Doswell Rogers part 3 Joseph Rogers

There is very little known about Joseph Rogers. He is found in very few places, he appears on the tax lists of Lee County, Virginia in 1802, 1803, 1804 and 1806. He signs a petition with Elisha Rogers in 1807 in Bledsoe County, TN (area now Roane). His heirs are mentioned in an indenture to Elisha Rogers from 1815. Though unrecorded, Joseph Rogers had an agreement prior to his death with William Roberts for 1/8th share to the land or the salt works (not clear) on the Blackwater.

In 1820 John McKinney Jr filed a suit in Chancery court against William Roberts and gives this information. Joseph Rogers had 1/8^th interest in a 400 acre tract with other purchasers, name on deed was William Roberts. Susannah left widow of Joseph Rogers with 4 children. Susannah married James Wallen in 1816. William Roberts purchased her dower which was 1/3 of 1/8^th of the interest in 100 acres. William Roberts never conveyed the 100 acres to the purchasers. Roberts agreed to pay 1000 dollars to James Wallen. John Mckinney was his security for the debt. Roberts was illiterate. Paid 200 dollars to Walling with Mckinney and made bond for 800 dollars (Roberts was also insolvent). Wallen then sold the dower to Thomas Lewis. This went to the Supreme Court of Scott County Dec 25, 1818 Mckinney was charged with the 800 dollars plus costs, and he was trying to recover what was promised to him (appears to be land) for securing the debt to James Wallen. 

In 1842, the children of Joseph, Henry Rogers, Edley H. Rogers, William Davis and his wife Louisa, formerly Rogers, and Thomas Russell and his wife Lucinda, formerly Rogers sued the heirs of William Roberts for the other 2/3 of their father's share. No one to date has found a final decree or outcome to this case. The 1815 indenture to Elisha Rogers appears to state that a portion of the profits would go to Elisha Rogers and the heirs of Joseph Rogers, and that if they didn't succeed in  getting a "sufficient" salt works the deed would be null and void. It is possible that when William Roberts initially purchased the Osborn Tract on the Blackwater in 1810 he was already in partnership with Elisha and Joseph Rogers or their father Doswell Rogers, his father in law. 

I have often wondered if Doswell loaned William Roberts money, and upon his death (sometime 1812-1815), his share in the saltworks didn't revert to Elisha and Joseph as their share in his estate. What is evident is that William Roberts continued to sell off portions and shares of the salt lick. What is confusing, is that when he purchased the land, 1/2 interest in the saltworks appeared to have gone to the Osborn's. So unless they made a second salt works, William Roberts only had 1/2 interest to begin with. It also appears that the children of Joseph Rogers never got their share.

The wife of Joseph Rogers is supposed to be Susan or Susanna Shue. The source of this comes from a lady who posted in 1998 that it was in the family bible of one of the descendants. She died, and no one has ever seen this bible to my knowledge. There aren't any Shue's near Lee County, or near Bledsoe County where Joseph lived. There is a Thomas Shye who lived in Bledsoe at this time, he is of age to be a brother to Susan. There is also a family of Shuh or Shue as it became known, in Shenadoah, Virginia. This could be a possible lead, but one of the two families has a bible that does not include the name of Susan. 

There are a few disputable and arguable points between researchers of the descendants of Joseph Rogers and myself. Almost all of the researchers of Edley give Joseph the middle name of Jefferson. As there is no documentation of this, I choose not to include it in my research at this time. Though his name is listed as Edley H on all documents, I question that his middle name was Henry, the same name as his brothers. Similarly, there is no documentation in which Henry has a first initial of J. nor where he is listed as John, so I do not choose to document his name as John Henry, but as Henry Rogers. 

Additionally, the oral history is that Henry and Edley married sisters, both with the surname of Rodgers. We can't prove or disprove this, Hamilton County is a burned county for that time frame, and although we have the testimony of George W Adams as to when and who married Henry and his wife, we don't have a surname. Also, Edley's researchers say his wife's name is Mahala, and that Henry's wife is Mariah. Now we only have one documentation for Henry's wife, on the 1850 census of Hamilton County, her name is Mahala. Edley's wife is Amelia in 1850, and Mahala thereafter. 

