Samuel John Rogers was born the 28 Dec 1856 at New Inn Mill in Trentham, Staffordshire, England to parents Philip Rogers and Elizabeth Anne Salmon. He was baptized at Saint Mary's church in Trentham on the 1 Mar 1857 by vicar Edward James Edwards.¹

Samuel lived at New Inn Mill (also written as Newinn) on New Inn Lane in Trentham. Here Sam's father Philip worked and operated the mill as a corn miller (and likely farmer as well). Sam was the fourth child born to a family of six boys and two girls. ²

In what undoubtedly would have been an extremely traumatic time for young 8 year old Sam, on 10 Oct 1865, younger brother Thomas died for reasons unknown.³ Then, on the 23 Nov, about a month before Sam's 9th birthday, his father passed away from diphtheria (written as Cynanche Laryngea Maligna),⁴ a very contagious disease that causes severe solidifying inflammation of the throat that leads to suffocation. This was followed two days later by his brother Joseph Frederick's untimely death.⁵ Within a span of two and a half months, a family of ten was cut to seven, leaving widowed mother Elizabeth to pick up the pieces and carry on. (It is now believed that all three family members died of diphtheria).

It seems Elizabeth did just that, because on the 1871 census Elizabeth is operating the New Inn Mill herself and is listed as a farmer & miller of 28 acres employing 1 man (likely as a farm hand) and ten years later in 1881 farming 38 acres employing 2 men.⁶

Samuel went to school in Trentham where he was listed as a student at the age of 15 on the 1871 census. He would stay at New Inn Mill, helping his mother, through the 1881 census where, at 25 years old, he was listed as a Farmer and Miller.⁷

In April 1887, Samuel John Rogers married Elizabeth Collier at Stowe Church in Stowe-by-Chartley, Staffordshire. Samuel was 30 years old and Lizzie was 24.⁸ (Since New Inn Mill and Amerton are about 13 miles apart, we are not certain how Sam & Lizzie met.)

After their marriage the family moved to the suburb of Walton in Stone, Staffordshire. This area was part of St. Michael's parish and separated from Stone by the River Trent.⁹

It must have been difficult for a farmer and miller to find work living in a city, because the following year Samuel, his wife Lizzie and their 3 children picked up and traveled 65 miles to Liverpool.

Here they boarded the Inman line steamship "City of Chicago" and made the roughly 10 day journey to America.¹⁰ (3 months later the steamer wrecked off the coast of Ireland in heavy fog on a return voyage to Liverpool: the only loss was the steamer itself after 9 years in service).

A curious point to mention is at Sam and his family's arrival at Ellis Island in New York (only 2 months after it opened) they stated their intention was not to stay in the United States, but to pass through to Canada (They carried with them 5 pieces of luggage).^{10, A} This never seems to have materialized as on the 30 Mar 1894, Lizzie gives birth to their first child in the new country. George Fredrick Rogers was born in Olmsted Falls, Cuyahoga, Ohio.¹¹

It seems over the next 6 years the family would move a mile or so south to the next town where they would be found in Columbia Township, Cuyahoga, Ohio on the 1900 census (now Columbia Station).¹²

Sam and Lizzie spent the rest of their lives in Columbia Station where they struggled to get by raising their children. Sam was listed as a general farmer and the family had no money.^{13, 14} They were so poor that their son George would tell stories to his children and grandchildren about not owning a pair of shoes until his boss purchased him a pair at 15 years old. (Family also believes George was out of the house and looking for work by the age of 12).

By 1929, Sam and Lizzie were living with their daughter Bertha Rogers-Pick at her home in Berea, Cuyahoga, Ohio. It's here at 71 West St. where Lizzie would pass away at the age of 67 of "Acute Heart Failure".¹⁵

The following year on the 8 Nov 1930, Sam was admitted to Southwest General Hospital in Middleburg Hts. and two weeks later on the 22 Nov, Sam passed away from "Heart failure with arrhythmia".^{16, 17}

The couple was buried together in Columbia Cemetery at 13699 County Highway 60 in Columbia Station.¹⁸