Person:Thomas Rogers (1)

  1. Margaret Rodgers1570 -
  2. Thomas RogersAbt 1571 - 1620
  3. Elizabeth Rodgers1572 -
  4. Eliabeth Rodgers1575 -
  5. William Rodgers1581 -
  6. John Rodgers1586 -
  • HThomas RogersAbt 1571 - 1620
  • WAlice Cosford1573 - Aft 1622
m. 24 Oct 1597
  1. Lt. Joseph Rogers1602/03 - 1677/78
  2. John Rogers1606 - 1691/92
  3. Lysbeth (Elizabeth) Rogers1609 -
  4. Margaret Rogers1613 - Aft 1622
Facts and Events
Name Thomas Rogers
Gender Male
Birth[2][3] Abt 1571 Watford, Northamptonshire, England
Marriage 24 Oct 1597 Watford, Northamptonshire, Kingdom of Englandto Alice Cosford
Immigration[6] 1620 Mayflower
Death[2][3] 1620 (Winter) Plymouth Colony, Kingdom of Englanddied in the "first sickness"
Reference Number? Q7793619?


the text in this section is copied from an article in Wikipedia

Thomas Rogers (c. 1571 – January 11, 1621) was a Leiden Separatist who traveled in 1620 with his eldest son Joseph as passengers on the historic voyage of the Pilgrim ship Mayflower.

Thomas Rogers was a signatory to the Mayflower Compact, but perished in the winter of 1620/21. His son Joseph, who at the age of 17 had travelled with Thomas on the Mayflower but had been too young to sign the Mayflower Compact, survived to live a long life.

This page uses content from the English Wikipedia. The original content was at Thomas Rogers (Mayflower Pilgrim). The list of authors can be seen in the page history. As with WeRelate, the content of Wikipedia is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

Thomas Rogers, the Mayflower Passenger, who died in the first sickness, made his journey to the new world with his son Joseph, who survived. His wife did not come to America. Gov. Bradford says "Thomas Rogers and Joseph his son; his other children came afterwards......Thomas Rogers died in the first sickness but his son Joseph is still living (1650) and is married and hath six children. The rest of Thomas Rogers' [children] came over and are married and have many children." According to Bowman, and substantiated by later research, only one of the children who came later has been identified, viz.: John Rogers, who married Ann Churchman.

Of Thomas little is known. Born by about 1572, son of William and Eleanor (____) Rogers, Watford, Northamptonshire [TGM 3: 1598 citing The Genealogist]. He married Alice Cosford before 24 October 1597 in Watford, Northamptonshire. They appear as the parents baptizing their children between 1602 and 1606.

Our earliest known encounter with Pilgrim Thomas Rogers was on 25 June 1618 when he became a citizen of Leiden, Holland, vouched for by William Jepson, formerly of Worksop, Notts., and by Roger Wilson, formerly of Sandwich, Kent Co. Engalnd. Banks therefore speculates that Rogers might have been from one of those towns. In 1619 he sued a baker and a miller of Leiden to free a lien on his house, and perhaps in preparation for his journey, won the suit and was awarded court costs. (NEHGR 143:207). On 1 April 1620 Thomas sold his Leiden house on the Barbarasteeg for 300 guilders, in preparation for the journey to New England.

Recent discoveries show that Thomas had a family living in Leiden, Holland, when the 1622 Poll Tax was taken. In the Over "t Hoff Quarter, in a house with other Pilgrim families in St. Peter's Churchyard west-side, were Jan Thomas, orphan from England without means; Elsgen Rogiers, widow of Thonis Rogiers, an Englishwoman; and Lysbeth and Grietgen her children, poor people. Translated this could read John, son of Thomas; Elizabeth Rogers, widow of Thomas; and Elizabeth and Margaret, her children. At that period the word orphan meant that either or both parents were dead.

