John Rodgers (clergyman) (1727 – 1811), was a Presbyterian minister and chaplain who served in this capacity through the American Revolution, where he met and corresponded with General George Washington. During his academic years he became friends with the future acclaimed ministers Samuel Davies and Samuel Blair, both of whom were active in the early years of the Great Awakening of the eighteenth century. Rodgers served the greater part of his ministry duties in New York City beginning in 1765. With the recommendations of Benjamin Franklin and George Whitefield he was awarded an honorary Doctorate of Divinity from the University of Edinburgh. During the Revolutionary War he also served as Chaplain for the military and as Chaplain of the Massachusetts Provincial Congress and New York State Constitutional Convention. Rogers, together with Robert Aitken, appealed to Washington and the Continental Congress about the need of Bibles among the American troops.
Early life and family Rodgers was born in Boston, Massachusetts, on August 5, 1727, the son of Thomas and Elizabeth (Baxter) Rodgers who had emigrated to Massachusetts from Derry, Ireland. They had two sons and six daughters. In 1728, driven out because of reoccurring Indian raids his family moved to Philadelphia.Miller, 1813, p. 12 Rodger's mother, said to be a very religious and pious woman, was very influential in Rodger's subsequent aspiration to pursue the ministry.Starr, 1935, pp. 74-75Miller, 1813, pp. 13-14
Encouraged by his mother, Rogers attended the sermons of the revered George Whitefield, an itinerant preacher, while he was ministering in Philadelphia in 1739. Whitefield's exceptional and inspirational oratory left a lasting impression on Rodgers which ultimately led to his choosing a life of ministry some years later. The young Rodger's offered to assist Whitefield while he was visiting Philadelphia, where one evening he held a lantern for Whitefield as he was conducting a sermon. So moved by his sermon Rodgers managed to drop the lantern.Sprague, 1858, p.172
In 1741 Rodgers subsequently enrolled in a grammar school in Philadelphia, attended by Mr. Stevenson, an instructor of reputation. After a few months as Rodgers exceeded in his studies he transferred to another school in Philadelphia attended by Reverend Roan, a revered clergyman of the Presbyterian Church, where Rodgers continued to distinguish himself in his academic ability during the next few years. At the age of fourteen he regularly attended family worship in the house in which he boarded ;Miller, 1813, pp. 15–16 As Rodgers continued to mature he was frequently brought into contact with ministers and educators of the New Side Presbyterians. In the process he found himself increasingly at odds with the assumed authority of the Anglican Establishment.Kramer, 1953, p. 82 In the summer 1743, at the age of sixteen, he was sent to an acclaimed academy at Faggs Manor under the supervision of Reverend. Samuel Blair, considered one of the most respectable scholars among his contemporaries. Here he studied Latin, Greek, Hebrew and science and distinguished himself in his theological studies. Rodgers' completed his theological studies under the direction Gilbert Tennent.Nevin, 1884, p. 781 Among his friends and classmates was Samuel Davies who would become a Reverend and the future president of the College of New JerseyMiller, 1813, pp. 16–18, 21
On September 19, 1752, Rodgers married Elizabeth Bayard, of Cecil County, Maryland with who they had four children, She died in January 1763. On Aug. 15, 1764, he married Mary (Antrobus) Grant, widow of William Grant, a Philadelphia merchant, with whom they had one child.
Early Ministry
Rodger's first assignment was to assist accompany Reverend Samuel Davies to Virginia and assist him in evangelistic work. In his first attempt to obtain a license to minister he presented himself to the general court at Williamsburg but they declined without even considering his credentials. Undaunted he traveled to Somerset County, in Maryland where he labored during the summer of 1748. By autumn he accepted a call in Saint Georges in Delaware, on March 16, 1749, where he was ordained and installed as a minister, serving in "Forrest Church" for sixteen years.Miller, 1813, p. 66Alexander, 1887, p. 376 At his ordination Samuel Blair, presided in the laying on of hands by presbytery, and the sermon was delivered by Samuel Finley.Sprague, 1858, pp. 100, 172 In 1765, largely through his association with Reverend Davies, Rodgers was elected a trustee of the College of New Jersey; a position he held for more than twenty years.Miller, 1813, p. 87
Rodgers arrived in New York with his family on August 20, 1765, and was warmly received by the Presbytery of New York.at the Trinity Church. on Wall Street, Manhattan.Miller, 1813, p. 119 On September 4th he was assigned as an assistant minister of Reverend Joseph Treat, with whom they immediately effected a powerful revival, resulting in a marked increase of members of the parish whom they were impelled to accommodate by constructing another church, which they completed in two years by 1768, which came to be known as the Old Brick Church.Waugh, 2019, EssayAlexander, 1887, pp. 19
Years later while Rodgers was riding with George Whitefield on his final visit to Philadelphia in 1770, Rodgers asked him if he remembered a young lad who was holding a lantern while he was reading a sermon to a gathering of people one evening, where the boy became so overcome with emotion that he dropped the lantern. Whitefield replied, "Oh yes, I remember it well..." Rodgers smiled and said, "I am that little boy", where Whitefield was overcome with emotion and embraced Rodgers as if he had found a long lost friend.Belcher, 1857, p. 111
