Ancestors in Missouri in the Civil War

 See this historic note.

Open Yesterday's Pages

More about Micajah Clack Rogers

 I knew there had been something published telling about his holdings in Sevierville TN before he moved to Texas.

I searched and searched and finally found the letter sent by a third cousin 2X removed, J. A. Sharp to my grandfather's cousin, Hayden Ross.

Relations? I'll look at them later, first I was glad to find information about 3X great Grandpa Micajah.

James Hayden Ross 1880-1961 rec'd letter from JA Sharp in 54

Hayden was my first cousin, 2X removed.

OK, the Ross family had 10 children, and mother Ross was a Rogers, the sister of my grandfather's father. When my grandfather was orphaned around 2 years old, he was welcomed into the Ross family with his own little sister. (Of course there weren't quite all those children at that time, only 3 sons had been born by then.) But Hayden was a cousin to my grandfather, and just 3 years younger. So of course when the Sharp letter came to Hayden, he shared it with my grandfather, George Rogers Sr.

Which is how I came to have a copy!

I've written about my relation to J. A. Sharp before, several times. First I had to find him on my tree, then learn that he was indeed a historian. Check out these posts if you're interested.

 Here where I searched to find the connection between the Rogers and the Sharps....
and another link in a series I posted about the Sharp family...Here,  and J.A. Sharp the Historian.

Anyway, I'll write more about my Great X3 Grandfather Micajah Clack Rogers soon. Just a tangent happened here, finding the Sharp letter and more of his writings.

Micajah Clack Rogers, first mayor of Huntsville TX

My great great great grandfather Micajah Clack Rogers, (1795-1873).

 - son George Washington Rogers 

- son William Sanford Rogers 

- son George Elmore Rogers, Sr. 

- son George Elmore Rogers, Jr. 

- daughter, myself.

 History in Review: Huntsville's First Mayor

Since Huntsville was founded in 1836, there have been several mayors.  The first mayor of Huntsville was Micajah Rogers.  Micajah Clack Rogers was born May 17, 1795, in Sevier County, Tenn.  Before coming to Huntsville, Rogers served in the Mounted Gunmen of East Tennessee Militia in the War of 1812 as spies and fought under Andrew Jackson in the Creek Indian Wars.  Rogers and his family moved to Texas in 1842.  It is thought that the family settled in Huntsville due to their friendship with Sam Houston.  In 1843, Rogers served as one of the trustees to the Huntsville Male and Female Academy that Pleasant Gray and his wife Hannah had conveyed land to establish.  Rogers was elected the first mayor of Huntsville in March of 1845 and his son George Rogers was elected the first city treasurer on the same day.  Rogers was also one of the commissioners that served on the committee to secure lands for the first courthouse and jail to be located in Huntsville.  In 1850, Rogers became the postmaster.  He took his son’s, E. Lafeatte, place as postmaster after his death.  Over the years, Rogers also served as Justice of Peace and as Financial Agent of the Texas State Penitentiary.  The Walker County Census listed Rogers as a merchant and freight agent in 1870.  Micajah Rogers died February 15, 1873, and was buried in the old section of Oakwood Cemetery.  For more information about the Rogers’ family and other pioneers that settled Walker County, visit the Gibbs-Powell House and County Museum.  The museum is open from noon to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Friday and noon to 4 p.m. Saturdays.

 

- Lee Ann Wiseman, Director of the Gibbs-Powell Home and Walker County Museum

Micajah Clack Rogers (1795-1873)

I note that Mayor Rogers was only17 when the War of 1812 broke out. He was the oldest of 12 children of Rev. Elijah Rogers and Catharine Clack Rogers. 

His war records reveal he was in 2 units, being a private in both.

From 1812-Aug 1813 service.

1812 MAJOR JOHN PORTER'S SQUADRON, CAVALRY, EAST TENNESSEE MILITIA. Rank - Induction: PRIVATE Rank - Discharge: PRIVATE 

Roll Box: 178 Publication: M602 

Company: 7 REG'T (AUG., 1813,) NORTH CAROLINA MIL.Rank - Induction: PRI Disch PRI

He returned from his service to Sevier County TN, where he'd been born and raised. 