In the 1623 Plymouth Colony land division, Joseph Rogers was allotted two acres-one for himself and one on behalf of his late father. He may have been living in the household of Governor Bradford with who he was grouped on 22 May 1627, in the division of cattle. Joseph and twelve other inhabitants of Plymouth received "an heyfer of the last year which was of the Great white-back cow that was brought over in the Ann and two shee goats."

John Rogers came to Plymouth about 1630, when the last of the Leiden contingent arrived and was in Plymouth Colony on 25 March 1633 when he was taxed 9 shillings. The proof of his identity lies in a grant made 6 April 1640 to "Joseph Rogers and John Rogers his brother...fifty acres apeece of upland....at the North River." Both then had growing families to carry forward the Rogers heritage, although only Joseph's descendants would carry forward the Rogers name beyond the fourth generation."

Disputed Lineages

The uncited 1587 Stratford-upon-Avon christening cannot be correct because his marriage to Alice Cosford is in 1597, ten years later.

Thomas Rogers alleged descent from John Rogers the Martyr was disproved in the 19th century by Joseph Chester and Henry F. Walters. Banks notes that taxpayers named Thomas Rogers, Christopher Martin and John Hooke appear in the London parish of St. Bartholomew the Great early in 1620, but there is no proof that these were the Mayflower passengers.

A number of Ancestral Family files and Worldconnect GEDCOMs claim additional marriages, but Ancestry of Mayflower Thomas Rogers (Genealogist 10:xxx) documents the confirmation of Thomas Rogers' marriage to Alice Cosford and the baptisms of their children in the parish of Watford, co. Northampton, England, as well analysis of Leiden tax rolls. There were no other wives.

Governor Bradford's statement that the rest of Thomas Rogers' children came over and married and had children seems clearly to indicate that more than one of his children came to New England after 1620. We know that his son John came to Plymouth about 1630. Although many other male Rogers immigrants have been claimed as sons of Thomas the Pilgrim, none of the claims has been proved, and some have been disproved ( for proof that William Rogers of Connecticut and Long Island was not a son of the Pilgrim se NYGBR 60:102-4). Therefore it seems likely that at least one of the Rogers daughters who were living in Holland in 1622 came over. John and Joseph Rogers each named a daughter Elizabeth, perhaps thereby indicating that their sister Elizabeth lived in New England.

As reported in Clifford L. Stott, The English Ancestry of Pilgrim Thomas Rogers and His Wife Alice (Cosford) Rogers, The Genealogist 10:138-149: "It has been speculated that the daughter Elizabeth came to Plymouth and married Samuel Eddy, since the latter was granted land at Plymouth on 3 June 1662 reserved for “the firstborn children” of the colony or their parents. As Samuel did not in his own right qualify on either count, it is possible that his wife Elizabeth was a daughter of Thomas [1] Rogers. (For speculation on this point see Eugene A. Stratton, Plymouth Colony: Its History & People (Salt Lake City, Utah, 1986), pp. 287-88.)."

Unfortunately extensive research has failed to uncover any further evidence.



Confusion with Thomas Rogers of Watertown

From Cape Cod Series, Vol. I by Leon Clark Hills


"So far as II Thomas is concerned it must be stated that ... Thomas Rogers of Watertown has been the innocent cause of much confusion. Some writers have even claimed the Thomas of Plymouth and Thomas of Watertown were identical, although one was buried in Plymouth in the spring or winter of 1620/21, and the other died in Watertown 1637. Other published statements assert that the unknown wife of Thomas of Plymouth was Grace Makin. This is obviously wrong, as she was the wife of Thomas of Watertown."

William Bradford's Mayflower passenger list

This is the passenger list Governor William Bradford wrote for his History, Of Plymouth Plantation, which he wrote between 1630 and 1654. What follows is a transcript of how his journal actually read - the original spelling and punctuation are maintained here. Bradford actually writes the passenger list twice - the first time he simply lists the passengers, and the second time he tells what happened to each person or family.

