Jay and Bessie (Cummings) Rogers

Jay Lee and Bessie (Cummings) Rogers

Immigrants to South Dakota from Iowa

(Note: Webpage in preparation)

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Webpage Credits

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References

Webpage Credits

Thanks go to Jean Rosenkrantz for her extensive research for "Weavers of a Legacy", the best available source for Rogers family history information.

Jay and Bessie (Cummings) Rogers and Their Three Oldest Children - Helen, Vernon and Ferne (left to right)

From Ferne (Rogers) Roggow photo album at Lucas, SD

Photo Label by Ferne Roggow:

Descendant Chart from Early Work

John Rogers ( - 13 Aug 1711) & Elizabeth Squire ( - 29 Oct 1713)

|---1 William Rogers (5 May 1667 - 8 Jun 1740) & Elizabeth Unknown ( - 16 Jun 1749)

|---|---2 John Rogers (16 May 1672 - )

|---|---2 Joseph Rogers (3 May 1702 - )

|---|---2 Benjamin Rogers (23 Sep 1705 - 21 Nov 1792) & Ann Pearson ( - 22 Jun 1793)

|---|---|---3 Joseph Rogers (25 Dec 1735 - ) & Elizabeth Holmes (About 1734 - )

|---|---|---|---4 Joseph Rogers (20 May 1757 - 6 Dec 1757)

|---|---|---|---4 John Rogers (29 Oct 1758 - 20 Jul 1759)

|---|---|---|---4 Samuel Rogers (1 May 1760 - 29 Jan 1828) & Ann Gaunt (1762 - 24 May 1823)

|---|---|---|---|---5 Samuel Rogers (6 Dec 1782 - 7 Feb 1857) & Mary Akroyd (1 Aug 1791 - 17 Dec 1836)

|---|---|---|---|---|---6 Hannah Rogers (9 Jan 1810 - 29 Aug 1810)

|---|---|---|---|---|---6 Mary Rogers (13 May 1811 - 23 Jan 1872) & John Woodley

|---|---|---|---|---|---6 Margaret A Rogers (21 Oct 1813 - 23 Jan 1880) & Amasa Benjamin Winchell

|---|---|---|---|---|---6 Jacob Rogers (23 Dec 1815 - 5 Apr 1870) & Almira Santee

|---|---|---|---|---|---6 Samuel Rogers (15 Dec 1817 - 29 Aug 1895) & Elizabeth Harding (11 Jan 1820 - 4 Jul 1910)

|---|---|---|---|---|---|---7 Mary E Rogers (31 Jan 1842 - 21 Mar 1853)

|---|---|---|---|---|---|---7 George H Rogers (12 Aug 1843 - 2 Nov 1856)

|---|---|---|---|---|---|---7 James P. Rogers (16 Mar 1845 - 27 May 1923) & Jennie Dudley

|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---8 Dorothy Rogers,

|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---8 Girl2 Rogers,

|---|---|---|---|---|---|---7 Emmaline ("Emma") Rogers (1 Apr 1847 - 6 Nov 1916) & Nelson E ("Nels") Emmons

|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---8 May Emmons

|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---8 Laura Emmons

|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---8 Celia Emmons

|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---8 Wildie Emmons

|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---8 Amanda (Kit) Emmons

|---|---|---|---|---|---|---7 Jeremiah Akroyd Rogers (4 May 1849 - 11 Jul 1929) & Martha Marie Bennett (22 Feb 1849 - 16 Oct 1922)

|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---8 George Rogers (25 Aug 1874 - 25 Aug 1925) & Flora M (Flory) Covey (29 Oct 1886 - 28 Jul 1954)

|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---8 James Rogers (4 Feb 1876 - 11 Jul 1919)

|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---8 William ("Will") Rogers (23 Mar 1880 - 7 Feb 1960) & Rhoda Belle ("Belle") Covey (16 May 1886 - 12 Dec 1978)

|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---8 Jay Lee Rogers (1 Jan 1884 - 16 Jan 1978) & Bessie Cummings (6 May 1889 - 31 Oct 1929)

|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---8 Edna Rogers (10 Feb 1888 - 17 May 1979) & Earl Victor Peterson (10 Aug 1987 - 25 Oct 1956)

|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---8 Paul Rogers (25 Dec 1893 - )

