Person:Samuel Rogers (2)

Samuel inherited from his grandfather Samuel Rowland the farm at Stratford and from his father the stone house and bakery at the head of Winthrop's (or Mill) Cove, New London. There he lived about 15 years and became the first settler of what became Montville.

From Savage's Genealogical Dictionary

SAMUEL, New London, eldest s[on]. of James the first, had good est[ate]. by devise of his gr[and].-f[ather]. Samuel Rowland, m[arried]. 17 Nov. 1662, Caulkins says, p. 297, but on p. 202 says 1664, Mary, d[aughter]. of Thomas Stanton the first, had perhaps a fam[ily]. tho[ugh]. I find no ment[ion]. of it in the hist[ory]. but he had d[aughter]. Mary, wh[o]. m[arried]. 2 Oct. 1684, Capt[ain]. Samuel Gilbert, and d[ied]. 30 Sept. 1756, aged 90; and he d[ied]. 1 Dec. 1713.

From James Rogers of New London, CT and His Descendants

Samual's father, James Rogers and Thomas Stanton, father of Mary who married Samual, each gave him two hundred pounds Stirling for a wedding present. James Rogers also gave him the stone house and bakery at the head of Winthrop's Cove. Here he began housekeeping, conducting the bakery for many years, and was finally succeeded in business by his son Samual.

About 1680 he moved to what was then called Mohegan, and became the first actual settler. He had been for years on intimate terms with Uncas, Chief of the Mohegans, and both Uncas and his son Owaneco gave him lands in consideration of friendship and services rendered to themselves and their tribe. One of those tracts was a valuable farm on Saw-mill Brook and Uncas being desirous to have Rogers settle there, promised to protect him with all his warriers, in case of emergency.

In Norwich, there is a monument to Uncas, the Mohegan Chief, laid during a visit of President Andrew Jackson. It stands in the Royal Indian Burial Ground on Sachem Street where only reigning Sachems and their descendants are buried.

The following anecdote is relate by Miss Caulkins

On this tract Rogers built a house of hewn plank, surrounded with a wall, and mounted a big gun in front. When prepared for the experiment, he fired a signal of alarm, which had been concerted with his tawny friend, (Oncas] in case either should be disturbed by the enemy; and in half an hour's time grim bands of warriors were seen on the hills, and soon came rushing down, with the sachem at their head, to the rescue of their friend. Rogers had prepared a feast for their entertainment, but it was probably that they relished the trick nearly as much as the banquet. It was one of their own jests; they were always delighted with contrivance and stratagem.

Samuel Rogers owned a great deal of real estate, and his transactions in land - as shown by the books of land records - far outnumbered those of any other man in the Colony.

His home stood about three-quarters of a mile south of the Congregational Meeting House of the Rogerene Church on a plain now owned by Albert A. Rogers, one of his descendants. A short distance east is a burying ground of the Rogers families and their near relatives. Nearly one hundred graves are to be found there.

From Ostrander and Allied Families

He was in close sympathy with the Rogerenes, although no record has been found of his membership in that church. He was also in close friendship with his brother, John.

From It's About Time

On 29 November 1669, New London appointed Lt. Avery, Saml. Rogers, James Morgan, and John Morgan to lay out a "kings highway" between Mystic and Norwich, Connecticut.

The following is an extract from his will:

I bequeath my spirit to the ever living God. To my grandchild Elizabeth Stanton... to her brother Theophilus.... To my son Jonathan by great Bible and my great book of accounts in folio. To my dear and loving wife Johana Rogers I give all my household stuff and bedding and all my house kind, cattle and sheep, except one cow and six sheep which I order to be delivered unto my cousin John Rogers, son of brother John Rogers, to be dispose of as I have ordered him. I appoint my wife executrix to act with advice of John Rogers above said and Samuel Fox, eldest son of my brother (actually brother-in-law] Samuel Fox.

From Baptisms By Bradstreet, in New London

12 Feb 1670 Samuel Rogers's children: Samuel, Mary

1. ↑ James Savage, Former President of the Massachusetts Historical Society and Editor of Winthrop's History of New England. 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. (1860-62 and Genealogical Publishing Co., Baltimore, MD, 1965; Corrected electronic version copyright Robert Kraft, July 1994)
   Vol. 3, p. 568-569.
2. ↑ James Swift Rogers. ROGERS: James Rogers of New London, CT and his Descendants. (published Boston by the compiler 1902).
3. ↑ Frances Manwaring Caulkins. CAULKINS' History of New London, Connecticut. (New London, 1852, 1860 or 1895).