p. 75
ABBREVIATED GENEALOGY OF ROGERS FAMILY
John Rogers I married Katherine P. Johnson in 1780. they had three children.
John II married April 22, 1805 Elizabeth Anne Gustin
James
Charles
John II and Elizabeth had 5 girls and 2 boys, one of whom was our ancestor, John Foy Rogers.
John
Foy married Delilah Jones---there were no children. After her death, John Foy married Hannah
Matilda Nichols.Twelve children were born: 5 girls and 7 boys, one of whom was our ancestor,
Charles Austin Sumner Rogers.
After Hannah's death, October 9, 1895, John Foy married Elizabeth H. Mallory. There were no
children of this marriage.
Charles Austin Sumner married Anna shank November 26, 1878. They had 6 boys, one of whom
was our father, Chester Lee Rogers, Sr. Chester Lee Rogers Sr. married Beulah Euphamia Hill.
There were 6 children, 5 boys and 1 girl.
The eldest was Charles Reuben who married Jean Brinkman June 29, 1951. they had 2 girls,
Barbara Jean and Rama Lynn. After Charles died, Jean married Birney Powell who had 4
children.
Barbara Jean married Stuart Bates; they have 2 children, Evan and Sarah. Rama Lynn married
Jesu Manacha.They have 1 child, Aintxane. Rama Lynn later married Pete Paris who had one
child, Andrea.
p. 76
The second son, Julius Woolston [Bud], married Pat Clark. She passed away in March of 1973.
They had 2 boys, Scott William and Matthew Steven. In 1975 Bud married Maureen Walsh.
Scott married Vickie Neuman. They had 4 children. They are Jason, Michael, adam and Brian.
Scott and Vickie divorced and Scott then married Susan Rettig. They have 1 girl, Brianna, and
Susan has 2 girls from a former marriage, Tracy and Jennifer.
The daughter, Nellie Marie [Toni], married Norris Kitchen, and they had 2 children, 1 boy, Edward
Lee and 1 girl, Moneta Ann.
Ed married Joyce Benson and they had 3 children, 2 boys, Travis Edward and Wyatt and 1 girl,
Jolea Sarina. Travis married Belinda Rene [ a child on the way]. Neither Jolea nor Wyatt are
married.
Moneta married Clyde Harmon. They had 3 children, Arden, Clinton and Leona. Arden married
Ron Smith and they have 1 boy, Michael. Clinton married Valerie Sharp. They have 2 children,
Clayton and Kayla. Valerie had one son from a previous marriage, Karl Sharp. Leona married
Matt Luce. They have no children at this time.
p. 77
Chester Lee Jr. married Shirley Roberta Sutton. They had 4 children, Ben, Harold, Charles and
Janna. Roy Benjamin Sutton Rogers [adopted] married Janene Bailey. They have 2 children:
Richard Benjamon born August 11, 1977 and Lori Lee born July 1,1982. Harold Sutton [adopted]
married Tina Murphy. They have 3 children, 2 girls and 1 boy. Anissa Kay born February 16, 1977;
Stacey Joe born April 30, 1979 and Austin William born August 1, 1983. Charles Kenton Rogers
married Judith Fawn Kindsfather on July 1, 1985. They have no children. Janna Lee Rogers
married Ron Ruck. They have 3 children: Adam Allen Ruck born December 19,1985 and Allison
Lee born November 7, 1998 and Aarron.
William B. Rogers married Hazel House on October 23, 1948. They adopted Laura Ellen born
December 12, 1951. After Hazel's death, Bill married Robbie Hannah, December 15,
1984.
Russell Ray Rogers married Anna Kiss in 1959. They had 2 boys: Chester Anton born June 2,
1960 [not married] and Raymond Alfred born June 20, 1970. He married Anna. They have no
children.
p. 78
SUPPLEMENT 1
The Story of John Rogers I, and His Descendants
John was born in 1755 in England. He was in the English army and evidently fought in the
Revolutionary War between England the Confederate States of America. According to the
records, he deserted the army in about 1778, settled in Virginia, and started the American branch
of the Rogers' family.
