Richard Rogers (bef. 1551 - 1618)

Born before 29 Jun 1551 in Moulsham Parish, Chelmsford, Essex, England

Husband of Barbara (Chandler) Rogers — married 1572 in Wethersfield, Essex, England [uncertain]

Husband of Susanna (Unknown) Rogers — married after 31 Oct 1598 (to 21 Apr 1618) in England

Descendants

Died 21 Apr 1618 after age 66 in Wethersfield, Essex, England

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Origin and Disputed Parents

It was once thought that Rev. Richard Rogers' father was Rev. John Rogers, (1500-1555) a famous Puritan martyr who was burned at the stake. However, this has been proven incorrect. Another error about his origin was the idea that he was the son or grandson of Richard Rogers, steward to the Earls of Warwick. Primary sourced parish records from England show evidence that Rev Richard Rogers, Minister of Wethersfield, England, was the son of a joiner, and the grandson of a carpenter, both named John Rogers.

"[Richard] Rogers' father was a resident of Moulsham, a parish of Chelmsford. By trade he was a joiner, and his father, the grandfather of Richard, was apparently a carpenter. Both were named John Rogers, and the younger was twice married. His second wife was Agnes Carter, a widow, and by her he had three children--Mary, John, and Richard, our diarist. Richard's baptismal date is given in the parish register as June 29, 1551. ... John [Richard's brother] remained in Chelmsford [Essex County, England] and earned his living as a shoemaker. Among his children was one who bore his own name, John Rogers IV we may call him. After being helped through Cambridge by his uncle [Rev. Richard Rogers], he became a famous Puritan minister at Dedham in the northern border of Essex, and it is from his son Nathaniel that the New England line has sprung.^[1]

Biography

Richard Rogers was baptized 29 June, 1551, at Moulsham Church, Chelmsford Parish, county Essex, England.^[2] He matriculated as a sizar of Christ's College, Cambridge, in November 1565, and graduated B.A. 1571, M.A. 1574.^[2] He was appointed lecturer at St. Mary Magdalene, Wethersfield, Essex, about 1577.^[2]

In 1583 he, with twenty-six others, petitioned the privy council against Archbishop John Whitgift's three articles, and against Bishop Aylmer's proceedings on them at his visitation. Whitgift suspended all the petitioners. After a suspension of eight months Rogers resumed his preaching, and was restored to his ministry through the intervention of Sir Robert Wroth.

Rogers espoused the Presbyterian movement under Thomas Cartwright, and signed the Book of Discipline. He is mentioned by Richard Bancroft as one of a classis round Braintree side, together with Culverwell, Gifford, and others. In 1598 and 1603 he was accordingly again in trouble; on the former occasion before the ecclesiastical commission, and on the latter for refusing the oath ex officio. He owed his restoration to the influence of William Knollys, 1st Earl of Banbury. Under the episcopate of Richard Vaughan, bishop of London between 1604 and 1607, he enjoyed considerable freedom; but under Vaughan's successor, Thomas Ravis, he was again in trouble.

Rev Richard Rogers' Writings

Seaven treatises containing such directions as is gathered out of the Holie Scriptures, 1603; 2nd edit. London, 1605, dedicated to King James; 4th edit. 1627, 2 parts; 5th edit. 1630. An abbreviated version, called The Practice of Christianity, is dated 1618, and was often reissued.

A garden of spirituall flowers, planted by R[ichard] R[ogers], W[ill] P[erkins], R[ichard] G[reenham], M. M., and G[eorge] W[ebbe], London, 1612, 1622, 1632, 1643 (2 parts), 1687 (2 parts).

Certaine Sermons, directly tending to these three ends, First, to bring any bad person (that hath not committed the same that is unpardonable) to true conversion; secondly, to establish and settle all such as are converted in faith and repentance; thirdly, to leade them forward (that are so settled) in the Christian life . . . whereunto are annexed divers . . . sermons of Samuel Wright, B.D., London, 1612.

A Commentary upon the whole book of Judges, preached first and delivered in sundrie lectures, London, 1615, dedicated to Sir Edward Coke.

Samuel's encounter with Saul, 1 Sam. chap. xv, London, 1620.

