My Genealogy Hound

Charles B. Rogan, of the Eleventh District, of Sumner County, is a son of Frank and Martha L. (Read) Rogan, and was born in Sumner County in 1839, being the fifth of nine children, two sons and one daughter living. The father was of Irish descent, born in Sumner County in 1798. Our subject’s grandparents, Hugh and Ann (Duffy) Rogan, were natives of Ireland; the grandfather was born in Glenntown, Donegal County, in 1747, and the grandmother was born in Lisduff, County Tyrone, and were married in 1775. Mr. Rogan immigrated to the United States in the last ship that came over before the war of independence, and landed at Philadelphia where he soon found employment with a Quaker by the name of Downey, and in a short time enlisted as a marine on the American ship, “Philadelphia,” but was deceived by Downey about the time the ship was to sail, and reached Philadelphia the day after it left. Mr. Rogan then followed the Colonial Army south with the intention of enlisting, but finding the army retreating, he went direct to what was known as The Hornet’s Nest, a settlement of Irish Presbyterians in North Carolina, for protection, and soon after joined a surveying expedition, as guard, to run the line between North Carolina and Virginia, now Tennessee and Kentucky, reaching what is now Trousdale in December, 1779, where they camped until spring, then moved to where Nashville now stands, and, under the North Carolina laws granting 640 acres of land to those who raised corn on the, Cumberland River, he raised a crop of corn and carried it to the bank of the river for transportation, and through the assistance of others who had taken advantage of the same law, obtained a flatboat and agreed to transport their crops together. But his associates, after loading the boat with their crops, poled down the river, and upon reaching the point where Mr. Rogan had his, they refused to permit him to load it, claiming that the boat was loaded to its full capacity. He, being baffled in his efforts and outraged at the deception, remained with his crop on the bank and watched the boat moving down the stream, but before it was out of sight the entire party, with the exception of a negro, were ruthlessly and brutally murdered by a band of Indians, who fell suddenly upon them from the forest. Mr. Rogan, soon after this narrow and fortunate escape, joined Gen. Daniel Smith and a small party, who were defeated at Crag Font Bluff by Indians. He then made his home with Col. Isaac Bledsoe, of Bledsoe Lick, now Castalian Springs. (For his brave defense of that place, read Carr’s history of “Early Times in Tennessee.”) He was actively engaged with every expedition sent against the Indians from that section. Some years later Mr. Rogan started back to Ireland to bring his family to the new settlement, but reaching Virginia he was told by a relative that his wife had married another man, and being disappointed he immediately returned to Tennessee, but, years later, receiving a direct message from his wife that the statement in regard to her marriage was false, he started at once to Ireland (in 1796) to see his family, after an absence of twenty-one years. He went via Wilmington, N. C., where he took on board a cargo of flaxseed, but on nearing the coast of Ireland was caught in the storm that destroyed the French fleet, and was compelled to throw his cargo over board. Mr. Rogan then joined his family, and they soon after returned to the United States and settled in Sumner County on land that he had received for his “corn” grant, and a portion of this land has ever since remained in the hands of his descendants. He was a brave soldier and an industrious farmer, and died in 1814 after a remarkably exciting and eventful career, and was one of the most intelligent, useful and daring pioneers of the State. Frank Rogan, our subject’s father, was raised and educated at home. In 1833 he married Miss Martha L. Read, a granddaughter of Col. Isaac Bledsoe, and a daughter of Capt. William Read. He was a farmer, and a life-long resident of the farm where he was born. He was a man of brilliant intellect, and honored for his integrity and courage. He died in 1885. The mother was born near Enon College, Trousdale County, in 1802, and died in 1862. Our subject received his early education at Rural Academy, and finished his studies at St. Mary’s College in Kentucky. In 1861 he enlisted in the Confederate Army, in Company K, Second Tennessee Regiment, under W. B. Bate, and entered the Virginia campaign, being in the first battle of Bull Bun. In January, 1862, he re-enlisted, and at once joined the Tennessee army, and engaged in the battles at Shiloh and Chickamauga; afterward was placed on Gen. Bate’s staff, where he remained until the close of the war. November 18, 1866, he married Miss Victoria, daughter of Matthew and Angeline Cecil. In 1868 he settled on his present farm where he owns 213 acres of fine land ten miles northeast of Gallatin. Politically Mr. Rogan is an ardent Democrat; his first presidential vote was for John C. Breckinridge. Mr. and Mrs. Rogan are both members of the Catholic Church. She was born in Kentucky in 1847.