James (Napoleon) Rogers [Gullah informant]

The settlement of Harris Neck, McIntosh County, Georgia, began when on September 2, 1865, Margaret M. Harris donated her land to Robert Dolegal (the name is also spelled as Delegal and Denegal), who she had formerly enslaved. According to Mrs. Harris' will, she had raised Robert and trusted him to take care of her and her mentally disabled son Bright Harris until their death in exchange for the lands. Mrs. Harris appears in the 1850 Census slave schedule as being the enslaver of 59 individuals. In the 1860 Census slave schedule, she appears as the enslaver of 66 persons. Robert Dolegal must have sold parcels of his land immediately after he took possession of it. In the Census of 1870, there were 87 African American households and 21 white households in Harris Neck.

James (Napoleon) Rogers was born in Liberty County, Georgia, around 1859. He was never able to attend school, and thus when Dr. Lorenzo Dow Turner interviewed him in the Summer of 1933 in Harris Neck, Georgia, he informed him that he could neither read nor write. Dr. Turner considered him one of his principal informants in Harris Neck. By 1880 Rogers had moved to Harris Neck and was working as a laborer living in the household of John J. Curry. On September 30, 1905, Rogers married Adeline (also spelled as Adline) Houston. Adeline was much younger than Rogers. She was 30, being born at Ways Station, Bryan County, on March 15, 1875. Rogers was at least 46 years old. They had two children Anna Lee (also spelled as Analee and Analie) and James. James Rogers owned his farm, which was worth $500.00 in 1930. He informed Dr. Turner that he had always been a farmer, but around 1910 he was working as a carpenter. Adeline Rogers mainly took care of the family, but around 1910 she was working as a seamstress. James Rogers passed away between 1933 when he was interviewed by Dr. Turner and 1940 when he disappeared from the record. Adeline Rogers appears in the 1940 census as a widow living with her niece Emma Tate, the cook at the local school. Adeline must have been already sick on April 12, 1940, when the census was taken. A little bit over a month later, on May 25, she passed away from heart failure due to renal and cardiovascular disease. She had gone back to live where she had been born in 1875, Ways Station (today Richmond Hill), Bryan County, Georgia. Her daughter, Anna Lee, was married and living in New York City with the married surname of Callaway and was the person who informed on her mother data for the death certificate. Thus, neither James nor Adaline Rogers were alive when the Federal government took the land at Harris Neck through eminent domain to build a military airport. The residents were given two weeks to move out. On July 27, 1942, all the community's houses were bulldozed and burned down.