Eugene Gets a Little Cleaning and Recognition

 

The mural in Highland Baptist Church

When  I last visited New England In 2013, I was determined to talk to as many elders in the Tapply family as I could and to check out the Fitchburg Historical Society. There, in the lobby (at the time-they've since moved) was a huge mural of the local dam and reservoir that served Fitchburg at the time my great granduncle, Eugene Rogers, was alive. It was a spectacular piece. They also owned a portrait of a local woman which was in storage at the time. Both were done by Eugene himself. Since then, I have discovered that Eugene also has work that lives in the Westminster Historical Society. I believe it was the nice lady at the FHS who said that there was also a piece at the Highland Baptist Church on Cedar Street in Fitchburg.

So I moved on to interviewing elders. One of those was Marjorie Dik. My aunt was with me and mentioned our visit to FHS and the work at the church. Turns out, Marjorie was a member. So it was Marjorie who smoothed the way for me. to visit the church and see the mural. I took pictures which came to the attention of my cousin Jill Rogers Pratzon. Jill is an illustrator and art restorer in New York City. (Pratzon Art Restoration) She visited the mural on her next trip to Fitchburg and thus began the quest to restore the mural.  

The title of the piece is, I believe, "The Banks of the River Jordan". Jill laughingly said, "That's not the River Jordan".  The maple trees in the mural are a bit out of place. And having been there, Jill has reason to know. It sits above the baptismal tank in the church and has seen some years of use. 

I strongly suspect that Eugene was actually a member of Highland Baptist Church. You might remember that in investigating his mother's name, Cassandria Hooper Harrington, I discovered a local evangelist named Cassandria Hooper Bliss. And I suspect that is the origin of the Winslow and Brainard names in the family. Cassandria was a stout member of the Baptist church, so it would only make sense that Eugene might be as well.

So time moved along, some fund raising happened and Jill announced that she would be restoring the mural.

Jill hard at work.

This last week that happened. Jill contacted the local paper, The Fitchburg Sentinel,  and they came out and did a very nice story.  You can check that out HERE. Much thanks to Danielle Ray for the coverage.  I anticipate that this attention may turn up more clues in the story of Eugene Harrington Rogers. I can't wait to see what happens next. Here's my next tantalizing clue from a book called The History of Worcester County Massachusetts : "Mr. Eugene H Rogers was born in Holden in 1858. He was educated in the schools of his native town and of Worcester. He early began to cultivate his natural artistic talent, studying by himself and receiving instruction from his father, also an artist." . Also an artist? WB Rogers? Oh boy! This is the rewarding part of genealogy.

Edward Clark Archer

 I was over on Family Search this week putting out brush fires. Always. I'm not sure what is confusing about sourcing one's material, but I spend a lot of time deleting things people link to my tree. (my main complaint with the group-think approach at Family Search)

Here's an example: My 4x great grandfather Aaron Rogers was born in Harwich, Massachusetts. He came from a very large family. And his ancestors all had very large families. So, if you are a Rogers from anywhere on Cape Cod, chances are we are cousins. He served in a militia during the Revolutionary War. After the war, in recognition of his service, he was given a land grant in Holden, Massachusetts. Now you would think that this alone would be enough to show proof of service. Apparently not. At some point his misplaced his paperwork. When it came time to apply for his pension, he was denied. So,  he got his brother-in-law Jonathan to write a letter for him and he did the same. I found these on Fold 3. Both men refer to each other as brother-in-law. So I looked all through his sibs to find a sister who married a Jonathan. None existed. Here's where it gets interesting.

Aaron married a young woman named Hannah Rogers of Harwich. I checked the marriage and the marriage intentions assuming they had just put her married name. In both cases she's Hannah Rogers. Using that, and the declaration letter from Jonathan, I decided that her maiden name really WAS Rogers and that Jonathan was her brother. I have NEVER found any information on their parents. Believe me I've looked. There are so many branches to that Rogers line that it is a real rabbit hole.  But I am constantly deleting things from Family Search which assign her to various other families. Sigh...

Today I was noodling around there and found parents assigned to my ancestor Edward Clark Archer. John came from Anne Arundel, Maryland where he was born in 1772. He supposedly came from "an old Maryland family". But he is a notorious brick wall if you are an Archer descendant. (And there are a boatload) So of course I wondered how someone had found parents for Edward. And here's what I found,

So of course this is supposedly from a family Bible. It would be nice to have something more, but at this point that may be nonexistent. However, it may be worth contacting one of these people to see if they would kindly take a photo.  Daniel and Ann Archer moved to Virginia and there is apparently more family. It would be nice to at least take down this brick wall.

Memorial Day 2025

WB Rogers

This is a photo I have posted before. This grave is a cenotaph for Winslow Brainard Rogers. A cenotaph is a memorial  that was put in place in Grove Cemetery in Holden, Massachusetts after the Civil War. There was an organization that put them up everywhere and sometimes the government was involved. We don't know where he is really buried. Because he died of smallpox in the plague hospital in Vicksburg, it's doubtful he has his own stone there. More likely he is in one of the mass graves. Perhaps someday I'll know for sure. But I'm glad that kind folks go out and put up the flags. I think about him on this day.