Whitefield was most impressed with Rodgers ministry that when he returned to London in 1769 he and Benjamin Franklin persuaded William Robertson, the principal of the University of Edinburgh, to grant Rodgers an honorary Doctorate of Divinity, which bore the date, December. 20, 1768. Before the document was officially authorized Robinson wrote to Franklin in a letter of 12 December 1768, concurring with his assessment of Rodgers' character and ability, and that the document would be dispatched at the earliest opportunity.Waugh, 2019, EssayRobinson letter to B. Franklin, 12 December 1768Lemay, 2006, p. 448
American Revolution Rodgers was an early, and a outspoken advocate for the cause of American independence.Miller, 1813, pp. 205-206
In a sermon he gave on December 11, 1783 in New York City, Rogers brought attention to the fact that the eyes of the nations in Europe were upon the newly established United States and their arduous effort to establish a secure union:
During the Revolutionary War, the churches experienced much disruption in their services by the incursions of the British army. Rodgers was compelled to leave his post in New York, to become chaplain, first of Heath's brigade, in Massachusetts. Thereafter he served as the chaplain for the Massachusetts Provincial Congress and the Committee of Safety, the region's primary revolutionary governing body.Alexander, 1887, p. 21
In November 1776 Rodgers was called to Savannah, Georgia on important private business and subsequently resigned his ministry, and leaving his family still at Greenfield, departed overland for Savannah where his close friend and fellow reverend, John Zubly was residing. The year previous Zubly lodged with the Rodgers family, so Rogers naturally took time to visit him while in Savannah. In 1777 he left Georgia and returned to New York and moved his family to Sharon, Connecticut, where they spent the winter of 1777-78. Rodgers again relocated to Danbury for a brief tenure in its church. He then accepted a call from the congregation to be the minister at Lamington, New Jersey, and was installed in May 1780 where he ministered until the end of the war.Miller, 1813, pp. 214-216
In 1783 the Treaty of Paris was signed, bringing an end to the war. After the British troops evacuated New York on November 25, Rodgers' family returned to the city and found it was generally left in a ruined state, including many of its churches. On May 23, 1785, the Synod of New York and Philadelphia appointed a committee who were tasked with the effort of creating a Presbyterian Church constitution. Members of the committee included, John Rodgers, John Witherspoon George Duffield and other prominent men of the clergy.
Rodgers delivered a Thanksgiving Day sermon that he had printed and sent to George Washington in Trinity Episcopal Church in the New York City, which welcomed him and his congregation to visit their “New Brick Church” was being repaired after the British occupation. Washington expressed his appreciation to Rodgers in a letter of May 5, 1784:
During the war, Rodgers and other Chaplains noticed that there was a severe shortage of Bibles among the troops. Before the Revolution it was not legal for unlicensed printers to print the English Bible. Subsequently, Bibles were often in short supply.Miller, 1813, pp. 230-232Duniway, 1906, pp. 3-11 Most of the Bibles in the colonies had been printed in England and shipped over. The war with Britain, however, had cut off the supply of Bibles, along with paper and other printing supplies, and as such, Bibles were scare among the troops.Smylie, 2014, Essay Rodgers' friend, Robert Aitken, a printer form Philadelphia who had worked as the Congressional printer, also recognized the need and began the task of printing many hundreds of Bibles.Laing, 2010. pp. 7-8 Their sizes was markedly small so as to allow soldiers to easily carry them in their packs without a lot of extra weight. In the process in 1782 Aitken became the first to print the English Bible in the newly established United States. The cost of production, however, was considerable, so Aitken petitioned the Continental Congress and procured loans for the production, equipment and distribution, which put him in serious debt. He appealed to Congress hoping it would purchase his Bibles, but was denied. He then asked his friend, Reverend Rodgers, to talk with General Washington about procuring the Bibles as gifts from Congress to the embattled soldiers who fought in the war with the expectation that they would never decline a request if it came from Washington. At that late date, however, the war had ended and most of the soldiers had returned their homes. Subsequently, a pragmatic Washington wrote back to Rodgers informing him that the plan at that point was futile since there were many printers who now had the freedom to print the bible without any royal oversight.Washington to Rodgers, 11 June 1783Duniway, 1906, p. 6
Post revolution Rodgers continued to be very active performing a variety of services for the Presbyterian Church, both in New York and Philadelphia, after American independence was established. On May 23, 1785, the Synod of New York and Philadelphia appointed Reverends John Rodgers and John Witherspoon, among others, as part of a committee to compose a Presbyterian Church constitution, similar to the one used in Scotland. In 1786 the synod appointed Rodgers and Witherspoon as part of a committee to establish a General Assembly and its constituent synods, which they completed in 1788. In 1789 the Synod of New York and Philadelphia decided at the first meeting that "Dr. Witherspoon, or in his absence, Dr. Rodgers, open the General Assembly with a sermon, and preside till a moderator be chosen." After the opening sermon by Witherspoon on May 21, 1789, Rodgers was subsequently elected as the first Moderator of the Presbyterian Church in America, The following year as he was about to retire as moderator he preached the opening sermon, using as his text of Acts 11:24. The Church, however, continued to employ him for a number of other services.Handy, 1956, p. 77Waugh, 2019, Essay