At this time, John was about 25 years old. Probably having worked at many different jobs as a
civilian in England before the war, he was able to hire out to farmers and others and began to
make a life and fortune for himself. Being an intelligent, resourceful individual, he was able to
work well and began to save money and make a plan for his future in the new
world.
While he was working in Virginia in 1780, he met Katherine P. Johnson. Katherine was born about
1768 in Virginia. After a courtship, they were married and soon after, moved to Clermont County,
Ohio.
John I and Katherine were prominent citizens and active members of the community. They went
through all the joys, troubles and frustrations which were attendant to rearing a family in the
frontier county of Ohio. John was a good provider, Katherine a good mother and wife. John did not
tell his wife and sons much about his life in England before coming to America nor was he one to
gloat about his success here in America. The family lived the good life by the current
standards.
p. 79
The immigrant John died in about 1820 and was buried in Monroe Township, Clermont County,
Ohio in the Laurel Ohio Cemetery. Katherine died on September 28, 1849, and was also buried in
Laurel Cemetery. John II was born here on December 3, 1787 and died June 27, 1839 and was
buried in Laurel Cemetery. James was born December 7, 1787 and died October 9, 1854 and
was buried in Laurel Cemetery. Charles was born May 17, 1801 and died on June 27, 1882 at
Bethel, Ohio.
John II, James and Charles were the usual robust boys of the frontier, taking part in all the
activities of the times. They were taught well by their father and mother in the ways of making a
living and prospering. For instance, in 1815, the three brothers purchased adjacent property. Due
to overlapping military surveys, all three lost legal title to this land. In 1825, John II purchased the
major portion of his land and became the legal owner. There is a tradition among the descendants
that James Rogers was forced to purchase his land twice due to the overlapping surveys.
However, in another piece of evidence, it was John, not James, that bought the land. It appears
the James reliquished the original purchase and bought adjacent land in another survey. Charles
seems to be the more reluctant of the three to take a risk and failed to purchase any more
land.
James was married January 30, 1811 to Susannah Helm at Mason County, Kentucky. Susannah
was born September 26, 1793 in Mason County and died October 9, 1854 [or July 23,
1864].
p. 80
Charles was married to Mary Seidridge on October 14, 1819. Mary was born October 18, 1804 in
Tennessee and died July 18, 1888 at Bethel, Ohio.
[Note: The foregoing information gathered from Descendants of John Rogers I and Katherine P.
Johnson Rogers by Orville W. Jones. Since this is a history of John II's line of descendants, no
effort has been made to go into James' and Charles' lines except where
necessary.]
In 1810, John II resided in Pendleton County, Kentucky two houses away from Frederick Foy
[evidently this Foy is where our ancestor, John Foy received his name]. Frederick Foy and his wife
filed for consent for John II and Elizabeth to be married.
John II was married April 22, 1805 to Elizabeth Ann Gustin at Pendleton County, Kentucky.
Elizabeth was the daughter of James Gustin [born in Ireland] and Katherine Rasher, [born
February 3, 1755 in Holland], and is believed to have died in about 1795.
John II, according to the record, was a Monroe Township Justice of the Peace for 21 years. He
was the first one elected to the position and he served three terms. He was a Justice in 1835
when he officiated over the marriage of his nephew, John M. Rogers [James' son] to Roxanna
Sapp. He also officiated at the marriage of James' daughter, Mary Ann, to Andrew
Frambes.
Family tradition says John II served in the war of 1812. Government records show a John Rogers
from Pendleton County, Kentucky as serving.
p. 82
John II and Elizabeth had five girls and two boys. John Foy, the fifth child and our ancestor, was
born February 27, 1821 in Ohio and died March 2, 1904. He first married Delilah Jones at
Clermont, Ohio. She was born on January 29, 1827 and died June 23, 1849 and is buried at
Sugar Tree Cemetery near Nicholsville, Ohio. Evidently there were no children born of this
marriage. John Foy's second marriage was on February 20, 1851 to Hannah Matilda Nichols at
Clermont. She was born February 27, 1827 at Clermont County, Ohio, and died October 9, 1895
and was buried in the Methodist Cemetery at Laurel, Iowa. This marriage resulted in 12 children:
five girls and seven boys.