In 1827 the Governor of Tennessee granted him 100 acres in Hamilton County, TN (which is where Chattanooga is located) and 75 acres in Sevier County TN.  He also had many other ventures in Sevier County going before then. He owned the Sweden Iron Works or Short Mountain Furnace.

I saw a marker for the Sweden Furnace which read:

5 miles northwest, this was first called Short Mountain Furnace using local ore bank ore. Started about 1820 by Robert Shields. William K. Love and brothers operated it about 1830. Micajah C. Rogers bought it and changed its name in 1836. It closed in 1840, following the panic of 1837 and deterioration in quality of ore.

Micajah had owned several town lots in Sevierville, TN, a merchantile, and various other interests.

He lost his shirt, so to speak, in the economic crash of  (1837-42?) There are several legal documents by which he sold his holdings to various relatives (his younger sisters' families.)

More...

 

 

Thanksgiving family 2025

 

This photo of my son shows he still has a great sense of humor. Maybe from living with 4 females in his household for over 20 years. The photo behind his head is his oldest daughter, Audrey.

And of course we had to do a selfie.

Michelle and Russ posed on a cold windy day for photos - including their whole family for their traditional Christmas card. 

One of the first poses…they would spend five minutes out in the wind and cold, then the next five inside warming up.

Kate, Caroline and Audrey, with a photo bomb by Cody

I didn’t go out for more than a couple of their many efforts. But after they’d done them all, I was surprised to be offered a series of myself with first the girls, then Russ and Michelle with me, then just Russ and myself. Michelle caught the first group on her phone!

I had a lovely Wednesday as we all shared how our lives are proceeding.

Since this is being published after Thanksgiving, I will just hope you had a good one, however you shared or didn't, feasted or didn't, and perhaps am glad it's past. I'm afraid I don't have anything "Sepia" related today!

But wait...I'll go look now... the meme of "Something in the Way" might work with how the wind was in the way of all the photographic efforts Wednesday! 

Here's my Sepia contribution this week...

The Golden Gate Bridge construction began Jan. 5, 1933. The bridge was opened May 27, 1937.

Moving around (immigrating!)

  Sepia Saturday 

In thinking of going places for October, I bring back a post from 2013 about an ancestral family which moved quite a bit.

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William T Williams 1824-1898 (originally posted Monday, December 16, 2013)

William T. Williams was born on Dec. 16 1824, in Pulaski County, KY.

His father was Richard Frederick Williams, born in 1792 in Crab Orchard, Lincoln County, KY, who died in 1850 or 1860 in Montgomery County, MO; and his mother was  Nancy Hansford Williams, born in 1796 in KY, who died in 1860 in Montgomery County, MO  (GGG grandfather Richard Frederick Williams had served in the War of 1812.) I'll post more about him soon, going backwards in my ancestry for this family.) Richard F. Williams HERE.

William T. Williams died on 22 Apr 1898 in Weesatche, Goliad, Texas. He was the father of Annie Elizabeth Williams Webb, my great grandmother.

He fought for the US Army in the Civil War, according to war records from Macon County, MO, July 1863-5, when he was 38 years old.  He is listed from the 4th sub-district, "Olio" as residence, and occupation is a merchant.  The original entry was changed later, with a red line through his entry and a remark, "Feb 22, 1865, In US Military Service."  He is not listed as "dead" as is another person on the same page, so it is presumed that he was still in the Army in Feb. 1865.  Everyone on this page is also in 4th Sub-district of Macon County with a name beginning "Wi..."  I can't find any reference to a town called Olio, MO, (though there are rave reviews through Wikipedia of a bar by that name in St. Louis.)

Please note, this post continues below the huge photo, but I wanted you to be able to read it.  (Look in left column for place name Olio.)

He and his wife Dorcas (both born in KY) had settled in Middletown, Montgomery County, MO by 1860 with their children and he listed his occupation as carpenter at that time. His oldest was 12, having been born in MO, putting them there by 1848 at least.  The 6 year old, Margaret, was born in Iowa however.