The names of those which came over first, in ye year .1620. and were (by the Blesing of God) the first Beginers, and (in a sort) the foundation, of all the plantations, and Colonies, in New England. (And their families.)
Thomas Rogers, and Joseph his sone; his other children came afterwards.
These being aboute a hundred sowls came over in this first ship; and began this worke, which god of his goodnes hath hithertoo blesed; let his holy name have ye praise.
And seeing it hath pleased him to give me to see. 30. years compleated, since these beginings. And that the great works of his providence are to be observed. I have thought it not unworthy my paines, to take a veiw of the decreasings, & Increasings of these persons, and such change as hath pased over them, & theirs, in this thirty years. It may be of some use to such as come after; but however I shall rest in my owne benefite.
I will therefore take them in order as they lye.
Thomas Rogers dyed in the first sicknes, but his sone Joseph is still living, and is maried, and hath .6. children. The rest of Thomas Rogers came over, & are maried, & have many children.
Of these 200 persons which came first over, in this first ship together; the greater halfe dyed in the generall mortality; and most of them in .2. or three monthes time. And for those which survived though some were ancient & past procreation; & others left ye place and cuntrie. yet of those few remaining are sprunge up above .160. persons; in this .30. years. And are now living in this presente year. 1650. beside many of their children which are dead and come not within this account.
And of the old stock, (of one, & other) ther are yet living this present year. 1650. nere .30. persons. Let the Lord have ye praise; who is the High preserver of men.
References
  1.   Daniel Russell, III. Application for Membership to the Society of Mayflower Descendants, General No. 51303. (General No. 51303; State No. 8344; Approved 12 Nov. 1986)
    1.
  2. 2.0 2.1 General Society of Mayflower Descendants. Mayflower Families Through Five Generations: Descendants of the Pilgrims Who Landed at Plymouth, Mass. December 1620. (New England - United States: General Society of Mayflower Descendants., Various)
    19:1.
  3. 3.0 3.1 Stott, Clifford L. The English Ancestry of the Pilgrim Thomas Rogers and His Wife Alice (Cosford) Rogers. The Genealogist
    143-144.
  4.   Thomas Rogers (Mayflower Pilgrim), in Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia.
  5.   Savage, James. A Genealogical Dictionary of the First Settlers of New England: Showing Three Generations of Those Who Came Before May, 1692, on the Basis of Farmer's Register. (Boston: Little, Brown, and Co, 1860-1862)
    3:569.
  6. Plymouth, Plymouth, Massachusetts, United States. Mayflower Compact. (Plymouth, Plymouth, Massachusetts, United States)
    Transcript.
The Mayflower (1620)
The Mayflower was the first settlement voyage to New England, carrying primarily English Separatists known as Pilgrims. It was destined for the mouth of the Hudson River, but landed at Cape Cod in present-day Massachusetts.
Sailed: 6 Sep 1620 from Southampton, England under Captain Christopher Jones
Arrived: 11 Nov 1620 at Plymouth, Massachusetts
After spending the winter aboard ship, the surviving passengers moved ashore on 21 Mar 1621.
Next Vessel: The Fortune (1621)

Passengers:
104; 24 families left descendants (Full List)
Pilgrim Families: Allerton (Asst. Gov. Isaac) - Bradford (Gov. William) - Brewster (Rev. William) - Chilton - Cooke - Fuller (Edward) - Fuller (Samuel) - Priest - Rogers - Sampson - Tilley (Edward) - Tilley (John) - White - Winslow (Edward)
Other Families and Servants: Alden - Billington - Browne - Doty - Eaton - Hopkins - Howland - Mullins - Soule - Standish (Capt. Miles) - Warren - Winslow (Gilbert)

Resources: Primary Sources: Bradford's History of Plymouth Plantation - Mourt's Relation - Pilgrim Hall (wills and other contemporary documents)
Wikipedia: Mayflower (voyage) - Passenger List - Pilgrims - Plymouth Colony - Captain Christopher Jones