ROGERS, Col. James: 1728 - 1790
Tile ordered and paid for by Robert Z. Rogers, Grafton, Ontario, August 1888
The Ro(d)gers family may have been of Norman French origin but arrived in America via Ireland around 1728-30.(1) Young James Rogers grew up in a frontier settlement near the present Concord, New Hampshire.
During the Seven Years War (1756-1763), also known as the French and Indian War, James served in his older brother, Robert’s, regiment, Rogers’ Rangers. Because of their knowledge of the Indian languages and their skill in scouting operations and intelligence gathering, talents scarce in the regular British Army, they gained fame, particularly in a raid that destroyed an Abenaki stronghold that had raided into New England for years.
In 1761, shortly after his return from the war, James married Margaret McGregor. Together they built a fine home and farm in Londonderry, New Hampshire and began to raise a family. By 1775 when James took his stand to remain loyal to the King, the family had resettled and become well-established in Kent Township. James was forced to flee, leaving behind Margaret and their five children. Their farm and all possessions were confiscated. The family was reunited in 1783 when Margaret and the children travelled in secret to join James at Fort St. John’s on the Richelieu River. Most members of the extended Rogers and McGregor families had sided with the Continentals and remained in the United States.(2)
During the Revolutionary War, Robert Rogers was commissioned to raise a unit of two battalions to be recruited in the American colonies but organized in Canada. The burden of recruiting fell on his brother James who served five years as the commandant of the 2nd Battalion of the King’s Rangers, which formed part of the garrison of St. Jean, Quebec. After the war, arrangements were made for the Rogers’ Rangers to settle as a group in Third Town, known as Fredericksburgh. In order to fulfill a promise and allow this loyal group of about 200 Rangers to remain together with their leader James Rogers, thirteen lots known as the Fredericksburgh Additional, were taken from adjacent Adolphustown. (As a consequence, Adolphustown became the smallest of the new townships).(3)
James was granted 200 acres of land in Fredericksburgh and he and his sons were also granted land in Prince Edward and Hastings Counties. James never saw his brothers and sisters again and did not live long after resettlement. He died at Fredericksburgh, September 1790, age sixty-three. His wife, Margaret, died just three years later. Evidently, neither expressed regrets about the paths their lives had taken and their family grew and prospered in this new country.
An historical plaque unveiled at St. Paul’s Church, Sandhurst, on Sunday June 16, 1963 by Capt. J.A.C. Rogers of Picton, a descendant of Col. James Rogers, was one of a series erected throughout the province by the Department of Travel and Publicity, acting on the advice of the Archaeological and Historic Sites Board of Ontario.
1. Robert J. Rogers, Rising Above Circumstances (Quebec: Sheltus & Picard, 1947).
2. Robert J. Rogers’ Clan Presentation, 2004.
3. Thos. W. Casey, “Old-Time Records” (Napanee Beaver, Sept. 21, 1901).