Person:Almanza Rogers (1)

Rogers, Almanza -- Died, on July 3d., 1876, at his residence in Sharon Township, Rev. Almanza Rogers, aged 81 years, 11 months and 3 days. Mr. Rogers was born near Plymouth, Luzerne County, Pa., August 1st., 1795, where he was married and raised a family of ten children, three sons and seven daughters, viz: Jehial, Philander and Lorenzo. The daughters now Mrs. Clarinda Blackman, Mrs. Matilda Foster, Mrs. Florilla Sipe, Mrs. Berthia Buckingham, Mrs. Mary Hollabaugh (de'd), Mrs. Hannah McDonald (de'd) and Mrs. Ellen Horner, all living, residing now in this vicinity. His wife dying, he married again in the east, and removed upon his farm in this vicinity, about thirty-four years ago. He early in life connected himself with the M.E. Church in the east, and served it in the capacity of a local preacher. His house was the headquarters of the Methodist in his neighborhood in those early days of the Church in America, and was one of its most earnest and zealous workers. By industry and economy, he raised his large family in a highly respectable manner, and earned an independence for the evening of his days. His second wife dying some years ago, he again married, for the third time, a very estimable and intelligent lady of near his own age, with whom he spent the remnant of his days in a retired and happy manner. His descendants are numerous and highly respected, and upon the last anniversary of his birthday, they were all assembled together at the family mansion, where he addressed them in a truly patriarchal manner, an account of which then appeared in the News. He died of old age, and came to his grave like a shock of corn fully ripe, and "his works do follow him." His funeral took place on Wednesday last, on the Old Cemetery Grounds. Services were conducted by his much esteemed former Pastor, Rev. H.G. DuBois, assisted by Rev. Farrah. He was always one of our warmest and most esteemed friends, during our whole residence here, and we feel as if we had lost one whose friendly relations with us have never been disturbed. He was frequently a contributor to the News, under the cognomen of "Square Rule". Peace of his ashes. [Shelby Independent News: 13 July 1876, Vol. 8, No. 38]

Our grandfather Rogers had a very large clock,
In a room of his home on the farm.
It was put there nearly a century ago,
And hung on the wall out of harm.

At this clock they would look,
When ‘twas time to go to school.
And when time for their beaux to go home.
But they never will hear that old clock tick again,
For they all are gone.

Clarinda and Matilda, Mary, Ellen, and Florilla,
Philander, Bethiah, Lorenzo and Jehiel.
But they never will hear the old clock tick again.
They have gone their last mile.

After grandfather’s death the reunion was held,
At the home of his children once a year.
The homestead was taken by Uncle Jehiel.
And it held many memories dear.

Here the cousins and the nieces and the nephews loved to come.
Children played in the barn on the lawn.
Of the second generation few are left any more,
Nearly all are gone.

Of the Rogers, Sipes’, and Horners’, Blackmans’, Hollenbaughs’ and Fosters’
Of this second generation most are gone.
Few are left to hear the old clock tick again.
Nearly all are gone.

Of Almanzo Roger’s family there are here today
His grandchildren great, great, great.
For Andrew and Mary who last lived in this home,
For the coming of the rest now wait.

Maimie [Mamie] lives in the home and the clock keeps ticking on.
And I’d like once again just to see,
In my memory’s vision, All the dear ones gone before
As I sat [sit] near the old locust tree,

For the years keep going, coming,
While the sands of time keep running,
And if true to God there ‘waits for us a crown,
For soon we will be on Eternity’s shore,
And we too [will] be gone.

ANDREW JACKSON ROGERS

Among the old families of Richland county whose members have been long numbered among the prominent and respected citizens here is the Rogers family, of which the subject of this review is a representative. He was born on Southwest square, in Shelby, Ohio, at the family home, which then stood on the present site of the high-school park. It was there that his grandfather built his first house. The natal day of A. J. Rogers was May 1, 1844.

