Rev. Nathaniel Rogers (abt1598–1655) of Ipswich

An able disputant, whose mouth the Lord was pleased to fill with many arguments for the defence of his truth.

—Johnson’s Wonder-Working Providence of Sions Saviour in New England

The Reverend Nathaniel Rogers is my ninth-great-grandfather through his son Samuel Rogers. Nathaniel was the second son of Rev. “Roaring John” Rogers of Dedham, Essex, and he immigrated to New England in 1636, becoming one of the first ministers of Ipswich, Massachusetts. Cotton Mather included a comprehensive account of Nathaniel Rogers’ life in his Magnalia Christi Americana (London, 1702), and Mather’s account is one of the principal sources for the sketch of Rogers’ life in the Dictionary of National Biography. Nathaniel was a graduate (B.A. 1617) of Emmanuel College, Cambridge, the Puritan foundation that contributed more ministers to New England than any other college. Apart from my parents, Nathaniel Rogers and his father John are the only college graduates I have found among my all ancestors. Nathaniel’s first son John (1630–1684), who came to New England as a child, graduated from Harvard College in 1649 and served as president of Harvard from 1682–1684.

The English ancestry of Nathaniel Rogers was investigated by Henry Waters in the nineteenth century in his series of “genealogical gleanings” published in the New England Historical and Genealogical Register. There may be more recent work of which I am not aware, but these two papers are comprehensive and transcribe many original documents:

• Waters, Henry F. 1887.
  Genealogical gleanings in England [on the family of John Rogers of Dedham, Essex]. New England Historical and Genealogical Register, April 1887, pp. 158–188.

• Waters, Henry F. 1896.
  Genealogical gleanings in England. New England Historical and Genealogical Register, April 1896, pp. 254–257. [These pages confirm and supplement the material in the 1887 paper.]

The claim that Nathaniel Rogers was descended from the Puritan “proto-martyr” John Rogers, burned at the stake in 1555 during the reign of “Bloody” Queen Mary of England, has been repeatedly disproven, even though it still appears on many genealogical websites.

My descent from Nathaniel Rogers and his father John is shown below. The Rogers portion is based on the Waters papers cited above.

 John ROGERS ( -abt1575)                A joiner of Chelmsford, Essex.
 Agnes (_____) CARTER
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 John ROGERS (1548-1601)                A shoemaker of Chelmsford, Essex.
 Mary _____ ( -1579)
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 Rev. John ROGERS (abt1572-1636)        Puritan divine of Dedham, Essex;
 Bridget RAY                              called "Roaring John."
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 Rev. Nathaniel ROGERS (abt1598-1655)   The Massachusetts immigrant;
 Margaret CRANE (1600-1676)               arrived New England 17 Nov 1636.
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 Samuel ROGERS (1635-1693)
 Sarah WADE (abt1641- )
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 Mary ROGERS (1672-1736)
 Simon TUTTLE (1667-1696)
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 Lucy TUTTLE ( -aft1746)
 Eleazer LAWRENCE (1697-1789)
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 Lucy LAWRENCE (1732-1815)
 Thomas CUMMINGS (1734-1818)
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 Thomas CUMMINGS (1757- )
 Elizabeth (Mary?) HILDRETH (abt1765-abt1843)
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 Thomas CUMMINGS (abt1782-1865)
 Lucinda WRIGHT (1797-1851)
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 Sarah Melissa CUMMINGS (1837- )
 Sylvester Addison PARKHURST (1837-1909)
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 Addie May PARKHURST (1865-1940)
 George Henry WOODS (1855-1940)
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 Robert James O'HARA