James Rogers (soldier)

Infobox Military Person
name=James Rogers
born=c. 1726
died=September 23, 1790
placeofbirth=Ireland
placeofdeath=Sandhurst, Ontario
serviceyears=1754-1783
branch=Royal Army
rank=Lieutenant-Colonel
unit=Rogers' Rangers
Queen's Rangers
King's Rangers
commands=2nd Battalion, King's Rangers
battles=French and Indian War
American Revolution

James Rogers (c. 1726 – September 23, 1790) was born to James and Mary Rogers in Ireland, and they immigrated to Massachusetts Bay Colony around 1729. During the French and Indian War, he served in Rogers' Rangers, a provincial Ranger Corps raised by his brother Robert Rogers. He was with Robert in the Battle on Snowshoes in January 1757 [citation
url=http://books.google.com/books?id=mzQTAAAAYAAJ&dq=%22John+Rogers%22+Acworth&lr=&source=gbs_summary_s&cad=0
title=Manchester Historic Association Collections
publisher=Manchester Historic Association
location=Manchester, N.H.
date=1896
accessdate=2008-04-10
pages= [http://books.google.com/books?id=mzQTAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA100&dq=%22John+Rogers%22+Acworth&lr=#PPA104,M1 104-105] ] , the Siege of Louisbourg (1758) and the Battle of the Plains of Abraham (1759).cite web
url=http://www.ontarioplaques.com/Plaques_JKL/Plaque_Lennox13.html
title=Plaque in Sandhurst, Greater Napanee, Ontario
publisher=Ontario's Historical Plaques
date=May 28, 2004
accessdate=2008-04-10] In 1765, he was granted the township of Kent, a convert|26000|acre|km2|sing=on parcel in Vermont later know as the townships of Londonderry and Windham. In the American Revolution, he commanded the 2nd Battalion of the King's Rangers, thereby forfeiting his lands in Vermont. In 1784, he led a party of about 300 disbanded King's Rangers and their families to the Third Township of Cataraquie, later known as the Township of Fredericksburgh, in Lennox County, Ontario, where they were granted land. [ [http://www.sfredheritage.on.ca/AboutTheArea.htm South Fredericksburgh Heritage Website] ] Rogers, who first settled in Fredericksburgh, where he became lieutenant-colonel of the militia, lived for a time in Prince Edward County, Ontario but returned to Fredericksburgh before his death on September 23, 1790.

Vermont Negotiations

Between 1780 and 1783, Rogers was heavily involved in the negotiations with Ethan Allen and Thomas Chittenden to have Vermont come back under the British Crown. [ [http://reenacting.net/kingsrangers/index.html A History of the King's Rangers] ] Rogers and Allen were both large land owners in Vermont, which had not been admitted to the newly-formed United States because both New York and New Hampshire claimed it as their own, [ [http://www.hopefarm.com/vermont.htm Vermont/New York Boundary History] ] and was left governing itself (see Vermont Republic). These negotiations resulted in Allen being charged with treason by the United States, but the charges were never pursued.

Family and Notable Descendants

James married Margaret McGregor (1740–1793), daughter of Presbyterian Minister, Reverend David McGregore of Derry, New Hampshire, in March 1760. His second son, James Rogers III (1764–1841), petitioned the state of Vermont and reclaimed the townships of Londonderry in 1795 [citation
url=http://books.google.com/books?id=0CoTAAAAYAAJ&dq=%22Col+James+Rogers%22&source=gbs_summary_s&cad=0
title=Records of the Governor and Council of the State of Vermont
editor=E.P. Walton
publisher=J. & J. M. Poland
date=1876
accessdate=2008-04-10
pages= [http://books.google.com/books?id=0CoTAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA93&dq=%22Col+James+Rogers%22 93] ] and Windham in 1797. [citation
url=http://books.google.com/books?id=QXEUAAAAYAAJ&dq=%22Col+James+Rogers%22&lr=&source=gbs_summary_s&cad=0
title=History of Eastern Vermont
first=Benjamin Homer
last=Hall
publisher=D. Appleton & Co.
date=1858
accessdate=2008-04-10
pages= [http://books.google.com/books?id=QXEUAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA249&dq=%22Col+James+Rogers%22&lr= 249] ] His third son, David McGregor Rogers (1772–1824), assisted in the petitions and became a member of Canadian Parliament. There was another David Rogers, the first son of then Captain James Rogers, who died at 4 years old in 1766 and is buried in East Derry, New Hampshire.

Notes

Further reading

* Rogers, Robert J., "Rising Above Circumstances: The Rogers Family In Colonial America". Sheltus & Picard, 1998. ISBN 978-0969629658
* Hall, Benjamin Homer, [http://books.google.com/books?id=G3kFAAAAQAAJ&printsec=toc "History of Eastern Vermont"] . Appleton, 1858.

External links

* [http://www.Montalona.com/ Descendants of James Rogers, Father of the Rangers] . Contains descendants of Robert Rogers, James Rogers, Samuel Rogers and his other siblings.
*cite web
url=http://www.lib.unb.ca/collections/loyalist/seeOne.php?id=445&string=
title=The Loyalist Collection
publisher=The University of New Brunswick
date=March 2003
accessdate=2008-03-27
*Robert Rogers
** [http://www.acidus.com/rogers.html Biography from acidus.com]
** [http://www.biographi.ca/EN/ShowBio.asp?BioId=36271 Biography of Robert Rogers at the "Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online"]
** [http://rangerring.com/history/horn.htm Major Robert Rogers of the Rangers]
* [http://www.usgennet.org/usa/topic/colonial/rogers/index.html Rogers' Rangers]
** [http://www.usgennet.org/usa/topic/colonial/rogers/snowshoes.html A Battle Fought on Snow Shoes]
** [http://www.usgennet.org/usa/topic/colonial/rogers/revenge.html The attack on Saint-Francis]
** [http://www.usgennet.org/usa/nh/county/hillsborough/manchester/book/chap15.html The early campaign]