Rogers, Johnson and Bragg - More Branches Entwined

Researching the Bragg Family Tree is a bit like playing a game of Clue.  You get a piece of information and then another and suddenly the whole picture falls into place.

"How", I asked myself, "Could a young woman in the 1780s from Truro, Nova Scotia meet and marry a man from Shepody, New Brunswick?"  Bit by bit, details came together and yesterday the whole story was revealed.  Here it is:

The Hopewell

In 1760, Alexander McNutt, a land agent, travelled to Londonderry, Northern Ireland to recruit potential settlers for the area along the Bay of Fundy from which the Acadiens had been expelled six years earlier.  That year, he also visited Londonderry, New Hampshire for the same purpose.  In Ireland, he met John Rogers and convinced him that the Cobiquid would offer him free land and a fresh start.  Similarly, in New Hampshire, he met brothers, James and John Johnson.  In 1761, the Rogers arrived aboard the ship Hopewell and settled at Londonderry and the Johnsons settled at Truro.  Being part of the McNutt group, the families knew each other and did business back and forth in the early years in Nova Scotia.

Grave of James Rogers

John Rogers was born in 1733 in Northern Ireland and at the age of 20, married Elizabeth Spencer who was only 12 at the time.  They had six children, the eldest being James Rogers.  After many years in Nova Scotia,  James and three of his brothers applied for and got a land grant in Shepody in the area that later became New Brunswick.

James Johnson was born in 1719 in Londonderry, Northern Ireland and married Elizabeth Patterson in 1744 in New Hampshire.  They had eleven children, the youngest being Rachel who was born in 1768 in Castleton, Vermont.

Home of John Bragg and Jane Rogers
at Windham Hill

James Rogers visited his family in the Cobiquid in 1788 and met Rachel Johnson.  The two were married the same year in Shepody and went on to have six children.  Jane, their youngest was born in 1809 and during a visit with her sister, Sarah Rogers Taylor at Windham Hill, Nova Scotia,  met and fell in love with John Bragg, a neighbour. And thus, the Braggs, the Johnsons and the Rogers branches of the family joined, connecting us to this history of courage, adventure and longevity.

Grave of William Woodland Bragg
and Mary Crossman

In 1875, William Woodland Bragg, son of John Bragg and Jane Rogers, met and married Mary Crossman, the daughter of Howard Crossman and Rosannah Rogers, the granddaughter of James Rogers and Rachel Johnson and the niece of Jane Rogers Bragg.

This year celebrates the 250th arrival in Nova Scotia of the Rogers, Johnsons and their neighbours who were called the Cobiquid Planters.  Our roots, however entwined, are deep and lasting.