THE VALLEY OF HEART's DELIGHT
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JOHN C. RODGERS
BIO-Pen Pictures
SURNAMES: MITCHELL, NASH
John C. Rodgers, residing on the northwest corner of Meridian road and Hamilton Avenue, is the owner of one of the most desirable pieces of property in the Hamilton District. The building improvements are noticeably good, and the orchard, of ten acres, is in full bearing. It comprises a general variety, - prunes, peaches, apricots, pears, apples, and a few fine almond-trees. Mr. Rodgers paid $8,000 for the place.
Mr. Rodgers was born in Rockbridge County, Virginia, in 1822. His father, Aniel Rodgers, is also a Virginian by birth, a strong, healthy man, whose physical strength was largely inherited by his son John. The family moved to Monroe County, Missouri, in 1828, and thence to Warren County, Illinois, in 1833. There the parents are buried I the family cemetery, which is located on land now owned by the subject of this sketch. John C. Rodgers married Miss Mary Anne Mitchell, in Warren County, Illinois. He suffered her los by death, in June, 1871. Eight children were born to them, of whom five are living: William M., who is now (1888) living on the old homestead in Warren County, Illinois; Rachel I., who lives with her father; Mrs. Clara J. Nash, who, with her husband, occupies a part of her father’s present home; John A., a resident of Kansas; and Mary, who makes her home with her father.
Mr. Rodgers is a member of the United Presbyterian Church, as was also his wife. He is a strong Republican, of Abolitionist antecedents. His father was a radical Abolitionist, although born and reared in a slave State. His grandfather, Rev. John Rodgers never owned or hired a slave, being thoroughly an Abolitionist.
Both father
and grandfather were strong, rugged men, physically and mentally, of Scotch
extraction. They were descendants of the Presbyterian seceders from the
Established Church of Scotland, who founded the Associated Church. They were
lineal descendants of John Rodgers the Martyr, of Smithfield. Appreciating th
sturdy characteristics of these men, Mr. Rodgers may well refer, with pride, to
his ancestry.
Pen Pictures From The Garden of the World or Santa Clara County, California, Illustrated. - Edited by H.S. Foote. - Chicago:The Lewis Publishing Company, 1888.p. 459
Transcribed by Debbie Combs