| Notes |
- Josiah Rogers fought in the American Revolution. The Daughters of the American Revolution Number is 133052. He was a captain.
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found https://ancestors.familysearch.org/en/L2MY-YP9/josiah-hill-rogers-1745-1813
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Josiah Rogers Captain, Chatham County North Carolina Militia
Born Josiah Hill Rogers10 to parents John and Martha Rogers about 1745 in Northampton County, North Carolina, Josiah was born into a reasonably well-to-do family that owned a
plantation and some slaves. Originally an old Jamestowne family who had migrated from Britain in 163511, his grandfather had moved the family from Virginia into northeastern North Carolina about 1741. His father and other members of the Rogers family moved deeper into North
Carolina in 1763, to Johnston and Wake Counties, near which a community called Rogers Crossroads (now Wake Crossroads) formed. Josiah would have grown as part of a family who
were deeply connected to the colonial authorities, having multiple uncles who served during the French and Indian War in the 1750s12, and whose father and uncle were both sheriffs and tax collectors for their local counties.
However, Josiah showed an independent spirit prior to the Revolution, first by moving west to Orange (later Chatham) County, North Carolina later in the 1760s, and then by joining the Regulators. The Regulators were a popular movement against corrupt colonial officials in North Carolina. They demanded an end to the practice of these officials charging excess fees, and their strength came largely from the area of North Carolina where Josiah settled. In May 1768, Josiah signaled his support for the Regulators by signing the Regulator's Advertisement No. 9. Sheriffs were the officials most commonly cited as corrupt, so it is curious that soon after in 1769, his father John Rogers became Sheriff of Johnston County. Three years after Josiah signed the advertisement, the conflict between the colonial authorities and the Regulators came to a head, resulting in two battles: first, the minor Battle at the Yadkin River, a Regulator victory, and then the Battle of Alamance, a crushing Government victory over the poorly organized and poorly equipped Regulators that destroyed the Regulator movement. Whether Josiah was present for either battle is unknown, since the Regulators were not properly organized and did not keep rolls, but most of the ignatories of the Regulators' advertisements, like Josiah, are considered by historians as likely participants.
When the Revolutionary War came, Josiah joined the Patriot cause. By the time of the war, Josiah and his wife Frances were well established and in the process of raising a family that would grow to about 11 children. Likely seen as a respectable member of society with important ties, he was granted a captain's commission for the Chatham County, North Carolina militia.
Although the precise duration of his service is not known, his position as commander of a company of men is attested in the Chatham County, North Carolina Court of Pleas and uarter
10 Although Josiah never seems to have gone by his middle name, it is attested in his father's will. Middle names
were rare at the time, and it may refer to a relative named Josiah Hill, but this is not confirmed.
11 In 1989, Josiah's descendant Maurice Rogers proved the Rogers line back to John Rogers, a Jamestowne settler and member of the House of Burgesses, and used that line to join the Jamestowne Society. In 1990, Maurice Rogers wrote the book John Rogers Genealogy about it, including a chapter on Josiah that is very good.
12 Multiple published books, including John Rogers enealogy, state that Josiah's father John Rogers also served in the French and Indian War, and identify him with one Sergeant John Rogers, who served under Major Hugh Waddell and became a hero for capturing an Indian who provided critical intelligence for the capture of Fort Duquesne in 1758. However, I have found contradictory evidence that this may have been a different John Rogers from New Hanover County.
Sessions twice. First, on November 14, 1777, he is mentioned as administering a district as a captain where a justice was appointed to administer an oath. Then, on August 14, 1778, he is apportioned dozens of items of clothing for his men from the government. During that time, his commanding colonel would have been Ambrose Ramsey, who became known for first commanding the Chatham County men in the Patriot victory at Moore's Creek Bridge in February 1776, and then for his decisive defeat and capture at the hands of his Loyalist counterpart, Colonel David Fanning, at Chatham Courthouse in July 1781. Colonel Fanning drew many of his Tories from deeply divided Chatham County (for one of these men, see Appendix A).
Josiah is unlikely to have seen these battles, as the time period he was recorded as a militia captain in 1777-1778 coincides with a lull in activity for the Chatham County militia. After Moore's Creek Bridge in 1776, there were no battles that any portion of the Chatham County militia was called for until the Battle of Briar Creek in March 1779. Most likely, Josiah's service as a captain involved exactly the sort of thing that he was recorded as doing: administering a militia district and gathering supplies. The fact that no known pension applications mention him as anyone's commanding officer supports this interpretation of his service.
There is another interesting but probably misleading clue about Josiah's Revolutionary War service that is worth addressing. In 1959, Josiah's descendant Eulalia Rogers Franklin relayed a claim that was handed down to her family from her ancestor, Josiah's son George Rogers: "George Rogers stated that he, six brothers and their father, Josiah Rogers, fought under Shelby and Sevier at Kings Mountain." There are several reasons this family tradition is unlikely,
including that Josiah probably did not have seven sons of fighting age at the time of the battle in 1780, and that three Chatham County militia captains are recorded at Kings Mountain, with none of them being Josiah. George is not currently accepted as a qualifying ancestor for DAR or SAR.
However, it's not outside the realm of possibility that Josiah and/or one or two of his eldest sons happened to be at that battle, just unrecorded.
Josiah's prominence in public service increased even more after the war. Records gathered by Maurice Rogers show "Josiah serving as constable, tax collector, tax assessor, juror, foreman of a grand jury, patroller, road builder, entry taker and possessor." He also gained a significant amount of land, including a grant on November 1, 1784 for 300 acres on Terrells Creek in Chatham County, totaling to almost 2800 acres in the area. He even seems to have acquired significant amounts of land in Tennessee, first in Sevier County in 1799 and then in Wilson County in 1804, although it does not seem he spent much time on these properties, instead gifting them to several of his sons, including George, Levi, and our ancestor John, while
he spent the remainder of his life in North Carolina.
Josiah filed his will in Chatham County, North Carolina in 1812, mentioning by name only his children who remained with him in North Carolina, including his son Henry, who
includes among his descendants the famous actor Charles "Buddy" Rogers. Josiah died in 1813, burial location unknown
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1745 - 1813 (68 years)
