Enoch Milton Rogers,

Village Blacksmith

by Donald L. Haynie, a great-grandson

"But that ye would humble yourselves before the Lord, and call on his holy name and watch and pray continually, that he may not be tempted above that which he can bear, and thus be led by the Holty Spirit, becoming humble, meek, submissive, patient, full of love, and long-suffering."

                                       -- Alma 13:28

Enoch Milton Rogers is my great-grandfather, and the great-great-great-grandfather of my grandchildren.

The story which is related below was written by Margaret Smith Chapman, a granddaughter of Enoch Milton Rogers. 

Enoch Milton Rogers was born October 23, 1846 in Alexander County, North Carolina, to Jesse Turner and Leannah Chapman Rogers.  He was the second son and child in a family of ten children, seven boys and three girls. 

Enoch had acquired about two years of education when the Civil War broke out and he suddenly found himself to be the sole support of h is mother and younger brothers and sisters.  His father and older brother were inducted into the Confederate Army; neither ever returned from the War.  His father wrote a letter to his son, Enoch, cautioning him not to let himself be caught up in the war, saying, "This is not our fight..."  However, Jesse went on to die an unheralded hero on the Spotsylvania Battlefield at Fredericksburg, Virginia, and young Enoch was drawn into the Confederate Army, serving as a Home Guard.  

What Enoch lacked in academic training he made up for in determination and dexterity.  He became a carpenter as is father and grandfather were before him.  He became an excellent wheel-wright and blacksmith.  Later, when he married and started a family of his own, he settled down as a farmer, raising tobacco and wheat. His success in wheat production induced him to take up flour milling, at which he became very proficient. But, whether it was making caskets as a carpenter, shaping a plow share as a blacksmith, or turning wheat into flour, Enoch lived to the hilt one of his favorite maxims, “Whatever is worth doing is worth doing right.”  He took great pride in his work, whatever the nature of it. 

Enoch Milton married Margaret Jamima Reese on August 10, 1871.  To this union nine children were born.  Gervacius Wayne, Erasmus Clay, Doctor Carr, Visto May, Perlie Effie, and Texy Jane, were born in Alexander County, North Carolina.  Jesse Franklin, Jacob Milton, and a baby girl who died in infancy, were in Manassa, Colorado. 

Enoch, a quiet, profound man, loved the scriptures, and his well-worn Bible with its multiple underscorings attested to this.  So it was when his brother, Doctor Carr, came to spend the night and visit with him.  Enoch became excited as Doc told him about a pair of preachers he had entertained overnight, who were, in his words, "the most educated fellers I have ever seen.  Why", he said, "they could quite the Bible from lid to lid!"  But Doc, it would seem, was more interested in the ability of the young men to quote scripture than he was in the content of their message, and found Enoch asking all sorts of questions he could not answer.  He couldn't remember where they came from except they had said something about living near a big lake that was very salty.  As for their church affiliation he said, "It had something to do with latter-days."  When he departed, Enoch requested Doc to send the preachers out his way as he would like very much to converse with them. 

About noon one day a few weeks after Doc's visit, two Mormon Elders knocked on the Rogers' door.  They were made welcome and invited to join the family for the noon-day meal.  The conversation quickly turned to religion and it was some time after the meal before Enoch excused himself to his guests explaining that he was in the middle of his wheat harvest and must get it done before the rainy season came on, but if they would stay they would continue the discussion that evening, and they were welcome to spend the night.  The Elders not only accepted the invitation, but offered to assist in the wheat harvest. 

That summer night in 1885 was to be a turning point in the lives of the Rogers family.  When the evening meal was cleared away, Enoch brought out his Bible prepared to do verbal battle with the strange visitors. The conversation continued well into the wee hours of the morning, as one by one his defenses on such issues as infant and sprinkling baptisms were put down.  Finally, Enoch closed his Bible, rose to his feet, and said, “Elders, you have convinced me. You have the truth.” 

Persecution began at once, even though it would be two years before they became members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  Then, on May 22, 1887, the little creek which ran by the house was dammed off to form a pool where Elders John Dixon and John Harper baptized Enoch and Margaret, and confirmed them members of the Church.

Persecution immediatelly intensified with warnings and threats added to scornful insults.  Margaret’s family openly disowned her and, at the little country school, Wayne, Clay, and Carr were pushed, buffeted, and derided.  Even the teacher was abusive.  Enoch and Margaret saw the futility of trying to cope with such adversity and, in 1888, sold their home, land and everything they owned, and prepared to join the Saints in the Manassa settlement in Colorado.  Their possessions, needless to say, sold for very little as their former friends and neighbors took advantage of their need to get away. 

Brother Doc and Uncle Tom, an old Colored man who had been Brother Doc and Uncle Tom, an old Colored man who had been with the Rogers family since back before the Civil  War and still made his home with Doc, accompanied Enoch and family to the train, and wept as they bid their farewells.  They arrived in the San Luis Valley on the sixth day of April, 1888.  How barren the Valley must have looked to them, arriving as they did in cold, high country six days after leaving the verdant hills of North Carolina.  Manassa Saints met them at the Romeo siding, greeted them warmly, and offered housing until Enoch could provide a home of their own.

Enoch bought a lot in the northwest corner of town and built a little two-room house where Jesse was born in 1889 and Jake in 1892.  In 1895 (22 November) Margaret gave birth to a baby girl, Margaret Ann. Both mother and baby passed away that same day.

Enoch was a good father, and kept his family together until each in turn married and made a home of his/her own.  When Jake married, however, another room was added to the little house, and Jake brought his bride there to live. Enoch's sons all raised their families in Manassa, as did Pearl.  May’s first child was born in Manassa; the others were born in Utah and Idaho, but May was never happy until she returned with her family to Manassa in 1921.  Texy went to Oregon when she married and remained there throughout her life. 

When the Rogers family migrated to Manassa, Enoch built a blacksmith shop on Main Street which he operated for many years.  He also farmed north of Manassa.  After he no longer had family responsibilities, he turned the blacksmith shop over to Clay, who had chosen his father's profession, and built a little cabin up on the Conejos River near the Ranger Station, where he spent each summer for the rest of his life. He raised potatoes and other vegetables each year which grew fast in the fertile mountain soil, with flavor like none other in the world.  He enjoyed fishing in the Conejos River, and always had fresh fish for company, but never was he guilty of catching more than the limit or more than could be eaten at a specific time. 

He returned each fall to spend the winter in the old home with Jake and family.  Artie was very kind to him.  She baked biscuits for him every day, because Enoch said he did not care for light bread, and always prepared his favorite foods. On the morning of November 7, 1927, Jake went to his father's room to start the fire for him to dress by and found him not feeling well.  Enoch departed this life that day, going as he had lived, quietly. 

As Enoch's daughters grew up and began dating, they became aware that an elderly neighbor, a widower, was making a habit of following them and spying on them as they walked home with their beaus after dances and parties.  When they reported this to their father, Enoch marched over to the neighbor and reminded him, among other things, that if there was a repeat of the incident, he would have him to answer to.

The neighbor went to the Church authorities and complained that Enoch had threatened him.  Enoch was summoned to come in and settle his differences.  His reply was "I said nothingn that I did not mean.  I am not sorry for what I said, and I will not apologize for saying something I did mean."  He did not attent the meeting and, as a result, his name was withdrawn from the Church records.  He never wavered in his faith, but never attempted a reconciliation. 

1-19-89 (6-24-84)