His grandfather, Almanzar Rogers, was born in Luzerne county, Pennsylvania, July 23, 1794, and died July 2, 1877. He was a carpenter by trade and also inspector of shingles and lumber at Pinchersville, Pennsylvania. He filled the position as postmaster. That town was named from the fact that Mr. Rogers pulled the end of shingles out with pinchers. He was also a farmer and local preacher of the Methodist Episcopal church and in fact was closely associated with the community in many lines of interest and activity. He had one hundred and sixty acres of land, but later sold sixty-seven acre. Upon the farm he continued to reside until his death and was a prominent and influential resident of the community. His neighbors were numbered among the pilgrims of Connecticut who came to the new world from England. His mother, Mrs. Rhoda Drake Rogers, was a descendant of the family to which Admiral Drake belonged and she came to Ohio with her son, Almanzar Rogers, being at that time a widow. His family numbered eight daughters and three sons. The eldest of the family was Jehiel Rogers, who was born in Luzerne county, Pennsylvania, December 28, 1817. In early life he went to Berrien county, Michigan, where he served a term of apprenticeship at the carpenter’s trade with the man who built the first swing bridge in Chicago. Jehiel Rogers came to this county in 1840 and here joined his parents, who had arrived in 1839. He spent most of his life in this neighborhood, following the carpenter’s trade, and later he became interested in a sash factory, where he lost his money. Subsequently he operated his farm and afterward removed to the farm upon which Andrew J. Rogers now resides. Here he died December 18, 1888. He had long been a respected and worthy resident of the community and displayed in his life many good qualities. In early manhood he wedded Eliza Roberts, who was born November 2, 1815, in Brook county, Virginia, and in April, 1829, when thirteen years of age, was brought to Richland county by her parents, Richard and Ann Roberts, who spent their remaining days upon a farm adjoining the property of A. J. Rogers. Richard Roberts came to Ohio to fight the Indians and while at Fort Recovery contracted rheumatism, which so crippled him that he was never able to walk straight afterward. His daughter, Mrs. Rogers, survived her husband for about four years and passed away July 2, 1892.

Andrew Jackson Rogers, their only child, was but two years of age when his parents removed from his birthplace to the place where W. R. Brooks now resides. They afterward lived for two years on a farm south of town on the Gamble road and Jehiel Rogers purchased forty acres of land from his father-in-law lying in Jackson township. This he cleared and made of it a good home, living there for sixteen or seventeen years. While spending his boyhood and youth under the parental roof, A. J. Rogers pursued his education in the public schools and was a pupil in the high school of Shelby. Following the removal of the family to the village, he began serving an apprenticeship at the machinist’s trade in 1863. He was employed for one year in the shops of the B. & I. Railroad at Galion and afterward went to Newark, Ohio, where he worked for two years in the Newark machine shops. On the expiration of that period he came again to Shelby, where he entered the shoe business, being associated with his father in that undertaking for two years. He afterward spent two years in the conduct of a sash factory and then resumed general agricultural pursuits, to which he has since given his time and energies. He has here ninety-two and three-quarters acres of land, less the strip on which the railroad has been built. It is the old homestead upon which his grandfather settled in June, 1839. A. J. Rogers cleared a part of this tract after coming here and now has a valuable and well improved farm, which has been his home since 1876. The place presents a neat and attractive appearance, giving every evidence of the care and supervision of the owner.

On the 8th of March, 1866, Mr. Rogers was married to Miss Katherine Hammon, who was born near Rome, Ohio, in 1837, and died May 8, 1877, leaving one son, Albert, who is now a physician of Washington. On the 5th of November, 1880, Mr. Rogers was again married, his second union being with Miss Mary Gould, who was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, December 24, 1859, and their resided until her marriage, her parents being William and Anna Gould. She has become the mother of four children: Olive, Anna, Mamie and Jehiel.

