Norwalk

After the decease of the widow of James Rogers^- the old homestead, bought, but seemingly not built, by James Rogers 3d-, passed into the hands of Nehemiah Rogers and here, quite possibly, all of his children were born. The house was doubtless burned on the fateful morning of July II, 1779, and none of the family appear to have afterward re- turned again. There is mention of Mrs. Nehemiah Rogers calling, with her daughter Su- sanna, in the vicinity, but no record that indicates possession of the old spot. A discov- ery has recently been made of what was, in all probability, the original well of her great- great-grandfather Fitch, (Thomas Fitch, Sr.) The same is hidden, but only slight effort is required to find it. It stands upon the site of the Sr. Fitch's home, and the stones with which it is walled are moss grown, but the water is clear and cool. As Thomas Fitch bought the property in 1654 from a previous owner, if not occupant, (Edward Church 1 it may be possible that the well was not Fitch-dug. In either case, however, it has interesting Fitch association. At the summit of Chestnut Hill, where is obtained one of the finest water views along the Connecticut shore, lived .Mrs. Rogers' brother, Samuel 2d- and nephew. This spot was one of her visiting points when in Norwalk, and here her son Moses made a large pur- chase. This does not, however, seem to have been for his own use, as he had no Norwalk residence. During the Lambert's day, Rogers family intercourse was kept up, but since the decease of the sons of David Lambert 2± this has gradually ceased. A ROGERS-SMITH NEW ENGLAND AFFINITY. The Norwalk born Fitch Rogers (oldest son of Nehemiah and Elizabeth) married (see note page 95) Hannah, daughter of Isaac and Jemima Bell. The Rogers young men early left Norwalk, and Fitch eventually established himself in Stamford. His name, how - ever, long continued a familiar one in his birth-place. His oldest son, Fitch"1-, married Mary Elizabeth, born Oct. 28, 1804, the second child by his second marriage, of Rev. Daniel Smith, long the pastor of the Congregational Church in Stamford. There was no issue by this union, but the family connection is remarkable. Samuel Smith married Rachel, daughter of Matthew Marvin, Sr. of Norwalk. Here both lived and had born to them, among other children, a son named Nehemiah. This son took to wife Elizabeth, daughter of Peter Clapham, of the farm estate lying some- what northerly of the old Christ Church site in Westport. Nehemiah and Elizabeth Smith had eight children, the second of whom bore his grandfather Clapham's name and was NORWALK. called Peter. The young Peter, Norwalk and New Canaan's first Peter Smith, was a nephew of Lydia Smith who married James Lockwood and was the mother of Mrs. Dr. Uriah Rogers, Sr. (half brother of Nehemiah, son of James 3d-) of Norwalk. Peter'5'' lived to marry and have a large family (see Smith lineage) of at least ten children. His son Phineas151' married a Keeler, and had Harriet, who married Dr. Hawley Olmstead of scholar fame. The brother of Phineas151- (Peter 2d-) removed to Dutchess County and had Daniel (Rev.) born Aug. 3, 1764. This Daniel was the beloved Congre- gational pastor of Stamford, who married, July 9, 1793, Mary, daughter of Rev. Cotton Mather Smith. Two children, Julia Ann and Thomas Mather, were the fruit of this join- ing. The first Mrs. Daniel Smith died and the pastor married, second, June 14, i8ot, Catharine, daughter of David Webb of Stamford, a descendant of Richard, the Norwalk Webb settler. To Rev. Daniel and Catharine Smith was born a daughter, Mary Eliza- beth, who married Fitch 2d-, son of Fitch"1, and grandson of Nehemiah and Elizabeth Rogers of Norwalk. The first wife (Mary Smith) of the Stamford pastor (Rev. Daniel Smith), was a daughter of Rev. Cotton Mather Smith of Sharon, Conn. Rev. John Cotton and Rev. Richard Mather were two of primitive New England's strongest theologians. A daughter of Rev. John Cotton married a son (Increase, President of Harvard College) of Rev. Rich- ard Mather. From this union sprang New England's famous Rev. Cotton Mather, whose daughter Jerusha married Rev. Samuel Smith of Suffield. To Rev. Samuel and Jerusha Smith was born Rev. Cotton Mather Smith, who married a daughter of William Worthing- ton of Saybrook. These were the parents of the first Mrs. Rev. Daniel Smith of Stamford. This Mrs. Daniel Smith's brother was Hon. John Cotton Smith of Sharon, with whom her son, Rev. Thomas Mather Smith, born in Stamford March 7, 1796, studied. This son (Rev. Thomas Mather Smith) married Sept. 26, 1822, Mary G., oldest daughter of Rev. Dr. Leonard Woods of Andover, Mass., and had Rev. Dr. John Cotton Smith, the well- known rector of the Church of the Ascension in New York city. The appearance in this work of matter which may seem a little Norwalk-foreign is perhaps pardonable when the fact is recalled that the author, whose collateral data he has for years been engaged in collecting, believes that by type-perpetuation some of it