Joseph Rogers, son of William Rogers, was born on February 10, 1805 in Western, Oneida County, New York. In 1815, Joseph and his family moved to Phelpstown, located a few miles south of Palmyra.[1] The family lived in a house on Mill Street built by John Van Dyne. They attended the Western Presbyterian Church in Palmyra.
Joseph Rogers claimed to know Joseph Smith in Palmyra. He told stories about treasure hunting and claimed that Joseph Smith was a liar and an imposter. He also claimed, “Many of Jo’s victims were from New Jersey and believed in witches and ghosts. He could not fool the New England or York State Yankees.” He wrote, “I had the affidavits of six creditable farmers who lived in Manchester, N.Y. that Jo Smith, who became the Mormon prophet, stole their chickens and sheep. I lost them moving.”[2]
There is a possibility that Joseph Rogers was the “Mr. Rogers” who accompanied Martin Harris to Harmony, Pennsylvania in 1827. Unknown to Martin Harris, Mr. Rogers had plotted with Martin’s wife, Lucy Harris, to cut off “the covering of the Plates” with his knife when Joseph Smith displayed them. This can’t be verified.[3]
In 1833, Joseph Rogers gave a negative account of the Smiths and claimed to have affidavits verifying that the Smiths were thieves:
Our family moved to Phelpstown a few miles south of Palmyra, N.Y., in 1815, where I resided until 1842. I was often in Palmyra, and was well acquainted with Jo Smith, who became the Mormon prophet. When a young man he claimed to receive revelations from the Lord where treasures were buried. He told Peter Rupert and Mr. Cunningham, a blacksmith (simple-minded old men), that there was a chest of gold buried on my brother-in-law, Henry Murphy’s farm, under a beech tree. . . . Jo Smith and his adherents dug a cave in a hill in Manchester, N.Y., and used to go there, he said, to consult with the Lord. He had a door at the entrance fastened with a padlock. The sheriff took possession and found much property which had been stolen from farmers about there. . . . Jo contrived in every way to obtain money without work. . . . I knew at least one hundred farmers in the towns of Phelps, Manchester and Palmyra, N.Y., who would make oath that Jo Smith the Mormon prophet was a liar, intemperate and a base imposter.[4]
On October 20, 1836, Joseph Rogers married Julia Sheffield in Lyons, Wayne County, New York. They became the parents of eight children, three living to adulthood. Joseph and his family moved from New York to Michigan, arriving in Ann Arbor on May 16, 1842. They resided in Ann Arbor for six years before moving to Geddes and then Detroit.
Joseph was listed in the 1860 US Federal Census as a miller in Ann Arbor, having a real wealth of $1,200 and a personal wealth of $1,300. Joseph was listed in the 1870 US Federal Census as having no occupation. He had a personal wealth of $200 and real wealth of $1,500. Joseph died in 1870. His widow, Julia Rogers, died on January 8, 1904 at age 89 and 8 months. Her funeral was held at her late residence—832 Packard Street in Ann Arbor. She was buried in Block 25, Lot 51 of the Forest Hill Cemetery in Ann Arbor.[5]
[1] Joseph Rogers witnessed by Helen Rogers in Los Gatos, “California, May 16, 1887. Subscribed and sworn to before me this 16th day of May 1887 John F. Tobin, notary public.
[2] Joseph Rogers witnessed by Helen Rogers in Los Gatos, “California, May 16, 1887. Subscribed and sworn to before me this 16th day of May 1887 John F. Tobin, notary public.
[3] “Testimony of Martin Harris,” September 4, 1870, in Edward Stevenson Collection, Church History Library.
[4] “Joseph Rogers’ Statement,” in Naked Truths about Mormonism [Oakland, CA], April 1888, p. 1.
[5] Certificate of Death—State of Michigan.