Rogers, William, Dd

Rogers, William, D.D., a Baptist minister, was born at Newport, R.I., July 22, 1751. He entered the Rhode Island College in 1765, and was licensed to preach in August, 1771. In May following he was ordained pastor of the Baptist Church in Philadelphia. In 1776 he became chaplain of the army of Pennsylvania, and from 1778 to 1781 he served as brigade chaplain in the Continental army. In March, 1789, he was appointed professor of English and oratory in the College and Academy of Philadelphia, and in April, 1792, was elected to the same office in the University of Pennsylvania. He was made D.D. by the latter institution in 1790, having previously received the degree of A.M. from Yale College in 1780, and from the College of New Jersey in 1786. From April, 1803, to February, 1805, he also acted as pastor of the First Baptist Church in Philadelphia. In January, 1812, he resigned his professorship and received a call from the Church in Newark, N.J., but finally declined it. In 1816 and 1817 he became a member of the General Assembly of the State of Pennsylvania. The latter years of his life were spent in retirement. He died April 7, 1824. Dr. Rogers published a number of sermons, letters, essays, etc. See Sprague, Annals of the Amer. Pulpit, 6, 145.