ROGERS, ANSEL

ROGERS

Posted By: Janice Sowers (email)
Date: 8/10/2006 at 17:52:41

PIONEER DAYS-HESTER TOWNSHIP 1851-1941

The beginning of the Quaker settlement in Hesper was in the year 1853. Ansel Rogers was among the first to arrive here. He was a preacher and a leader of the Society of Friends. He went to Springwater in 1857 where he pruchased the saw and grist mill, at which time the mill was referred to as the "Rogers Mill." This mill was built about 1850 and is one of the oldest in the county. The mill, now sagging with age, still stands, but has not been in use for a number of years. It is interesting to note that many of the early settlers who came to Hesper township, at one time lived in the vicinity of Springwater. This was due to the fact that a large number of them were of the Society of Friends.