Biography

06/17/1799 - 06/29/1866

General William Tennent Rogers (D4) Bucks County 1831-1839

Early Life: 

General William Tennent Rogers, born June 17, 1799, Philadelphia, Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania; son of Brigadier General William C. Rogers and Mary Hiltzheimer Rogers; newspaper delivery boy, foreman, general agent, editor, Bucks County Star of Freedom, 1815-1821; Bucks Pennsylvania Rifle Company, Captain, 1818; married Mary Sophia Pugh, 1822; purchased, Democrat and Farmers Gazette, 1822-1829; German Democratic journal, Bucks County Express; Bucks, Montgomery, Chester, and Delaware Military District, Major General, 1830; Appointee, President James Monroe, postmaster; Clerk, Bucks County Commission, 1831; Collector of Tolls, Bristol office, Delaware Canal 1833; Appointee, President Martin Van Buren, member of the West Point Board of Visitors, 1839; elected, Democrat, Pennsylvania State Senate, 1831-1839; Speaker of the Senate, 1839; delegate, Baltimore Democratic National Convention, 1840; Collector of Tolls, Bristol office, Delaware Canal 1841; Superintendent, Delaware Canal, 1842; member, Board of Revenue Commissioners, 1856; appointee, Governor William Fisher Packer, notary public, 1858; Bucks County commissioner, 1861-1863; died, June 29, 1866 (aged 67) Doylestown, Bucks County, Pennsylvania, interment, Doylestown Cemetery, Doylestown, Bucks County, Pennsylvania. (i)

Early Career:

Captain, Bucks Pennsylvania Rifle Company, 1819; Major General, Bucks, Montgomery, Chester, and Delaware Military District, 1830; Appointmee, President Martin Van Buren, member of the West Point Board of Visitors, 1839.

Appointee, President James Monroe postmaster; Clerk, Bucks County Commission, 1831; Collector of Tolls, Bristol office, Delaware Canal 1833, 1841; Superintendent, Delaware Canal, 1842; member, Board of Revenue Commissioners, 1856; appointee, Governor William Fisher Packer, notary public, 1858; Commissioner of streets, clerk, Doylestown Borough Council; president, Doylestown and Willow Grove Turnpike; founded, Doylestown Cemetery Corporation; Bucks County commissioner, 1861-1863.

Pennsylvania Politics:

Elected, Democrat, Pennsylvania State Senate, 4^th district, Bucks County, 1831-1839; Chairman, Public Buildings, Accounts and Militia Committees, member, Library, and Revenue Bills Committees; Speaker of the Senate, 1839; delegate, Baltimore Democratic National Convention, 1840.  

Legacy:

Born, Philadelphia, in the house and room that Thomas Jefferson wrote the "Declaration of Independence.” (ii)

His wife was a sister of John B. Pugh, Esquire, of Doylestown, and daughter of John Pugh, who represented the county four years in the Legislature, and twice elected to Congress. The result of his marriage was ten children, eight sons and two daughters: John, Charles, James, Henry, Edward, William, Marshall, and Elizabeth. Two of his children died at birth, and not named. (iii)

Purchased, Democrat and Farmers Gazette, Simon Cameron, 1822.

Speaker of the Senate Charles Penrose, called him “The Great Pacificator.”

Cited: 

        (i) https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/7932757/william-tennent-rogers

       (ii) https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/7932757/william-tennent-rogers  Source: Edward Francis Fremaux de Beixedon, Jr., The Ancestors and Descendants of Dr. David Rogers, 1921, Original Printers Copy, No Print Company Name, Page 7, 12, 13.Transcribed by James Charles Rogers III, Find a Grave #46852234, Jan. 1, 2015.

      (iii) https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/7932757/william-tennent-rogers History of The Doylestown Guards by William W.H. Davis, 1887