Joseph Rogers (bef. 1603 - bef. 1678)

Born before 23 Jan 1603 in Watford, Northamptonshire, England

Ancestors

Descendants

Died before 15 Jan 1678 at about age 74 in Eastham, Plymouth Colony, New England

Problems/Questions Profile managers: Loren Fay [send private message], Bobbie Hall [send private message], Mayflower Project WikiTree [send private message], Laurence Houlgate [send private message], and Mark Chapman [send private message]

Joseph Rogers was a passenger on the Mayflower. Join: Mayflower Project Discuss: mayflower

Biography

Joseph Rogers^[1] was born in Watford, Northamptonshire, England,^[1]and was baptized there on January 23, 1602/3.^[2][1] He came as a teenager with his father Thomas to Plymouth on the Mayflower in 1620 and was cared for by Governor Bradford after his father's death in the winter of 1620-21.^[3]

On the 1627 cattle division list Joseph appears with Gov. William Bradford,^[4] with whom he may have lived after having been orphaned. In 1633, he was made a freeman and was taxed 25 March 1633, just before his first child was born.^[1] This same date his brother John (who had arrived from England) also paid tax.^[5] Joseph was in Duxbury early and on March 2, 1636, he was permitted to operate a ferry across the Jones River;^[6] he was granted thirty acres of land 5 November 1638; and he was appointed constable at Duxbury on March 3, 1639.^[1] Joseph Rogers and John Rogers “his brother” were granted fifty acres each at North River (Marshfield), on April 6, 1640.^{[7] [8]} Joseph removed to Eastham and was made lieutenant to exercise the men in arms in Nausett (later Eastham) in June 1647.^[9] He was a selectman at Eastham in 1670. He sold a piece of land there on 31 January 1672, but there is no mention of a wife in any of his deeds.^[1]

He died at Eastham in January 1677/8.^[1] His wife Hannah is named in his will (dated 2 January 1677/8, inventory 15 Jan 1677/8).^[10] She may not have been his only wife and may not be the mother of the children.^[1]

His descendants erected a memorial at Cove Burying Ground, Eastham ^[11]

Will of Joseph Rogers

I, Joseph Rogers senir; of Eastham of Good Understanding and prfect memory being weake in body; and not knowing the the day of my departure out of this life, doe thinke meet to Leave this as my Last will and Testament.

Impr: I Comend my soule to God that Gave it; whoe is my God, and father in Jesus Christ, and my body to the earth by decent buriall;

firstly And Concerning my temporall estate that God hath posessed me off; I doe make my son Thomas Rogers whole and sole executor which I will should be disposed of as followeth;

Impr I doe Give unto my Loveing son James Rogers and his heires Lawfully begotten of his body: or the next of kinn; my house and housing and Land with ffences or the like appurtenances, that I now dwell in and Improve adjoyning to my house be it more or lesse; as it is Recorded & bounded on the Towne book, I say I doe Give it to him and to his heires Lawfully begotten of his body forever or the Next kinred;

Item I doe give To my sonnes John and James Rogers all my meadow Ground that I bought of the Indians ffrancis and Josiah, Lying att Pottammacutt and therabouts; I say I doe give and will it to them and theire heires forever equally to be devided

Item I do Give to my sonnes Thomas and John Rogers and theire heires all my meadow and sedge lying on the otherside of the Cove, on keeskagansett syde; I say I doe Give it to them and theire heires Lawfully begotten of theire bodys forever;

I doe Give to my Daughter Elizabeth higgens the wife of Johathan higgens six acrees of Land lying Neare the Barly necke, by the swamp Called Ceader swamp; as it is Recorded and bounded in the Towne book, I say I give this six acrees To her and her heires of her body for ever; shee nor they shall not sell hier farm it out, directly nor Indirectly to any prson whatsoever, except in Case of Removal it shalbe lawfull for my sonnes or their heires to buy or purchase it;

Item I Give to Benjah higgens my Grandchild on Condition hee live with mee untill I die; I say I Give to him and his heires, one third prte of all my upland and meddow att Paomett, purchased and unpurchased

Item It is my will That the Remainder of my lands or marshes, both att the barly necke, Pochett Iland Paomett Billingsgate or elswher purchased or unparchased not disposed of prticularly in my will; I say it is my will that all those lands be equally devided betwixt my three sonnes Thomas John and James Rogers; and the heires lawfully of theire bodyes for ever; Noteing that my son Thomas his twenty acrees of upland that already hee hath in the barly necke be prte of his devision of my land in the barly Necke;