[Note: The record shows a third marriage by John Foy to Elizabeth H. Mallory at Marshall County,
Iowa on May 6, 1896. I have not researched this marriage other than finding a deed entry in which
John Foy deeded a house in Laurel to Elizabeth a few years before he died.]
Our ancestor, Charles Austin sumner Rogers, the sixth child, was born December 6, 1854 in
Clermont County, Ohio. He was married to Anna Shank at Marshalltown, Iowa, on November 26,
1879. She died in July of 1923 at Portland, Oregon, and was buried in Portland, Oregon in the
Charles Austin Sumner Rogers' plot. Charles Austin Sumner Rogers died on December 5, 1936
at Fort Collins, Colorado. His son, Chester L. Rogers, Sr. accompanied his body to Portland,
Oregon, and he was buried beside Anna. Charles Austin Sumner and Anna had six boys. Their
histories follow:
p. 84
Charles Francis Rogers
Charles Francis Rogers, born September 3, 1880 in Laurel, Iowa, died January 18, 1952 in
Denver, Colorado. He married Grace Flemming on June 254, 1902 in Spencer, Iowa. Charles
[Charlie] had a stroke in 1950 in Estes Park, Colorado, where he was helping his brother Chester
Lee Rogers, Sr. build a small addition to a tourist cabin. I had the wonderful experience of taking
my father, Chester Lee, Sr. and Charlie by the car over to Olathe, Colorado, to stay with Charlie's
daughter, Adra Mae King. Charlie, even though he was very sick, never complained once and
continued to have that sparkling smile always.
Grace was born October 1, 1883, in Whiteside County, Illinois and died March 25, 1968 in Denver
Colorado. Grace died after suffering two broken hips in a fall when visiting her daughter,
Charlotte. She died in the hospital in Colorado Springs.
[Note: I visited both of them at the hospital just a few months before both of their
deaths.]
Charlotte died at age 50 after a long illness with cancer. Both Charlie and Grace are buried in
Crown Hill Cemetery in Denver, Colorado.
Clarence Bartram Rogers
Clarence Bartram Rogers was born March 8, 1882 in Laurel, Iowa and died February 1961. He
was married September 15, 1903 to Genie Olivia Swanson in Everly, Iowa. She was born June 9,
1884 in Spencer, Iowa. Both are buried at Lincoln Memorial Cemetery, Portland,
Oregon.
p. 85
Clifford Hayes Rogers
Clifford Hayes was born April 16, 1884 and died Octobe 6, 1941. He was married to Edith
Swanson. She died February 6, 1958 and both are buried at Lincoln Memeorial Cemetery in the
Charles Austin Sumner Rogers' plot, Portland, Oregon.
Chester Lee Rogers, Sr.
Chester Lee Rogers, Sr., was born in Laurel, Iowa, on May 30, 1886. he married Beulah
Euphemia Hill on August 8, 1916 in Denver, Colorado. She was born May 17, 1892 at Osakis
Village in Minnesota. She died July 25. 1965 at Loveland, Colorado. He died November 19, 1971,
in Loveland and both are buried in the Rogers' plot in Loveland.
Clay Steven Rogers
Clay Steven was born March 8, 1888, in Marshalltown, Iowa. He was married in 1916 to Nina
Arthoud in Spencer, Iowa. She was born October 27, 1893 at Mt. Pleasant, Iowa. He died
November 17, 1965 and is buried in Sheboygan Cemetery in Sheboygan Falls, Wisconsin. In
1970, she was living at 83 Michigan Street, Sheboygan Falls, Wisconsin.
Cyrus Rogers
Cyrus Rogers, born in July 1890, was married to Frances Castle. In 1970 she was living at 1234
''H'' Street, Sweet Home, Oregon 97386.
p. 86
[Note: For each of the sons of Charles Austin Sumner Rogers, there is a more complete history of
the families on Orville Jones' History.]
