Formed in 1958 the Clermont County Historical Society has recorded Clermont County Ohio history for over 50 years.
JOHN GEORGE ROGERS
From "History of Clermont and Brown Counties 1913, Byron Williams
Dr. John George Rogers was one of the most noted of the physicians and surgeons of the pioneer days of Clermont County, who practiced at a time when it was necessary for great sacrifice of personal comfort for the taking of long, arduous rides over poor roads in sparsely settled districts. The birth of Dr. J. G. Rogers occurred near Camden, New Jersey, April 29, 1797, his parents being Dr. Levi and Anna (George) Rogers, who came to Clermont County in 1804, settling first at Williamsburg. In 1810, the family removed to Bethel, where the father died, April 4, 1815, in his forty-seventh year, and his wife, who was a native of New Jersey, passed away at Batavia, October 13, 1856.
After having acquired the knowledge usually taught in the schools of his day, John George Rogers was placed under the instruction of his father at home, where he received most of his literary education, and where the deep and broad foundations of his professional life were laid. His father, having a large practice, was often away from home and many of the duties were placed on his son, who in boyhood acquired great dexterity in extracting teeth, bleeding and many of the operations of minor surgery, as well as dispensing medicine in the absence of his father. When fourteen years of age, William Goble, a farmer near Bethel, was severely and thought to be fatally wounded by a cut from a scythe upon the back and shoulder, which in the absence of his father, the boy was compelled to attend. He took eleven stitches into the wound, with such success that the next day, upon examination, his father pronounced a perfect surgical job.
Upon the death of his father, Dr. Rogers applied himself closely to the study of medicine. At the age of twenty, Dr. Rogers settled at New Richmond, in 1818, where he soon became a noted and successful physician.
In 1824, he was appointed by the General Assembly, with others as a censor, to organize the First District Medical Society of Ohio, composed of the counties of Clermont and Hamilton. When the Ohio Medical College of Cincinnati was fully organized, in 1825, Dr. Rogers attended the lectures by Professors Morehead, Slack, Cobb, and Whitman, graduating with the highest honors in 1826. He was the main instrument in the organization of the Clermont County Medical Society, on May 11, 1853, and was its first president, in which capacity he again served in 1859 and 1867. He was a member of the Ohio State Medical Society and attended many of its annual meetings, and took an active part in the famous meeting at White Sulphur Springs. He was a member, also, of the American Medical Association. He performed many important surgical operations, for which he was commended by the medical journals. He was the family physician of Jesse R. Grant, and officiated at the birth of Ulysses S. Grant.
On October 19, 1820, he was married to the accomplished daughter of U. S. Senator Thomas Morris, Julia Morris, by whose death he was left with five small children, who were Eliza, Levia, Lydia Ann, Rachel, and Dr. Levi M.
The second marriage of Dr. Rogers occurred November 19, 1833, to Sarah Ann Molyneaux, born in County Antrim, Ireland. Her family sprang from the French Huguenots, who escaped from France to Ireland. Her parents immigrated to America about 1820, settling at Point Pleasant, Clermont County.
Dr. Rogers was one of the most influential and unflinching opponents of slavery and lived to see his cherished anti-slavery principles adopted and carried out by the government. During his long and honorable career he was an advocate of morality, religion, education, humanity and science and a man worth of the proud line of which he was an illustrious descendant.