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The John Lemuel and Frances Hannah (Boddie) Rogers Story

Compiled by Carl D. Rogers, Jr.   November 16, 2002

Revised September 19, 2005

The year 1889 was an eventful year for John Lemuel Rodgers (May, 1847 - November 11, 1917) and his wife Frances Hannah (Boddie) Rodgers (August 28, 1851 - February 8, 1922).  Their last residence that year in South Carolina around 1878 was the old Good Hope Lutheran church building they bought when the new church was built.  They needed a big house for 5 children with more on the way.  Reference History of Good Hope Lutheran Church.

In 1889 John Lemuel, everyone called him Lem, was a 42 year old son of William Malichi Rodgers (6/15/1808 - 5/22/1894) and Sarah Salter Rodgers (5/16/1807 - 6/17/1885). His South Carolina land, a total of 518 acres, was not conveyed to William Malichi by the governor of South Carolina, David Johnson, until May 21, 1848. This land was in Edgefield County. It went to  Saluda County in 1895 when  part of the northern and eastern  Edgefield County was taken to make Saluda County.

William Malichi was the son of William(old Billy) who was  born about 1770 in North Carolina and died 12/25/1846 as result of injuries received when thrown from his wagon or buggy by a run away mule or horse. He first arrived in South Carolina with just one young son, James, born in North Carolina in 1803 very probably from a union with an Indian woman who died shortly after arrival in South Carolina.

James Rodgers first married Frances(Duncan) Rodgers just after 1820, and they had many children including Mary Caroline who is an ancestor of Delores Thompson in the James Rodgers and Frances (Duncan) Rodgers line. In all, James was father to some 17 children. James next married Elizabeth Orender (Turner), and they had several children plus two with the last name of Turner by her first marriage. James possibly died around 1877.  James Rodgers and Frances (Duncan) Rodgers had William A. Rodgers (1/6/1835) (8/26/1925)  who married Mary (Orander) Rodgers on 10/17/1866, and they had eleven children; George L. (8/18/1867), Louis Homer (5/21/1870), James (10/27/1872), Tilman (2/17/1874), Fannie (2/12/1875), Matilda (3/27/1877), Nelson (3/13/1879), Artemus (9/6/1881), Joseph (3/6/1883), Emaline (9/4/1884) and William Abraham (6/24/1886), and this family was the first converts to the Catholic faith in Saluda County.  James and Frances (Duncan) Rodgers also had James "Monk" Rodgers (11/7/1840) ( 3/2/1925).

Other children of William(old Billy) and an unknown spouse born in South Carolina, were: (William Malichi  6/15/1808 - 5/22/1894) who was the first child of old Billy born in South Carolina, ( Telitha  5/18/1810 - 1/11/1888 who first married James Salter by whom she had several children, and then had a short probably childless  marriage with Uriah Hodge. Her daughter, Caroline Salter married Thomas Jefferson Forrest) ( Luke R. 1812 - 12/24/1882, who married Elizabeth O. Webb. Luke had a child, Luke Hillary, with an unknown spouse) (Chesley 1814 - 1887 who married Risby Myers) (Rebecca Ann 10/25/1825 - 12/2/1894 who married SeabornTemples. They had 14 children:- Mary Ann Tilitha on 5/11/1844, Sarah Ann 7/19/1845, Selemma 12/14/1849, William Albert 7/6/1850, Martha Telitha 10/26/1853, Margaret 9/2/1855, Andrew Jackson 11/20/1856, John Calvin 6/29/1859, Elender Caroline 5/11/1861, James Pickens 8/22/1852, Marina Hariet 8/3/1862, James Henry 2/8/1864, Rebecca Almetta Lurie 7/30/1867, and Charlie Luke 7/4/1870 who married his cousin Montee Rodgers 1871 - 1978 who was a daughter of Hillary Q. Rodgers 1847 - 1929 and Sallie Bodie 1851 - 1930 and grand daughter of Luke R. Rodgers. Sallie (Bodie) Rodgers was a granddaughter of William Malichi Rodgers. (Elizabeth 1828 - 1923 married John A Parrish and they had Martha in 1853, Abbie 1855, Savannah 1860, Jefferson 1862, Lamna 1864, Lizzie 1865, and Mary 1866) (Catharine born, 12/28/1833 - 1861 married James Allen Dubose.)