The Indian question, is quite a large dispute. I don't ever believe outright that the family is not of indian descent, however, all of the Eastern Cherokee applications made by a large percentage of the descendants of Edley and a few of Henry's claim a Joseph Rogers on the 1835 roll. Joseph was dead we know, by 1815, so obviously this is false information. It is not their fault, attorney's advertised for claimants to apply, asked the name of their ancestor and then looked on a roll and if they found the name used it. They didn't "research" with any accuracy.

If the Rogers from Joseph are Cherokee there are only two possibilities. One would be that Susan was part Cherokee. And if she was part, she had to pass pretty well, so she would be a mixed blood of 1/2 or less. Since she says she's born in Virginia, that does bring somethings into question, but the Rogers have a lot of ties to Carroll County, Georgia that I simply cannot explain.  The second possibility is that the wives of Henry and Edley were mixed blood Cherokees. I still feel that my ancestor Louisa Rogers was likely 1/4 Cherokee or less, and since there has been no documentation from any source, (correspondence from the Cherokee office, rolls, or listed as an intruder), we will likely never prove this ancestry. 

I want to make it clear that there is nothing showing that Joseph Rogers, Doswell Rogers, or any of the children of Doswell Rogers are Indian. 

The eldest child of Joseph Rogers and Susan was Louisa. Census records give her birth about 1804. She is last found living in Wood, Texas in 1880. I have not located her grave, or found a death date for her. She married William N. Davis about 1826 and lived in Carroll County, Georgia where she had a large family, her children were John Jefferson, Edley Jackson, James A, William H, Lafayette Hampton, Nancy, Lucinda, Thomas B., and Hannah Davis.

The second child of Joseph Rogers and Susan is my ancestor Henry. He was born about 1809-1810 and died during the Civil War in Missouri in 1863. He married his wife December 23, 1827 in Hamilton County, Tennessee and was married by Ephraim Hixson. His wife died about 1853, and in 1859 Henry and his family, along with Edley and most of Edley's children moved to Arkansas. One of the sons of Henry gives his place of birth as Carroll County Georgia repeatedly, the rest all claim to have been born in Tennessee. The children of Henry Rogers and his wife Mahala were John Alexander, James Washington, Maranda, Edley Jackson, Henry, Lucinda, Louisa, Joseph Jefferson, William Miles, Amey Ann, and Susan Rogers.

The third child of Joseph Rogers and Susan is Lucinda Rogers. She was married to Thomas Raymond Russell. He died shortly after the petition of the case of 1842 and she married a James Hayes. By 1850 she has apparently died. Her children are not always found, but we show Margaret Russell living with Henry in 1850 and with her half Aunt, Mary Ann Culpepper in 1860. Susan Helen Adelia is found in 1860 with her grandmother, she marries a Frederick Scheislitt and died in Georgia. Lastly we have William Newton Russell who lives with his grandparents in 1850 and then is found in McMinn from 1880 until his death. I have not found a marriage for Margaret Russell.

The last child of Joseph Rogers and his wife Susan was Edley H. Rogers. Edley was born about 1814 and died February 1860 enroute to Arkansas. His wife Mahala Amelia is found in Greene County, Arkansas in 1870 and died in Paris, Arkansas in 1910. The children of Edley are Joseph Washington, Henry J, Louisa Ann, John Benton, William Neely David, Susan Emily, Thomas Jefferson, Edley Anderson, George Steven, Maranda Lucinda, and James Miles Rogers. Eleanor made a valid point about the mortality schedule, however, as I replied, the oral history is that Edley accompanied his brother Henry west and left his family behind. They gave the mortality information where they still resided, which was in Hamilton County, TN.

Many of the descendants of  Edley and Henry Rogers still live in Yell and Johnson counties, Arkansas.

 I mentioned that John Daly was a descendant of Doswell Rogers in an earlier post. John Daly's mother, Anna Lou Hale Daly is the great great granddaughter of Henry Rogers, and thus a great great great great granddaughter of Doswell Rogers.