In September of 1994, Shirley and I took a trip with our R.V. into Iowa and spent several days in
and around Laurel and Marshalltown, Iowa. We found a treasure of material on John Foy,
including the following:
I appears that John Foy came to Iowa in about 1863. According to several articles in the
Marshalltown Centennial covering 1881 to1981, John Foy Rogers was a leading citizen in th small
town of Laurel. He had several pieces of property including a 240-acre farm. We visited this farm
which is now owned by william John Lyle. the Lyles have lived there for almost 50 years having
purchased it from a family by the name of Paul, who evidently purchased it from John Foy. The
Lyles had a picture of the old Rogers' home. According to the Lyles, the house had five outside
doors, three large rooms and one small room downstairs, three bedrooms and a hallway upstairs.
A one room basement was reached by a floor door on the floor of the uncovered south porch.
There was an outhouse on the south side, along with a cob house and other outbuildings. One of
the outbuildings was a very large barn which the present owners thought was the riginal built by
either John Foy or Charles Sumner. The barn is in excellent condition. The other very interesting
thing was the Methodist cemetery [later named ''Maple Grove''] [p. 87] on land donated by John
Foy and is located right across from the 240-acre farm. My wife and I visited the cemetery and
took pictures of John Foy's and Anna's tombstone as well as R.H. Rogers and several more of the
Rogers' family members. It is an unusual and very well kept, small cemetery with trees and grass
and a small building. The present owners of the the farm said they take turns keeping it up with
other members of the community. John Foy left the farm in 1883 and moved to
town.
In the Centennial book, Shirley and I found articles and pictures of John Foy's country general
store which he purchased on September 27, 1886. It was a two-story, wood-frame building
consisting of two rooms on the main floor and living quarters upstairs. On the bottom floor, he had
dry goods on one side, groceries on another. John Foy's young son, Cecil, was a business man
selling bicycles and an agent for an insurance company.
One of the main intersecting streets was named ''Rogers'' in honor of the important role the
Rogers' family played in the development and flourishing of Laurel in the late 1880's and early
1900's. The ''Rogers Street'' remains today.
R.N. Rogers, another son of John Foy's, served as a postmaster for a time. After he resigned, he
began an enterprise combining a small restaurant and barber shop.
p. 88
According to the 1880 Census, mt grandfather, C.A.S. Rogers at 25, was listed as a farmer with
wife, Anna [19] listed as housewife. In another census, the author found reference to him working
as a carpenter and wagon maker in Marshalltown, Iowa.
I recall some of the stories my father used to tell us in the winter while we sat around the pot
bellied stove in the kitchen. This is Dad's story:
The winters came early with heavy snows that stayed until the spring breakups. We had to keep
all our livestock under sheds to protect them from the way below freezing weather. One of my
most onerous chores was forking the manure out of the horse and cow barns. We had good
barns and outbuildings, and the horses were particularly pampered as they were the most
valuable assets we had. We always had plenty of wood to burn as we spent a good deal of our
summers cutting the trees, sawing and splitting them into logs that would fit into the stove. There
was very little money to be had, so most everything was made on the place. Very few trips were
made to town for items. In the winter, we sawed chunks of ice out of the lakes or rivers, hauled
them into the farmstead and stored them in sawdust and straw so that we had ice a large part of
the summer.
We did without if we couldn't make or fix things. My father, Charles Austin Sumner, worked hard
and was a hard taskmaster. He was an excellent carpenter [and worked in town as a carpenter
according to the census found in Marshalltown County Courthouse]. He taught us six boys as we
became old enough to help in all the chores and farming as well as learning to be carpenters and
other trades to make a living.
p. 89
We were relatively well-off and the farm was clear. Four of my brothers, Charles, Clarence,
Clifford, And Clay, had left home when I was in my teenage years Clarence and Clifford had
settled in Portland, Oregon; Clay in Wisconsin; and Charles, the oldest brother, in Carr,
Colorado.