William(old Billy) married an Elizabeth and it's conjecture as to her maiden last name being Taylor. Old Billy and Elizabeth had: (Sophia born 3/28/1840 & died after 1970, married Oliver Woodward.) (Druscilla 1843 - 1849), and finally (John Allen, a Confederate soldier in Company H, 14th South Carolina Infantry, 4/30/1844-1/27/1918. He married Sallie C. Newton 4/10/1864 - 1894.)

The 14th Regiment, South Carolina Infantry was the military unit for many in the Rodgers/Salter/Boddie families. While the families served throughout all the armies of the Confederate States, Company B of the 14^th is of particular interest because all three families are represented in this unit. By clicking on the link above you can follow the families as they battle for the rights of the States and discover how Obidiah Boddie made the greatest sacrifice, loosing three of his four sons who volunteered.

In 1889, Hannah was a 38 year old daughter of Obidiah Boddie born in Lexinton, SC (1786 - 1864) and  Jeannette "Jane"  (Fulmer) Boddie (3/2/1806) (1/12/1894). Ted Roger's claimed her mother was Jeannette Fulmer as did The Story of the Boddies compiled by Earle K. Boddie in 1978.  John Bennett Boddie's detailed book, The Isle Of Wight , lists only Margaret Duham as Obidiah's first wife, and Jane Boddie as being his wife at time of his death in 1864.  The 1860  SC Census, District of Edgefield, enumerated by J. Hamilton Allen on September 10, 1860 lists a 56 year old Jane and a 9 year old female F.H. Bodie underneath Obidiah.  Obidiah's father was John who fought in the Revolutionary War. My cousin, Ted Rogers says two 'd's should be in the Boddie name. John Lemuel had a much older brother, Malichi Augustus  (01/19/1832 - 04/06/1913) whose third and last wife was Martha Parish (02/10/1851 - 12/20/1910).   Malichi Augustus Rogers was first married to Chesley Boddie's sister and my great grand father, Obidiah Boddie's daughter, Jane Boddie.  He next married his first cousin, Clarisa Ann Rogers on 11/4/1860.  John Lemuel Rogers had a slightly older brother William who was born in 1845 as well as a younger brother, Larken (Lark) (1849 - 1910).  Other children of William Malichi and Sarah Salter Rodgers  in the 1850 census were: Jane, Francis, Lucretia, Emily Crystal, and Laura.

William Malichi Rodgers' daughter, Jane was born in 1835, and she married Chesley Boddie, born 1826, at the age of about 15 in about 1850.  They had Sallie Boddie (5/29/1851 - 6/13/1930).  Sallie (Boddie) Rodgers married Hillary Q. Rodgers (5/9/1847 -  5/21/1929) in October 1869.  Other children of Jane and Chesley Boddie were Katurah Boddie (8/1854 and died after 1921).  She married Henry W. Rodgers in September 1869 and  he was born  May 1850 and died 12/25/1921; William Elbert Boddie (12/25/1858 - 9/22/1948).  William married Talula L. Denny (7/29/1865 - 12/24/1924).  After Talula died, William married Edna Crouch; Idonia Lucretia Boddie (7/1861 - 1950).  She married Levi David Whittle who was born in 1854 and died in 1928.

Jane (Rodgers) Bodie and husband Chesley Boddie moved from South Carolina to Bienville Parrish  in northwestern Louisiana in the 1850s. Chesley became a Private in Henry Grey’s 28th Infantry Regiment of Louisiana. When Chesley got sick in an epidemic, Jane went to care for him, and they both died in late 1863.  William Malichi Rodgers, received the news that his daughter and son-in-law had died in late November 1863.  His four small grand children were shipped back home from close to the Louisiana battle fields in a crate to either their Louisiana home or to South Carolina. William Malichi Rodgers went, and  picked up his four orphan grand children. When he picked them up, they had nothing other than ragged clothes on their bodies, and their were no diapers for the young ones.  It is a fact that he applied for guardianship, and he raised these four grand children.