Marriages

Richard Rogers married, first, by 1573, Barbara ______. Her first name appears in his diary, in his will, and in a record of his memorial inscription at the Wethersfield churchyard.^[3] No primary sources have yet been found for her maiden name and her parents.

After Barbara's death, Richard Rogers married Susan (Unknown) Ward, widow of Rev. John Ward of the neighboring parish of Haverhill, Suffolk, England.^[4] Susan's first husband, Rev John Ward, died before 31 Oct 1598 which was the date his will was proved in the Prerogative Court of Canterbury.^[5]

Death

Mr. Richard Rogers died at Wethersfield on 21 April 1618, and was buried in the churchyard. His will was written 16 Apr 1618 and proved in the Consistory Court of London on 30 Apr 1618.^[6] The will was "perfectly" transcribed in 1864.^[7] The will mentions sons Daniel and Ezekiel, and four daughters, three of whom are identified only by their husband's names: "daughter Hallseler", that is, Rebecca whose second husband was Edward Hastler; Esther, whose husband Francis Longe is called son in law: and ______, whose husband is called "son Makin".

Children

Richard and Barbara Rogers had, in either Radwinter or Wethersfield, the following children. The birth order is uncertain.^[8][9]

1. Rev. Daniel Rogers, eldest son, b 1573; graduated at Christ's College, Cambridge B.A, M.A., B. D., became minister of Haversham, Buckinghamshire, and afterward of Wethersfield;^[10] persecuted by Archbishop Laud for preaching Arminianism; m. Margaret Bishop, then Sarah Everard; five children.^[11]
2. Esther Rogers, m. Francis Longe of Great Dunmow in 1603, had sons Samuel and Francis.^[12]
3. Rebecca Rogers, m. first Samuel Wright, son of John Wright, they had two daughters, then m. Edward Hastler in Malson, 16 Apr 1610, they had six children. Edward Hastler's will mentions "Mr Richard Rogers of Wethersfield deceased my late father in Law" and "Rebecca my now wife and daughter unto the sayed Mr. Richard Rogers" and also "Rebecca and Martha Wright my daughters in law"^[13]
4. Ezra Rogers; died young^[11]
5. Rev. Ezekiel Rogers, b. 5 Feb 1587/8 in Wethersfield, Essex, England; graduated Christ's College,Cambridge, B.A.1605, M.A. 1608. Rector of St. Peter, Rowley, Yorkshire, emigrated in 1638 and became the first minister of Rowley, Massachusetts Bay. m. Joan Hartopp, then Elizabeth Wilson, then the widow Mary Barker. Died 23 Jan 1660/1 in Rowley, Massachusetts Bay^[14] with no surviving children.
6. Nathaniel Rogers, died young in 1588.^[11]
7. Mary Rogers, m. (first) Rev. William Jenkin, of Sudbury [England], they had three children; then Rev. Adam Harsnett, they had five children. Adam Harsnett's will mentions his children's grandfather Rogers.^[15]
8. _________, the fourth daughter, who married _______ Makin, about whom nothing else is yet known.

Richard Rogers and his second wife Susan apparently had no children together. No records or other findings to date suggest otherwise. Susan's children by her first husband are said in an article to have included Rev. Nathaniel Ward of Ipswich, Massachusetts and and perhaps Rev Samuel Ward of Ipswich, Suffolk, England.^[16][17] A contemporary portrait was sold at Sotheby's in 2022 showing his coat-of-arms (provenance: Sir Stephen Tillim) may be seen at Sotheby's website^[18].