|---|---|---|---|---|---|---7 Sarah Rogers (9 Feb 1852 - 9 Apr 1852)

|---|---|---|---|---|---|---7 Samuel Richard Rogers (19 Nov 1854 - 11 Jul 1923) & Melva E. ("Melvie") Mobley

|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---8 Richard Rogers

|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---8 Henry Rogers

|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---8 Emmons Rogers

|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---8 Jerry Rogers

|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---8 Jessie Rogers

|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---8 Mabel Rogers

|---|---|---|---|---|---|---7 William George ("Will") Rogers (7 Jul 1861 - 12 Oct 1932) & Emma M ("Emmy) Mobley

|---|---|---|---|---|---6 Elizabeth A Rogers (3 Jun 1820 - 2 Oct 1875) & William VanDyke

|---|---|---|---|---|---6 Richard Gaunt Rogers (16 Oct 1822 - 23 Jan 1874) & Mary Bly

|---|---|---|---|---|---6 Jeremiah Akroyd Rogers (22 May 1826 - 20 Jan 1877) & Phebe Salmon

|---|---|---|---|---|---6 John Rogers (14 Aug 1828 - 1828)

|---|---|---|---|---|---6 George Higgins Rogers (6 Nov 1829 - 12 Feb 1847)

|---|---|---|---|---|---6 Sidney ? Rogers

|---|---|---|---|---|---6 Will ? Rogers

|---|---|---|---|---5 Joseph Rogers (13 Aug 1785 - )

|---|---|---|---|---5 Jonathan Rogers (7 Oct 1785 - )

|---|---|---|---|---5 John Rogers (11 Feb 1787 - )

|---|---|---|---|---5 William Rogers (17 Mar 1788 - )

|---|---|---|---|---5 Hannah Rogers (13 Feb 1790 - )

|---|---|---|---|---5 Richard Rogers (15 Jul 1791 - )

|---|---|---|---|---5 David Rogers (29 Jul 1793 - )

|---|---|---|---|---5 Martha Rogers (8 May 1796 - 4 Feb 1798)

|---|---|---|---|---5 Benjamin Rogers (28 Sep 1797 - )

|---|---|---|---|---5 Reuben Rogers (8 Dec 1798 - )

|---|---|---|---|---5 Jacob Rogers (1 Feb 1880 - )

|---|---|---|---4 Anna Rogers (29 Jan 1764 - )

|---|---|---|---4 Benjamin Rogers ( - 29 Jul 1766)

|---|---|---|---4 Martha Rogers ( - 17 Jan 1768)

|---|---|---|---4 Benjamin Rogers ( - 8 Nov 1769)

|---|---|---|---4 William Rogers ( - 29 Jun 1771)

|---|---|---|---4 Joseph Rogers (Circa 1772 - 30 Nov 1791)

|---|---|---3 Benjamin Rogers (28 Aug 1737 - )

|---|---|---3 Reuben Rogers (23 Mar 1739 - )

|---|---|---3 Ann Rogers (20 Feb 1742 - )

|---|---|---3 William Rogers (1 Sep 1745 - )

|---|---|---3 Hannah Rogers (27 Dec 1745 - )

|---|---|---3 Ann Rogers (12 May 1750 - )

|---|---2 Ann Rogers (11 Apr 1708 - )

|---|---2 James Rogers (27 Oct 1711 - 7 Oct 1713)

|---|---2 John Rogers (6 Aug 1713 - )

|---|---2 George Rogers (3 Feb 1715 - 7 May 1716)

|---|---2 Frances Rogers (1 Apr 1717 - )

|---|---2 Martha Rogers (24 Apr 1719 - )

|---1 John Rogers (16 May 1672 - )

|---1 Anne Rogers (14 Jun 1674 - )

|---1 Richard Rogers (24 May 1677 - )

|---1 Elizabeth Rogers (1 Jan 1679 - )

|---1 Susannah Rogers (3 Mar 1681 - )

Jay Lee and Bessie (Cummings) Rogers from Jean Rosenkrantz's "Weavers of a Legacy"

Available on website for Sullivan County, Pennsylvania Genealogy Project. Self described as follows:

Welcome to the award-winning Sullivan County Pennsylvania Genealogy Page! Here you'll find a plethora of information concerning the settlers of Sullivan County, its rich history, the Endless Mountains, and a lot of useful resources to research your family surnames. This is a FREE genealogy resource sponsored through USGenWeb and PAGenWeb and can always be reached directly at no charge.