Francis M. Rodgers, born 1838, was the second oldest son of William Malichi. He was a Confederate soldier, 7th SC Infantry, Company E.  He was killed in the Battle of South Mountain, Maryland September 14, 1862.

Emily Crystal married Emanuel Marion Black, and they had 9 children  three of whom, Martin Luther, Mary Belle, and Tincy Virginia died as two year old infants and are buried with distinguishing markers in the same cemetery plot with William Malichi, Sarah Salter, Malichi Augustus, and Martha Parish Rodgers. Emily Crystal and E.M. Black also had John S. Black who had John E. Black who married Marylouise (Breedlove) Black, and they had Nena "Cookie" Black who maried Daniel R.Zemar, and they have Stephanie, Jeremy and Jonathan Zemar.

In January 1889 Lem and Hannah's 20 year old, oldest son, William Marion, married his first cousin, 19 year old, Margaret (Mag Emaline) (Boddie) Rodgers. Margaret was the daughter of Nathan Boddie, 2/11/1837 - 2/4/1911 and Sarah Yonce. Ted Rogers said that when his grand dad, Nathan, shot R. L. "Doc" Gunter, Ted's mother, Margaret, hid his pistol, an Ely Whitney autographed revolver, in her petticoat, and this pistol is still an heirloom in Ted Rogers' family. Nathan was discharged at Appomattox as a soldier in Co. B, SC Infantry, CSA. Marion and Margaret celebrated their honeymoon by walking with his parents from the Aiken, South Carolina area to Lumber City, Georgia.  Also, early in 1889, Hannah gave birth to Lucy, their last child to be born in South Carolina.  The record shows that Lem deeded his land back to his father, William Malichi, on September 14, 1889 which possibly was the last time he signed his name with a 'd' in his name.  They all forded the Savannah River just below Augusta with two heavily loaded wagons, and walked to Telfair County, in the  Lumber City, Georgia area by way of Neeliey, Georgia, a place name just about 14 miles northwest of Lumber City. where they made one crop.  Why didn't they just drive their automobiles across the bridge at Augusta, and take US Highway 1 to Georgia?  There weren't any automobiles in those days because Henry Ford did not build his first car until another 7 years would pass in 1896, and US 1 was not built until much later.  Those plank road bridges were not the safest choice.  The trip took almost 3 weeks, and it was rough on the younger kids.  Lucy was less than a year old, and just a baby in arms. The older kids all had to walk. Jeannetta was 19, followed by Charlie 15, Maggie 13, Claude 11, Clarence 9, Earnest 7, Lula 5, Lem 5, and Obe 2.

Hannah had 3 more children who were born in Georgia including a still born baby; my Dad, Carl D. Rogers, and finally; Uncle George Cephus Rogers to make a total of 15  children that they had overall.  It's significant that three brothers who were close to the same age, William 1845, John Lemuel  1847, and Lark(Larken Albert) (1849- February 1910) all left South Carolina for South Georgia. William came in 1867, and he is buried at Dodge's Chapel church.  Lark graduated from Clemson University.  He and his first wife had 8 children in South Carolina. Then he migrated to McCrae, Georgia in Telfair County in 1881, married his second wife, Carrie Gilleon and they had 7 children.  Brother William was postmaster in Camps, Georgia before RFD(Rural Free Delivery).  William's son Mose got sick and died from measles, and he also had  sons, Wes and Henry. William first stopped up in Washington County, and near Wadley, Georgia where they made a crop or two before coming to Camps.  While there typhoid fever killed Henry and his mother, Narcissa (Boddie) Rogers, William Rogers' first wife. Why did they go to Georgia? My first cousin, Ted Rogers, said that Lem's slightly older brother, William, said if they divided the land, he didn't want any part of it. Obviously, if the total of 518 acres were split equally among William Malichi's 9 children, each would have had less than 60 acres. Ted also recorded that "black root" had ruined the cotton in South Carolina, and in them days there was no commercial fertilizer." Old Artemus Rodgers,  according to a daughter of Malichi Augustus Rodgers, Alice Storey (12/27/1885 - 6/1/1973), visited Telfair County, Georgia as far back as 1849.  He returned to South Carolina, and  brought back tales of the 'Land of Milk & Honey'.  Artemus also had a son by the name of Artemus who was 17 years old when he came to Georgia.

