James Webb Rogers I, 1803 - 1987

The James Webb Rogers I Series consists primarily of manuscripts, printed pamphlets, and financial records of James Webb Rogers I (1822-1896). James Webb Rogers, the son of John Rogers (1794-1832), an irish immigrant to the United States, was the patriarch of the Rogers family. He started his career as an Episcopal minister in the South, later serving as chaplain to General Leonidas Polk, C.S.A. in the Civil War. After the War, Rogers took his family to England and France, where they converted to Catholicism late in the 1860s. For a time Rogers made a living giving speeches on his conversion, but he eventually moved on to law and business, representing his son, J. Harris Rogers, in both fields. James Webb Rogers appears to have been at the center of the Pan-Electric Scandal in the 1880s and 1890s. The Pan-Electric (Telephone & Telegraph) Company was involved in the infringement of Alexander Graham Bell's Telephone patents, and subsequent bribery charges were brought against Rogers and many congressmen. Being an accomplished orator, james Webb Rogers proceeded to write a number of pamphlets berating his opponents in the scandal. Rogers was also involved in real estate and was the owner of Parthenon Heights. The series includes items from most periods in Rogers' career, including manuscripts of sermons, legal papers, real estate contracts, copies of his pamphlets and of a play by Rogers, "Mary Surratt," about the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. His correspondents include Jefferson Davis and some of those involved in the Pan-Electric scandal.