Sources

1. ↑ M.M. Knappen and John Cowart, eds, Seeking A Settled Heart_The 16th Century Diary of Puritan Richard Rogers (2007), p. 36, citing Henry F. Waters, "Genealogical Gleanings in England" (Boston, 1901), 1:209-36, and 2:1137-38; and NEHGR XVII: 326-29.
2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1 2.2} Seeking A Settled Heart_The 16th Century Diary of Puritan Richard Rogers, M.M. Knappen and John Cowart, eds, (2007), pages 36-43
3. ↑ Tarbert, Jesse, "The Identity and English Ancestor of Rev. Samuel Stone's First wife: Rebecca Wright, Granddaughter of Rev. Richard Rogers" in the New England Historical Genealogical Register, Vol. 176, Fall 2022, p. 389
4. ↑ M.M. Knappen and John Cowart, eds, Seeking A Settled Heart_The 16th Century Diary of Puritan Richard Rogers, (2007), page 40
5. ↑ A memoir of the Rev. Nathaniel Ward, A.M., author of The simple cobbler of Agawam in America, by John Ward Dean (1868), page 131 (Appendix)
6. ↑ Consistory court of London Wills, 314 Hamer, London Metropolitan archives DL/C/0360/001/314r, viewable on FHL DGS 8,038,982 images 755-757, cited by Tarbert
7. ↑ The Rogers Family, by Joseph L. Chester, Esq., The New England Historical and Genealogical Register. Boston, MA: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 1847-. Vol 17 (Oct 1863), pages 326 - 330. (Viewed at AmericanAncestors.org (subscription required)
8. ↑ Tarbert, Jesse, "The Identity and English Ancestor of Rev. Samuel Stone's First wife: Rebecca Wright, Granddaughter of Rev. Richard Rogers" in the New England Historical Genealogical Register, Vol. 176, Fall 2022, pp. 389-391, citing 21 sources supporting the births, marriages, and other life events of these children
9. ↑ "Memoir of Rev. Nathaniel Rogers' Family," in NEHGR, 5(1951):118-128 as to Mary, Daniel, Ezra, Ezekiel, and Nathaniel
10. ↑ Venn, John and J.A. Venn, Alumni Cantabrigienses . . . Part I (London, 1924, Cambridge University Press), Vol. 3, p. 478, cited by Tarbert
11. ↑ ^{11.0 11.1 11.2} Waters, Henry F., Genealogical Gleanings in England (Boston, 1901, New England Historic Genealogical Society), Vol. 1, pp 210, 213, cited by Tarbert
12. ↑ Register of St. Mary the Virgin, Great Dunmow, Essex, Esses Record Office D/P 11/1/1, image 62, cited by Tarbert
13. ↑ Edward Hastler's Will dated 11 June 1622 and proved 4 Oct 1622, Prerogative Court of Canterbury Wills, PROP 11//140/281, cited by Tarbert
14. ↑ Essex, Vital Records of Rowley, Massachusetts, to the end of the year 1849, Deaths, p. 515
15. ↑ Prerogative Court of Canterbury Wills, PROB 11/181/131, transcribed in Waters Genealogical Gleanings in England vol. 1, p. 244, cited by Tarbert
16. ↑ "Memoir of Rev. Nathaniel Rogers' Family," in NEHGR, 5(1851):118; WARNING: this article has subsequently shown to have errors. [Nathaniel is not an error: his life and relationships are confirmed by Robert Charles Anderson in Great Migrations.]
17. ↑ A memoir of the Rev. Nathaniel Ward, A.M., author of The simple cobbler of Agawam in America, by John Ward Dean, (1868), pages 124-125
18. ↑ [1]

• http://www.americanancestors.org/databases/new-england-historical-and-genealogical-register/image/?pageName=326&volumeId=11612&rId=23511121 The Rogers Family], by Joseph L. Chester, Esq., includes will of Rev Richard Rogers, NEHGS Vol 17 (Oct 1863), pages 326 - 330
• The New England Historical and Genealogical Register. Boston, MA: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 1847-. (Online database: AmericanAncestors.org, New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2001-2013.)
• Richard Rogers (1550-1618) (Wikipedia)
• https://archive.org/stream/amemoirrevnatha02deangoog#page/n142/mode/1up A memoir of the Rev. Nathaniel Ward, A.M., author of The simple cobbler of Agawam in America], by John Ward Dean, (Albany, J. Munsell, 1868), reproduced at Internet Archive.org, Appendix of family genealogy from work by Matthias Candler, M.A. from Cambridge, a Puritan and vicar of Coddenham in Suffolk in 1629. [Candler had a personal acquaintance with Samuel Ward and his brother Nathaniel, both Puritan ministers.]
• Portrait of Rev. Richard Rogers (1550-1618), Vicar of Wethersfield, Essex [2]