Item I doe Give unto my daughter Hannah Rogers, if shee be not disposed of in Marriage before my decease, and my wifes deceasse, then I say I doe Give to her my bed and beding with all the furniture therto belonging or that shall belonge therto att our decease;

Alsoe it is my will that shee shall have her Choise of one Cow before my Cattle be distributed, and the use of three acrees of Tillage Ground; ffenced in, with the arable Ground of her bretheren in the barly necke if shee desire, it soe longe as shee lives unmarryed;

Item it is my will tha Benjah higgens shall have one of my Cowes after mine and my wifes decease

Item it is my will Concerning my Loveing wife hannah Rogers that shee live in My house as longe as shee lives, and shalbe Comfortably maintained by my stocke and to have the use of all my househoud stuffe, That shee Needs as longs as shee lives for her Comfort and that none of my household furniture of stocke be disposed of, as longe as shee lives, save onely hannahs Cowe

Item I will that ten shillings of my estate be disposed off for the Use of the Church of Christ in Eastham as shalbe Judged most Nessesarie

Item I will that the Remainder of my Stocke estate houshold furniture that my wife shall Leave att her decease Not disposed of in my will before written; be equally devided between all my Children; and Benjah higgins to have an equall share with each of them; This is my Last will and Testament as witnes my hand and seale this 2cond of January 1677,

Witnes Joseph Rogers and A seale

Signed and sealed in

the prsence of us

William Twining

John Banges made oath to this Will att the Court holden att Plymouth the 5th of March Anno Dom 1677:78^[12][10]

Joseph Rogers had a wife, Hannah (see Research Notes) and had seven children that lived to adulthood:^[13]

1. Sarah Rogers 1633-1633
2. Joseph Rogers 1635–1660
3. Thomas Rogers 1638-1678
4. Elizabeth Rogers 1639–1679 married Jonathon Higgins 1st
5. John Rogers 1642–1714
6. Mary Rogers 1644–1718 married John Phinney
7. James Rogers 1648-1678
8. Hannah Rogers 1652–1690 married Jonathon Higgins 2nd

Research Notes

Joseph Rogers had a wife named Hannah ______, mentioned in his will. Some sources give her maiden name as "Bangs" and state she was born ca. 1615 in Buckinghamshire, England, and married Joseph Rogers on July 20, 1631, in Massachusetts.^[14] Others give alternate surnames of "Harding," again born ca. 1615 in Buckinghamshire;^[15] or "Churchman," same 1615 Buckinghamshire birth or "Churchman Thayer".^[16] No contemporary document found gives her maiden name.

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7} Mayflower Families Through Five Generations, Volume Nineteen: Thomas Rogers, Edition: Ann T. Reeves, Volume: 19, Alice W.A. Westgate Publication: General Society of Mayflower Descendants, 2000 , p. 3.
2. ↑ Northamptonshire Record Office; Northampton, England; Register Type: Parish Registers; Reference Numbers: 343P/1 Watford Parish. Image 9, Accessed at Ancestry ($)
3. ↑ William Bradford, History of Plymouth Plantation, Now first printed from the original manuscript for The Massachusetts Historical Society, (Boston: LIttle, Brown, and Company, 1856) Apendix, No. I. Passengers of the Mayflower.p. 449. "2. Thomas Rogers, and Joseph, his sone. His other children came afterwards." and p. 453, "6. Thomas Rogers dyed in the first sickness, but his sone Joseph is still living, and is married, and hath 5. children. The rest of Thomas Rogers [children] came over, & are maried, & have many children."
4. ↑ Nathaniel Shurtleff, Records of the colony of New Plymouth, in New England (Boston: Press of W. White, 1855), Deeds 1620-1651, Vol. 1:12
5. ↑ Mayflower Families for 5 Gen. Vol 19, p 7.
6. ↑ Shurtleff, Records of the Colony, Vol. 1:39
7. ↑ Shurtleff, Records of the Colony, Vol. 1:144
8. ↑ Robert Charles Anderson, The Pilgrim Migration: Immigrants to Plymouth Colony 1620-1633 (Boston: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2004), p. 396. Thomas Rogers entry. Anderson cites Records of the Colony of New Plymouth in New England, Natheniel B. Shurtleff and David Pulsifer, eds., 12 volumes in 10 (Boston 1855-1861), 1:11 & 1:120.
9. ↑ Shurtleff, Records of the Colony Vol. 2:117
10. ↑ ^{10.0 10.1} "Massachusetts, Plymouth County, Probate Records, 1633-1967," images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QS7-897D-V3XS?cc=2018320&wc=M6BX-F29%3A338083801 : 20 May 2014), Wills 1633-1686 vol 1-4 > image 447 of 616; State Archives, Boston.
11. ↑ Memorial has links to those of his wife, Hannah and those of five of their children.
12. ↑ George Ernest Bowman, "Lieutenant Joseph Rogers' Will and Inventory," in Mayflower Descendant, Vol. 3:67.
13. ↑ Shurtleff, Records of the Colony, Vol. 8:13-14.