Reachable at the following website: http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~pasulliv/

Or, reach the publication directly at: http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~pasulliv/settlers/settlers46/settlers46.htm

A PDF file is also accessible on this website, "Link to "Weavers" ...

Generation 9: Jeremiah “Jay” Rogers , Jr. and Bessie Cummings

Jeremiah Rogers, Jr., as far as any of the living relatives know, was known as “Jay” and will be so referenced in this biography. Jay married Bessie Leona Cummings on May 1, 1911 at Bijou Hills, South Dakota. Jay and Bessie were the parents of Ferne born 1912, Vernon born 1915, Helen born 1917, Ruby born 1919, twins Dorothy and Doris born 1921, Phyllis born 1924 and Evelyn born 1925. All of the children, as of this writing, are deceased except Helen who lives in Pierre, South Dakota and Phyllis who lives in Texas.

Just three months after the death of his father, Jay lost his wife, Bessie, who died on October 31, 1929 at Snake Creek. Her death left Jay with eight children to raise, the youngest only four years old. Jay did not remarry. He did not “farm out” the children. He did not have emotional support from a widower’s grief group or Parents Without Partners. His children probably had to grow up very fast, and the older ones cared for the younger ones.

Jay played an historical role in early Missouri River navigation as the owner and pilot of a ferry which crossed the Missouri River linking the east bank of Charles Mix County with the west bank of Gregory County. There were no bridges across the river at that time. The first known ferry on the Missouri River in this area was a rope pull ferry located at Ft. Randall in Charles Mix County. A cable was anchored on each bank and the cable ran through rings on the side of the ferry. The boat was pulled, oared and pushed across the river. [11] That first boat was sold to a Donald Slate who put a tread power on the ferry that was powered by horses. In 1898 a gas powered sternwheeler, “The Nellie L,” replaced the tread power boat at that crossing.

The Snake Creek ferry crossing was on the east side of today’s Platte/Winner bridge between Charles Mix County on the east bank and Gregory County on the west bank. Jay Roger’s involvement with that ferry crossing is noted below in his own words with editorial comments in parentheses:

The first ferry at Snake Creek was owned by Guy Federli when Gregory County was opened up to homesteaders (1901 per Jack Broome). Guy went down and bought a ferry in the city of Vermillion (the boat was called the “City of Platte”). He knew there would be a rush of land seekers for homesteads when the time came. Guy Federli ran the boat through the land seekers rush that year or maybe two. Guy sold the boat to a man named Drake who had come up the river on the old snag boat, “Mandan.” He ran it one year; another guy bought it but only ran it for a short time. He sold the ferry to Alfred Johnson and Jacob Hammer. The old boat became pretty old and was about to sink. Alfred and “Jake” had to build a new “City of Platte” which I ran for seven years. When Alfred had his ranch sale, he said if I would do the crossing for the sale, he would give me his share. This is how I came to own “The City of Platte.” In 1918-1919 I sold out to Eldon McMullen and his father. Eldon and I became partners. We built a new boat in 1920-1921. It was christened the “Snake Creek Ferry.”

Local Gregory County educator and historian, Jack Broome, provides a bit more family history related to the Snake Creek ferry crossing:

Rogers Ferry, Snake Creek Crossing, Missouri River, Charles Mix County, SD

(Photo from scrapbook of Ferne Rogers Roggow)

Mrs. Allie Trewartha and son, Orrie, built the Snake Creek store at the crossing in 1910. (Allie was Alma Ann Bennett Trewartha, a sister of Martha Bennett, and an aunt to Jay Rogers.) The store also provided travelers with lodging and a barn. Jay Rogers and Eldon “Squire” McMullen were pilots of the boat, but assistants included George Gordon, George Harding, George and Ewald Roggow. The ferry crossing fare was $1.25 plus 25 cents for an auto. Business was brisk, especially on weekends, with many fishermen on the west side of the river heading to Red Lake.

In 1921 McMullen bought out Jay Rogers and continued navigation of the ferry until 1931. George and Ewald Roggow piloted the ferry until ‘34 along with Wilbur “Boom” Slagel and Paul Rogers (nephew of Jay Rogers). Paul Rogers was the last pilot of the ferry which was sold at the McMullen farm sale. [12]

Paul’s son, Eldon “Bud” Rogers, adds that his father had been the youngest person to receive a river captain’s license at the time.