William Marion Rogers (01/17/1868 -  02/14/1911) and Aunt Mag (1869  - 1955) had Mary Etta (1891-1980), William (1894-1959), Theodore(Ted) (1901-1998), and Joseph (1908-1961). William Marion Rogers went around to get a petition signed, and he became the first mail delivery man in Wheeler County in 1903.  I first met Joseph when his mother and I all visited his aunt Anna Anderson's farm near Wagener, South Carolina in 1938. Cousin Matt Anderson would play his guitar and try to drown out Joe's playing Chopin Sonatas on the piano.  Matt wrote his own country songs.  I still remember the names and words of several of these songs such as "Meet Me Tonight In The Moonlight" and "I Got Lonely Just The Other Night And Went Down To See Miss Sandra Lee White". The complete words and lyrics of these songs are stuck in my memory. Later when I was at Columbia University, Joe was employed in New York City during the early World War II years. Joe had advanced linguist education degrees from years in Europe. After I left Columbia, and was finally assigned to my US Navy ship, Joe wrote me a letter addressed exactly correctly to my LST 581 in care of the Pacific Fleet before I even knew that we were assigned to that fleet! Later, I became even better acquainted with Ted after he retired from working with Firestone Tire in Akron, Ohio for 47 years,  divorced his wife Ocie Koon, and returned to Lumber City with his two children, Sam and Margaret. Ted was told there were 67 widows in the Lumber City area.  He said he picked the best of the lot to remarry in 1967. He picked Frankie (Brewer) Rogers who passed away at age 84.

Jeannetta (Rogers) Thompson Varnadoe (05/11/1870 - 01/26/1962) was first married to a Thompson who was accidentally killed working pine trees tapped for turpentine sap, and they had a son John Thompson who had several children in Lumber City.  One was Jeannette and the other was J.T.  In 1892 aunt Jeannetta married Stephen Laten Varnadoe (3/23/1862 - 5/29/1928).  From this marriage they had Vera (Varnadoe) Walker Bird (12/11/1902 -10/31/ 2001) who had two children from her marriage to John Walker.  I kept in close contact by letter exchange for many years with the oldest of Vera's children; Eugene Everett Walker a very staunch member of the Seventh Day Adventist Church (3/18/1921  -  6/25/2001).  He died at 80 years of age in Exeter, California. Gene dearly loved to pen letters which he put his heart and soul into. Vera's daughter,  Dorothy (Walker) Wilkerson (07/09/1922)  lives in Santa Barbara, California. Other Jeannetta Varnadoe children are all deceased, and these are William Varnadoe, Earnest Varnadoe (3/28/1898), Earl Varnadoe, Earl's wife, Lettie Mae (Smith) Varnadoe passed away in August 2002, and Clarence Varnadoe's wife Susy died a few years ago.  Clarence has a son, Malcolm, in Lumber City, Georgia.

Charlie Rogers (03/19/1874) (03/23/1919) married Emma Graham.  Aunt Emma ran a restaurant in Lumber City primarily for railroad train crews. She had children; John (12/30/1906 - 03/26/1970) who married Jewell (Green) Rogers (1907 - 04/10/1996),  Marion (also known as Charliemae), and Audrey Huff (8/7/1910 - 2/21/2005). Both Marion and Audrey were college graduate reregistered nurses.

 Margaret (Maggie Rogers) Bennett (02/07/1876 - 03/15/1956) married Tom Bennett who had other children from a first marriage. They had John Bennett, Tommy Bennett, Anna Mae, and Rogers Bennett, and they lived in Fitzgerald, Georgia. Tom Bennett's daughter, Carrie, never married.  She was an expert photographer, and lived to age 90. Uncle Earnest married Tom Bennett's daughter, Fannie. They had at least 2 kids. All of aunt Maggie's children are deceased. Rogers' widow Lula Roger Bennett, still lives in Fitzgerald.  The ACL railroad didn't want to give Tommy Bennett, Jr. a 25 year award  until he proved he started with the railroad when he was 12 years old.  Tommy retired from the railroad, and was an attorney in Brunswick, Georgia with a home in Saint Simons, Georgia. His daughter, Joan Harris, is still living at Saint Simons.

