Fred ROGERSON of Omaha NE
Our thanks to Jerry Duggan for the following: 1999
Rhonda, I was unable to solve your quandary for you, but did come up with some more information on the elusive Mr. Rogerson. My source is the Omaha City Directory records for the 1905 thru 1927.
Fredrick A. Rogerson makes his first appearance in the 1906 Omaha City Directory. His occupation is listed as Travel Agent. His residence is listed as 616 South 17th, which would place him right downtown.
By 1907, our Fred had gone to work for the Omaha Bee newspaper as a "solr" (that's the abvreviation in the Directory). He also had moved to 2318 Douglas.
By 1913 Fred had moved to 2017 Chicago, still working for the Bee. During this period, the Bee and the Omaha World Herald were engaged in fierce newspaper wars. The World Herald eventually won and the Bee went out of business. Perhaps that explains why our Fred turned to sales to make his fortune. In 1920 his employment is listed as "agent", in 1921 as "salesn" and in 1923 "Manchester Importing Company" is listed. Probably that is his employer, but he could have tried to start his own little company. If so, and he came from England as you suspect, perhaps he came from Manchester.
He continued to live at 2017 Chicago.
Now things start to happen with Fred. By 1925, he had moved to 2881 Camden Avenue. After living within 1/2 mile of downtown Omaha, moves about 5 miles north into a residential area. Perhaps he purchased a house. Perhaps he acquired a wife who "inspired" him to buy a house. His occupation was listed as "mnfrsagt" (perhaps manufacturer's agent) with an office at 308 Leflong bldg.
In 1926, Fred makes his final appearance in the Omaha City Directory, still living at 2881 Camden Aveenue, but no employment is listed.
Rogerson seems to be a rare name in Omaha. A couple of Rogersons showed up during the span of time that Fred lived here, but I had no indication of a relationship with Fred. There are no Rogerson names in the current Omaha telephone directory.
I hope that this information is helpful. Perhaps someone in Orlando came pick up his trail. Good hunting!
Jerry Duggan, jpduggan@radiks.net
November 2000
I give below my version of the story which has been edited by Rhonda. It can be expanded to include your input and Rhonda's name and background.
We subscribe to the Rootsweb Staffordshire List ... ...I have subscribed to both Nebraska Lists and we shall visit the website later in the week.
The St Lawrence Centennial (Deadwood) will publish the story once the US elections are over. I have sent 3 E-mails to Omaha World Herald but no reply to date. Maybe the paper does not open E-mails so I am considering sending a letter.
Without question you have my consent to publish the story on your web site.
The wider the coverage the more likely we are to find living relatives of Eva (Burston/Burstin)
Best wishes ~ David <David@rogerson65.freeserve.co.uk (Invalid Email, please email the coordinator if you have a new email address.)
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In 1962 a fifteen year old girl and her brother went into an abandoned bungalow in Orlando, Florida and found scattered on the floor lots of family photos and a few Christmas cards and postcards (as well as old piano rolls and a corset). She gathered the photos up and took them home. She so liked the look of the couple who were the apparent owners of the house, and their relations and friends that she became attached to this unknown family. She even made a collage of some photos which she hung up in her bedroom. Some of the photos were taken in an Omaha studio and others in a Deadwood studio, some in Florida and Denver, and some were from Europe. She knew from the inscriptions that the couple were Fred and Eva ROGERSON. In April 1999, she opened the box of photos again after many years, and put out an appeal on the Internet, posting some of the photos on an Omaha web site.
Whilst surfing the Internet recently we came across this web site and could hardly believe what we were reading. These pictures had been the subject of a chat line since April '99.
To cut a long story short, I knew Fred was my uncle who was born in 1867 in Manchester and who emigrated to Omaha. While in the USA he married EVA BURSTON of Deadwood [SD].
We e-mailed the lady who had the photos, who now lives in Boston, and she was so thrilled to have found a relative of her "adopted" family. She wanted to know more about Fred and Eva and their contemporaries. After taking copies of the pictures she mailed them over to us. The first two consignments have arrived. Included are Christmas cards from my Dad and his mother at c1900 as well as photos my Dad sent over. They are in excellent condition and someone had the forethought to write exact dates and places on the backs of some of the photos.
The concluding page of the web site gave a summary of Fred's life in Omaha obtained from delving into electoral roles, directories etc. supplied by another historian. Needless to say they are both as thrilled as we are at the outcome. It is almost like winning a "genealogy" lottery!
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Best wishes ~ David from Southampton
Rogerson photos
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© 1999, 2000 for NEGenWeb Project Photo Album, T&C Miller