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Dr. David Rogers
- Man of mystery, and benevolence
By DAVID BAINBRIDGE
The News-Sun
LAGRANGE - Even though the provisions of his will,
written in 1868, still benefit the youth of LaGrange County,
and even though LaGrange County's first park and a weekend celebration
of county history have been named after him, the life - and death
- of area pioneer Dr. David Rogers remains rooted in mystery,
myth and political controversy.
A May 24, 1877, article from the LaGrange Standard sums it up:
"He was one of those mysterious characters about whom communities
never tire in surmising and conjecturing strange things, and
about which little actual proof could be adduced."
According to local historian Scott Beam, these few facts are
known:
· Dr. David Rogers was born June 2, 1786.
· In about 1832 he came to LaGrange County's newly surveyed
Clearspring Township from Wayne County, N.Y., and bought about
1,500 acres of prime farmland at a cost of about $1.25 per acre.
· He made a fortune reselling this land.
· According to the 1877 article, "When he first settled
in the county, he paid considerable attention to the practice
of medicine, making use of native botanical herbs almost exclusively
as remedies. This led him to the collection of all the native
herbs possessing any medical qualities, to which he subsequently
devoted his whole attention, making the collection, drying and
shipping of these plants his business."
· Rogers died in LaGrange County on Feb. 24, 1871.
· His tombstone declares, "He was the friend of the
invalid, gave medicine without money or without price."
· Rogers' will - written by future U.S. Chief Justice
M.R. Waite - in which Rogers bequeathed all his money and LaGrange
County land to the commissioners of the county to set up a trust
"for the benefit of the orphan poor and for other destitute
persons of said county," was contested by some of his nephews
and decided void "on the account of indefiniteness, the
terms orphan poor and other destitute persons" by the LaGrange
County Circuit Court. However, the battle over the will continued
until, eventually, it was upheld and declared legal by the United
States Supreme Court about a week before the 1877 news article.
After this point, the details of Rogers' life are steeped in
conjecture and rumor, and the details of his well-intentioned
legacy of providing for the county's orphaned and poor are ingrained
in local political controversy and debate - even into the 1990s.
As the 1877 article put it, "Concerning him, Madam Gossip
was very sure he had been most severely disappointed in love
in early life and that he in consequence resolved upon a hermit
life, and that he accumulated a large amount of money, which
he had hid or deposited in various places. We believe that rumor
could not safely estimate this amount at less than $50,000."
According to Beam, despite the fact that Rogers had owned more
than 1,500 acres, and even though he was undoubtedly one of,
if not the wealthiest man in the county during his era, there
is no record of him ever living in what most people would consider
a proper home. "He seemed to live mostly with other people
or as a hermit," Beam said.
According to the Standard article, "He was almost destitute
of social qualities, never married, or was never known here,
at least, to have any special interest in any woman, and most
of the time lived alone, part of the time in a large hollow log,
which he dressed out and made into comfortable if not commodious
quarters. Afterward, he built a little log hut, in which he lived
when in the county, and in which he was living, surrounded by
some 20 barrels, and numerous packages of dried herbs, when seized
with his last illness."
"There's a lot of folklore about Rogers," Beam said,
"like the hollow log, the tumbledown shack, and about where
he would go when he went away - he did seem to travel a lot.
And there's a lot of different interpretation of the folklore.
I think he was a businessman who didn't charge for medicinal
herbs because he was already rich and didn't have to. Others
hold to the story of the cheerful, eccentric philanthropist.
Actually, both interpretations are probably correct."
About Rogers' title of doctor, Beam said, "It's probably
true that he was an educated man, but in those days, basically,
if you called yourself a doctor and bothered to treat people
in some manner, that pretty much made you a full-fledged doctor.
At the same time, I don't know exactly what the average lifespan
was in 1871, but Rogers lived to be 84, so he must have been
doing something right."
According to Beam, Rogers' will asked that the commissioners
establish the David Rogers Home for the support and education
of the orphaned and poor, but it was eventually taken down "because
state services were doing the job as well or better." The
orphanage was sold as a farm, Beam said, and the monies involved
were transferred into a children's fund. "These days, the
interest is available for county use while the principal is invested,"
Beam said.
"There's still an issue with some locals that the commissioners
ever sold off that farm," Beam added. The will specifies
"that the lands first hereinbefore mentioned shall be forever
retained by said commissioners & their successors for the
purpose aforesaid & that no portion these of be sold or transferred
but that the same shall be forever kept."
The Rogers Orphan Fund has come up in local politics as recently
as the Sept. 6 commissioners meeting, when LaGrange County Circuit
Court Judge J. Scott VanDerbeck suggested using it as a source
to help pay for a project in which students suspended from school
could attend an alternative school.
Rogers' money also was the subject of controversy when it was
suggested that the orphan fund be transferred to the LaGrange
County Community Foundation when the foundation was created in
the early 1990s. "That issue was very hotly contested,"
Beam said.
On the less controversial side of Rogers' legacy, the first
LaGrange County Park, established in 1970 and located on land
he owned near the corner of 250W - 550S, was named after him.
It is now the site of an annual weekend celebration of the county's
history, featuring full-scale re-enactments of life during Rogers'
time period.
Rogers is buried on the grounds which now house the park,
and Beam said even his tombstone adds to the air of mystery which
surrounds Rogers. "It contains a glaring error," Beam
said. The tombstone says Rogers died when he was "Aged 85
Yrs. 8 Mo. 22 Ds." However, the dates of his birth and death,
which are also on the memorial, show he was actually only 84.
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