Thomas Rogers1

M, #14057, b. circa 1571, d. Jan 11, 1621
Pedigree

Family

Alice Cosford b. May 10, 1573, d. Jun 3, 1622
Children

Chronological Events

Birth*circa 1571 Thomas Rogers was born circa 1571 at Watford, Northamptonshire, England. 
Marriage*Oct 24, 1597 He married Alice Cosford, daughter of George Cosford and Margaret Wills, on Oct 24, 1597 at Watford, Northamptonshire, England. 
Death*Jan 11, 1621 Thomas Rogers died on Jan 11, 1621 at Plymouth, Plymouth County, Massachusetts, United States, during the first winter at Plymouth Plantation.2 
Burial*Jan 12, 1621 He was buried on Jan 12, 1621 at Coles Hill Burial Ground Cemetery, Plymouth, Plymouth County, Massachusetts, United States, Find A Grave Memorial# 15307079.3 
Researcher's Note 
Thomas Rogers was born in Watford, Northampton, England, the son of William and Eleanor Rogers. He married Alice Cosford in 1597. All his children were baptized and/or buried in Watford. He brought his wife and family to Leiden, Holland, where he became a citizen of Leiden on 25 June 1618, where he is called a camlet merchant.

On 1 April 1620, he sold his house on Barbarasteeg for 300 guilders, apparently in preparation for his voyage on the Mayflower. He came on the Mayflower with eldest son Joseph, leaving behind in Leiden his son John, daughters Elizabeth and Margaret, and wife Alice.

Thomas Rogers died the first winter at Plymouth, leaving behind his 18-year old son Joseph. His wife and children that were left behind in Leiden are found in the 1622 poll tax of Leiden, and were termed "poor people" and "without means". Children Elizabeth and Margaret apparently came to New England later, but where they lived or who they married with remain unknown. Son John came to Plymouth about 1630, and there married Anna Churchman, on 16 April 1639.
 
Researcher's Note* 
Thomas Rogers (Mayflower Pilgrim) was born circa 1571 at Watford, Co. Northamptonshire, England. He was the son of William Rogers and Eleanor. Thomas Rogers (Mayflower Pilgrim) married Alice Cosford, daughter of George Dosford and Margaret (Willis?), on 24 October 1597 at Watford, Co. Northamptonshire, England. Our earliest known encounter with Pilgrim Thomas Rogers was on 25 June 1618 when he became a citizen of Leiden, Holland, vouched for by William Jepson, formerly of Worksop, Notts., and by Roger Wilson, formerly of Sandwich, Kent Co. Engalnd.

On 1 April 1620 Thomas sold his Leiden house on the Barbarasteeg for 300 guilders, in preparation for the journey to New England.

Governor Bradford says in his history of the Plymouth settlement that on board the Mayflower were "Thomas Rogers and Joseph his son; his other children came afterwards......Thomas Rogers died in the first sickness but his son Joseph is still living (1650) and is married and hath six children. The rest of Thomas Rogers' (children) came over and are married and have many children." Therefore we know that Thomas and his son Joseph arrived at Cape Cod aboard the ship Mayflower and on 11 November 1620 according to their calendar, or 21 November on ours, Thomas was one of forty-one signers of the Mayflower Compact. Thomas did not live through the rigorous winter which carried off half the group but young Joseph, like so many of the children, did survive.

Recent discoveries show that Thomas had a family living in Leiden, Holland, when the 1622 Poll Tax was taken. In the Over "t Hoff Quarter, in a house with other Pilgrim
families in St. Peter's Churchyard west-side, were Jan Thomas, orphan from England without means; Elsgen Rogiers, widow of Thonis Rogiers, an Englishwoman; and Lysbeth and
Grietgen her children, poor people. Translated this could read John, son of Thomas; Elizabeth Rogers, widow of Thomas; and Elizabeth and Margaret, her children. At that
period the word orphan meant that either or both parents were dead.

In the 1623 Plymouth Colony land division, Joseph Rogers was allotted two acres-one for himself and one on behalf of his late father. He may have been living in the household of
Governor Bradford with who he was grouped on 22 May 1627, in the division of cattle. Joseph and twelve other inhabitants of Plymouth received "an heyfer of the last year which was of the Great white-back cow that was brought over in the Ann and two shee goats."

Governor Bradford's statement that the rest of Thomas Rogers' children came over and married and had children, seems clearly to indicate that more than one of his children came to New England after 1620. We know that his son John came to Plymouth about 1630. Although many other male Rogers immigrants have been claimed as sons of Thomas the Pilgrim, none of the claims has been proved and some have been disproved. Therefore it seems likely that at least one of the Rogers daughters who were living in Holland in 1622 came over. John and Joseph Rogers each named a daughter Elizabeth, perhaps thereby indicating that their sister Elizabeth lived in New England. Unfortunately extensive research has failed to uncover any further evidence.

John Rogers came to Plymouth about 1630, when the last of the Leiden contingent arrived and was in Plymouth Colony on 25 March 1633 when he was taxed 9 shillings. The proof of
his identity lies in a grant made 6 April 1640 to "Joseph Rogers and John Rogers his brother...fifty acres apeece of upland....at the North River." Both then had growing
families to carry forward the Rogers heritage, although only Joseph's descendants would carry forward the Rogers name beyond the fourth generation."

He,(Thomas) died in Plymouth Colony in the winter of 1620/21 "in the first sickness."

Published online at Find-A-Grave.com.
 

Citations

  1. [S816] Site - International Genealogical Index (R) or Ancestral File, online at http://www.familysearch.org
  2. [S79] Gravestones - Death Cert, Obits, Books, Photos.
  3. [S80] Gravestones - Death Cert Proof, Find-A-Grave, BillionGraves.

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