David White Rogers of New York

BYU Studies Quarterly Volume 35 Issue 2 Article 6 4-1-1995 David White Rogers of New York Naida R. Williamson Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/byusq Part of the Mormon Studies Commons, and the Religious Education Commons Recommended Citation Williamson, Naida R. (1995) "David White Rogers of New York," BYU Studies Quarterly: Vol. 35 : Iss. 2 , Article 6. Available at: https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/byusq/vol35/iss2/6 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Journals at BYU ScholarsArchive. It has been accepted for inclusion in BYU Studies Quarterly by an authorized editor of BYU ScholarsArchive. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Williamson: David White Rogers of New York david white rogers of new york rogers overcame a mob andpbysicaland physical hardship to aid those whose paths he crossed includingincludingjosepbjoseph smith mary fielding smith and the parley P prattfamilypratt family naida R williamson if it is the will of the lord and the decision of his servants who have the authority to appoint endow me with the power and let me have your faith and prayers and I1 will go and do the business or be found dead trying 51 david white rogers like nephi responded to the calls of his church leaders with faith and courage when others even flinched from fear baptized when he was fifty rogers devoted his remaining forty four years to building the king- dom of god early life david white rogers was born on october 4 1787 in morris- town merrimack county new hampshire to samuel rogers and hannah sinclair 2 alone as a youth rogers began trapping along the northeastern rivers between canada and the united states after trapping beaver mink and other animals rogers prepared the skins and sold the furs in montreal it was in montreal that rogers met martha collins and married her on december 5 1811 while living in canada david and martha had four children 3 susanna the oldest child often accompanied her father as he set traps and collected the animals she felt it was cruel to kill the animals and pleaded with her father to give up the fur business he agreed the killing was difficult but he felt the high profits made up for the distasteful task 4 years later however rogers gave up trapping for homestead ing he cleared some virgin land on the shores of lake champlain BYUbyustudiesstudies 35 no 2 1995 73 Published by BYU ScholarsArchive, 1995 1 BYU Studies Quarterly, Vol. 35, Iss. 2 [1995], Art. 6 74 BBYUYU studies an area that became known as Rogrogerssrogergserss rock then in the early 1820s rogers decided to become a carpenter eventually moving his family to dunkirk new york where four more children were added to the family after a few years rogers temporarily left his family to establish a carpentry business in new york city the business soon prospered and a year later he sent for his family 5 conversion to mormonism in 1837 while returning home from church david white rogers overheard some preaching in a building where he and some friends had held meetings in the past rogers was attracted by the speakers sincerity and by the apparent truths of which he spoke he became interested in the scriptures that were quoted and believed the explanation of the scriptures to be correct wanting to know more david entered the building and sat down to hear the rest of the sermon the man sitting next to him explained that the speakers were Morcormonsmormonsmons As a devoted member of the methodist sect david was surprised that Morcormonsmormonsmons who had such unfavorable reputations could explain the scriptures so well 6 after their sermon the elders parley P pratt and elijah fordham informed the congregation that there would be no more meetings as few showed interest in their message when david heard this announcement he stood up and invited the elders to his home he stated that the men were speaking the truth and he thought there were others in the city who would like to hear the elders message Rogrogerssrogergserss offer helped fulfill the elders earlier impression that people would be raised up to aid them in the work there 7 when the elders arrived at the rogers home the following afternoon davids wife martha answered the door and saw two men one was large and dark with a pleasant intelligent counte- nance parley P pratt while the other was a small man but very earnest elijah fordham the elders asked for her husband but she informed them that david was not there they promised to return in the evening telling her that they had a very important message for him this visit from the elders startled martha because she had dreamed earlier about this very event 8 https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/byusq/vol35/iss2/6 2 Williamson: David White Rogers of New York david white rogers of new york 75 A few years before the missionaries visit david like martha had had a dream in the dream david was taken by a guide to a point where he was shown a terrible swift destruction which seemed to embrace the whole face of the land he was told by his guide that he would learn more about the terrible event when he was fifty years of age 9 david was in his fiftieth year when the missionaries sat with the rogers family and explained the gospel to them martha imme- diately accepted their message but david needed more time he re- tired to his room for four days reading the book of mormon praying and fasting when he read about the terrible destruction that had taken place in the americas after the saviors crucifixion he recognized it as the destruction he had witnessed in the dream davids seclusion ended with his receiving a testimony by revela- tion he later stated that the room was a blaze of light as the noon day sun I1 saw joseph smith sitting at a stand in the cornercomer of the room with a book of mormon in his hand 010O soon after this spiritual confirmation parley P pratt baptized the rogers family in new york citescitys east river on december 19 1837 11 after the rogers family was baptized parley P pratt left for a short time and then returned to new york with his wife mary ann steamsstearns and her daughter mary ann had previously been widowed before the pratts left new york in april 1838 they spent many evenings around david and marthas fireplace sharing experiences and teaching the rogers family the principles of the gospel lasting ties developed between the two families 12 dedication to the growing church to provide the elders with a meeting place david rogers arranged a large room with chairs from his warehouse the room filled with interested investigators seeing the growth rogers joined with another member to rent a small place and furnish it for regular meetings this meeting place too was usually crowded the crowds and the spiritual manifestations experi- enced by the Rogrogersesrogersenerses and other converts were seen as fulfillment of the promise to elders pratt and fordham that his holy spirit should give the people visions and dreams concerning us and the Published by BYU ScholarsArchive, 1995 3 BYU Studies Quarterly, Vol. 35, Iss. 2 [1995], Art. 6 76 byustudiesbyustudzesBYU Studies work of the lord crowds who could not get in should stand in the streets and about the entrance to try to hear us 13 again trying to meet the needs of the growing number of saints in new york rogers decided to publish a hymnal since they were so scarce in the outlying branches of the church 14 using emma smiths hymnal for a format and a source for nearly half of the hymns rogers completed his book with other hymns of latter day saint authorship 15 the last hymn is davids dedicatory poem part of which explains why he published the hymnhymnalsals father to thee I1 dedicate the work that I1 have done and now I1 pray accept of it through jesus christ thy son for as it was by his command given to me in dream at first I1 took this book in hand I1 now present for him 16 joining the missouri saints the following september david martha and five of their children headed west to join the saints in missouri they shared a wagon belonging to the wandle mace family also of new york city after passing through the allegheny mountains the two families continued through ohio and indiana they met some travel- ers headed eastward who warned the families that they could not continue to travel west and survive the conditions undaunted the small party continued and reached quincy illinois where they met the saints who had fled from missouri davids daughter car- oline described the scene we found a good many teams there loaded with families with just what they could pick up and throw into their wagons and leave in a hurry to get away from the mobs which infested the country it was a sorrowful sight to see a people turned out of houses and homes in the dead of winter little babies and aged and sick all turned out with- out mercy father and brother mace went to work to help all they could but of course they were obliged to earn their own living as well they rented a house for both families to live in upstairs was a large room that covered the rooms below under the lower rooms was a https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/byusq/vol35/iss2/6 4 Williamson: David White Rogers of New York david whitewhire rogers of new york 77 basement with a large room also the house was called the committee house there was a committee set apart to see after those that came from missouri they all came to the committee house and were cared for father was put in charge of the commissary 17 the land committeeConmAttee the church established

Load more