Long before Mayberry, a ship called the Mayflower sailed and when the 400th anniversary of its dropping anchor in Plymouth Harbor is marked this Wednesday, some local residents will take special pride in that occasion.
Bracky Rogers, longtime owner of Rogers Realty and Auction Co. in Mount Airy, had never heard any family stories or rumors passed down about a connection to the Mayflower.
Rogers, 85, only learned of its existence relatively late in life, through the publication of a family history book titled “Fulfilling the Promise of a New Land” by Peggy W. Wall.
The well-researched volume focuses on the Carter and Rogers families of Surry and Wilkes counties, with a special emphasis on lines of descendants starting in 1620. And through this, Bracky Rogers learned he was related to Lt. Thomas Rogers, one of those arriving on the Mayflower that year.
“It’s like 15 or 16 generations back,” Rogers said of his lineage with Thomas Rogers, who came to the New World with his oldest son Joseph, according to Wall’s research.
It first reached book form in 1999, and Bracky says the volume has been updated since to incorporate more descendants. He and his son Mark, grandson Dustin and great-grandson Hudson, 10, represent four generations.
While the Pilgrims journeying to America aboard the Mayflower were English people seeking religious freedom during the reign of King James, Thomas Rogers and others actually had left their homeland and set up shop in a town in Holland called Leiden. According to the General Society of Mayflower Descendants, the Pilgrims — while free to worship under lenient Dutch law — feared their children were losing their English heritage.
This and other factors, including an inability to find jobs as non-citizens in Holland, led to a decision to settle in northern Virginia.
Little is known about Thomas Rogers’ life in the Old World, based on Wall’s published research, including the lieutenant’s parentage and exact age, but he left his second wife Elizabeth and three other children behind.
Wall did unearth a 1619 legal record showing that Thomas had sued a baker and miller to free a lien on his house, in which he was victorious, including being awarded court costs. All this might have occurred in preparation for the journey that was ahead, the author speculates.
New World challenges
The Pilgrims boarded the Mayflower in September 1620. And instead of landing in Virginia, the ship went off course to Massachusetts, coming ashore as a harsh New England winter was moving in which proved to be one of many hardships they faced.
Of the 102 passengers who arrived, about half died during their first winter in America, which Bracky Rogers said included his distant ancestor Thomas. But not before he had achieved the distinction of being the first Rogers to the New World and one of the signers of the Mayflower Compact that formalized the colonists’ existence.
Thomas is said to have been claimed by what is described as “the first sickness” after the ship’s arrival, with his date of death put at between Jan. 11 and April 10, 1621.
Wall’s historical work reports that Thomas’ son Joseph is believed to have lived with Gov. William Bradford of the Plymouth colony after his father died and the governor’s writings show that the rest of the family subsequently came to America.
The Rogers lines later stretched into other areas including Virginia, Tennessee and North Carolina.
Bracky Rogers was born in Elkin in 1935, the son of Raymond Rogers, who also hailed from that town.
The longtime Mount Airy resident who is a licensed real estate agent and auctioneer in multiple states says he still works “all the time” in the Rogers firm founded 56 years ago, and that it was exciting to learn about his family’s Mayflower link.
“It was sort of prestigious,” he added.
Rogers is hoping to visit the Plymouth site in Massachusetts and some of the memorials or other attractions honoring the Pilgrims’ adventure.
“I would love to go and have my picture made.”
Source: https://www.mtairynews.com
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