I will remember the many discussions we had about wheter or not to sell the farm, leave Iowa and
go to Colorado where my brother, Charles, was. During those years, just after the turn of the
century, there were real estate promoters around telling about the excellent opportunities in areas
in the West where a good farmer could make a whole new start and become prosperous. I
remember father and mother finally coming to the decision to move to Carr, Colorado, where the
oldest brother, Charles, was living. Of course, I was thrilled because I wanted to get out of the
cold Iowa weather and get to the glorious sunshine of Colorado and be a cowboy on a big cattle
ranch.
It was in the yearr of 1905 that, after selling the farm, we loadd our furniture, horses and cattle
onto the immigrant train and started to Colorado. My father had made several trips out to Carr.
Through the help of my brother, Charles [''Charlie''], he located and purchased 240 acres of prime
wheat land, two miles straight south of Carr [now known as the ''Morrison Farm.''] It had a house
and some outbuildings and the price was right-- the farm having been a homestead
relinquishment. To me, being 23 years old, it was the beginning of an adventure that a boy
dreams about. Before we left, I remember my dad saying to [p. 90] mother, myself, Clay and Cy
that it would be easy to make a living there as we would have cows, chickens, a garden and 200
acres of wheat land to farm with the machinery to do it.
My dear mother, Anna, of course, was much concerned about the type, condition and size of the
house and if her furniture would fit into it. Dad said, ''Mother, the house is fine for now and
besides, we will build on to it as soon as we get a new barn built.'' To mother, those were very
reassuring words, however, they were not very prophetic. She found the house adequate though,
for her family of now five-- Mother, father, Cyrus, Clay and myself.
I was ready for the wild west and became a man about town with my horse and buggy. I was able
to live out my boyhood dream as poker player and wild cowboy and worked for a time on the very
large Warren Livestock Ranch. I found myself popular at the dances in the night life of Carr,
having the pick of all the farmers' and ranchers' daughters. There were also many young
schoolmarms from the one-room school houses around the countryside. The most beautiful one
of the girls became my wife and your mother. Beulah E. Hill and I were married on August 8, 1916
in Carr and honeymooned in Denver.
p. 92
SUPPLEMENT II
THE STORY OF WILLIAM B. HILL AND HIS DESCENDANTS
William Brown Hill, Our maternal grandfather, was born January 25, 1893 in what is now Ontario,
formerly called Upper Canada or Canada West. His forefathers on both his father's side and
mother's side were Quakers. His father's name was Walter Hill and his mother's name was
Phoebe Brown.* The family lived for a time in the township of Basanquet, a new country bordering
on Lake Huron in the county of Lambton, of which Port Sarnia was the county seat. William
remembered winding through the woods with scarcely a road, in a lumber wagon [on their way] to
their new home [one of many moves the family made].
Indians often camped across the road opposite the family's door and the children had little Indian
boys and girls for playmates.
There was a log schoolhouse located at the four corners of the road about a mile fom their home.
It was rather primitive, with logs split in two with legs on them for benches. Religion was a large
part of William's life.
-----------------
*I will make no attempt at the present time to delve deeper into the origins of my maternal
grandfather or grandmother other than what is stated herein. No doubt there are others in this
family that know about, or have a history, and hopefully that will develop later.
p. 94
Services were held in churches, schools and private dwellings.The mother read the Bible at home
to the children and taught them the fear of the Lord. Spelling bees were very popular proving to be
a social time as well as educational. Temperance meetings were also a source of instruction and
enjoyment in the new country.
`When William was thirteen his mother died leaving six children: Mary Ann, Charles James,
William Brown, Elisha, John and Sarah Jane. Walter married again, providing the family with a
good stepmother. Walter ran a tannery and shoe shop as well as a farm. At this time, at age 15,
William learned the shoemaker's trade which stood him in good stead during his growing-up
years.
In 1864 the family moved to Minnesota and settled near Blue Earth City. Walter Hill, in 1867, had
a large grain mill to which he attached a windmill, and the other settlers brought their sacks of
corn for him to grind. It was a poor harvest year in 1867 and grain was so scarce that flour rose to
$9.00 per cwt.