Claude Carrie (Rogers) Major(08/02/1878 - 02/16/1937) married Robert Major, and they had Fanny, Lutrelle, and Robert Major, Jr. All   are deceased and lived their entire lives in Lumber City.

Clarence Rogers (06/1880 - 11/1925) on April 11, 1909 married Catherine Elizabeth (Lizzie) (McDonald) Rogers (5/30/1886 - 3/20/1937), and they  had five children:  Pearl (7/1/1910 - 2/2/1961), John Edward Rogers who married Hazel, Harris Rogers (4/18/1915 - 9/17/1993,  Frances (Rogers) Wilkins (10/18/1916 - 3/13/2002) , and Clifford Rogers (12/27/1920 - 12/6/1992).   Lizzie's parents were John B. McDonald who was born in North Carolina (2/11/1859 - 2/14/1915) and Sarah Frances (Varnadoe) McDonald (10/10/1865 - 8/21/1943).  They were married in April 1885. John Edward ran a grocery store in Lumber City, Georgia for many years, and Frances, now deceased, returned to retire in Lumber City after a divorce. Pearl (Rogers) Davis married Harker Candler Davis (3/28/1906 - 5/6/1986) on June 28, 1926.  They had four children: Bobby Davis, Catherine (Davis) Johnson, Mary Helen (Davis) Hendrix, and Jerry Davis. Mary Helen has a daughter, Vicki Hendrix.  

Ernest Rogers (1882 - 1921) married Tom Bennett's daughter, Fannie, and they had several children; Wynell and Windol.

Lula Jane (Rogers) Walker (01/19/1884 - 12/22/1956) married Will Walker. Aunt Lula was the best cook I have ever known.  Uncle Will could say the longest blessing I ever heard.  Following his blessing, uncle Will would tell us about the latest words of his relative Charlie Jones and Reece Jordan.  Uncle Will thought a lot of them. Ever since, I have wondered?  Who is Reece Jordan.  In south Georgia you pronounce that "Jerdan"and not "Jordan". They had Woodrow Wilson Walker, Parks Walker, Edna (Walker) Stoddard, deceased in 2004, and Newell (Walker) Brown. Parks and Wilson are deceased as is Newell's husband, L. H. Brown and Edna's husband, Harry Stoddard. Newell lives in Brunswick, Georgia. Edna lived in Palm City, Florida and has one son in that area. Woodrow, Wilson as we called him, graduated from Mercer University Law School in 1937. We visited him and his wife several times in Atlanta where he was an Atlanta attorney.  Parks farmed all his life, and as of the summer of 2005, his wife, Ruby is in the Lumber City, Georgia nursing home.

The last time I saw Parks was early in the morning as I was driving to our home in Florida, and he and his wife, Ruby, were feeding thousands of white egg laying chickens. Parks cracked an egg, and I had never seen such a red yolk. Parks said the chickens were fed Red Alfalfa to make their yolks red? East coast Chinese companies purchased these eggs to use in their red noodles since the federal government had outlawed the red dye that they used previously. Parks has a son Jerry and daughter-in-law, Rebecca Walker in Lumber City.

Lemuel Pierce Rogers (11/15/1884 - 10/30/1958) and wife Elizabeth Rebecca (Smith) Rogers (10/21/1891 -  01/19/1964) had Gilbert Hamilton Rogers (10/23/1912 -  09/21/1917), Ronald Pierce Rogers (07/08/1916  - 6/12/2005), Clara Jeanette (Rogers) Minor (02/11/1918 - 07/06/1973), William Frederick Rogers (11/05/1925 - 01/06/2000), and Julian David Rogers (05/16/1927).  Ronald worked, retired, and lived in Macon, Georgia most of his life. He has a son, Ron, and daughter-in-law, Lee, in the Atlanta area. Julian David (J.D.) is living in Nashville, Arkansas. Uncle Lem, a  home builder, and Aunt Lizzie left Lumber City, Georgia for Alamo, Georgia, then back to Lumber City, DeLand, Florida, followed by a short time in Rochelle, Georgia and finally they lived the remainder of their lives in Macon, Georgia commencing in about 1928.

