ROGERS.
In 1748 John Rogers, of King William, obtained grants of
four hundred acres on Naked Creek, and of four hundred on
Buck Mountain Creek. At the same time his son George
was granted four hundred acres on Piney Run. John further
patented upwards of six hundred more on Naked Creek in
1761. Neither of them however ever lived in the county.
John died about 1768.
Giles, a son of John, came to the county anterior to 1765.
He purchased the interest of his brother George in 1775. His
home was on the waters of Buck Mountain Creek. He died
in 1794. His wife was Ann, daughter of John Lewis, of
Spotsylvania, and his children Achilles, Parmenas, Ann, the
wife of Robert Davis, Lucy, the wife of Jonathan Barksdale,
Frances, the wife of Samuel Twyman, and Rachel. Achilles
married his cousin Mary George, lived on Ivy Creek, near
the crossing of the Whitehall Road, and died about 1820.
Parmenas succeeded to the home of his father, was appointed
a magistrate in 1807, became Sheriff in 1834, and died in 1836.
He was twice married, first to a Miss Baber, and secondly
to Elizabeth Ferguson. He had a large family, William,
Joseph, Ralph, James B., George, Parmenas, Permelia, Giles,
Frances, Orville, Catharine, Thomas, Jonathan, Elizabeth,
the wife of Nathan Barksdale, and Ann. James B. was a
physician, lived west of Earlysville, married Margaret,
daughter of David Wood and Mildred Lewis, was the father
of Martha, the wife of her cousin, Dr. Alfred Wood, and Dr.
W. G. Rogers, of Charlottesville, and died in 1863. Frances
is the sole member of this numerous household still living in
Albemarle.
Byrd, another son of John, was for a time a resident of the
county. He was twice married to sisters, Mary and Martha
Trice, and had by the first two sons, John and Philip, and
by the second one, George. He emigrated to Kentucky
about the beginning of the century, and died shortly after.
George accompanied his father to the West. Philip spent
his youth in Albemarle, contracted roving habits, owned an
interest at one time in the Red Sweet Springs, and died
in Louisville, Ky. John, familiarly known in his day as
Farmer John, passed his life on his plantation in the county,
near Keswick Depot. He and his son-in-law, Richard Sampson,
were regarded as occupying the front rank among the
sagacious and successful planters of the State. About 1820
the Albemarle Agricultural Society awarded to John Rogers
the premium for having the best tilled farm in the county.
He died in 1838. His wife was Susan, daughter of Charles
Goodman, and his children John, Thornton, Mary, the wife
of Richard Sampson, and Janetta, the wife of J. Price Sampson.
John married Agnes, sister of Stephen Sampson,
succeeded to the homestead, and died in 1841. Thornton
resided at Keswick, a part of his father's place, on which for
some years he conducted a classical school, and which gave
name to the neighboring Depot. A few years before his
death he entered the Presbyterian ministry. His wife was
Margaret, daughter of Andrew Hart, and his children
Adeline, the wife of Rev. E. L. Cochran, Susan, the wife of
Rev. Joseph Baxter, Dr. A. Hamilton, Oscar, William A.,
Julia, the wife of Keating Nelson, Celia, the wife of Rev.
James M. Wilson, and John. He departed this life in 1834.
In the decade of 1790, a John Rogers, whose wife's name
was Mary, came from Stafford, and bought land in the neighborhood
of Earlysville; nothing further is known of him.
Some years later another John Rogers came from Lancaster
County, and lived on the east side of the South West Mountain.
To distinguish him from Farmer John, the syllable
Lan. was affixed to his name, while to Farmer John's was
appended the letter M. He died in 1851.
