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REER. EDUCATION: literate. RELIGIOUS AFFILIA-
TION: Protestant; called "a halfe faced Quaker,"
1692; left a bequest to the Quaker church at his
death, but swore oaths to qualify for office. SO-
CIAL STATUS AND ACTIVITIES: no title on first ap-
pearance; Mr., by 1673; in England, 1692-1694.
OCCUPATIONAL PROFILE: partner with a Mr. Jack-
son, a bricklayer, in 1673; planter; merchant, "Mr.
George Robotham & Co.," 1683. PUBLIC CAREER.
LEGISLATIVE SERVICE: Lower House, Talbot
County, 1681-1682 (elected to the 3rd session of
the 1676-1682 Assembly; Trade 5), 1686-1688
(Accounts 2); Associators' Convention, Talbot
County, 1689-1692 (speaker 3); Grand Com-
mittee of Twenty, 1690-1692; Upper House, 1692-
1693 (in England during the 2nd session), 1694-
1697 (Laws 1, 7), 1697/98-1698 (died before the
2nd session of the 1697/98-1700 Assembly).
OTHER PROVINCIAL OFFICES: Council, 1691-1698;
justice, Provincial Court, 1691-1694. LOCAL OF-
FICE: justice, Talbot County, 1681-1692 (quo-
rum, 1685-1692). MILITARY SERVICE: colonel, by
August 1691-1698. STANDS ON PUBLIC/PRIVATE
ISSUES: initially followed a moderate course be-
tween the Protestant Associators and proprietary
adherents, but by the spring of 1690 was sup-
porting the revolution. WEALTH DURING LIFETIME.
LAND AT FIRST ELECTION, at least 1,050 acres in
Dorchester and Talbot counties (all by patent).
SIGNIFICANT CHANGES IN LAND BETWEEN FIRST
ELECTION AND DEATH: patented 2,150 acres in
Talbot and Queen Anne's counties between 1683
and 1687. WEALTH AT DEATH. DIED: between April
5 and April 15, 1698; will probated on April 26,
1698, in Talbot County. PERSONAL PROPERTY:
TEV, £1,187.2.10 (including 1 servant, 6 slaves,
books, and 45 oz. plate); FB, £630.19.11. LAND:
1,750 acres in Talbot and Dorchester counties,
plus an estate of unspecified size in England.
ROGERS, JOHN (?-1789). BORN, possibly in
Annapolis, Anne Arundel County. NATIVE: pos-
sibly; if so, at least second generation. RESIDED:
in Upper Marlborough, Prince George's County,
by 1774; Annapolis, at death. FAMILY BACK-
GROUND. FATHER: possibly Capt. William Rogers
(1699-1749), Esq., who was born in New Eng-
land, resided in Annapolis ca. 1720, and was chief
clerk and register of the Prerogative Court, 1736-
1749. He married first, Mary Townley (?-1725),
widow of both John Contee (?-1708) and Phile-
mon Hemsley (1670-1719). MOTHER: possibly Lu-
cinda (?-1755). BROTHER: William. SISTER: Mar-
tha. ADDITIONAL COMMENTS. There was a problem
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in identifying the parents of John Rogers. His
private life left few clues as to his background.
After a careful study of probate, land, and court
records, Capt. William Rogers appeared to be
the most plausible candidate for father. Capt.
William Rogers left no will to aid in identifying
John as his son, but Lucinda's will probated on
October 30, 1755, mentioned a son William and
a son John, "both arrived at age of manhood and
capacitated to get a livelihood." This evidence,
coupled with the fact that family names continue
through John's offspring, with a first-born son
named William and a daughter named Lucy, have
led us to tentatively identify Capt. William Rog-
ers of Annapolis as his father. MARRIED ca. 1776
Margaret Lee (?-1795), daughter of Thomas Clark
(1728-1756) and wife Alice Lee; stepdaughter of
Meriwether Smith of Essex County, Virginia.
Margaret was the granddaughter of Philip Lee (ca.
1681-1744). She was the niece of George Lee (1736-
1807); Corbin Lee (?-1774); Lettice Lee (?-1776),
who married third, Joseph Sim (?-1793); and
Hannah Lee (ca. 1736-by 1781), who married
Joseph Sprigg (1736-1800). Her first cousins were
Barbara Bowie (1756-1805), who married Ig-
natius Taylor (?-1807); Thomas Clark (ca. 1760-
1796). CHILDREN. SONS: William (ca. 1780-?);
Thomas (ca. 1781-?); Daniel; and John (?-ca.
1797). DAUGHTERS: Margaret (?-ca. I860), who
married in 1799 Walter Storey Chandler; Lucy
(?-Ca. 1792). PRIVATE CAREER. EDUCATION: lit-
erate. RELIGIOUS AFFILIATION, probably Angli-
can. SOCIAL STATUS AND ACTIVITIES: Esq., by 1773;
Hon., by 1778. OCCUPATIONAL PROFILE: lawyer,
admitted to the following courts: Mayor's Court,
Annapolis, January 1762; Prince George's County
Court, November 1764; Charles County Court,
by June 1764; Provincial Court, September 1765;
Frederick County Court, March 1765; Chancery
Court, by May 1771; officeholder. PUBLIC CA-
REER. LEGISLATIVE SER VICE. Conventions, Prince
George's County, 1st, 1774, 2nd-3rd, 1774, 4th,
1775, 5th, 1775, 6th-8th, 1775-1776 (did not at-
tend the 7th and 8th Conventions). OTHER STATE
OFFICES: member, Executive Council, 1777 (re-
elected November 11, 1777, but declined to serve);
judge, Court of Admiralty, appointed 1776, but
declined; chancellor of Maryland, 1778-1789.
LOCAL OFFICES: Committee of Correspondence,
Prince George's County, 1774; Committee of Ob-
servation, Prince George's County, 1775; trustee,
Upper Marlborough Academy, Prince George's
County, 1775. MILITARY SERVICE: major, Prince
George's County Militia, 1776. OUT OF STATE
703
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