Person:Giles Rogers (2)

Note: Giles Rogers did not marry Rachel Eastham (part of a theory that was popular in the late 19th century and has since been debunked - see talk page of John Rogers and Rachel Eastham, section John Rogers and Mary Byrd: A Theory Debunked). While his wife might have been Sarah Iverson, this is not certain - see Giles Rogers and Sarah Iverson.

Research was conducted in the 19th century to establish his descent from John Rogers the martyr and the results were sufficient to satisfy a requirement of the College of Heraldry^[5], but it is not clear what proof was obtained.

Various traditions indicate that he arrived in Virginia in 1680 or in 1686, but this appears to be speculation prior to the finding of any official records indicating when he immigrated. Official records suggest that he probably arrived in 1664 and there does not appear to be any evidence that he settled permanently in Virginia any later than 1670.^[4].

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1 1.2} Aldridge, Anna Martha. Jacob Stucker Sr. and his kinfolks, 1700-1956. (Salt Lake City, Utah: Genealogical Society of Utah, 1971)
   p. 27-28.

   Information apparently from Daughters of the American Colonists or their members.

2. ↑ Dobson, David. Original Scots Colonists of Early America. Supplement 1607-1707. (Baltimore, Maryland, United States: Genealogical Publishing Company, Inc, 1998)
   p. 148.

   Rogers, Giles, b. 1643 son of John Rogers and Lucy Iverson, Edinburgh, emigrated to Virginia 1678, died 1730.
   (Source: Austin Genealogical Quarterly, 1962, 44)

3. ↑ Early immigrants to Virginia : another Researchers publication. (Indianapolis [Indiana]: Researchers, 1984?).

   ROGERS, GILES, (Born 1653) Edinburgh, Scotland) Died 1730 King and Queen Co. VA.Married 1672 Rachel Eastham in England. Having been in VA. previously, he returned in 1680, arriving in his own ship.

   This source appears to be derivative, and copies widely-published information (that Giles married Rachel Eastham) that has since been debunked. The birth year does not agree with the one commonly given elsewhere (1643) and may be a typo. The rest of the info is similarly suspect (arriving in 1680 is not proven).

4. ↑ Dawson, Nelson L. Genealogies of Kentucky Families: From the Filson Club History Quarterly. (Baltimore, Maryland: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1981)
   3:259.

   'Giles Rogers ... is supposed to have been born in Edinborough, Scotland. That statement is probably based on the fact that his Christian name is the same as that of the patron saint of that city. He is thought to have been born about 1643 and to have become a resident of Worcestershire, England, where our tale begins to unfold.
   
   Our traditions state that as a young man he came to Virginia in or about 1670 with a view of possibly becoming a colonist, but that he returned to England. However, in Patent Book No. 5, page 333, I find that Col. Robert Abrall obtained a patent for 500 acres in New Kent County under date of April 26, 1664, for the transportation of ten persons, including Giles Rogers [citing Cavaliers and Pioneers, 1:502]. Therefore, Giles Rogers' first trip to Virginia must have been earlier than our traditions state. However, he himself obtained a patent, dated April 18, 1670, for 400 acres in what was then New Kent County, Virginia--from which King & Queen County was formed--for the transportation of eight persons. That he subsequently settled in what afterwards became King & Queen County, Virginia, all accounts agree.'

5. ↑ Anderson, William Kyle. Donald Robertson and his wife Rachel Rogers of King and Queen County, Virginia: their ancestry and posterity : also a brief account of the ancestry of Commodore Richard Taylor of Orange County, Virginia, and his naval history during the War of the American Revolution. (Detroit, Mich.: unknown, 1900)
   p. 206 footnote.

   '[T]he late Joseph Rogers Underwood, United States Senator from Kentucky, spent considerable time and money in endeavoring to trace the antecedents of Giles Rogers, and for this purpose employed the College of Heraldry at London to prosecute the investigation. Much difficulty was encountered in tracing back an unbroken line, but enough information was discovered to warrant the claim that he was directly descended from the great reformer, John Rogers, "the martyr", who was burned at the stake in Smithfield, February 4, 1555, by order of "Bloody Mary". In token of Judge Underwood's descent from an ecclesiastical ancestor, who suffered martyrdom, the college authorized him to add a crossed crosslet to the family arms.'

   While this statement is undoubtedly true (this being a seemingly reliable source), it is possible that "enough information" is not actual proof.