2504.John Rogers. Born ca 1595 in England. John died on 3 Feb 1661.42 Buried in 1661 in Wanton-Rogers burying ground, Norwell.42
From Deane’s History of Scituate:53
“John Rogers came into Scituate with Rev. Mr. Witherell 1644, and from hence we conjecture that he was a descendant of the Martyr of Smithfield. Family tradition also asserts the same. .... His farm in Scituate was a half mile south of Stockbridge’s mill (now [1831] James Briggs’s, alias Clerk Briggs’s).” (Deane confused John with another John Rogers who married Ann Churchman.)
“John Roigers came into Scituate with the Rev. William Wetherell in 1644. He lived for a time in Scituate, but removed to the Marshfield side of North River in 1647.”42
From John Rogers of Marshfield and some of his Descendants, by Josiah H. Drummond, West Hanover, Mass.: R.B. Ellis, 1898:236
Neither the date or place of his birth, nor the time when he came to this country has been ascertained.
John Rogers, aged thirty-four, came from London to Barbadoes in the Falcon, in April, 1635; and John Rogers, aged eighteen, came to Barbadoes from London in the same vessel, Dec. 19, 1635. Brown's Gen. p. 1131.
These ages suit John of Marshfield and John of Duxbury, but the former must have been married at that date and no mention is made of his wife.
It has been said that John of Marshfield was a relative of Rev. William Witherell and came to this country with him. In 1635, William Witherell of Maidstone, Schoolmaster, Mary, his wife, three children and one servant came in the Hercules; the certificate is dated March 14, 1634/5. Founders of New England, pp 82, 83.
No Rogers is named in the list; it is possible that John Rogers was the "servant," but his wife and child are not accounted for. There was a tradition that the mother of Mr. Witherell was a daughter of John Rogers the Martyr, and the inference has been drawn that the father of John of Marshfield was a brother of Witherell's mother. But the tradition is, at least, doubtful, for the Martyr suffered in 1555 and William Witherell was born in 1600, when the youngest child of the Martyr was over forty-five years old.
Deane says that John Rogers came to Scituate in 1644, but this is erroneous, for the name of John Rogers is given in the 1643 list of freemen of Scituate, although the date of his admission has not been found.
On September 20, 1699, John Rogers^2, the son of John Rogers^1 of Marshfield, gave a deposition before the Justices of the Court at Plymouth, that, in or about the year 1647, his father, John Rogers, lived in Scituate on a lot of land between the land of Thomas Hicks and the land of John Stockbridge, adjoining Hicks's swamp; and about the year 1647, “my father John Rogers aforesaid, being about to move out of said Scituate” (in effect) sold his house and land to Thomas Simons, “and my father removed out of Scituate about the time aforesaid, and I lived with him many years and never heard him lay any claim to said land after he removed from it.” Plym. Deeds, Bk. Ill, p. 144.
This fixes 1647 as about the date of his father's removal into Marshfield, where he continued to reside till his death in the early part of 1661. He was fined (as appears by the town records) for not attending town meeting, Dec. 11, 1649, May 15, 1651, Aug. 23, 1652, Nov. 8, 1652, and Mar. 28, 1653.
John Roger’s will was dated 1 Feb 1660, probated 5 Jun 1661. It mentions his wife Frances; his sons John, Joseph, and Timothy; his daughters Ann Hudson, Mary, and Abigail; and his grandchildren George and John Russell; wife Frances executrix.
Will: WILL OF JOHN ROGERS, SR.
"John Rogers senr", of Marshfield, made his will 1 February, 1660.
