I am in need of assistance on one Ephraim Rogers - NC/TN 1730?-1800?, last known record 1799 Sumner Co Tax list

Question

I have extensive records of his son, Abraham Rogers, who also lived in Sumner Co, TN. It is pretty evident that Ephraim ended up in Sumner Co after serving in the North Carolina Continental Line of the Revolution, but am unable to find anything prior to his pay stub of 1784 and subsequent land bounty, which he apparently signed over to Abraham Rogers. I have combed through the Sumner County Archives which were a big help, but cannot find any records of him in NC during the 1700's. Any direction appreciated!

Answer 1

Have you tried the free site familysearch.org ?

Comments

Yes, I’ve tried just about everything I can think of - familysearch, ancestry (paid), Sumner Co historical Archives, all which have been great helps. I’ve gotten 2 generations further up my line since I’ve picked up my work, again. I’ve searched early NC documents, wills, etc and am just stuck on Ephraim.

Answer 2

One tactic you could take would be to stop solely looking for Ephraim and instead flesh out his entire family, as in spouse and all his children and where they end up. You are likely to discover in the process clues to continue your research on Ephraim.

Comments

Thank you, Todd. Would you allow me to speak (type) out loud on this? So I have looked under every rock I can think of and tried to start casting a wider net like you said,which I think is my only hope. I was previously stuck on Ephraim's son and didn't think I'd get further, but I was able to. A little background:

1) Sumner Co, TN, previously Sumner, NC - circa 1784, was still a pretty wild area, lots of Native American attacks, etc, so the population of the county was somewhere between 1k-3k from 1784-1790. Ephraim received a land bounty for his service in the Revolution, of which I have record of as well as his pay stub.

2) There were a few other Rogers in the area listed on the tax list between 1795-1801 for Sumner Co, Daniel Rogers (maybe a son of Abraham's, he did have a son named Daniel), an Amos Rogers, and an Armstead, Sr, who had land in Station Camp where Ephraim was also located. I'm thinking they are related, but I haven't been able to locate anything substantial other than naming patterns of their sons. Daniel (died 1802) and Abraham (died 1807), son of Ephraim, both had sons named Samuel.

My question - do you think it's bad form to think Daniel and Abraham Rogers, both living in the same vicinity of Sumner Co were likely related seeing as the Sumner had a pop of between 1k-3k?

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The hypothesis you hold while researching could illuminate wrong paths and hide correct ones from your view, if it is ultimately incorrect. The only bad form would be not rejecting a hypothesis when it leads you no where or you disprove it. A group of people sharing a surname in a relatively sparsely-populated county aren't always related, even if they use similar naming patterns. Unrelated people can name children similar names, especially when a the children are being named after a beloved community member that may be unrelated to both families. Of course, you may be absolutely correct that these Rogers are all related. The point I was trying to make was that some of my biggest genealogical discoveries on my direct line happened not when I was focused on my specific ancestors, but when I was researching collateral lines or working on someone else's family in the same area.

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Thank you for the advice, Todd! I'm definitely learning as I go and I'll follow that suggestion.

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Todd, just wanted to update you on my success. I cast a wider net and started looking at other Rogers in Wake Co, NC and actually stumbled across a Durrell Rogers mentioned in an 1802 will from my actual Ephraim Rogers. I think I had seen it earlier this week, but was very tired and didn't make the connection. That opened the floodgate. I was able to locate all of Ephraim's siblings and his parents reaching back into 1730's NC. Taking that large puzzle piece, I went back to a random, yet extensive "Descendants of John Rogers" posting someone put together and located Ephraim's parents, which then connected to our original John Rogers who came from England in 1635. I am relieved and cannot quite believe I was able to go back nearly 170 years from where I had gotten to with Ephraim (1800). I know you probably don't have a link to my clan, but I owe credit to the multiple suggestions made in this thread!

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Congratulations! So happy for you.