may be of service to the future genealogist. URIAH ROGERS BRANCH. Uriah Rogers'"-, M. D., son of James 3d- and Elizabeth (Harris) Rogers, and half brother of Nehemiah (James Rogers 3d- married, first, Elizabeth Harris, and second, Free- love Holiboat) has date registration in Norwalk at about the time of his father's decease. His father, who seemed to appreciate the worth of an education, saw his son Uriah equipped and ready to emerge in a useful profession. This son, according to Blakeman, studied with Dr. Jonathan Bull of Hartford, and was licensed by the Connecticut Court in 1733. This was the year of his father's death in Norwalk. He was now twenty-two years of age NORWALK. '79 (seven years older than Nehemiab) and having married not far from this time, he located on "Mill Hill," where resides, in 1896, the aged Mrs. James Mallory. Mrs. Uriah Rogers i,t was from an old Norwalk family. She was the daughter of James and Lydia (Smith) Lockwood and the grand-daughter of Ephraim and Mercy (St. John) Lockwood. Her brother was the Rev. James Lockwood who declined the presidency of the College of New Jersey (Princeton) in 1758, and in 1766 refused the proffer of the same position at Yale. Both Dr. and Mrs. Rogers were of conspicuous Norwalk relation. Their children were: Hannah; born June 7, 1735. Lydia; born Dec. 15, 1737. Uriah *d-; born Dec. 17. 1739; Tames; born Sept. 5, 1742, removed to Redding. John ; born Nov. 3, 1744. Esther; born Oct. I, 1746. David; born Aug. 21, 1748. Abigail; born Oct. 14, 1749. Hezekiah. Hannah Rogers, oldest child of Dr. Uriah and Hannah Rogers, married Moss Kent, who was the son of Rev. Elisha Kent, the ninth child of John and Abigail (Dudley) Kent of Suffield, Mass. (John Kent was a son of Samuel Kent of Gloucester in the same state and his wife was a daughter of William Dudley of Saybrook, Conn.) Rev. Elisha Kent was born in Suffield. July 9, 1704. He graduated at Yale College in 1729, studied theolo- gy, and after the departure of the Rev. John Beach from the Congregational pastorate of Newtown, Conn., was thence called and ordained in Sept. 1732, Rev. Moses Dickinson of Norwalk being the ordination preacher. On April 3, 1732 he had married Abigail, daugh- ter of Rev. Joseph Moss of Derby, Conn. On Aug. 3, 1743 he purchased from William Smith, an old-time lawyer of New York and an "Oblong" property partner of James Brown of Norwalk, a tract of land in the town of South East, Putnam County, N. Y., whence he removed from Newtown. His first wife, by whom he had all his children, died in South East, Jan. 175 1, at the age of thirty-three. He afterward married the widow of Joshua Raymond of Norwalk, nee Elizabeth Fitch, the only sister of Gov. Thomas Fitch and his two brothers Samuel and James. He was the Presbyterian pastor in South East until his death, July 17, 1776. His children were Moss. Mary, Lucy, Sybil and Sarah. Moss'"-, his only son, born March 25, 1733, married, as has been noted, Hannah, daughter of Dr. Uriah -'-and Hannah (Lockwood) Rogers of Norwalk, the latter of whom was the first cousin of Peter Lockwood, great grandfather of W. B. E., Col. F St. John and Miss Julia Abigail Lockwood, 1896. The children of Hon. Moss and Hannah (Rogers) Kent were Chancel- lor James Kent, Hon. Moss Kent2d-, and Mrs. William P. Piatt. Chancellor James Kent, born in South East, Putnam County, N. Y., July 31, '736, a great-grandson of James who was son of Ephraim and Mercy (St. John) Lockwood (the first NORWALK Norwalk Lockwood foreparents), and a grandnephew of Nehemiah and Elizabeth (Fitch) Rogers, was one of the world's renowned jurists. He was sent when a lad of about five years to his grandparents in Norwalk, and here attended school, leaving in 1772 to study Latin with a relative in New York state. He there remained three years and was then placed in a Danbury school, entering Yale College in 1777. He had been in college only two years when Tryon invaded the town (one week before the invasion of Norwalk) and the college was closed. During his enforced vacation he resolved to take up the study of law and after finishing at Yale was admitted to the bar in 1785, His career was illustrious and his fame is the proud property of the nation. In about 1823 he gave up public life and resided in New York, where, at No. 20 Union Square, he died Dec. 12, 1847. He was buried in Fishkill, N. Y His wife, Elizabeth, daughter of Capt. John Bailey, died June 19, 1851. The Chancellor's father was interred in an old Wall Street, New York, burying ground. His mother died in Westport at the close of December, 1771. The lad was at his grandfather's in Norwalk on the evening of his mother's decease. He was sent for and reached his parent's bedside a half hour before she passed away. Her remains were taken to South East where her tomb stone is thus lettered : " Here lies ye body of Mrs. Hannah Kent, wife to Moss Kent, Esqr., and daughter of Dr. Uriah Rogers and Mrs. Hannah Rogers. She died happily on ye 30th of Decem- ber, 1 77 1, in ye 36 year of her age."