Jay’s daughter, Ferne Rogers Roggow, penned her rendition of the family history on September 26, 1975:

My father, Jay Rogers, was born to Jerry and Martha Rogers, January 1, 1884 in Panora, Guthrie County, Iowa. Their family consisted of George, Jim, William, Jay and Edna. Jim and Will passed away years ago. Edna Rogers Peterson is 86 years old and in very poor health. She lives in Ridgefield, Washington. Jay is 91 years old and in fair health. He lives at Pierre, South Dakota with his daughter, Mrs. Helen Byrum.

Jay Rogers and Bessie Cummings were married May 1, 1911 at Bijou Hills and lived there the first years of their married life. Jay and his dad, Jerry Rogers, bought a threshing machine together and threshed grain a couple of years around Geddes, South Dakota.

Our mother passed away on October 30, 1929 (sic October 31) leaving Dad to raise eight children and he did. He kept us all together; went through the dirty 30's. He fished and sold fish, trapped animals, sawed lumber, cut wood and worked for different ones to make a living.

Back in 1914 he took over the Snake Creek ferry and ran it 7 years, built a new one and he and Eldon McMullen worked together. In 1921 or 1922 he sold out to McMullen and moved to a farm we called the “Turgeon Place.” Now they call it the Rogers Draw. We lived there two years and moved to Iona on the ice in January and went into partnership with George Tagtow to run that ferry boat called the Phyllis-Lorraine. We lived right on the river by the ferry landing. We lived there one year and moved back to the farm at Platte, or Turgeon Place in 1925. We lived there until 1937 when we all decided to go to Oregon. During this time on the farm we never raised many good crops. We lived in a log cabin; they are warm homes.

In 1937 Dad had a sale and sold out, bought an International truck and put a cover over it, and we all went to Oregon. The girls and Dad picked berries during the summer, also hops. In August they all came back to South Dakota.

After Dad got back to South Dakota, he and the girls cut wood and sold it. He was offered a good job cutting lumber north of Iona for George Hammerbeck. Was there for awhile, went on up to Oacoma, South Dakota, and from there to Pierre. Finally settled down by Rousseau [13] where he lives today.”

Another daughter, Phyllis Rogers Grimshaw, wrote a short autobiography in November 1999 of her growing up years in Rogers Draw along the Missouri River. Excerpts from her story follow:

I don’t hardly remember my mother–she died in October 1929, I was five. My Dad raised us girls.

We had a good life in the old draw, lived in a house partly made of logs and partly boards with tar paper on the outside. We all learned to milk cows and ride horses and drive a team of horses. Hauled our water in barrels in a wagon pulled by a team from the Missouri River.

We had a lot of fun when we was kids. Pa made sleds for us and we would slide down hill in the winter seems like mostly in Trewartha’s pasture. We skated on the river in the winter. We swam in the river in the summer and Pa fished and sold them in Platte.

Pa also farmed with a team. We all helped in the field since we was little. We drove the team (Dolly and Bonnie) we used a drag to smooth the ground and sometimes we had to cultivate.

Pa ran a ferry boat to get cars across the river at Snake Creek, but that was before my time. We kids always was outside. We rode everything that had four feet–the horses, cows, pigs, calves, goats.

Dorothy, Evelyn and I helped Pa get wood up for winter. We would go to what we called Sabin’s timber up the river from where we lived maybe 5 miles with a team and wagon and brought the logs home on the wagon, then sawed the logs into stove size pieces. Pa made the stove out of a barrel.

Doris liked to play with dolls. Pa made those too and she liked to cut people out of an old catalog then cut out clothes to put on the people like paper dolls. She liked to stay in the house but she could drive a team or milk a cow or anything else like the rest of us.

Thomas Grimshaw, son of Phyllis Rogers Grimshaw, adds his personal memories of his Grandfather Jay:

Jay injured his knee when jumping onto or off the ferry as a young man, and he limped and suffered from chronic pain for the rest of his life as a result. He treated it with liniment, and I remember as a child that he usually smelled of liniment.

