One of them was bound as an apprentice in 1681: } 

 this William Rogers was probably the same man wh< 

 was listed in 1687 in the Surry militia "for Foot." 

 In 1 702 a William Rogers took up some newly opened 

 land "on the South side of Blackwater," which was 

 measured by the surveyor for Charles City County 

 (only meaning, perhaps, that Surry did not have its 

 own surveyor). 58 In 1704 a William Roger (sic) 

 owned 450 acres in Surry.* Two years later William 

 Rogers, Jr., had 220 acres surveyed on the "S. side of 

 Blackwater" in Surry County.™ Meanwhile a Wil- 

 liam Rogers had recorded a will in Surry in 1701, and 

 another (presumably William Rogers, Jr.) did so in 

 1727. fil 



A William Rogers was listed in Lancaster in 1694 

 as the husband of Elizabeth Skipworth, 62 and he 

 appears to have been tithable in the Christ Church 

 parish in 1714. 63 Wills are recorded under the name 

 in Lancaster County in 1728 and 1768. 64 



None of these records dispute the strong evidence 

 discovered at Yorktown concerning the identity of the 

 "poor potter." 



II. Evidence of William Rogers' Properties 



Virginia Gazette, September io, 1736 



"To be Lett or Sold, very reasonably. The House 

 which formerly belong'd to Col Jemngs, in which the 

 Bristol store was lately kept, being the next House to 

 John Clayton's, Esq.; in Williamsburg: It is a large 

 commodious House, with Two Lots, a Garden, 



56 Lyon G. Tyler, "Education in Colonial Virginia," 

 William <jr Mary College Quarterly Historical Magazine (1897), 

 ser. 1 (hereinafter designated WMQ 1), vol. 5, p. 221. 



57 "Extracts from the Records of Surry County," WMQ 1 

 (1903), vol. 11, p. 83. 



^ English Duplicates, op. cit. (footnote 54), p. 73. 



5» Ibid., p. 210. 



«° Ibid., pp. 81, 83, 86. 



« Virginia Wills and Administrations, loc. cit. (footnote 53). 



« 2 "Virginia Gleanings in England," VHM (1921), vol. 29, 

 p. 435. 



« "Tithables in Lancaster County, 1716," WMQ 1 (1913), 

 vol. 21, p. 21. 



64 Virginia Wills and Administrations, loc. cit. (footnote 53). 



Coach-House, Stable, and other Outhouses and Con- 

 veniences. Enquire of Capt. William Rogers, in I 

 >r of Wi Parks, Printer in Williamsburg" 



Rogers' will (1739) 



To his -odosia: ". . . two Lotts — lyeing & 



being in thi 1 W ms burgh together with the 



Dwelling Hou other houses thereunto 



belonging" and al 



"... a Lott lying behind s Lott number 63 



in York Town that I bought of Mr. George Rcade, 

 with all the Improvements upon it during his life 

 and after his death." ["Behind Cheshire's Lott" 

 apparently means Lot 59, next to it. See plat.] 



". . . one certain Tract or Parcel of Land. King 

 being and adjoining to Mountford's Mill Dam in the 

 County of York commonly called & known by the 

 Name of Tarripin Point." 



". . . the parcel of Land that I bought of M r Edw' 1 

 Smith except one Chain and that to be laid off at the 

 end next the Lott that I bought of Francis Moss with 

 all the Improvements on it and in case I should dye 

 before I build upon it. I shall leave all the plank & 

 framing stuff together with the window frames & all 

 the other things designed for the House to my Wife 

 and not to be appraised with my Estate and if my 

 Carpenter is not free that he shall not be appraised 

 but serve his time out and with my said Wife." 

 [Francis Morse owned Lot 75. extreme southwest 

 corner. Therefore, this was probably Lot 74.] 



* * * 



"unto my son W m Rogers 



all my Lotts in Yorktown where I now dwell with all 



the houses thereunto belonging." 



"also the warehouse by the waterside and 



all other my Lands and Tenements wherever lying 



except the Lotts & Land before given to my Wife." 



* * * 



To his daughter Susanna Reynolds: "the Lott that I 

 bought of M r Francis Morse known by the N° 75 

 together with the Brickhouse and all other Improve- 

 ments upon it also one Chain of the Land that I 

 bought of M r Edward Smith to be taken at the end 

 next to the Lott to her & her heirs for Ever in ease I 

 dve before the House is done I then leave also bricks 

 enough to finish the house, together w' h the window 

 frames & doors and what other framing was design'd 

 for her house . . . ." 



PAPER 54: THE POOR POTTER OF YORKTOWN 



87 