In the 1850 census 10 years prior to that, he lived in Montgomery County, MO and was a farmer, with 2 children, and now listed as both born in MO.  Their birth dates would place him there by 1845.

Back to the Williams, who both died in Weesatchee, Goliad County, Texas.  How did they get there?  I'd love to know.  The whole family immigrated following the Civil War.  And Annie Elizabeth Williams married there when she was 15, in 1877.

When Annie Elizabeth Williams Webb died in 1942, the death certificate had placed her father, William T. Williams' birth in Iowa.  Isn't it interesting to wonder who gave that information, probably the next of kin, Clara Bell Webb Bruce, her daughter who lived till 1971.

(Note on last placement of his birth in Iowa: 

By the time they all had been living in Texas, it was often difficult to find correct information about grandparents. I checked where Montgomery County MO is located, and it's just west of St. Louis, nowhere near the Iowa border.)

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and also talking about this family in 2012 I said:

I've spent much of this rainy day cleaning things around the house. (Sunday the 23rd Nov.)  Kitty litter (my un-faorite-est) then the 2 aquariums...which is such fun and now my fingers are all wrinkly.  But the chartreuse water is gone and now I have counted the guppies (20 teens, 10 adults) and kept them separated.  The big tank still has my 7 year old angel and some younger but ferocious big fish...oh that's not what I want to write you about.

Today with rain outside, I've happily searched on Ancestry.  Went climbing the tree to my great grandmother's side, the Williams.  She was a relative that my mother probably never knew, because her father had died so young.  The Williams came from Missouri to Texas, and from Kentucky to Missouri.

So I've got all these hints on the Williams tree, all these brothers and sisters about whom I know nothing.

I usually ignore them, but today took the time to look at an interesting name, "Liberty Williams" who was one of the elder brothers to William T. Williams, my great grandmom's dad.  Great times 3 Uncle Liberty.  Liberty and William T were born in Pulaski County, Kentucky.

And their parents were born in the same area as well, both Richard Frederick Williams and his wife Nancy Hansford Williams.  Richard Frederick Williams was born in 1792 in Crab Orchard, Lincoln County, Kentucky,

Richard's father, Frederick Williams probably came from South Carolina, while his mother Cassandra Elizabeth, "Cassiah" Tate Williams came from North Carolina.  They were the pioneers who moved to Kentucky by 1792 when Richard was born.  Their first child had been born in South Carolina in 1787.

And the Frederick and Cassiah Williams family may have moved to Kentucky for a while, but they died in Tennessee, while Richard F. as well as Liberty Williams (and other Williams) moved to Missouri.  And then sometime between the time William T. was 38 and 56 (by 1863) he moved from Missouri to Texas, leaving Liberty in Missouri with all his family!

Farmers all.  They had such a job ahead of them when moving to new territory.

It wasn't just go look at the land, put up a cabin, and sew some seeds right away.  Clear timber.  Find fresh water nearby.  Plow the land.  Bring along some livestock as well, and maybe take a few trips back to sources of seeds, nails, the rest of needed livestock, and hope that everyone stays healthy while each of the people help build whatever buildings were first needed.  Put in a garden, or at least go pick those berries and nuts.  And while waiting for any kind of food to grow, what do you eat?  Not barely enough berries!  (Couldn't resist the pun).  The hunters were out getting deer, squirrel, rabbits, birds and whatever could be shot for food.  Mum would have been taking these carcases and skinning them, or plucking, and cooking over a campfire.

What do you think, campfires were not much different than cooking in a fireplace.  Hauling some iron pots and pans were very important in order to make meals.  Someone was bringing water from a creek or river...every night!  And someone was chopping some logs while the littlest someones just picked up sticks for kindling.

Yes a life that was out in nature.  Sounds idyllic, right?  Not when you think of snakes, cold, rain and many bugs and even heat at other times.

It must have made these very hardy folks, cause William T. lived to be 72.  And his wife, Dorcas White Williams, mother of 8,(6 of whom lived to adulthood) lived to 74 years of age.

