Benjamin Rogers

Wartime prisoner Benjamin Rogers was born during the early 1760s. He may have been the son of Albany hatter William Rogers, Jr. At this time, we are uncertain regarding his origins and path to Albany.

By the 1770s, this Rogers family had become residents of Hoosick.

In 1778, seventeen-year-old Benjamin was in trouble. In May, a petition on his behalf, was sent to Governor George Clinton. It was signed by fifty-two prominent, mostly city-based residents. It stated that he had spent six months in prison for stealing a horse and currently was facing a death sentence.

Perhaps this individual became a resident of the Saratoga Patent a few years later. He is said to have died intestate in Saratoga in 1806.

Sources: The life of Benjamin Rogers has not been assigned a CAP biography number. This sketch is derived chiefly from family and community-based resources. So many important Albany personages testifying on his behalf in 1778 leads us to guess that he perhaps was the son (or another kinsman) of the long-time Albany hatter who also was charged with rustling cattle at that time!