From the foregoing account it will be seen that Mr. Rogers is a representative of two of the oldest families in this part of the state and he has for sixty-four years been a witness of the succession of changes which have led to Shelby’s present development and to the substantial upbuilding of the entire county. While he has never sought to figure before the public in any light save that of a business man, he has in the control of this trade and agricultural interests manifested many sterling qualities, which have made him a valued resident of this part of the state.

Almanza Rogers, 65, b, 1795 in Pennsylvania, living in Sharon Township, Richland County, Ohio.

Alarnza [Almanza] Rogers, 82, b. 1794 in Pennsylvania, d. 03 Jul 1876 in Shelby, Richland County, Ohio. Married.

Almonza Rogers, 55, b. in Pennsylvania abt 1795, living in Sharon Township, Richland County, Ohio. Household includes Sarah Rogers, 59 [his wife], Mary E. Rogers, 24, Philand [Philander] Rogers, 19, Ellen Rogers, 17, & Rhoda Rogers, 79 [mother].

Melinda Fuller Tyrrell married Almanza Rogers at ___ ca 1815. Almanze was born at Luzerne Co., PA on 1 Aug 1795 (handwritten: Age 55 in 1850); died at Richland Co., Ohio on 3 Jul 1876, age 82y 11m 19d...

"He [Andrew Jackson Rogers] was born on Southwest square, in Shelby, Ohio, at the family home, which then stood on the present site of the high-school park. It was there that his grandfather [Almanza Rogers] build his first house."

"His grandfather, Almanzar [Almanza] Rogers...was a carpenter by trade and also inspector of shingles and lumber at Pinchersville, Pennslyvania. He filled the position as postmaster. That town was named from the fact that Mr. Rogers pulled the end of shingles out with pinchers. He was also a farmer and local preacher of the Methodist Episcopal church and in fact was closely associated with the community in many lines of interest and activity."

History of the Orange Church. The United States had not been founded when the first settlers moved into the area of Pennsylvania which would become known as Orange, Franklin Township. These settlers came from diverse areas, moving upriver from southern settlements or downriver from the Colony of New York. They brought with them their families, their dreams, and their religions.

Most of the early settlers: Olds, Braces, Lords, Munsons, Cluvers, Drakes, were Protestants, but of varied denominations. Traveling preachers of their creeds, moving through the area, held infrequent services in private homes or the outdoors. After 1815 when the first schoolhouse was completed in the village, services and church schools were held there by the itinerant clergy.

In 1833, a group of local residents joined together to form the Union Society of the Methodist Church. (Orange was then known as Union.) Two years later, construction was begun on a permanent church building. Until its completion, services continued to be held in the school.

On May 10, 1837, Almanzo Rodgers [Rogers]and wife Sarah, in consideration of $1, deeded to the trustees of the Union Meeting House of the Methodist Episcopal Church, "forty-two perches of land south of the Meeting House," for use as a cemetery. Additional purchases of land were made in 1859 from Mr. Rodgers, and in 1882 from William Heisler to extend the cemetery.

Trustees at the time of the original purchase were Oliver Lewis, Benjamin Chandler, John C. Winters, Henry Isakwish, Almanzo Rodgers, and Daniel Bodle.

This sanctuary and cemetery were located on the Perry Collbaugh farm, now owned by Margaret Cookbaugh Risch and Wanda Coolbaugh Jones. The cemetery still lies behind its iron railing, but the sanctuary has been gone almost a century....

[Information on Almanza. Notres that he removed to Franklin Township, Illinois, which is incorrect...he removed to Richland County, Ohio, with his 2nd wife; remarried a 3rd time after wife #2 died; buried in Shelby-Oakland Cemetery in Shelby, Ohio.]

Certified Copy of Death Record, The State of Ohio, Richland County, Court of Common Pleas, Probate Division, No. 11. Rogers, Alanza, 1876 July 3; married; age 82y 11m 19d; died in Shelby, Ohio; born in Pennsylvania; no occupation listed; no information on parents listed; white; last place of residence was Shelby, Ohio.