Neadom Rodgers & Hanorah O’Brien

Neadom Rodgers (1837-1897)

Tim’s 2nd-great-grandfather, Neadom Rodgers, son of Jacob and Mahala (Bedford) Rogers, was born 11 June 1837 in Guysborough (Guysborough) Nova Scotia, and died 30 June 1897 in Provincetown (Barnstable) Massachusetts. He married 3 April 1866 in Boston (Suffolk) Massachusetts, Hanorah “Nora” O’Brien, who was born 12 December 1846 in Massachusetts, and died 16 January 1921 in Marshfield (Plymouth) Massachusetts, daughter of William and Mary (—) O’Brien.

Neadom was a fisherman, and Hanorah was a homemaker, the daughter of Irish immigrants. They were married by Rev. Thomas Sheahan. Neadom had arrived in Provincetown from Canada in September 1858. He died of arterial insufficiency, and is buried with Hanorah in Gifford Cemetery in Provincetown.

Hanorah O’Brien (1846-1921)

On 11 March 1888, Neadom & Hanorah survived The Great Blizzard of 1888 that killed more than 400 people along the eastern seaboard.

Hanorah was a widow for 23 years. She stayed in Provincetown with three of her children and was there when the 1900 census was taken. By the time of the 1910 census she was living in Worcester, Massachusetts with her daughter Mary Jane and her family, and by the time of the 1920 census whe was living in Somerville, Massachusetts with her daughter Naomi and her family.

Hanorah & Neadom were the parents of nine children:

1. Mary Jane “Jenny” Rodgers (Tim’s great-grandmother), born 7 June 1867 in Boston, died 10 July 1916 in Somerville (Middlesex) Massachusetts. She married (as his first wife) on 18 February 1891 in Provincetown, her first cousin, George Lincoln Rodgers, who was born 1 January 1865 in Guysborough, and died 16 July 1939 in Fall River (Bristol) Massachusetts, son of Elijah and Zippora Ann (Horton) Rodgers. Mary & George were the parents of one son. Mary Jane lies buried with her parents in Gifford Cemetery in Provincetown.

Gifford Cemetery, Provincetown, Massachusetts

2. John Neadom Rodgers, born 14 February 1869 in Provincetown, died 10 October 1933 in Boston. He married 29 June 1893 in Provincetown, Bessie Robert Bennett, who was born in January 1871, daughter of Samuel and Irene (Smith) Bennett. John & Bessie were the parents of one son, named for his father, who was born and died the same day, 30 November 1907.

3. George J. Rodgers, born 3 July 1871 in Provincetown, died there 17 March 1872, age 8 months, of “putrefied congestion of the lungs.”

4. Naomi Mahala Rodgers, born 1 August 1873 in Provincetown. She married 2 August 1896 in Boston, Henry Scott Sylvanus Akers, who was born about 1868 in Maine, son of Samuel and Sarah Baldwin (Cutting) Akers. Naomi & Henry were the parents of one son.

Georgianna Rodgers (1875-1941)
painting by her husband, E. Ambrose Webster

5. Georgianna Rodgers, born 4 May 1875 in Provincetown, died 27 May 1941 in Manhattan (New York) New York. She married 6 December 1911 in Chelsea (Suffolk) Massachusetts, Edwin Ambrose Webster, who was born 31 January 1869 in Chelsea, and died 23 January 1935 in Provincetown, son of Edwin and Caroline (Emerson) Webster. They had no children. Georgianna was a nurse, and would not agree to marry Ambrose until he was financially established as an artist. She was 36 when she and the Provincetown artist were finally married by R. Perry Bush, Clergyman.

