Litchfield enquirer., 1864-11-24

MT. President, kindred and friends II have often addl essed public bodies and literary asso. ciations, but never have addressed an au dience, under circumstances so solemn so in. teresting. and at the same time so cheering as this which surrounds me to day I stand on the very soil where 1 was born-where many | of you were born. We stand gear the graves of our fathers-we stand where we were taught the morning and evening prayer, where we were taught to be loyal to our Country. and obedient to our God We stand where we mi tedly bent the knee in prayer at the family ai1ar: The rem,nlscences of the past are both pleasing and sad-sad because some of the Iov. ed ones shall no more associ tte with us here in life's holy duties pleasant, because we bone to meet in an unbroken circle beyond the grave &c.,, &c. N'
 In the genealogical part of the address the point of departure for the family, was John Rogers the martyr who was burned at the stake. ia the reign of Queen Mary, Feb. 4th, 1555- Three hund ed and nine years have elapsed since then, but the memory of that m n is vet fragrant in the history of freedom and truth. ] The martyr, was born in Lancashire. Eneland and was educated at Cam mbridge, where he at l tained to great proficiency in Classic Il and He I brew literature. He soon became widely known as thorough biblical student and powerful preacher of the Gospel. He was an ardent friend ol the devoted scholar and martyr. Will
 
 | tion with him and Miles Coyerdale. he entered upon critical examination of the Scriptures. l and assisted i'll trans ating. them into the En- gl.sh language. This led to the printing pub ] fishing and introduction into England. of the folio Bible in l597. This Bible was the fir.t complete edition of the old and new Testaments in English, and it was afterwards revised and published by John Rogers alone, under the as sulned name of Thomas Matthews.
 His knnwladOa of Iapnu.p. tba,I,,.. and men, eminently fitted him for this work. He had travelled much. and had gathered an abundance of information for his task, On leav- ing ambridge he went to Antwerp, and from Antwerp to Wittenburg, at which place. his mastery of the Dutch language enabled him to of1iciate as Pastor. In the reign of Edward 9th, he was called home by Bishop kidley and made Divinity l cturer at St. Paul's, and the duties of this office he discharged with zeal and efficiency. But on the acc ession of Queen Mary to the throne, he became obnoxious to the eov ernment though his eloquence in behalf of Pro testantisn-was confined for six months in his own house-then during a long period in New gate-passng through three examinations in which he defended himself manfuIly, tut was finally condemned and burned at the stake in Smithtield. Soon after his death, one of his fr,enls foun dark, dirty looking scroll, roll ed up in corner of his prison cell That scroI, contained memorandum of his experiences in prison, of his attempts to obtain visit from his wife, of his conversations with his tailor and of the calm, beautiful Christian hone and tortitude that sustained him under every hard ship and trial.
 Thomas Rogers, grandson of the Marytr and one ot his sons came to this country in the May Flower In 1920. Not long after other remained in Plymouth colony about 26 years or until 1646-5O Then, it appears they re- moved 10 Huntingdon, Long Island, which place at that time Was under the jurisdiction of Conn.
 Noah Rogers the 1st, grandson of Thomas or the May Flower. was born at Huntington. Early Ill He he relhoved to Branford, Cunn.- In 1915, he marr:e, Elizabeth raintor, d.uyh- ter Of Michael Taintor who came from Wales and was a sea-capiain trading from New Haven 10 Virginia.
 Noah the 2d, and Noah the Sd, were born in tranford. From that time tu the present there las been Noal in each succeeding ger eration. Noah tine 2t, married Eliz beth Wheeler ot Branford. Noah the 3d, married Rhoda Lcete of Gulford, a great. great grand dangterof of Gov. Lecte and it was their de sccu'iantS mostly who were cunyenc, on this occasion.
 Gov. Lecte came from England in 1889, and settled in Guilford, Conn. He was Gc, ernor of Connecticut from 1860 to 1888, when he died His oldest son. John, was the first white child born in that town.
 Noah Rorgers 3d, and his brother Edward came to Cornwall in l76l, and here pun chased large tracts of land. most of which their de- scendants still possess. They were active earnest men, ready to meet and discharge eve ry duty. Noah was one of company of yolun- teers that went to arrest the progress of Bur goyne, and was present at his surrender,
 Edward was captain of a company which he led to Danbury at the time it was invaded by British troops in 1777. At one time his sol diers wsrc unwilling to take the Continental money, and he disbursed to them sixteen hun dred dollars in gold from his private purse. which the Government never refunded. There are about 20C of the descendants of Noah the Sd, now living. Of the descendants of Noah the 4th, there are living children. 30 grandchildren and 33 great grandchildren.
 The address touched on m any points of deep interest, but must pass them. After it, came brief speeches, sentiments, laughter and song Noah the 9th, gave us warm words of well come, expressed a sense of responsibility, com ing upon him from long line of honored ancss- try, such as he had never felt before, told us ''the latch string should always be out," and that it would ever give hin pleasure to receive us at the house of our fathers
 John c. Rogers, referred to the happiness he experienced in again visiting the land of his birth, and in exchanging with loved ones from whom he had been long separated, these social greetings, and closed by paying warm tribute of respect to his brother. Noah the 5th. who died recently. honored and respected by all who kaew him.
 D. L. Rogers, spoke of incidents in the life f Oliver Burnham, Esq, who married daughter of Noah the 3d. He told us how he was es. teemed and respected, what an important part he acted in all the civil affairs of the town and how he died full of years, full of honors, &c.
 Oliver Rogers Bdrnham of New York, next addres sed us-his words were sparkling and genial, full of wit and humor. He recited many beautiful incident of the olden days, one only of which we will mention:
 Many years ago, Rev. Josiah Hawes min ister of the parish, became embarrassed, ard was intending to sell his home, when it was proposed to raise the s750 he needed, by sub- scriptions, in shares of $l5 each. The citizens generally subscribed one share each but two