Grandpa was able to make or repair almost anything. He used to whittle a great deal, and I still have a toy he carved–with a rectangular four-posted cage containing a round wood ball, carved in place within the cage, and with a human head on top–all carved from a single piece of wood. He used to make great slingshots for me, too!

The childhood memories of Jay’s children, who lived under conditions that we would label as deplorable today, are a tribute to the courage and tenacity of not only Jay Rogers, but of all prairie pioneers. Let’s take a short diversion to explore just one of the many prairie hardships endured by all early pioneers of the South Dakota homestead era–housing.

Prairie Housing

The humble little dirt-floor log cabin where Jay lived was actually quite “modern” for its time. Prairie housing was more typically tar paper shacks, dugouts and sod houses. Homesteaders such as the Rogers, who lived near a river, hauled logs up from the river bottom to construct their log houses.

Tar paper shacks were framed with twisted planks and then covered with black tar paper. Such a crude shelter was only intended as temporary housing during mild weather months, but in reality often became a permanent dwelling place for impoverished settlers. The dugout consisted of a hole literally dug out of the side of a hill sometimes with an open roof covered with brush and sod. Often the only visible sign of a dugout was the stove pipe sticking out above the sod roof.

Sod was plentiful, but digging and plowing of the virgin prairie grass with its deep, tangled roots was arduous. The sod shanty, referred to as a “soddy,” nevertheless, was the most common architecture of the day. Furrows were turned over with a plow from approximately one-half acre of thick sod and then cut with a spade into blocks of three foot lengths. The blocks were stacked on top of each other with every third layer laid crosswise for stability. The roof was usually constructed of willow branches or planks and then covered with sod. Many houses were only 10 x 12 foot structures, but the more pretentious soddies were 16 x 20 feet. The sod house was fairly durable, cool in the summer and warm in the winter, but often had a leaky roof and afforded little protection against mice and other prairie vermin. It had poor lighting and ventilation and was impossible to keep clean. A sod house usually didn’t last more than six to seven years. [14]

The poem to follow is a humorous tribute to all of our pioneer ancestors who endured the hardships of the soddy.

My little old sod shanty on my claim

I am looking rather seedy now while holding down my claim,

And my victuals are not always served the best

And the mice play slyly round me as I nestle down to rest

In my little old shanty on the claim.

The hinges are of leather and the windows have no glass

While the roof it lets the howling blizzard in,

And I hear the hungry coyote as he slinks up through grass

Round the little old sod shanty on my claim.

Yet I rather like the novelty of living in this way

Though my bill of fare is always rather tame,

But I’m happy as a clam on my land from Uncle Sam

In the little old sod shanty on my claim.

But when I left my eastern home, a bachelor so gay

To try to win my way to wealth and fame

I little thought I’d come down to burning twisted hay

In my little old sod shanty on my claim.

My clothes are plastered o’er with dough, I’m looking like a fright,

And everything is scattered round my room.

But I wouldn’t give the freedom that I have out in the west

For the table of the eastern man’s old home.

Still, I wish that some kindhearted girl would pity on me take

And relieve me from the dreadful mess I’m in,

The angel, how I’d bless her, if this her home she’d make

In the little old sod shanty on the claim.

Author: Annie Chamberlain

Jay and Bessie Cummings Rogers with children -- Helen, Vernon and Ferne -- 1917

(Photo from scrapbook of Ferne Rogers Roggow)

Although the descendants of the emigrant woolen weavers branched out into many other vocations, some of them were still weaving in one fashion or another in the 20th century. Jay Rogers and his daughter, Ferne Rogers Roggow, and possibly the other children as well, wove fish nets traps which they used for their own fishing and marketed to other Missouri River fishermen. Ferne was also known throughout the neighborhood as a skilled seamstress and quilter.

I am indebted to Ferne, as the Rogers-Roggow historian, for her records and photos that have graced this chapter plus her personal encouragement through the years. She died January 13, 2000 at Burke, South Dakota and is buried with her husband Robert “Bob” Roggow at Lucas where she and Bob spent most of their married life about seven miles from their beloved Missouri River. Ferne’s father, Jay Rogers, died January 16, 1978 at Pierre, South Dakota, and is buried in the Rogers family plot at Bijou Hills Union Cemetery with his wife, Bessie Cummings Rogers.