E. Ambrose Webster
(1869-1935)

Ever a modest person, Webster seems to have pursued his art and his teaching with remarkable talent, intensity, and intellect, but apparently with no bent for self-promotion.
~ Miriam Stubbs

He attended the Boston Museum of Fine Arts School, under Frank Benson and Edmund Tarbell, and Acadamie Julian in Paris studying with Jean Paul Laurens and Jean-Joseph Benjamin Constant. In 1913 he exhibited at the 69th Regiment Armory in New York City, “Old Hut, Jamaica” and “Sunlight, Jamaica”. He started Ambrose Webster’s Summer School of Painting, and was a founding member of the Provincetown Art Association & Museum. After his death, Georgianna lived in New York City with her nephew, Karl Rodgers and his wife, Allegra, while she was in her final illness and while their daughter, Delorma was a small child. Georgianna left the house at 180 Bradford St. in Provincetown, where she and Ambrose had lived, to Karl when she died. The house remained in the family and was enjoyed as a vacation getaway until 2008, when unfortunately it had to be sold.

Ambrose & Georgianna lie buried in an unmarked grave in the Webster plot at 2653 Hawthorn Path at Mount Auburn Cemetery, Cambridge, Massachusetts. Timothy Webster Rodgers, Karl’s grandson, was given a portrait of Georgianna painted by her husband, E. Ambrose Webster, after whom Tim was named.

On 24 August 2001, Aunt Delorma, Jon & Jannai, little Ella Grace, Tim & Barbara attended the opening night of an exhibition of Webster paintings at the Provincetown Art Association & Museum. Most of the paintings and drawings were from private collections, and we met the curator, Miriam Stubbs, a relative of Kenneth Stubbs who was one of Webster’s students.

6. Elijah Jacob Rodgers, born 16 January 1878 in Provincetown, died in 1960 in Arlington (Middlesex) Massachusetts. He was a baker and married 27 April 1898 in Provincetown, Clara Louise Bangs, who was born there 23 May 1879, and died 17 January 1979 in Arlington, daughter of Perez and Julia (Smith) Bangs. Elijah & Clara were the parents of one daughter. They lie buried with Elijah’s parents and his sister in Gifford Cemetery (see headstone pictured above).

7. George Levan Rodgers, born 2 May 1880 in Provincetown, died 13 November 1967 in Los Angeles (Los Angeles) California. He married 15 November 1906 in (Scott) Iowa, Sarah “Sadie” Schneider, who was born in March 1886 in Austria [now Poland], and died 25 May 1923 in Los Angeles, daughter of Abraham and Mary (—) Schneider. George & Sadie were the parents of two daughters.

8. Alvin Morse Rodgers, born 21 November 1881 in Provincetown, died 29 July 1950 in (Cook) Illinois. He married 11 October 1919 in Chicago (Cook) Illinois, Anna Kahn, who was born there 13 April 1895, and died there in February 1966, daughter of Emil and Fanny (—) Kahn. Alvin & Anna were the parents of two children.

9. Inez Mitchell Rodgers, born 30 July 1889 in Provincetown, died in 1955 in Marshfield. She married in 1920 in Somerville, Alton Phillips Stephens, who was born 11 November 1890 in Marshfield, and died in 1956 in Weymouth (Norfolk) Massachusetts, son of Alonzo and Cora Minnie (Sherman) Stevens. Inez & Alton had no children.

Last Revised: 15 February 2021

Stern Patriotism

Tim’s 6th-great-grandfather was a veteran of the War for Independence, taking part in the Lexington Alarm battle, when he was 33 years old.

The first battle of the Revolutionary War, fought in Massachusetts on April 19, 1775. British troops had moved from Boston toward Lexington and Concord to seize the colonists’ military supplies and arrest revolutionaries. In Concord, advancing British troops met resistance from the Minutemen, and American volunteers harassed the retreating British troops along the Concord-Lexington Road. Paul Revere, on his famous ride, had first alerted the Americans to the British movement.
The Society of Colonial Wars in the State of Connecticut website

Capt. Lemuel Roberts, son of Lemuel and Abigail (Beaman) Roberts, was born 2 October 1742 in Simsbury (Hartford) Connecticut, and died there 19 December 1789. He married there 8 December 1763, Ruth Woodford, who was born 4 November 1744 in Farmington (Hartford) Connecticut, and died about 1800 in Bloomfield (Hartford) Connecticut, daughter of Samuel and Mary (Thompson) Woodford.

original headstone

Lemuel lies buried in the Old Wintonbury Cemetery (formerly Old North Cemetery) in Bloomfield, Connecticut.

