Researchers: *** There were at least 7 John Rogers living in Cherokee Territory in the mid-1700's. There were at least 5-6 men nicknamed "Nolichucky Jack". The subject of this memorial was not nicknamed Nolichucky Jack.

*** Always be diligent in your research to identify and cite information for the correct individual.

NOTE: Cherokee were not married in any modern sense. There are not records of any Cherokee marriages since missionaries did not arrive until 1800, the Cherokee did not have a written language until 1821, and marriage was not a Cherokee concept. It was very common for white traders to have children concurrently with multiple women. Fathers weren't considered blood relatives in Cherokee families. A woman's mother, mother's siblings, and her own siblings were the people who mattered. Cherokee women enjoyed sexual autonomy along with great political and social power. Not only did a child inherit the clan identity of his or her mother, Cherokee women oversaw the adoption of captives and other outsiders into the responsibilities of clan membership.

Spouses:

1 - Elizabeth (Emory) Due Rogers Buffington (1748 - after 1806), daughter of Trader William Emory Sr. and "Mary" Grant. "Mary" Grant was daughter of Scottish Trader Ludovic Grant and an Unknown Cherokee of the Long Hair Clan.

2 - Ailsey Ann (Fawling) Rogers (1768- before 1835), daughter of Ephraim "Rim" Fawling and an Unknown Cherokee mother.

3 - Jennie (Due) Fields Rogers Bowles (1766-1839) – daughter of Elizabeth Emory and Robert Due. NOTE: Jennie was step-daughter and wife of Captain John "Hellfire Jack" Rogers Sr.

Occupation: Native American Agent, White Trader, "Headman"

We know very little about the life of this man before he came among the Cherokee during the Revolution. Captain John "HellFire Jack" Rogers Sr. was thought to have been born around 1745-1750 in either North or South Carolina. He was often called Captain John possibly because he was a Tory Captain in the British Army in the Revolutionary War, although we have no record of him as a British Soldier and there is no mention of him in any military capacity. It would be very unusual for a British soldier to remain in the Cherokee Nation after the War. "Captain" was a common term of address for a business person.

Captain John "Hellfire Jack" Rogers Sr. operated "Rogers Trading Post" on the Hiwassee River, in McMinn County, about 12 miles from Calhoun, Tennessee. He had boats plying on both the Hiwassee and Tennessee Rivers. He was a man of wealth.

Nov. 18, 1817, Captain John "Hellfire Jack" Rogers Sr. and his son, John Rogers Jr. (1781-1846 TN/D.C.) left their home, Ross Landing, on the Tennessee River near Lookout Mountain, TN and moved with a group of Cherokees to Western Arkansas. The following description comes from the emigration of the John Jolly party (about 300 families): It is interesting to know how the government provided transportation to the West to the Indians who migrated early, before the Trail of Tears. A boat was constructed to be sixty feet long and twelve feet wide, two thirds of it were to be covered, two side oars and a steering oar, they were called Keel Boats. Each was given a gun, a kettle, a beaver trap and some ammunition. Often these boats fell apart on the rocky shoals of the Tennessee. They arrived in the Arkansas Territory on April 18, 1818. He brought 31 immigrants with him. He settled at Big Mulberry Bend, about twenty miles south of the present Ft. Smith, Arkansas.

Captain John Rogers Sr. was called "Hell-Fire Jack" by the Cherokees because of his hot temper, and also to distinguish him from the other John Rogers in the area at that time. Some sources say that the nickname of "Hell-Fire Jack" came from his decadent lifestyle among the "uncivilized" Cherokee.

Captain John "Hellfire Jack" Rogers Sr. first married Elizabeth (Emory) Due around 1771 and lived with her for about 10 years. He was Elizabeth Emory's 3rd husband. Elizabeth Emory was first married to Robert Due. They had one child, Jennie (Due) Rogers Bowles (1766-1839). Elizabeth also married Ezekiel Buffington.

Captain John "Hellfire Jack" Rogers Sr. and 1) Elizabeth (Emory) Due Rogers were the parents of five children:

- Charles Coody Rogers (1772 – 1821) married 1) Nancy (Downing) Rogers Fields and 2)

Rachel Hughes;

- Mary Arkansas "Arky or Aky" "Ulusquatogu" Rogers (1774– 1880) married 1) Daniel

Vickery and 2)George "Wah-la-ne-tah" Hicks;

- Nancy "Nannie" (Rogers) Price Grubb (about 1778 – before 1819) married 1) Looney

Price Sr. and 2)Dr. Allen Burd Grubb;

- Captain John Rogers Jr. (1781 - 1846) Captain - War of 1812, Creek Wars, elected Chief

of the Old Settlers (a dissident faction of Cherokee Nation West), married Elizabeth

Coody.

