1.    Sarah Rogers born 20 Mar 1736/7 in Harwich, Massachusetts, the daughter of John Rogers and  Mary Wing.
2.    Sarah Rogers born 17 Oct 1734 in Ipswich, Massachusetts, the daughter of Nathaniel Rogers and Mary Leverett.
3.    Sarah Rogers born 17 Oct 1735 in Eastham, Massachusetts, the daughter or Nathaniel Rogers and Silence Dimmock.

It would be unlikely that John Burgess living on Cape Cod would meet and marry a Sarah Rogers living in Ipswich in the northeastern corner of Massachusetts.  R. Stanley Hall has found a cemetery marker for this Sarah Rogers in the Ipswich cemetery that indicates that she never married.

Although the Sarah Rogers born 17 Oct 1735 in Eastham, Massachusetts was listed in "The Thomas Rogers Family" (Mayflower Families through Five Generations, 2:177-8) as possibly being the Sarah Rogers who married John Burgess on 20 Mar 1757, this family was living in Middeltown, Connecticut as early as 30 Mar 1739 when their daughter Sarah was only four years old.

R. Stanley Hall has been advised that Mrs. Clayton (Barbara) Merrick, Historian General of the General Society of Mayflower Descendants, has corrected their records to indicate that the most likely Sarah Rogers to have married John Burgess on 20 Mar 1757 was the one born in 20 Jan 1736/7, the daughter of John Rogers and Mary Wing.
Some records indicate a death date of 21 Dec 1772 for Sarah Rogers Burgess, but that date is for the unmarried Sarah Rogers of Ipswich, Massachusetts.  The date and place of death for Sarah Rogers Burgess is unknown, but it is likely that she died in Maine.
 
Now it is known that Thomas was originally of Watford, Northampton, England, the son of William Rogers and Eleanor (---)
           Before this:
     The earliest known record is 25 Jun 1618 when he became a citizen of Leyden, Holland.  On 1 Apr 1620 he sold his Leyden house in preparation for the journey to New England.
     Only Thomas Rogers and his son Joseph of his family were aboard the Mayflower when it arrived in Plymouth, MA in 1620.
     He was one of the signers of the Mayflower Compact.
     Thomas Rogers soon died in the "first sickness."
     In 1622 poll tax taken in Leyden were widow Elsgen (Elizabeth, Alice?), son Jan (John) and daughters Lysbeth (Elizabeth) and Grietgen (Gretchen, Margaret?).
     Governor Bradford in his history of Plymouth says that the other children came afterwards and are married and have many children.  John is the only other child that is known for a certainty to have come to the Plymouth Colony subsequetly.  (Notes of R. Stanley Hall)

Thomas Rogers
BORN:  before 1572; of Watford, Northampton, England, son of William
Rogers and Eleanor (---)
DIED:  the first winter, between January and March 1621, Plymouth
MARRIED:  Alice Cosford (Elsgen = Alice in Dutch), 24 October 1597,
Watford, Northampton, England, daughter of George Cosford.

CHILDREN:
 NAME: Thomas
  BAPTISM:     24 March 1598/9, Watford, Northampton, England
          DEATH:     bur. 27 May 1599, Watford, Northampton, England
          MARRIAGE:   unmarried

NAME:  Richard
BAPTISM: 12 March 1599/1600, Watford, Northampton, England
DEATH bur:  4 April 1600,  Watford, Northampton, England
MARRIAGE:   unmarried

NAME:  Joseph
BAPTISM:  23 January 1602/3, Watford, Northampton, England
DEATH:  between 2 and 15 January 1677/8, Eastham, MA
MARRIAGE: Hannah (---)

NAME:  John
  BAPTISM:  6 April 1606, Watford, Northampton, England
DEATH:   between 26 August 1691 and 20 September 1692, Duxbury, MA
MARRIAGE:  Anna Churchman, 16 April 1639, Plymouth

NAME: Elizabeth
BAPTISM:  26 December 1608, Watford, Northampton, England
DEATH: living in Leyden in1622, no further record.
MARRIAGE: unknown

NAME: Margaret
BAPTISM: 30 May 1613, Watford, Northampton, England
DEATH: living in Leyden in 1622; no further record.
MARRIAGE: unknown
 

ANCESTRAL SUMMARY:

The often published descent of Thomas Rogers from John Rogers the Martyr is complete fiction.  Thomas Roger's true English origins were discovered in 1989 by Clifford Stott and published with supporting documentation in The Genealogist 10:138-149.  Thomas Rogers was the son of William and Eleanor Rogers, and grandson of William and Joan Rogers.  Thomas' marriage to Alice Cosford and his children's baptisms are all found in the parish registers of Watford, Northampton, England.

BIOGRAPHICAL SUMMARY:

Thomas Rogers became a citizen of Leyden on 25 June 1618 with sponsors William Jepson and Roger Wilson, and is called a Camlet-merchant.  And just two years later, on 1 April 1620, he sold his house in Leyden before coming to America on the Mayflower.

Thomas Rogers brought his son Joseph on the Mayflower.  He died the first winter, but his son Joseph survived. William Bradford in his Of Plymouth Plantation writes of Thomas Rogers:  "the rest of Thomas Rogers' [children] came over and are married and have many children."

In the 1622 poll tax for Leyden are listed his wife Elsgen (Alice), and daughters Lysbeth (Elizabeth) and Grietgen (Margaret), and son John.  John Rogers is known to have come to America and married, but unfortunately the whereabouts of Elizabeth and Margaret remain unknown, though Bradford seems to suggest they came to America and married.

SOURCES:

Robert Charles Anderson, "The Great Migration Begins: Immigrants to New
England 1620-1633, Vol 3, pages 1597-1599.  Published in 1995 by the
New England Historic Genealogical Society.

Clifford Stott, "The English Ancestry of the Pilgrim Thomas Rogers and His Wife Alice (Cosford) Rogers", The Genealogist, 10:138-149.

Robert S. Wakefield, "Mayflower Passengers Turner and Rogers: Probable Identification of Additional Children," The American Genealogist 52:110-113.

(Photo-scans of Bradford's original passenger list can be viewed at Caleb Johnson’s Web Page

 
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