Mary Olivia Bowers Rogers

Bucks County PA Orphans' Court Records 1852-1900 by Thomas G. Myers

Mary Olivia Bowers Rogers, mother of Alvin Stackhouse Rogers, Sr., my husband's great-grandmother is one of those people that fascinates me for some reason.  I keep coming back to her trying to solve all the mysteries of her existence.  On the surface it sounds as if she lived a charmed life.  She descended from several prominent families, the Bowers', the Lowers and the Stackhouses.  She was born in July of 1864 in Maryland, oldest child of Thomas Lamb and Lydia (unknown) Bowers.  She had a younger sister Rosamond Lower Bowers and brother William A. Bowers.  Apparently her mother died when she was a girl, probably between 1870 and 1880,  and she and her sister became the wards of their great uncle John P. Stackhouse of Bucks County, Pennsylvania.  I have not found these guardianship papers yet.  I have found no documentation, or census records, but I believe her brother must have gone with his father to live at least for a few years.  I can find no record of Thomas' death, but William is mentioned in numerous records and newspaper articles and obituaries up to 1943.  John Stackhouse died 18 Jul 1883 (Bucks County PA Orphans' Court Records 1852-1900 - Thomas G. Myers) and on 15 Sep 1884 Elmer H. Rogers of Lower Makefield Twp. was appointed guardian of Mary.

Mary and Elmer probably married the same month and around 1885-1886 they moved to Trenton, NJ where Elmer took up his medical practice.  Their first child, Ellerslie Wallace was born in in 1886 and their second son Alvin was born in 1889.  A daughter Helen was born in 1892.  Unfortunately, being the child of a doctor could not save Ellerslie who died 20 Feb 1895.  Another daughter Florence was born in October 1896, but sadly their daughter Helen died on 20 Jul 1897.  Their last child, a daughter, Olivia R., was born in January of 1898.  Ellerslie and Helen are buried in the family plot at Riverview Cemetery in Trenton.

After Elmer's untimely death in 1907, Mary continued raising her children. Alvin Jr. went to medical school, Florence and Olive never married and lived with Mary until her death on 10 Apr 1934.  She was buried in Riverview Cemetery next to her husband, but sadly her name was never inscribed on the stone.