In the spring of 1869, William was teaching school in the Whitewater Valley, and one of his pupils
was Emma Town, his wife to be. They were married on March 22, 1869. William proved that he
was a good teacher and always had a job teaching if he wished. The pay for teaching was around
$30.00 per month. About this time he became a believer in the Seventh Day Adventist religion.
He, through intensive studying, became a very devout and active advocate of the Sabbath Day
being on Saturday. The rest of his life was spent explaining why he felt this way and converting
others to this belief.
p. 96
In the spring of 1870 the young couple moved to Martin county and developed a new farm on the
broad prairie. In June of that year a disastrous hail storm struck and their grain, corn, potatoes,
garden stuff--in fact everything---was beaten into the earth. The hailstones fell with such force that
they dented the side of the house which was made of seasoned hardwood
boards.
The summer of 1873 William attended a Seventh Day Adventist camp meeting held at Medford.
At this camp meeting william was asked, ''Brother Hill, if we give you a license to improve your gift,
will you use it?'' Although William loved teaching dearly, he made the decision to become a
minister in the service of the Lord. He had a firm faith in the promises of God to be with the
laborers ``...even unto the end of the world, and that whosoever would forsake houses, or
brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands for His name's sake should
receive a hundredfold and inherit everlasting life.'' [Matthew 19:29]
At this time, William and Emma had two little boys, Frankie and Allen. [Their first children born
were twins and died at birth.] William's first years spent preaching were very difficult because he
was introducing a different faith, and the countryside was not very well settled and at times not
very receptive to a new faith. His pay from the conference [Seventh Day Adventist] was $4.00 per
week, and it was necessary for him to supplement the pay by teaching and working in the harvest.
His little wife Emma, worked very hard to take care of the family and keep William in decent
clothes to go to different parts of the countryside to bring the message to the
people.
p. 97
In September of 1877, the family was living about nine miles from Dassel. One day the family
went by horse and buggy to the Dassel train station to meet William after one of is long trips away.
By this time, Ella had been born, making three children in the family. William said of this
homecoming, ``When beaten and bruised in life's battle, the husband and father comes home,
and the good wife smiles upon him and the little ones, with eyes beaming with joy, climb upon his
knee amd put their loving arms around his neck, the warm bright sunbeams of love drive away his
gloom. His troubles vanish, and peace and joy fill his heart once more.''
In 1880, the family was living in Eagle Lake, Blue Earth County, Minnesota. Diphtheria was raging
through that part of the country. After returning from a general meeting near Wells, William found
his eldest son Frankie, 10 years old, down with the dread disease. After fifteendays of care,
Frankie died. He was sustained by his religion which was so simple, so precious that a child could
be sustained and comforted by it, even in the face of death. The oldest little girl, Ella was sick with
the same disease; however, after a night of laying cold clothes on her body over and over, the
fever subsided and she was saved. Even so, the diphtheria still raged and in January 1881 it
came back. Gurden, 5 years old, and his little sister, Nellie, 1 1/2 years old, were taken down with
it. Nellie was saved and she was sunshine to their hearts, but little Gurden was laid beside her
Brother Frankie.
p. 98
After years and years of privation for himself and his family and much success in raising churches
in Minnesota, against great odds and enduring many sicknesses and threats on his life, William
decided to make a move to Lincoln, Nebraska. They began the long journey on September 26,
1897 in a covered wagon and a one-horse carriage. During the Sabbath before they left, they
stopped at the place where he had begun his ministry. A large crowd gathered for the farewell
meeting. The brethren of their own free will made up a little purse, with one giving four silver
dollars, to help on the trip.
The first full day they made about 40 miles and camped in a deserted area. There were seven
children in all three boys [Allen, Willie, Julius] and four girls [Ella, Nellie, Bertha, and Beulah]. The
first night the youngest girl, Beulah cried and when asked, ``What is the matter, little one?'' she
replied. ``Let us go back home. I don't like Lincoln.'' she thought they were already in
Lincoln.
