Family Remembrances
of James T. Rogers
by Angus McKay Cameron
James T. Rogers -- perhaps the "T" was for Thomas -- was born in Chatham County on August 27, 1827, and died on January 13, 1902, at Lillington, in Harnett County, at age 74. In 1861, at the beginning of the Civil War, he was age 34.
He was the son of George Rogers Sr. and Martha (Patsey) Hunter, his wife, of Chatham County. Martha Hunter's parents were James Hunter and wife, Elizabeth Brooks, and her grandfather was Andrew Hunter, known for his Revolutionary War exploits, especially in relation to the Tory, David Fanning.
James T. Rogers was married to Susan W. Marsh of Chatham County, who was born near Mt. Vernon Springs, on May 2, 1837, and died at Lillington, in Harnett County, on July 7, 1909. I do not have the date of their marriage, but they moved from Chatham County to Harnett County in 1869.
In Lillington, James T. Rogers worked as a dentist and operated a general store also. His grandchild, Martha McKay, recalled that as a child, she saw his dental instruments, and "they had gold handles!" The Rogers family lived in and operated the hotel which was across the street from the courthouse. Or, as Martha McKay put it: "She (Susan Rogers) ran the hotel and he (J.T. Rogers) ran the general store and did dental work."
J.T. Rogers also had skill as a carpenter and made several pieces of furniture now belonging to Stephen Cameron. In her diary, his daughter, Martha Rogers, writes: "Today papa made a wardrobe (for one of the hotel rooms)."
Martha McKay recalled: "Grandma Rogers' (Mrs. J.T. Rogers) brother, Uncle Billy Marsh, lived in Lillington. He was a big fat man and had a lot of children." I believe that he is the relative who walked from Lillington to Buies Creek to the Dr. J.F. McKay home to visit his niece, Martha Rogers McKay, and her family. He is said to have walked the distance of some miles in a path through the woods, from Lillington to Buies Creek, a trip which also involved crossing the Cape Fear River.
Said Martha McKay: "Uncle Johnny Rogers (the brother of Martha Rogers McKay) lived in the Lillington hotel with his wife. They had no children. He ran a drugstore." She also said: "Auntie (the sister of Martha Rogers McKay) kept the books for the hotel. She married a Washburn. They had a little house near the hotel."
Martha McKay recalls about the hotel in Lillington: "The food was served family style." (With lots of fried chicken and iced tea, I imagine.) "When dinner time came (at noon) an employee wearing a red jacket would go out on the porch of the hotel and ring a dinner bell that he held in his hand. Across the street, in the courthouse, the sound of the bell ringing would be heard through the open windows. The judge would dismiss court for noon recess immediately, and people ready to eat (including the judge) would walk quickly across the street to the hotel and sit down around the tables laden with food."
The Rogers were active members of the Baptist church in Lillington, and the graves of James T. Rogers and his wife, Susan Rogers, as well as other family members, are in the cemetery on U.S. Highway 421 in Lillington. I believe that the Baptist church was on this site years ago.
The obituary of James T. Rogers says that he was buried in the Baptist Cemetery in Lillington. It also lists his numerous activities as a faithful member of the church over many years.
James T. Rogers: His Civil War Diary