    These bee the names of Leiftenant Joseph Rogers his children, as followeth:

    Sarah was born the sixt of August, 1633, and died the fifteenth of the same month.

    Josepth was born the 19th of July, 1635.

    Thomas was born the 29th of March 1638.

    Elizabeth was born the 29th of September, 1639.

    John was born the 3d of Aprill, 1642.

    Mary was born the 22econd of September, 1644.

    James was borne the 18th of October, 1648.

    Hannah was borne the 8th of August, 1652.

14. ↑ Rootsweb Individual page for Hannah Bangs (Link via Wayback Machine at Archive.org, capture date 19 Jun 2021.)
15. ↑ Rootsweb Individual page for Hannah Bangs (Link via Wayback Machine at Archive.org, capture date 18 Jun 2021.)
16. ↑ Rootsweb Individual page for Hannah Churchman. (Link via Wayback Machine at Archive.org, capture date 19 Jun 2021.)

See also:

• Stott, Clifford, "The English Ancestry of the Pilgrim Thomas Rogers and his wife Alice (Cosford) Rogers," The Genealogist, Vol. 10, No. 2, 1989. (On line at: [https://web.archive.org/web/20150218220100/http://www.richmondancestry.org/thomasrogers.shtml (Link via Wayback Machine, capture date 18 Feb 2015l)
• Sherman, Robert M., Mayflower Families Through 5 Generations, James Chilton, Richard More, Thomas Rogers, Vol. 2 (General Society of Mayflower Descendants, Plymouth, MA: 1978) (Volume 19 replaces this volume)

• Robert Charles Anderson, "Thomas Rogers", The Great Migration Begins: Immigrants to New England 1620-1633, Vol. 3 (Boston: New England Historic Genelogical Society, 1995) p. 1597-1599.
• George Ernest Bowman, "Lieutenant Joseph Rogers' Will and Inventory," in Mayflower Descendant, 3:67
• Caleb Johnson's Mayflower History
• Find A Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com : accessed 04 May 2019), memorial page for LT Joseph Rogers, I (23 Jan 1603–15 Jan 1678), Find A Grave: Memorial #8633, citing Cove Burying Ground, Eastham, Barnstable County, Massachusetts, USA ; Maintained by Find A Grave (contributor 8).
• Ancestry.com London, England, Baptisms, Marriages and Burials, 1538-1812 Ancestry.com Operations, Inc. Note: Church of England Parish Registers, 1538-1812. London, England: London Metropolitan Archives. Images produced by permission of the City of London Corporation Libraries, Archives.
• Susan E. Roser, Mayflower Deeds and Probates, 1600-1850 Ancestry.com Operations, Inc. Note: Roser, Susan E. Mayflower Deeds and Probates: From the Files of George Ernest Bowman at the Massachusetts Society of Mayflower Descendants. Baltimore, MD: Genealogical Publishing Company, Inc., 1994.
• History of early settlers of Eastham, Mass., Early settlers of Eastham : containing sketches of all early settlers of Eastham by Paine, Josiah, 1836-1917. cn ass., found on [archive.org: gives some clues to where Joseph Rogers lived, now in Orleans, Mass., after Orleans was taken off of Eastham... Text says he lived in the Barley Neck area of Orleans...
• Town of Eastham, MA: Marriage intentions and births, circa 1700s: Early Vital Records of births and marriage intentions in Eastham, Mass., in the 1700s was found on Archive.org and has about 15 Rogers records indexed on the index page and some pages have many Rogers records, all handwritten, apparently original
• Bradford, William, 1590-1657. Of Plimoth Plantation: manuscript, 1630-1650. State Library of Massachusetts "List of Mayflower Passengers." In Bradford's Hand.

Mayflower Project Checklist Completed

Acknowledgements

• Kelley Rosenbach, Jillian Smith, Timothy Wilder, Buckley Howe, Judith Painter-McGregor, Ed Burke, Lianne Lavoie, Alice Luckhardt, Mike Walton, Laurence Houlgate, David Bishop, Reba Mc Millian, Bryan Sypniewski, Carol Brackley, Becky Syphers, Loren Fay, Mark Chapman, Bobbie Hall, Chad Kent.