Log Cabin where Jay Rogers lived for many years at Rousseau near the Missouri River

(Photo from scrapbook of Ferne Rogers Roggow)

Rogers Fish Nets

(Photo from scrapbook of Ferne Rogers Roggow)

Homestead Country of Rogers, Bennetts and Petersons in South-Central South Dakota

Still Dakota Territory During Settlement By These Ancestors

Snake Creek Store

May 22, 1912

Will Rogers Team Hauling Water From the Missouri River

[1]Myron Northrop was the son of Alma Rogers (Jacob3, Samuel II2, Samuel I1).

Jeremiah and Martha (Bennett) Rogers from Jean Rosenkrantz's "Weavers of a Legacy"

Source: http://www.rootsweb.com/~pasulliv/settlers/settlers46/settlers46.htm

Generation 8: Jeremiah Rogers and Martha Bennett

Jeremiah “Jerry” Akroyd Rogers, was born May 4, 1849 at Muncy, Lycoming County, Pennsylvania. Jeremiah was known by his nickname and will be referred to as Jerry in this narrative. His childhood years were spent with his family in Columbia, Juneau and Vernon Counties in southwestern Wisconsin. This was during the same time frame as Solomon and Lydia Bennett lived in Iowa County, Wisconsin also in southwestern Wisconsin. Although Iowa County does not border any of the counties where the Rogers lived, the geographic barrier apparently was not a huge obstacle to the romance between Jerry Rogers and Martha Bennett, daughter of Solomon and Lydia Thurber Bennett. The Rogers and Bennett families were related, and Jerry and Martha were third cousins. They married October 10, 1875 at Red Mount, Vernon County, Wisconsin. (Solomon Bennett’s ancestry is the subject of chapter 5, and Lydia Thurber’s ancestry is the subject of chapter 6.)

Jerry and Martha were parents of James born 1876 , George born 1877, and William born 1879 all in Wisconsin; Jeremiah, Jr. (Jay) born 1884 in Iowa; and Edna (this writer’s paternal grandmother) born 1888 and Paul born 1893 in Dakota Territory. Paul died in infancy. The biographies of the Rogers will, for the most part, end with the generation of Jerry and Martha. The story of their son, Jay, will be the exception because his life lends insight into the history of the life and times of hardy pioneers of the South Dakota homestead era. The biography for their daughter, Edna Rogers, who married Earl Peterson, will be taken up in A Legacy of Courage, a book still in progress as of this writing.

Since Jerry was a lumberjack, the family almost always lived near a river. Their first three children were born in Wisconsin. In 1880 or 1881 Jerry moved the family to Panora, Guthrie County, Iowa on the Middle Raccoon River. By 1885 the family was living in Charles Mix County, Dakota Territory. That territorial census for enumeration district 127 lists the family as Jeremiah Rogers age 36, Martha 37, James 9, George 7, William 5, and Jerry Jr. age 1.

On April 2, 1885 Jerry formally applied for a homestead at the Mitchell Land Office for 160 acres at a cost of $1.25 per acre in Brule County, Dakota Territory. [6] Witnesses to the application were Fred Jones, David Miller, Charles C. Sower (spelling questionable), and John H. Richardson all of Bijou Hills, Dakota Territory. Other papers in the homestead file give the occupation date of the homestead as September 25, 1885.

Neighbor Fred Jones notes in the “testimony of witness” form that he can see Jeremiah’s house from his own house, and that he sees Jeremiah an average of once a month. In answer to the statement, “Explain how you know he has resided there,” Fred Jones writes, “I see them there and seeing is believing.” Another neighbor, Charles Lowe, who also completed the “testimony of witness” form noted, “I see claimant perhaps an average of three times a week. He comes to the post office at Bijou Hills for his mail, and my house is about 1/4 miles from the post office. I also see him haul wood past my house. Sometimes I pass his house and see him at work on his farm.”

Jerry’s “testimony of claimant” form confirms that the family had lived in Guthrie County, Iowa before their move to Dakota Territory. His family consisted of his wife and four children. The improvements on this homestead were listed as a 20 x 30 frame house one story, shingle roof, a 14 x 24 foot cattle shed with pole sides and hay roof, a 14 x 23 stone stable with hay roof, 40 acres under cultivation and two good mules. Farm implements were a wagon, 2 plows, 2 harrows and other small articles; domestic animals were 5 horses, 2 cows, 4 yearlings, 6 hogs and 40 chickens. Furniture consisted of 2 beds, 1 stove, 1 bureau, 1 cupboard, 1 sewing machine, 8 chairs and “other articles too numerous to mention.” The crops were 20 acres of wheat, 5 acres of corn, 15 acres of flax in 1886 and 15 acres of wheat in 1887, 5 acres of flax, 10 acres of oats and 10 acres of corn. In answer to the statement, “Explain what you mean by actual continuous residence,” Jerry wrote, “I live, sleep and eat there.”