Obidiah Rogers (07/16/1887 - 03/21/1927)  married aunt Minnie. They lived in Macon. I recall they had twins and  a son by the name of Otis. We lost touch will all of them when uncle Obe died.

Lucy (Rogers) Martin ( early 1889 - 07/03/1944) married Lee Martin. They lived their married lives in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.  They had a son, Albert Martin, deceased, who married Margery, deceased May 2004, and a daughter, Alva, deceased.  Albert and Margery have 3 married children; Lee Martin, Dina  and Mark Martin. The family continues to live in the Fort Lauderdale area.

Carl Dovis Rogers (09/23/1892 - 06/24/1974) and wife Rose Mae (Bivins) Rogers (06/03/1891 -  06/05/1980) have three children:- Melba (Rogers) Watson (03/12/1918 - 12/16/2002) who was the widow of Peyton W. Watson of Albany, Georgia. She lived in  Aiken, S.C.  Frances (Rogers) Taylor (01/20/1920) is the widow of George F. Taylor of Louisville, Kentucky, and she lives in Mobile, Alabama. Carl D. Rogers, Jr. (07/12/1922) and wife Peggy (Coyne) Rogers (09/22/1923) of Rockledge,  Florida and Sunrise Beach, Missouri. Melba has one son Peyton (Tommy) W. Watson, Jr. (1938) of Charlotte, North Carolina and wife, Jenny, and grandchildren.  Frances has a son Alph (Copeland) Taylor of Louisville, Kentucky, a son George F. Taylor, Jr. of Richmond, Virginia, and a daughter Nancy (Taylor) Watson and Nancy's husband Slade Watson of Mobile, Alabama,  as well as grandchildren and great grandchildren in Kentucky, Alabama, and Florida. Carl  D. Rogers, Jr. and Peggy have 6 grown kids, 2 daughters (Patricia & Shawn) and 4 sons (Carl D. III, James, Daniel, and Matthew).  They have 11 grandchildren in Winfield, Illinois; Shawnee, Kansas; Creve Coeur, Missouri;  Cherry Hill, New Jersey; Virginia Beach & Richmond, Virginia.

George Cephus Rogers (02/22/1899 - 10/30/1981) and wife Bertha Cowart had three  kids including a daughter, Lois (Rogers) Mallick who is deceased, George Rogers, Jr. (07/21/1928) of Jacksonville, Florida, and Norma Bakley of Brunswick, Georgia.  George, Jr. and his wife, Gerry (12/16/1926)  have two  grown sons, and grand children by the oldest son, Bruce.  Their youngest son, Paul. Is single, and worked initially with the CIA, but is now with the US State Department in Africa, Europe and Asia.

The sources for the preceding are: (1) Cassettes of recorded conversations with Theodore (Ted) B. Rogers of Lumber City, Georgia long before before his death on February 3, 1998 at age 97, (2) Records of  J.C. Crabtree of Aiken, South Carolina, (3) Rodger files of 9/14/00 of Robert Michael Temples' of Lynnwood, Washington,  (4)  Records of John E. & Marylouise Black  of Naples, North Carolina, (5) References to A History of Good Hope Lutheran Church dated 8/13/1989, (6) Some information such as birth and demise dates were confirmed with cemetery markers or with immediate family members, (7) In addition Delores Thompson of Columbia, South Carolina reviewed the section dealing with direct relatives of William Malichi Rodgers.  Much of what Ted Rogers said was repeated by J.C. Crabtree, and to my knowledge these two people never met one another.

Compiled by Carl D. Rogers, Jr.   November 16, 2002

That’s my Dad, he’s currently working on his own biography “A Georgia Cracker” it will include the history of LST 581, July 27, 1944 through January 28, 1946, which he served on during WWII, in the South Pacific and Asian Theatres.

“Having served honorably and having done her part in defeating Japan, she held her stern anchor to the end, thanks to the skill of the crew and Captain O. F. Rapelyae. Thank God all hands survived to return home”

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