APPENDIX E: THE ANCESTORS OF FANNIE ROGERS AND HER RELATIONSHIP TO ROBERT E. LEE

** All Text on these chapter pages has been copied verbatim – with permission – from this book: “Shurtleff Family Genealogy & History – Second Edition 2005” by William Roy Shurtleff & his dad, Lawton Lothrop Shurtleff ** Text in pdf convert to word doc – any spelling errors from the book may or may not have been fixed. **

There is abundant evidence suggesting that Fannie Rogers, the wife of Frank H. Lawton and mother of Hazle Lawton, was related to Robert E. Lee (1807-1870), the great Southerner and Confederate general from Virginia (see Chapter 8). Lee’s excellence of character and brilliance as a general won him the respect of people on both sides of the Civil War. Since Lee’s seven children were born from 1832 to 1846, and Fannie’s father and mother were born in about 1810 and 1824 respectively, we are probably not related to Lee directly (by blood) but rather indi­rectly. Our common ancestor might well be one of Lee’s siblings, cousins, or ancestors.

Despite 20 years of unceasing efforts to dis­cover the nature of this relationship—including hiring several professional genealogists—we have been unable to do so. Yet we have learned a lot and uncovered many leads—as well as two sur­prising dead ends. This appendix is written for any future genealogist who wishes to pursue these. They are listed here in descending order of what we consider their potential for success.

Who were Fannie Rogers’s maternal grand­parents?

Francis Marion “Fannie” Rogers (1859-­1930) was the daughter of Captain William P. Rogers (1810?-1862) and Frances O’Donnell (1824/1825-1872). We have been unable to find records documenting the birth of either of these two people. We know nothing about their parents and almost nothing about their siblings—except that we are almost certain that William P. Rogers and Thomas Rogers were brothers.

We believe the best way to find our link to Robert E. Lee would be to find the parents of Frances O’Donnell.

The O’Donnell family lived in Maryland, and was famous, wealthy, and Catholic. We have entered four generations of O’Donnells, starting with General Columbus O’Donnell (1792-1873) into our genealogical database. Columbus O’Donnell and his wife Eleanora Cecilia Pascault had nine children (five boys and four girls born from 1814 to 1831). Since our Frances O’Donnell was born in 1824 or 1825, she was born too early to be the daughter of any of these nine children.

We know that the Lees and the O’Donnells were related by the rather famous marriage of Thomas Sim Lee to Josephine O’Donnell on 7 April 1840 (place unknown). Thomas, born 8 August 1818, was the son of William Lee and Mary Lee Hollyday. Josephine, born 15 December 1818 (place unknown) was the daughter of General Columbus O’Donnell and Eleanora Cecilia Pascault.

Recall that our Don Lawton’s full name was Donald Carroll Lawton (see Chapter 34). We know that the Carroll family, the descendants of Charles Carroll of Carrollton (1737-1832, a signer of the U.S. Constitution), lived in Maryland, were very famous, wealthy, and Catholic. They had close ties over many generations with the Lee family—including intermarriage and use of “Lee” as middle names for children. Since excellent genealogies of the Carroll family exist, we have entered five generations of descendants of Charles Carroll of Carrollton into our genealogi­cal database. Colonel Charles Carroll (born 1801), the grandson of “the signer,” married Mary Digges Lee (born 1800) in Oct. 1825. They had 10 Carroll children—born from 1826 to 1840. Helen Sophia Carroll (born in the early 1840s) married Charles Oliver O’Donnell (1823-1877) and they had three O’Donnell children—born from 1868 to 1871—about 40 years after our Frances O’Donnell.

Frances, William, and Thomas are all said in numerous subsequent records (including census records and obituaries) to have been born in Balti­more. After exhausting our own resources in trying to find information about them in Baltimore, we hired a professional genealogist, Robert Barnes, a Baltimore specialist who lives in Baltimore. He worked on our problem for two years but could find no records about these three people in Baltimore.

Who were Fannie Rogers’s paternal grand­parents?