Jerry’s brothers, Samuel R. Rogers (4) and William G. Rogers, also homesteaded in Brule County, South Dakota. On November 17, 1894 Jerry bought more land in Brule County, South Dakota. [7] Whether Jerry ever lived on that land or just farmed it is unclear.

The Rogers had a nomadic reputation which the paper trail seems to confirm. In 1900 they lived in Clark County, South Dakota per the federal census. This was some distance from their homestead in Brule County. Jerry, James, George and William were working as day laborers according to that census.

By 1905 the state census shows Jerry Rogers in Charles Mix County, LaRoche Township, post office Chandler. He was working as a herder as was 21-year old Jay. The only other child still at home was Edna working as a housekeeper. In 1909 Jerry homesteaded 80 acres in Charles Mix County, Patent #98931 dated December 23, 1909. [8] This parcel of land was on the northwest border of the county which joins Brule County opposite LaRoche Island (later renamed Colombe Island). The December 23, 1909 date appears to be the Final Proof date rather than application date on this land record so Jerry must have moved to Charles Mix County sometime before the 1905 census.

Oral history as preserved by several Rogers family historians adds some colorful threads to the Rogers saga. Following is an interview by Eldon “Bud” Rogers with Henry “Hank” Rogers (1916-2006). [9]

On the trail to South Dakota, probably between 1884 and 1886, Jeremiah “Jerry” Rogers, Martha, his wife, and their four children were coming from Iowa to Dakota. Jerry always carried several rocks under the seat of the covered wagon in which they traveled. The purpose was to throw rocks at stray dogs that would at times harass the team of horses pulling the wagon.

As they were going through one small village, a couple of men who had come from the saloon and were obviously badly overly filled with alcohol, thought they would have some fun with these travelers. So each of them took hold of the two rear wheels of the wagon, and were attempting to stop the wagon. Apparently the drunks were laughing and yelling and having a real good time, they thought. But Jerry wasn’t amused so he reached down and got a good-sized rock from under his seat, reached around the side of the wagon and threw the rock at the one on his side. As luck, or maybe skill, would have it the rock found its target. It happened to be the mouth of the reveler. At that point the merry making ceased, and Jerry looked around the side of the canvas of the covered wagon to see the unhurt drunk helping pick up the other drunk’s teeth.

After settling in South Dakota, Jerry often would seek employment away from home. Having lived in Wisconsin in prior years, he must have been familiar with opportunities in that state. On one occasion he was in Wisconsin helping move log rafts down river, probably to a sawmill. Men would ride on the logs in order to keep them from jamming. They would use pike poles to guide the logs and help keep their balance. One of the men was a smart aleck and took his pike pole and rolled the log Jerry was riding causing Jerry to fall into the water. To make matters worse, it was winter and the water was very cold. Fortunately Jerry was able to regain his position on top of the logs rather than under them. Now, Jerry has been reported to have a short fuse, but he kept his composure until he was in a position to return the favor. The smart aleck, however, wasn’t as adept at recovery. Apparently it took Jerry’s nemesis some time to get his head above the water surface just before his air supply was totally depleted. In any event, Jerry didn’t have any further difficulties from his fellow log roller.

In another instance involving water, Jerry was working on a bridge construction project. The boss was on one end of the bridge and Jerry had some tool on the other end of the bridge, and the boss wanted the tool on his side. It seemed as though the boss wasn’t overly polite in requesting the tool be brought over to him. Of course, Jerry was getting a little “warm under the collar” from the boss’s verbiage, but started across to meet the boss. They met somewhere in the middle and one thing led to another and both men fell into the river. The water was ten to twelve feet deep and had a silty, gravely bottom. When they next appeared above the water’s surface, the boss’s head was rather bloody. Jerry was able to get a handful of the river bottom and apply the same to the head of the boss. Unfortunately for the boss there were a few rocks in that hand full of river bed. At that point, Jerry’s boss had lost his desire to fight. There had been a “meeting of the minds” so to speak.