The following account is from Lester A. Roberts, Esq., “Descendants of John Roberts of Simsbury, CT and Bloomfield, CT,” The New England Historical & Genealogical Register, Vol 42, July 1888: 246:

[Lemuel’s] stern patriotism made him some enemies, and in 1787 a protest was made to the General Assembly against his reappointment as Justice of the Peace, but without avail. He was found dead one morning at the foot of stone steps from a house in which he had held a court the evening before. Being lame, he was the last to leave, and if he fell or was thrown down the steps was never known. On his grave-stone in the Bloomfield burial-ground, under the usual inscription, are the following lines:

No Cordial to revive his heart,
No one to hold his head,
No friend to close his dying eyes;
The ground was his death bed.

Lemuel & Ruth were the parents of eight children:

1. Lemuel Roberts (Tim’s 5th-great-grandfather), born 17 April 1766, died 2 July 1829 in Bloomfield. He married 5 October 1786, Roxy Gillett, who was born before 19 March 1769 and died 6 September 1848 in Bloomfield, daughter of Amos and Susanna (Webster) Gillett. Lemuel & Roxy were the parents of six children.

2. Ruth Roberts, born 24 January 1768 in Simsbury, died 31 May 1847 in Worthington (Franklin) Ohio. She married in 1789, Ezra Griswold, who was born 6 December 1767 and died 22 October 1822 in Worthington, son of Elisha and Eunice (Viets) Griswold. Ruth & Ezra were the parents of two sons.

3. Hannah Roberts, born 15 March 1770, died 15 March 1829. She married Augustus Filley who was born before 31 August 1766 and died 5 March 1812 in Otis (Berkshire) Massachusetts, son of Jonathan Filley.

4. Samuel Roberts, born 20 March 1772 in Simsbury, died 9 October 1846 in Sharon (Litchfield) Connecticut. He married (as his first wife) in 1793, Eleanor “Elethea” Calkins, who was born about 1733 and died 24 January 1813 in Sharon. Samuel & Eleanor were the parents of four children, possibly more. Samuel married (as his second wife) in 1815, Pamela Patchin. Samuel & Pamela were the parents of a daughter.

5. Eunice Roberts, (twin), born 22 August 1774 in Simsbury, died 13 August 1825 in Hartford (Hartford) Connecticut. She married 3 March 1799 in Bloomfield, James Goodwin, who was born 27 December 1777 in Hartford, and died there 13 September 1844, son of Jonathan and Eunice (Olcott) Goodwin.

6. Lois Roberts, (twin), born 22 August 1774 in Simsbury, died 7 November 1847 in Indiana. She married Zopher Topping, who was born 17 June 1773 in Granby (Hartford) Connecticut and died 7 September 1814 in Worthington.

7. Hezekiah Roberts, born 5 June 1776, died 6 June 1776 in Bloomfield, age 0.

8. Hezekiah Roberts, born before 26 August 1781. He married Harriet King. Hezekiah & Harriet were the parents of three children, possibly more.

light and color

5.24.14 ~ Stonington, Connecticut
sidewalk garden ~ 5.24.14
Stonington Borough, Connecticut

We live in a world of color. All nature is color: white, black, and grey do not exist except in theory; they are never seen by the eye – they could only exist in a world that was colorless. Such a universe is beyond imagination: a world without color would be a world without light, for light and color are inseparable.
~ E. Ambrose Webster
(E. Ambrose Webster: Early Modernist Painter)