Matrilineal Monday – Margaret Ann Hall 1930 - 2011

This beautiful young woman was my mother-in-law Margaret Ann Hall who was born 11 Dec 1930 in Nassau Bahamas to Margaret Louise (Smith) and Hershel Stanley Hall.  She was the youngest child of six, and the couple's only daughter.  At the age of sixteen her mother sent her to Miami, FL to work as a nanny for a wealthy family from New York who wintered in Miami.  Margie had lived a sheltered life up until this time and her mother warned her to do her job and stay away from boys.  Unfortunately for Margie she was a beautiful young woman and I suspect heads turned wherever  she went.  The family she worked for spent each winter in a luxury hotel on Miami Beach and it was here that she met the man who was to become her husband.

Alvin S. Rogers, Jr. had just gotten out of the Navy and instead of going home to Trenton, NJ to become a doctor as was expected of him, he wanted to do something different with his life.  He had seen the world while in the Navy and gotten out from under, what I believe, was a domineering mother.  He stopped in Miami to make his own way and took a job as a doorman at the same hotel where Margie was working, and history, as they say, was made.  As soon as their paths crossed, Al was smitten with the young beauty and as the story has been told in this family, could not leave her alone.  In June 1949, Margie was sent back to New York with her young charge in an effort to keep her away from Alvin.  Not be deterred, Alvin, along with his sister jumped in a car and drove all the way to New York to woo his true love.  There are a lot more details to this story that I will not bore you with, but in the end they were wed in New York, NY on 10 Jun 1949 and their first son was born nine months later in Miami in March 1950.  Another son would follow in 1951, a daughter in 1952.

On 11 May 1953, while eight months pregnant with her fourth child, my husband, Margie petitioned the U.S. District Court in Miami for Naturalization and was granted the same.  On the Petition she listed her current address: 11501 NE 11 Pl, Miami, Fla; she listed her date of birth and place of birth (Nassau, Bahamas), her height, 5’1’, her weight 100 pounds.  She listed her husband as Alvin Stackhouse Rogers (click here for a look at his ancestry chart) and their marriage date as 10 Jun 1949.  She also listed her three children, their names and dates of birth.

She stated she was 21 years of age and formerly a British citizen.  The picture here is the one that was used on the Department of Justice's Certificate of Naturalization.  I have to assume this picture was taken at or about this time so she would have been about 21 in this picture and was most likely pregnant with my husband at that time.  So few pictures exist in my husband’s family so this makes it all the more special to us.  

Margie and Alvin went on to have three more children for a total of seven.  There are many more stories I could tell, and I'm sure there were some happy times but the marriage had insurmountable issues.  Alvin's mother inserted herself into their life and many problems ensued.  Unfortunately their marriage ended in divorce in March 1971.  She later married Joseph Eaglebarger (1929 - 1986).  After her second husband's death she lived for a number of years in Margate, FL and then in Georgia with one of her sons.  She also traveled around the country and to Nassau visiting family on a regular basis.  Margie's family was extremely important to her and nothing made her more happy than to have them gathered around her. After a short illness she died 26 Aug 2011 at the age of 80 in Plantation, FL at our home.  In the short time before she died she shared with us many stories we had never heard before and we felt honored and privileged to have had that time to talk to her and hear her stories. She left behind six living children, thirteen living grandchildren, a number of great-grandchildren as well as many family members in the Bahamas.  She was preceded in death by her parents, her husband, one son and one grandson.  

Sunday's Obituary - Alvin Stackhouse Rogers, Jr.

I came across the first obituary for my father-in-law recently, by accident, while doing a Google search.  It was in an Annapolis, Maryland newspaper.  The second is unknown, but most likely from the Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel.  He was born on 30 May 1926 in Trenton, NJ and died on 11 Jan 1993 in Margate, FL.

The Hildinger Family

The other side of my husband's family, the Hildinger family, was a great find!  My husband's grandmother, Luella Ruth "Susan" Johnston, mother of Alvin Stackhouse Rogers, Jr. was born in 1903 to David C. Johnston and Mary Elizabeth Hildinger Johnston.  Mary Elizabeth Hildinger came from a large family in Armstrong County, Pennsylvania, but her father John A. Hilldinger (1831 - 1887) and his father (John Hildinger (1794 - 1848) came the United States from Wurttemberg, Germany in  1833 and settled in Armstrong, Pennsylvania sometime around 1841 where they took up farming.  Several of the Hildinger children later left the farm and went on to become quite prominent which I will discuss further in later posts.

Obituary for Mary Olivia Bowers

Funeral on Friday for Mrs. Rogers

Mrs. Mary Olivia Rogers, widow of Dr. Elmer Rogers, and niece of John P. Stackhouse, died last night at her late residence following a lengthy illness.

She is survived by two daughters, the Misses Florence and Olivia Rogers; a son Dr. Alvin S. Rogers; two grandchildren; a brother William A. Bowers, of Washington, D.C., and a sister, Mrs. Rosamond Gold, also of Washington, D.C.

The funeral will be held from the Poulson and Van Hise Home for Services, 408 Bellevue Avenue, Friday morning at 11 o’clock.  Interment will be made in Riverview Cemetery under the direction of Poulson and Van Hise.

Friends may call Thursday evening from 7 to 9 o’clock.

Source :  Trenton Evening Times
Date:  11 Apr 1934

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.

Dr. Elmer H. Rogers

Dr. Elmer H. Rogers, father of Alvin Stackhouse Rogers, Sr.  was born 10 Nov 1858 in Dolington, Bucks County, Pennsylvania, the first child of Levi H. Rogers and Jane Eliza (Slack) Rogers. 

He attended and graduated from Jefferson Medical College, Philadelphia.  He was awarded certificates by the Metropolitan School of Medicine in London, and the Medical Graduates' College and Polyclinic in London.  He also attended the Philadelphia Hospital for Skin Diseases in Philadelphia, and took special training on the eye, ear, and throat in institutions in New York.

In September of 1884 he accepted Guardianship of Mary Olivia Bowers, daughter of Thomas Lamb and Lydia (unknown) Bowers.  She had been the under the guardianship of her great-uncle John P. Stackhouse along with her sister Rosamond Lower Bowers.  Elmer and Mary were married most likely the same month, September 1884.  The whereabouts and guardianship of their younger brother William A. Bowers, born about 1869 is still a mystery, but documents show his existence, living in Washington, DC until at least 1943.

Elmer Rogers was the county physician for Mercer County for a number of years affiliated with Mercer Hospital.

According to his U. S. Passport Application of July 1905, Elmer was 5' 10", dark complexion with a mustache and long face, gray hair, straight nose, and round chin.  On 11 April 1907 after a short illness, he died at the age of 48 of angina pectoris and was buried in Riverview Cemetery in Trenton.