Jerry took his son, Jay, to work on a wheat harvester. Their job was to remove the straw from the thrasher after the wheat had been separated from the heads. The amount of wheat wasn’t very great when compared to the amount of straw; consequently the removal of straw was a huge part of the operation. Jerry was working very hard. Although Jay was in his mid teens, he was not adept at doing physical work according to Hank. Anyhow, the straw pile was getting bigger and bigger. The man running the thrashing crew was getting a little unhappy so he proceeded to call on Jerry to increase his output. The only problem, the boss used some descriptive words that Jerry was not willing to accept. Jerry with pitch fork in hand proceeded to chase the boss all around the threshing machine including under the long belt from the steam engine to the thresher all the while yelling and screaming bloody murder. Needless to say, that was the last day Jerry and Jay participated on that harvest crew, but that evening and night they walked 17 miles to another harvest crew and went to work the next morning.

On the subject of harvest equipment, the power to operate a thresher came from a steam engine. They were huge, cumbersome and slow moving. A fellow whose name has been lost in the oral history operated a moonshine still on the big island in the Missouri River. There was about 70 acres of farm land on that island. Staying ahead of the “revenuers” was always a challenge for a still operator. One way to eliminate smoke from the process was to not use a fire to heat the water to make steam, but to use a steam engine which was piped from the engine to his still. Smoke from a steam engine wasn’t as likely to attract attention. The steam volume, however, was too great for the capacity of the still and there was a huge explosion. The moonshiner was injured but lived.

The story is told that there was a “still hog” living at this particular island still house. It was the hog’s job to eliminate the waste material (the mash). Of course, there was enough alcohol left in the mash so that hog would eat until he passed out. After a few hours the hog would regain consciousness, go back to the feeding trough, eat his fill, pass out and continue this routine ad infinitum.

Jerry was likened to a “river rat,” living near the water and at one time on the “big” island. The Missouri River flooded while Jerry lived on the island. He dug his home into the side of a bank on the highest point of the island, and lived like the cave dwellers of old. He was safe from the rushing waters but not from a passing dead cow that he caught in the rushing flood waters. From the dead cow Jerry caught anthrax which in those days was certain death. Jerry was a mighty tough hombre and even survived anthrax.

He rarely dressed warmly in the winter. His usual attire consisted of a vest which he held together with a large horse blanket type safety pin even though the vest had buttons and button holes. [10]

Hank said his granddad often found things. At a 4th of July party at the Snake Creek Ferry in about 1921, Jerry offered Hank a vest that smelled like camp fire smoke and Hank turned it down. At the same time he offered Hank’s brother, Clease, an old WWI flat brim campaign hat which Clease also refused. Jerry ranted at the boys for being ungrateful. Hank recalls that the articles smelled like smoke because of Jerry’s dugout home which was heated somewhat like a tepee. He was also suspicious of how Jerry may have obtained the loot.

Jerry Rogers died July 10, 1929 from chronic nephritis (kidney disease). He is buried in the Rogers family plot in Union Cemetery, Bijou Hills, South Dakota with his wife, Martha Bennett Rogers, who died of cancer on October 16, 1922. Martha Bennett Rogers’ ancestry–Bennett and Thurber–continues in chapters 5 and 6 respectively.

Jeremiah and Martha (Bennett) Rogers

(Photo from scrapbooks of Ferne Rogers Roggow)

Jerry Rogers (1849-1929)

George, Jim & Jay Rogers - c. 1887

Old Photos in the Possession of Jay Rogers

Shown below is a set of priceless photos held by Jay Rogers, who apparently held them dearly, judging by the tone of the writing on the backs of the pictures. The photos are presented below in somewhat random order (for now) and without the usual cropping of pictures presented on this website. Jay's entries on the backs are also presented because they provide almost as much value as the photos themselves.

"My mother and father - Jerry A Rogers (died 1929) & Martha M Rogers (Bennett) - about 1900"

In pencil: "Jay & George Jim Will - Rogers - Rogers Family"

In ink: "I and my brothers - Jay - Taken by BP Skewis - at - Bijou Hills S Dak - in about 1890 - George Jim & Will - & Jay"