626 REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1890. 



preached by Rev. Mr. Burdick, of Westerly. The church was filled to its utmost 

 capacity, aud hundreds were unable to gain admittance. At the close of the exer- 

 cises in the church the lid of the coffin was raised, and large numbers availed them- 

 selves of the opportunity to look for the last time upon the well-known features of 

 the deceased. The funeral procession included the Masons to the number of 200, 

 about 50 carriages, and several hundred on foot, among whom were many of our 

 most prominent citizens. State street from the church to the court-house was lined 

 with spectators. The remains were interred in Cedar Grove cemetery, and the beau- 

 tiful Masonic service was performed at the grave under the direction of Rev. J. C. 

 Waldo, chaplain of Union Lodge. An exceedingly interesting sketch of the life of 

 Captain Rogers will be found elsewhere, over a signature well known to our readers. 



OBITUARY.* 



Capt. Stevens Rogers, who died suddenly in this city August 20, 1868, deserves a 

 more than casual notice from his contemporaries. A large part of his life was de- 

 voted to sea-faring pursuits, which he had followed in the various forms of coasting 

 trade aud ocean voyages, by sail and by steam, acquiring the reputation of a skill- 

 ful and experienced navigator. His connection with the early attempts of ocean 

 steam navigation demand for him an honorable place in the record of American sea- 

 manship. 



He was born at New Loudon (Great Neck), upon the border of Long Island Sound, 

 February 13, 1789, and began at an early age to follow the seas. As if to seal him- 

 self for that business he had, when a young man, the figure of a ship stamped so in- 

 delibly upon his arm that even in his old age it had the distinct outline of a recent 

 draft. He married the sister of Capt. Moses Rogers, of Groton, and was connected 

 with that enterprising mariner in his various experimental steam excursions. He 

 was with him in the Phoenix, which went from New York to Philadelphia in 1809 ; in 

 the Eagle, which went to Baltimore in 1713, and in the New Jersey to Baltimore in 

 1816, all propelled by steam. 



The voyage of the steamship Savannah from Savannah to Liverpool was made in 

 1819. This was the first attempt to cross the ocean by steam. Capt. Moses Rogers 

 was the commander and Capt. Stevens Rogers was the sailing master. 



The voyage was accomplished in 22 days, of which 14 were without the use of 

 canvas, sails being used a portion of the time to save the consumption of fuel. When 

 the vessel arrived off Cape Clear she was telegraphed to Liverpool as a vessel on fire, 

 and a cutter was sent from Cork to her relief. Great was the surprise and admiration 

 when the gallant ship entered the harbor of Liverpool under bare poles, belching 

 forth smoke, yet uninjured. 



From Liverpool the Savannah went to Copenhagen and through the Baltic Sea to 

 Stockholm aud St. Petersburg. At these places she was visited and admired and her 

 crew feasted and praised by kings and nobles as well as the populace. The sailing 

 master received almost as much notice and applause as the commander. 



Lord Lyndock, an English nobleman, who was then on his travels in the north of 

 Europe, took passage in the steamer from Stockholm to St. Petersburg, and was so 

 well satisfied with the intelligence of the sailing master that he kept by his side for 

 hours together conversing with him. Before parting he presented him with a gold 

 snuffbox, chased and ornamented, with the following inscription engraved on the 

 inside of the lid : " Presented by Sir Thomas Graham, Lord Lyndock, to Stevens 

 Rogers, sailing master of the steamship Savannah, at St. Petersburg, October 10, 1818." 



The return voyage of the Savannah occupied 25 days. Capt. Stevens Rogers after- 

 wards commanded the brig Park, and subsequently was in the coasting line upon Long 

 Island Sound. In 18.">0 he was appointed to office in the custom-house at New Lon- 

 don as inspector, and still later for several years was collector of the city taxes. 



* For the Star of August 26, 1868, 



