Page:The Biographical Dictionary of America, vol. 09.djvu/170

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KOGERS


KOLFE


president of the American Association for the Promotion of Social Science, ISCj; Massachusetts commissioner to the Paris exposition of 1SC7; president of the National Academy of Sciences, 18TS; elected a foreif^n member of the Geo- grai>hical Society of London and of the Roy.al Society of Northern Antiquaries in 1844, and was a corresponding member of the British Associa- tion for tl>e Advancement of Science. In addi- tion to his many important addresses, his pub- lications include numerous scientific articles in the Farmers' Rcgistrr and SiUiman's Journal; Rciwrts for the "Geology of the Virginias" (1S:3G-41); contributions to the P?-occed/)((7s and Transactions of various learned societies, and documents relating to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. His name was presented as eligible for a place in the Hall of Fame for Great Americans, New York university, and in the election of October, 1900, received five votes. In his complete bibliography see his " Life and Letters," edited l)y his wife (2 vols., 1896). Dr. Rogers and his brothers, James B. (q.v.), Henry D. (q.v.) and Robert E. (q.v.), all attained dis- tinction in science and were known as " the brotliers Rogers." William Barton Rogers died while delivering the diplomas to the graduating class at the Massachusetts Institute of Tech- nulugy. Boston. Mass..:May 30, 1882.

ROGERS, William Oscar, educator, was born in New York city, April 12, 1825; son of Andrew Yelverton and Jane (Phillips) Rogers; grandson of John and Martha Rogers and of Samuel and Lina (Corwin) Phillips. He was prepared for College at Collegiate Institute, Poughkeepsie, N.Y.; attended the University of the Cit}- of New York, 184.J-47, and Williams college, 1847-48, but because of ill health was obliged to move .south. He taught English literature in an academy in New Orleans, La., 18o0-.j6, and was superintendent of public schools in New Orleans La., 1856-61. He was commissioned captain in the Confederate army in September, 1863, and was assigned to the commissary department which was stationed first at Jackson, Miss., then after its capture in Meridian, Miss., and for a short time at Demopolis, Ala. Acting under orders from the commissary general at Rich- mond, Va., his department surrendered with the post at Meridian, Miss., upon the close of the war. He was again superintendent of tiie New Orleans schools, 1856-84; was also president of the Syl- vester-Lamed institute, 1870-75, and was director of pul)lic schools, 1884-97. He was married first, Nov. 24, 1858, to Mary Williams, daughter of John and Clarinda (Glasgow) Martin of New Orleans; and secondly, Jan. 1, 1872, to Isabella, widow of Samuel Osgood of Norwich, Conn. He was one of the trustees designated by Paul


Tulane to establish Tulane university; was secre- tary and treasurer of the universaty, 1884-1901, and acting jiresident from July, 1899, until October, 1900, wlien he resigned and removed to Madison, N.J. He was the editor and proprietor of the Louisiana Journal of Education, 1879-88, and in 1884 received the degree of LL.D. from the Uni- versity of Ohio for services rendered in edu- cational work. One of the largest public schools in New Orleans was named the William O. Rog- ers scliool in his honor.

ROHLFS, Anna Katharine Green, author, was born in Brooklyn, N.Y., Nov. 11, IsiG; daughter of James Wilson and Catherine Ann (.Whitney) Green; grand-daughter of Richard and Sally (Webb) Green and of Sellick and Betsy (Knapp) Whitney, and a descendant of John Howland and two other of the pilgrim fathers who came over in the Mayflower. Her father was a lawyer and an orator. She was graduated from the Ripley Female college, Poultney, Vt., B.A., 1807, and devoted herself to literature. She was married, Nov. 25, 1884, to Cliarles Rohlfs of Brooklyn, N.Y., a well-known designer of odd and artistic furniture, and in 1908 they resided in Buffalo, N.Y. Besides contributions to periodicals, she is the author of: The Leavenworth Case (1878); A Strange Disappearance (1879); The Sword of Damocles (1881); The Defence of the Bride and other Poems (1882); X V. Z. (1883); Hand and Eing (1883); The Mill Mystery (1886); Risifi's Daughter (1886); 7 to 12 (1887); Behind Closed Doors (1888); The Forsaken Inn (1890); Cynthia Wakeham's Money (1892); Marked Personal (1893); The Doctor, his Wife and the Clock (1895); Dr. Izard (1895); That Affair Next Door (1897); Lost Man's Lane (1898); Agatha Webb (1899); The Circidar Study (1900); One of My Sons (1901); The Filigree Ball (1903).

ROLFE, William James, editor and author, was born in Newliuryport, Mass., Dec. 10, 1827; son of John and Lydia Davis (Moulton) Rolfe; grandson of Samuel and Mary (Tucker) Rolfe and of William and Jane (Todd) Moulton, and a descendant (in the ninth generation) of Henry Rolfe. an early settler of Newbury, Mass., who, with his wife, Honour, came from Wiltshire, Eng- land, in 1635. He removed with his parents to Lowell, Mass., in 1835, where he attended the public schools; and was a student at Amherst college, 1845-48, in 1871 being enrolled as a gradu- ate of the class of 1849. He was an instructor in Kirkvvood academy, Md., in the winter of 1848-49; principal of Day's academy, Wrentham, Mass., 1849-52; master of the Dorchester high school. 1852-57, and subsequently of the high schools in Lawrence (1857-Gl). Salem (1861-62), and Cambridge, Mass. (1862-68), resigning in order to give his entire attention to editorial and