James Rogers (soldier)

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For other persons named James Rogers, see James Rogers (disambiguation).


James Rogers
c. 1726 – September 23, 1790
Place of birth Ireland
Place of death Sandhurst, Ontario
Service/branch Royal Army
Years of service 1754-1783
Rank Lieutenant-Colonel
Unit Rogers' Rangers
Queen's Rangers
King's Rangers
Commands held 2nd Batallion, King's Rangers
Battles/wars 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[1], the Siege of Louisbourg (1758) and the Battle of the Plains of Abraham (1759).[2] In 1765, he was granted the township of Kent, a 26,000 acre 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.[3] 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.[2]

Contents

[edit] Vermont Negotiations

Between 1780 and 1783, Rogers was heavily involved in the negotiations with Ethan Allen and Thomas Chittenden to have the Vermont come back under the British Crown.[4] 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,[5] 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.

Plaque at Sandhurst on PH33 at the Anglican Church
Plaque at Sandhurst on PH33 at the Anglican Church

[edit] 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 [6] and Windham in 1797.[7] 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.

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ Manchester Historic Association Collections, Manchester, N.H.: Manchester Historic Association, 1896, pp. 104-105, <http://books.google.com/books?id=mzQTAAAAYAAJ&dq=%22John+Rogers%22+Acworth&lr=&source=gbs_summary_s&cad=0>. Retrieved on 10 April 2008 
  2. ^ a b Plaque in Sandhurst, Greater Napanee, Ontario. Ontario's Historical Plaques (May 28, 2004). Retrieved on 2008-04-10.
  3. ^ South Fredericksburgh Heritage Website
  4. ^ A History of the King's Rangers
  5. ^ Vermont/New York Boundary History
  6. ^ E.P. Walton, ed. (1876), Records of the Governor and Council of the State of Vermont, J. & J. M. Poland, pp. 93, <http://books.google.com/books?id=0CoTAAAAYAAJ&dq=%22Col+James+Rogers%22&source=gbs_summary_s&cad=0>. Retrieved on 10 April 2008 
  7. ^ Hall, Benjamin Homer (1858), History of Eastern Vermont, D. Appleton & Co., pp. 249, <http://books.google.com/books?id=QXEUAAAAYAAJ&dq=%22Col+James+Rogers%22&lr=&source=gbs_summary_s&cad=0>. Retrieved on 10 April 2008 

[edit] Further reading

[edit] External links


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