I'm so glad I was born when I was.  I get the benefit of medical care and social security rather than an adult child who will care for me in my old age.  AND I get the internet.  I don't know how many of the people in the 1800's could read and write, and certainly it was far fewer in the 1700s.  Those folks were too busy killing their food and cooking it, or growing it and eating and sleeping to bother to write anything, let alone teach the kids how.  Schools were obviously a real boon when towns were formed.  But that's another topic for another day.

Map showing where and when various Williams families settled in Montgomery County, Missouri.

Families through history

 Housing forms of Indigenous North Americans

A house in Texas at the turn of the last century

A jacal in San Benito, Texas circa 1905

a Delaware-Lenape Tribe longhouse outside

a Delaware-Lenape Tribe longhouse inside

by Carl Mydans around 1936 for the Farm Security Administration

Annie Oakley

by Dorothea Lange, May 1942 Woodland, California.

 Families of Japanese ancestry with their baggage at railroad station awaiting the arrival of special train which will take them to the Merced Assembly center, 125 miles away.

American documentary photographer and photojournalist, Dorothea Lange (1895-1965), photographed in 1965 by American photographer, Ansel Adams (1902-1984).

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Today's quote:

Emily Dickenson

The bee is not afraid of me,
I know the butterfly;
The pretty people in the woods
Receive me cordially.

The brooks laugh louder when I come,
The breezes madder play.
Wherefore, mine eyes, thy silver mists?
Wherefore, O summer's day?

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For this week's Sepia Saturday 

Host Alan Burnett says this:

It's a sad state of affairs when you are so old you become a Sepia Saturday prompt. Nevertheless, that is me in the centre of the picture - not the one with the long ears, but the little cute chap taking his first ride on a seaside donkey. I don't look too thrilled at the prospect, and, if truth be told, neither does the donkey. However, like the brave little soldier I was, I posed for the photograph in the knowledge that it would come in useful over three quarters of a century later as a Sepia Saturday prompt. Find in it what you will - cute little chaps, donkeys with big ears, seaside sands ... or whatever. Whatever old photograph of your own it brings to mind, share it on or around Saturday 9th August 2025 and add a link to the list below. And here is a reminder of what is to come for the rest of the month.

 

Launched in 2009, Sepia Saturday provides bloggers with an opportunity to share their history through the medium of photographs. Historical photographs of any age or kind (they don't have to be sepia) become the launchpad for explorations of family history, local history and social history in fact or fiction, poetry or prose, words or further images. If you want to play along, all we ask is that your sign up to the weekly Linky List, that you try to visit as many of the other participants as possible, and that you have fun.

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I always had great love of horses, ponies...but very seldom had any experience of them. A photo was taken of me as a little tot on one. A trail ride as a teen through a park once. Lots of horse adventure books growing up however, and once TV westerns came along, I was smitten. The 60s were certainly full of cowboys for entertainment.

The old photo of cowgirl me and my little sister:

I was 3-1/2 and Mary was 4 months  old.

Roger of Sicily -sources

Text available here:

https://archive.org/details/hubert-houben-roger-ii-of-sicily-a-ruler-between-east-and-west-2002/page/n15/mode/2up?view=theater (originally in German 1907) 200

https://www.google.com/books/edition/Roger_II_of_Sicily/Duwowbx1vuQC?hl=en&gbpv=1 (1997)

seems a duplicate

Alchemy of Clay's articles:

https://blackmtnbarb.blogspot.com/2017/05/normandy-and-sicily-for-rogers-roots.html

And:

https://blackmtnbarb.blogspot.com/2017/05/sir-roger-de-hauteville.html

And:

https://blackmtnbarb.blogspot.com/2017/05/roger-ii-king-of-sicily.html

and...

https://blackmtnbarb.blogspot.com/2017/05/from-sicily-to-england.html

and

https://blackmtnbarb.blogspot.com/2017/05/those-normans-in-italy.html

and

https://blackmtnbarb.blogspot.com/2017/05/sir-john-fitz-roger-13867-4-oct-1441.html

and

https://blackmtnbarb.blogspot.com/2017/06/our-rogers-ancestress-dame-elizabeth-de.html

New source about Roger II of Sicily

https://www.google.com/books/edition/Roger_II_of_Sicily/Duwowbx1vuQC?hl=en&gbpv=1