We are very surprised that we have never been able to find the parents of William P. Rogers. The same genealogists who helped us search for Fannie’s maternal grandparents helped us search for those on her father’s side. What could be wrong?

In the 1860 U.S. census, we first learn that William P. Rogers and his wife, Francis, were born in Maryland; in 1860 they and their children were in San Francisco. In both his obituary and cemetery record, we first learn that William was born in Baltimore. Could he have falsified his birth place to escape duty in the Civil War? As the captain of a boat in his early fifties, he could have been valuable to either side in the war effort. Maryland was one of the northernmost Confederate states.

Who were the ancestors of Sarah M. Rogers, the wife of Glenn Owen Burnett?

Shortly after Fannie Rogers’s mother died on 13 June 1872 in San Francisco, her stepfather, Thomas Rogers, dis­appeared. Fannie was then sent to live with Glenn Owen Burnett in Santa Rosa and / or with his son, Albert Glenn Burnett. Albert’s wife, Dora T. Hood, became one of Fannie’s dearest friends. As this book was nearing completion, we discov­ered that Glenn Burnett was married to Sarah M. Rogers—thus giving the first plausible explana­tion of why Fannie had been sent to Santa Rosa. Glenn’s brother, Peter Hardeman Burnett, the first civilian governor of California, was married to Sarah’s sister, Harriet Walton Rogers. Sarah (born in about 1815 in Wilson Co., Tennessee) and Harriet (born in about 1811 in the same place) were sisters, the children of Peter Rogers and Sarah “Sally” Purtle. Peter Rogers, born in about 1788 in Tennessee, married Sarah on 9 August 1806 in Davidson County Tennessee. She was the daughter of George Purtle, Sr. Peter died in 1858 in Clay County Missouri. If we could find the ancestors of Peter Rogers, we might be able to find a relationship to Robert E. Lee.

The Rogers family of Brooke Co., West Virginia and Ohio—which is not ours.

Early in our research we found records (in the will of George Rogers, a merchant) of a family in New Orleans that contained children named William Rogers and Thomas Rogers. The dates, places and even the occupations (work with boats) seemed to fit, so we spent years searching for information about this family—with outstanding professional help from genealogist Alice Coyle Lunn (Ph.D. C.G., Olmstead Falls, Ohio), James M. Black (Salt Lake City, Utah), and Gwendolyn M. Hubbard (Brooke Co., Virginia). In the end, our search led to a dead end; those Rogers were not related to ours. The family looks like this:

John Rogers, Sr., was born about 1779 in Baltimore, Maryland, the son of John Rogers. In about 1794 he married Elizabeth Hill, the daugh­ter of Thomas Hill. We know nothing about her date or place of birth. John lived in Brooke Co., Virginia, from 1797 to 1827 at least, then he moved to Richland Co., Ohio. He died in about 1834 (probably in Ohio) and was survived by his wife. On 29 June 1834 John Rogers left a will, over which there was documented litigation in Richland Co., Ohio. John and Elizabeth Rogers had 15 children:

