 1647, for on 1 June of that year he was appointed Lieutenant to exercise the men in arms there. He may have spent a brief period at Sandwich, also in Barnstable County, where he served on the council of war in June and Oct 1658. Joseph Rogers was a selectman at Eastham in 1670.

. There are four known land deals involving him from the time of his arrival in Eastham. A 1658 purchase from the Potonumaquatt tribe totals six and one half acres. In 1662 Manasses Kempton sold Rogers 40 acres of upland in the area "Called the Barly necke…." In 1665 Rogers is mentioned as having rights to 100 acres of land that William Nicarson [Nickerson] had illegally purchased from the natives. It is not known whether Joseph Rogers actually bought the land he was entitled to. The Plymouth court gave him liberty in 1670 to purchase land from Indians living near Eastham. It is also not known exactly how much land Rogers held at his death.

His wife Hannah , whose maiden surname is not known, was named in his will, but she may not have been his only wife and may not have been the mother of his children. No wife is mentioned in

any of his deeds.

He died between 2 and 15 Jan 1677/8 and was buried in the Old Cove Burial Ground in Eastham. The original will of Joseph Rogers is no longer in existence, but a copy of his will was written in the Plymouth Colony Record Book at the time of his death. The inventory of his estate was taken on 15 Jan 1677/8 and his will was probated on 5 Mar 1677/8.

Children of Joseph Rogers and, possibly, Hannah:

Sarah Rogers b. 6 Aug 1633, d. 15 Aug 1633

Joseph Rogers b. 19 Jul 1635, d. 27 Dec 1660

Thomas Rogers b. 29 Mar 1638, d. bt 5 Mar 1677/78 - 7 Aug 1678

Elizabeth Rogers b. 29 Sep 1639, d. bt 2 Jan 1677/78 - 4 Jul 1679

John Rogers b. 3 Apr 1642, d. bt 27 Apr 1713 - 10 Aug 1714

Mary Rogers b. 22 Sep 1644, d. a 19 Apr 1718

James Rogers b. 18 Oct 1648, d. 13 Apr 1678

Hannah Rogers b. 8 Aug 1652, d. a 18 Oct 1690

SOURCES INCLUDE:

(1) "Mayflower Families Through Five Generations: Thomas Rogers," Originally compiled by Alice W. A. Westgate and revised by Ann T. Reeves, Vol. 19, Entry #2, Paged 3 - 6 (General Society of Mayflower Descendants: Plymouth, MA, 2000)

(2) Sketch by Robert Charles Anderson on Thomas Rogers and family in "The Great Migration

Begins: Immigrants to New England 1620-1623" , Vol. 3, Pages 1597/9.(New England Historic Genealogical Society: Boston, MA, 1995)

(3) "From Pilgrims and Indians to Kings and Indentured Servants," by Vernon R. Nickerson (Privately published by the author: Taunton, MA, 1970) FHL #929.273 N534

(4) Thomas Rogers Society website (*****************************************)

(5) Biographical Sketch of Joseph Rogers, son of Thomas Rogers. by Jessica Wolpert, The Plymouth Colony Archive Project. 1998 (******************************************************* )