- Captain Chief James W. Rogers (1782 – 1851) married Nannie Coody;

NOTE *** Brothers John Rogers Jr and James Rogers married Coody sisters.

Captain John "Hellfire Jack" Rogers Sr. fathered a child with 2) Ailsey Ann Fawling.

Polly Ann (Rogers) Dawson (1787 – 1854) married Samuel Riley Dawson Sr.

Thirdly, John "Hellfire Jack" Rogers Sr. began having children with his step-daughter, 3) Jennie Due. They were the parents of six children:

- Martha Rogers (1788 - 1865) married Ignatius Chisholm;

- Annie Rogers (1790 - 1864) married Thomas R Irons and John W Flawey ;

- William Charles Rogers (1794-1877) married Nelly May;

- Susannah Rogers (1796-1852) married Nicholas Miller;

- Tahlihina "Tiana" (Rogers) Houston (1798 – 1838) wife of David Gentry and General

Sam Houston (The Raven, Governor of Tennessee and President of the Republic of

Texas);

- Joseph Rogers (1806 – 1867). ***NOTE: This man is not Joseph Byrd Rogers b. 1806 TN

d.1867 TX. See Find a Grave #23299564.

Captain John "Hellfire Jack" Rogers Sr. died before 1835, but place and date are unknown. It has been suggested that he died in Big Mulberry Bend, Arkansas, near modern-day Fort Smith, Arkansas.

John "Hellfire Jack" Rogers Sr. was the ancestor of several important men of the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma; namely, his son Chief John Rogers, Jr., born 1781, Chief of the Western Cherokees and operator of the Grand Saline Salt Works, buried at the Congressional Cemetery, Arlington, Washington D.C.; his daughter, Tiana married Sam Houston, and daughter Nannie married Dr. Alan Burd Grubb, doctor in Calhoun, McMinn County TN, and Surgeon for Colonel Morgan's Cherokee regiment, War of 1812; his grandson Judge Charles Coody Rogers, born 1817; and great grandson Chief William Charles Rogers, born 1847, last Chief of the Cherokee Nation.

John "Hellfire" Rogers:

Grandson-in-law of Ludovic Grant;

Brother-in-law to Captain William Emory Jr (captured Daniel Boone);

father of Charles Rogers (Lieutenant in War of 1812 - Creek Wars);

father of Captain/Chief John Rogers, Jr. (last Chief of the Arkansas Cherokee "Old Settlers");

father of Captain James Rogers (Cherokee interpreter);

father-in-law of George Augustus Hicks (Senator, Marshall/Captain on Trail of Tears );

father-in-law of General/TX Governor & President Sam Houston;

father-in-law of Chief John Duwali "Bold Hunter/The Bowl" Bowles of the Texas Cherokees;

father-in-law of Dr Allen Byrd Grubb (surgeon in War of 1812 at the Battle of Horseshoe Bend);

father-in-law of Joseph W Flawey (councilor to Cherokee delegation - Treaty of 1828);

father-in-law to the patriarch of the famous Dawson Cherokee family;

step father-in-law to Chief "Tah-Lon-Tee-Skee" and his brother, Chief John Jolly;

step grandfather-in-law of the famous Pioneer Guide Jesse Chisholm;

grandfather of Judge Charles Coody Rogers;

great grandfather of William Charles Rogers (last Principal Chief of the Cherokee Nation prior to Oklahoma statehood);

great grandfather of Reverend and Cherokee Councilor Dempsey Fields Coker;

great great grandfather of Lewis Cass Coker (Judge of Cooweescoowee District and first town Marshall of Nowata, OK);

6X great grandfather of Cara Cowan Watts (elected Tribal Legislator to the Cherokee Nation Tribal Council);

6X great grandfather of Lorie Coker McElhaney, the author of this document.

*** NOTE: There is a memorial "proposing a father" of Capt John "Hellfire" Jack's father, named Benjamin Robert "Ben" Rogers, Find a Grave #174234335. There is confusing and incorrect information presented on Ben's memorial. I have reached out to the memorial manager to address the inaccuracies to no avail. Please note that there are a least 2 Benjamin Rogers memorials reflecting the exact same birth date but with differing death dates and locations. ***