1. Mary Rogers, born 8 May 1795, place unknown. Married Michael Tiernan on 29 July 1811. She died on 24 March 1820 in Brooke Co., Virginia, and was buried in Pfister’s Cemetery, Brooke Co.
2. William Rogers.
3. Michael Rogers.
4. George Rogers (“The merchant”). Born about 1801 in Virginia. Died 11 Dec. 1836 in New Orleans, Orleans Parish, Louisiana. He left a detailed will on 8 Nov. 1836 in Orleans Parish, Louisiana—showing that he owned considerable land and property.
5. Thomas H. Rogers. Born in about 1802 in Virginia. His first two marriages are to women whose names we do not know. He married (3) Polly Boynton (daughter of Asa Boynton and Mary Edmunds) on 1 Jan. 1822 in Ohio. He married (4) Rachel Clay on 18 Oct. 1836 in Richland, Ohio. As far as we know he had no children by any of these wives. Thomas owned the steam boat Philadelphia, which plied the Ohio River. He died 11 June 1870.
6. Jane Rogers. Born about 1803 in Virginia. She married Luke McGuire (date and place unknown). The son of James McGuire and Ruth Brown, he was born in 1796 in Brooke Co., Virginia (now in West Virginia). They had six children, all born in Brooke Co., from 1828 to 1845: In order of birth: Elizabeth, John R., Ruth, Mary, William D., and Caroline. He died in 1860 or 1861 in Brooke Co., Virginia. She died after 1879, perhaps in Lawrence, Kentucky.
7. Elizabeth “Eliza” Rogers. Born 1804 in Virginia. She married Nicholas B. McGuire before 1830 (place unknown). The brother of Luke McGuire (see above), Nicholas wasborn in 1798 in Brooke Co., Virginia. Elizabeth and Nicholas had eight children as follows: Ruth Ann, born 1829 in Carlisle, Montgomery Co., Ohio. John, born about 1832 in Ohio. Mary J., born 1834 in Carroll Co., Ohio. James, born 1837 in Ohio. Elizabeth, born 1839 in Kentucky. Catherine R. “Kate,” born 1842 in Lawrence Co., Kentucky; she married Milton Freese. Luke, born about 1844 in Lawrence Co., Kentucky. George, born about 1847 in Lawrence Co. Kentucky. Nicholas died after 1879, perhaps in Lawrence Co., Kentucky. Elizabeth died in April 1896 in Sandy Township, Lawrence Co., Kentucky.
8. Patrick Rogers. Born 6 April 1808 in Brooke Co., Virginia. Died in Brooke Co., Virginia.
9. John Rogers, Jr. Born about 1811 in Virginia.
10. Eliza Jane Rogers. Married (perhaps) Tillier Tillyer Tinnis before June 1836.
11. Margaret Rogers. Married (perhaps) Tillier Tillyer Tinnis before June 1836.
12. Harriet Rogers.
13. Catherine Rogers. Born about 1815.
14. Joseph H. Rogers. Born about 1817 in Virginia.
15. Alfred Rogers. Born about 1819 in Virginia.

Dr. William P. Rogers and Frances Rogers of Baltimore, Maryland—who are not ours.

We wast­ed almost a year trying to prove that this couple, with the same names as Fannie Rogers’s parents, were in fact her parents. However Bonnie Meyer, reasoning as carefully as Sherlock Holmes, finally convinced us that they were not Fannie’s parents.

Dr. William P. Rogers of Baltimore:

• He is in the records consistently as a “Dr.” whereas our Wm. P. Rogers was a mariner, and often referred to as “Capt.,” or as a pilot.
• Dr. Rogers was a native of Delaware, whereas the birthplace of “our William” was always given as Maryland.
• Dr. Rogers died in Baltimore in 1851, while our William died in San Francisco in 1862.

Frances Rogers. the dressmaker. of Baltimore:

• Frequently shown in the same home as Dr. Rogers, her maiden name, if not Rogers, is unknown. There is never any indication of any association with O’Donnell.
• Frances the dressmaker was born ca. 1818 in England (1850 Baltimore census), while “our Frances” was born March 1824 in Baltimore (obituary), Maryland. All censuses also give Maryland as her birthplace.
• This Frances is in Baltimore in the 1850 census, while “our Frances” though not found the 1850 census, was recorded selling a slave in New Orleans in May 1850. She probably left for California shortly thereafter and missed being counted in the census.
• All known records of “our Frances,” excepting her birth in Baltimore, and until her move to California, show her as living in New Orleans. These include: 1840 marriage, 1846 birth of a son, 1848 slave purchase, 1850 power of attorney for husband, and 1850 slave sale.
• The Frances Rogers of Baltimore is consistently listed as a dressmaker, while nowhere is “our Frances” listed in a directory as independent or in business.
• The Frances Rogers in New Orleans is defi­nitely “our Frances.” In two legal documents (once in the same document) she is called both the wife of William Rogers and (surpris­ingly) “Mistress Frances O’Donnell.”