By Ken A. Rogers
On July 4, 1996 a piece of America died.
That was the day my grandfather passed away. His name never appeared in any newspaper headlines. The life of a hero usually contains a defining moment that sets him apart from others. My grandfather was a common man who lived an ordinary life in 20th century America but it was the way he lived his life that qualified him as an American hero. Alonzo Irvin Rogers was born to a rural Alabama family in the early 1900’s. Life was hard in the southern back woods. The influenza outbreak of 1918 claimed the life of Alonzo’s mother. Two months later his father succumbed to the epidemic. The family farm was auctioned off for back taxes and the children were separated. Alonzo’s sisters were sent to the county orphanage. A family who owned a large farm but did not have any boys took Alonzo in. A half-century after the slaves were set free from the plantations, the south was still hungry for hands to tend her crops. Alonzo chose to set out on his own. He called himself A.I. Rogers and followed the crops from the Mississippi delta to the orange groves of southern Florida.
America roared into the 1920’s and my grandfather found steady employment with a lumber camp in central Alabama. There he met Pencie Watkins. A.I. was able to save some money to put down on a small parcel of land. It was there Mr. And Mrs. Rogers raised cotton, corn and three children. When America tumbled into economic depression, banks fell and wealthy landowners gobbled land up. The young Rogers family found themselves tenants on the land they once owned. When school was not in session A.I. and his son, my father, would cut timber. They would sell the lumber to the local paper mills. Times were hard but my grandfather was determined to keep his family together and for his children to receive an education.
As young men prepared for war, employment opportunities arose. My father graduated from high school and joined the navy. My grandfather landed a job with a paper mill on the Florida panhandle. The family moved into company owned housing. In Bonifay and later Panama City, Florida, all the children of A.I. Rogers graduated from high school. After almost thirty years in the mill he realized another dream. My grandfather and grandmother retired to a home they owned. My grandfather never considered himself an important person. He just took his life into his own hands. Together, my grandmother and grandfather raised a family in hard times. A.I. Rogers taught his grandchildren how to fish, pick watermelons and thank God each day for our blessings, as he did every day of his 94 years. Alonzo Rogers was a small stitch in the fabric of 20th century America. His life is a thread binding his family and our country to the next century.
Copyright 2003, Ken A. Rogers
Ken A. Rogers is a “Recommended” freelance writer from Stony Brook, NY
Published U.S. Legacies June 2003
- Log in to post comments