That night the horses got away and started running back home. Luckily, even though it was dark,
they were able to find them. The horses had stopped by a one-wire fence [all that was left of an
old fence with the posts rotted away]. Had they turned a few feet either way, they would have
gotten away and the family would have been stranded. William had asked the Lord for help and in
a remarkable way, He fulfilled His promise.
p. 99
On the way they called at Kasote where his sister, Sarah Pettis, lived. Then they went to Eagle
Lake where William's brothers lived. On October 20, 1897, they reached his brother John's place,
which was near Blue Earth City. On Monday, the four older children and William went with the
wagon and carriage while Emma and the three younger childen went by rail toward Lincoln,
Nebraska.
On November 3 William and the boys arrived in Lincoln and were reunited with the others and
were soon settled in their new home. The children entered into school life at College View,
Nebraska.
The second son, Willie, when quite small, had the grippe which was quite painful, but he seemed
to have outgrown it. After being at College View a short time, it began to be painful again. The
doctors pronounced it as cerebral meningitis. After a long and painful illness, he yielded up his life
and was laid to rest in the College View cemetery in Lincoln.
In July 1898, the oldest daughter, Ella, was united in marriage to C. P. Nelson. In November 1898,
Nellie Elizabeth married Professor C. R. Kite [who was also a minister in the Seventh Day
adventist Church].
In September 1901, at a meeting in Lincoln Park, a terrific storm of wind and rain came down
upon the meeting in the gospel pavilion and the people fled in great confusion fearing the
structure would fall on them. William told his baby girl, Beulah, nine years old, to sit quietly while
he looked after some necessary [p. 100] things and, amid the confusion, she sat there until he
returned having the most implicit confidence in her father that he knew what was best and would
care for her. Her firm faith in her father touched William's heart and taught him a lesson of simple
faith and trust in the Father in heaven. This faith was imparted to Beulah and she remained a
devout Seventh Day Adventist for many years.
THE EARLY LIFE OF BEULAH HILL ROGERS
Beulah grew up in Lincoln, going through grade school and high school and two years of college
at Union College in Lincoln. William remained in his ministry. However, being older now, he stayed
closer and was able to be the fathger figure to his large family. Beulah loved her father and would
defend him for the times he spent away from his family during the days in Minnesota. I believe,
however, she lost some of her fervor for some of the Seventh Day Adventists beliefs and soon
after meeting and marrying Chester L. Rogers, she accepted the Presbyterian belief. Beulah,
though, could quote the Bible and often did to her own family and she could hold her own in any
company, no matter how learned that company might be.
Beulah held different jobs, including reporter in and around Lincoln and Omaha, and at the age of
about 21, she moved to Denver. I remember my mother telling of the winter of 1913. She was
working in an office in the middle of downtown Denver when several feet of snow fell. Even
though home was just a few [p. 101] blocks away, she and a girl friend were unable to leave the
office for a day or so to go home.
During this time in Denver, she would often visit her sister, Nellie, and brother-in-law, Reuben Kite
at Carr, Colorado. I remember her telling us how much fun it was to ride horses and ride in the
buggies over the rolling miles of prairie. She started going to the community gatherings and
dances that were held in Carr and the surrounding communities of Dover, Nunn, Pierce, Purcell
and also at the school houses throughout the rural areas.
It was here, during these years, that she met her husband to be, Chester. She told her kids later
that it was his deep brow, large forehead, and luxurious hair that attracted her the most--along
with being bright and loyal enough to be the father of her children! Of course, she loved him
deeply.
They were married at the Kite home with blessings and the best wishes from a host of friends and
relatives on both sides. The August 8th wedding was the event of the year in 1916. Their
honeymoon was a fun-filled time spent in Denver, Colorado. It was probably the last of their totally
``carefree'' days before settling in to the difficult task of making a living and raising a large family
during those hard times. They retired in 1950.
------------------
This account was taken from the book, EXPERIENCE of a PIONEER EVANGELIST of the
NORTHWEST by William Brown Hill published in 1902.
Note from transciber: all missing pages denote photographs of said family members. Transcibed
by A. Maertens January, 2003.