Henry J. Rogers was born in the Willamette valley, Oregon, on March 12, 1874, being the son of Henry M. and Palina (Whited) Rogers. The father was born in Wales in 1828, came to America with his parents when he was five, and in 1852 crossed the plains with ox teams and settled in the Willamette valley, being one of the earliest pioneers of that country, where he lived on one farm for thirty years. He was one of the home guards of the territory. The mother of our subject was born in Indiana in 1832 and died in 1899. Her parents were pioneers in Indiana and Ohio. The father of our subject was one of the early miners of the Boise and Powder river regions and there met all the hardships of the arduous frontier life. In 1877 the family came to Moscow, it being the year of the Indian outbreak. Henry heard the beginning of the Butter creek battle, and though young, called his parents' attention to the frequent shots. The father secured three quarters of a section near Moscow and there Henry grew up, being educated in the common schools and also in the university. At the opening of the reservation, he came and bought the relinquishment to his present place and settled down to make a fertile farm and a good home. He has a generous orchard, raises much grain and handles hogs and cattle enough to use all of his grain on the farm.

On September 29, 1895, in Moscow, Mr. Rogers married Miss Lulu, daughter of James and Mary Wilcox, natives of Missouri, the father being a farmer and plasterer. Mrs. Rogers was born in Missouri, in 1876, and was educated in the grammar schools in Kent, Washington. She has one brother and one sister, James, in Missouri, and Lillie Hobson, in Beeman, Idaho. Mr. Rogers has the following brothers and sisters, Eliza Heick, Marion and Matilda Burgess, Rebecca Burgess, Thomas, Minnie Robertson. One child, Henry James Cecil, two and one-half years old, has been born to this happy marriage. Mr. Rogers is a member of the W. W. and is a socialist in political matters. He and his wife are members of the Church of Christ and he holds the office of elder in the Melrose congregation. He is a man of good influence in the community and is one of the solid and well esteemed citizens.