Albert “Almanza” Rogers, 1867-1930
Headstone GPS Coordinates: Burial location unknown.
Birth: 25 January 1867, Shelby, Richland County, Ohio
Death: 04 August 1930, Seabeck, Kitsap County, Washington
Relatives in Seabeck Cemetery: Frances Elizabeth Rogers née Jones
American Revolutionary War Patriots*: None
Disclaimer: These lines have not been officially proven by NSDAR standards.
Albert “Almanza” Rogers was born on January 25, 1867 in Shelby, Ohio. Albert was the only
child of Andrew Jackson and Katherine Rogers née Hammen. His mother died when he
was ten years old. His father remarried and had at least three additional children.
Following graduation from Shelby High School in 1886, Albert continued his studies, and
in 1896 received the degree of Doctor of Medicine from Starling Medical College in
Columbus, Ohio. Following graduation, he traveled extensively and visited many
foreign countries. During the Spanish-American War, Albert was a practicing physician
in Manila, The Philippines. Albert was not part of the military, so it is assumed he there
with an independent medical group, or on his own. Later he practiced medicine in Douglas,
Alaska.
By 1910, Albert was practicing medicine in Okanogan County, Washington. At some point, he met Frances Elizabeth Jones who was living in Douglas County with her father and brother. Albert’s office burned down, and he moved to Lopez Island. Two years later, even with their twenty-five year age gap, Albert and Frances were married on Thanksgiving Day (30 Nov 1916) in Chelan, Washington. Her brother, Thomas I. Jones was one of their witnesses.
In 1917, when their first son Andrew “Andy” J. Rogers was born, Albert and Frances lived on Lopez Island. By 1919, Albert had retired from medicine and they had moved to Seabeck where Albert started his own farm. They had two additional children, Rosemary and Almanza H. Rogers.
Frances kept diaries and chronicled her and her family’s life in Stavis Bay in Seabeck. While their cabin was being constructed, they lived with the Baer family. Albert built more than a mile of underground drains on his three acre property to keep his land dry. He fell trees and blew up stumps with dynamite. He also helped build Stavis Bay Road.
Frances was famous in town for her bread making skills. Whenever neighbors came to barter for bread, eggs, or produce, she would invite them into the house to play games such as caroms or 500.
Albert was known to be a friendly member of the community and a hard worker. Sadly, cancer took over his body and he died on August 4th, 1930. Frances recorded in her diary that his funeral was well attended by the Seabeck residents who brought many flowers to his grave. After Albert died, the family left Seabeck for a couple years to go live with Frances’ family in Entiat, then they came back to their Seabeck home. Frances and her young children continued to live in Seabeck until she was admitted into Western State Hospital for dementia praecox or cognitive disintegration. She stayed in the hospital for several weeks before she passed away on May 16, 1943 from “dilation of heart, and congestion in the lungs.” Her eldest son Andrew “Andy” was one of the gravediggers in Seabeck Cemetery. He buried his mother near his father, but he never marked their graves believing it wasn’t anyone’s business to know where in the cemetery his parents were buried.