Bequests were as follows:
To "my wife ffrancis Rogers all the land and housing on which I live with all the meddow adjoyning to the land unto the Creeke During the time of her life and att her Deceasing; to my son John Rogers ... And my son John Rogers Junr when hee or his heires Come to enjoy the said lands and housing; to pay his sister Ann hudson five pounds sterling; and to mary and abigaill Rogers ten pounds sterling apeece"
I give unto my son Josepth Rogers and Timothy Rogers all my land and meddow that lyeth on the other side of the Creeke lying easterly and this land to bee equally Devided according to quantitie Josepths land shall lye next to the land of Nathaneell Bosworth"
To "my son John Rogers all my Right and Interest in the land and housing that bee now liveth on ... the upper orchyard my wife shall have and enjoy the tearme of eight yeares"
To "my Daughter An ten shillinges; and to mary my Daughter one yearling; and to my Daughter Abigaill one yearling; and to my grandchild Gorg Russell one Cow Calfe;"
"The land that I have att Namassakeesett which John Hudson now lives on I give unto my grandchildren Gorge Russell and John Russell ... when these Children Come to the age of twenty and one years then to enjoy theire lands;"
my wife ffrancis Rogers to bee my ... exequitrix"
The witnesses were Anthony Eames, William Maycumber, Mark Eames and Richard Beare, the last signing by a mark.
The will "was exhibited to the Court held att Plymouth" 5 June; 1661, "on the oath of Ensigne Marke Eames;"
"The Inventory of the goods and Chattles of John Rogers senr of Marshfild late Deceased exhibited att the Court held att Plymouth the fift of June 1661 on the oath of ffrancis Rogers; Marshfeild in New Plymouth in America Anno 1661
(The Mayflower Descendant - Vol. 17, page 214 - Plymouth Colony Wills and Inventories)
John married Frances. Frances died in Scituate, MA in 1687.236
Frances first married John Rogers, second Walter Briggs.
It is sometimes said that Frances was the daughter of Robert and Elizabeth Watson of Plymouth, MA, and Windsor, CT. Here’s what Anderson says about Robert Watson in The Great Migration Begins:16
“Various secondary sources claim a Robert Watson, immigrant of 1632 to Plymouth, as brother of JOHN WATSON of Roxbury and father of GEORGE WATSON of Plymouth and of several other later immigrants [ Windsor Hist 2:776; Bassett-Preston 311; Snow-Estes 1:162]. This family construct should be rejected totally, as there is no evidence in Plymouth or elsewhere in New England for such a Robert, or for any connection between John Watson and George Watson. An assignmnet of a servant by ‘Elizabeth Watson, widow, ... unto Thomas Watson,’ on 8 November 1638 [ PCR 1:102], is cited in partial support of this claim, but this record says nothing about a Robert, nor does it connect to records of the other Watson immigrants.”
From John Rogers of Marshfield:236
The family name of his wife, Frances, has not been discovered, nor the date of their marriage. Their son, John, was born in 1632 or 1633, in all human probability before they left England.
Miss Thomas, in her history of Marshfield, suggests that Frances Rogers was Frances (Vassal) Adams, daughter of William Vassal and widow of James Adams; but Frances Vassal was not married till July 16, 1646, and did not become a widow till Jan. 6, 1651, when Frances Rogers had grown up children.
Davis, in his Landmarks of Plymouth, under John Rogers of Marshfield, says “by wife Frances, perhaps daughter of Robert Watson,” &c.: also, Robert Watson came to Plymouth early, but finally settled in Connecticut; by wife Elizabeth, he had, born in England, George, 1603, Robert, Samuel, and perhaps Frances, who married John Rogers. No authority for this statement has been found ; but if Robert Watson had a daughter, Frances, who married a John Rogers, there can be scarcely a doubt that he was John Rogers^1 of Marshfield.
Frances survived her husband, and married Walter Briggs of Scituate. In his will d. Jan’y 16, 1676/7, p. June 4, 1684, Walter Briggs mentions, among others, his wife, Frances. Deeds, Vol. VI, p. 9.
Administration on the estate of Frances Briggs, widow, of Scituate, was granted Oct. 14, 1687, to her sons, John and Joseph Rogers. Probate, Vol. I, p. 11.