Rogers women
Rebecca was a pregnant servant girl in Birmingham, England, who eloped with the second son of the manor lord, to his family's great displeasure. Although cut off from his wealthy parents, love sustained the couple for a decade until William took ill and died when Rebecca was expecting her seventh child, Emma. Resourceful Rebecca continued to run the family shop, and saved money to help her children immigrate to a better life in America. As they could not afford to travel together, she sent the adult children on their voyages over the course of a decade. Emma actually left in 1863, the year before her mother: although Rebecca and Emma were both driven to make this journey, Emma's earlier departure and adult age put this pair in the "daughter-led" category. A son-in-law in Utah helped finance Rebecca's trip with her other daughter Mary. She sailed to New York on the Hudson in 1864, and then continued west to join a wagon train in Nebraska. However, Rebecca's son Thomas had become disaffected with life in Utah and had returned to Iowa. He tried to convince his mother to stay there by telling her of the hardships of the trail. Set upon her westward plan, she refused. The night before the wagon train was to leave, Thomas kidnapped his mother disguised as a tramp. Not to be deterred, Rebecca escaped and rejoined the wagon train. However, the autumn snows in Wyoming froze her hands and feet, and she died only the day after her arrival in the Salt Lake Valley.
Emma was raised by a strong single mother, and like her older siblings left for America. She sailed on her own on the Manchester, knowing that her mother would follow the next year. Once in Utah, she married a friend from England, Henry Shaw, and raised a family of six children. She also taught school, ran a store, and enjoyed public speaking.
