Elza O. Rogers

There is no member of the Boone county bar who occupies a higher position in the estimation of the people than does Elza O. Rogers, who, after four years of commendable work as mayor of the city of Lebanon, is now retiring from that office with the lasting gratitude of the people.
During his many years of practice he has built up a very large clientele and he occupies an envied position before the public in that he is regarded as an exceedingly safe counsellor in all matters pertaining to legal questions. It speaks well for any man who may have the confidence of the people to such an extent that he is regarded as especially adapted to the settlement of estates and matters of equity. Mr. Rogers holds this position. His services are
likewise in large demand where the drawing of intricate papers is involved; in fact, as a lawyer, he is easily the peer of any of his professional brethren throughout this section of the Hoosier commonwealth, and the honorable distinction already achieved at the bar is an earnest of the still wider sphere of usefulness that he is destined to fill, and the higher honors to be achieved in years to come, as he is only in the prime of manhood and a close observer
of the trend of the times and an intelligent student of the great questions and issues upon which the thought of the best minds of the world are centered.

Mr. Rogers was born in Clinton township, Boone county, Indiana, February 16, 1877. He is a son of James R. and Mary I. (Waddel) Rogers. The father was born in Hancock county, Indiana, but removed to Boone county when young and established his future home, becoming a successful farmer and highly respected citizen, and here he is still engaged in general agricultural pursuits. The mother of our subject was born in Boone county and here grew to womanhood and was educated in the common schools. She is a representative of one of our pioneer families.

Elza O. Rogers was reared on the home farm and there assisted with the general work when a boy, and he received his primary education in the rural schools of his native township, later studied at the Marion Normal school, at Marion, Indiana. He began life for himself as a teacher, which profession he followed with much success for a period of eight years, all in Clinton township but two terms in Center township. He was popular with both pupils and patrons and his services were in great demand and he gave every promise of becoming one of the county's leading educators; but believing that his true bent was in another direction, he took up the study of law while still engaged in teaching, pursuing Blackstone and Kent under the
direction of Judge S. R. Artman, and later attended the law department of the Marion Normal in 1901. In February, 1902, he began practicing his profession in Lebanon in partnership with W. H. Parr, now Judge Parr, their business association continuing with mutual benefit until Mr. Parr was elected judge in 1908, whereupon Mr. Rogers formed a partnership with ex-Judge B. S. Higgins, which has continued to the present time with ever- increasing success, until this is now one of the busiest and best known legal firms in this section of the state. Mr. Rogers practices in all the state and federal courts, where he is known as a painstaking, persistent, scholarly and courteous advocate and a forceful and eloquent pleader.

Politically, Mr. Rogers is a Republican and is one of the party leaders in Boone county, having long made his influence felt for the good of the same. He has for many years been, most of the time, a member of the Republican County Executive Committee, and has been a frequent delegate to state and district conventions. In the fall of 1904 he was elected city attorney of Lebanon, serving six years, or until January 1, 1910. In the fall of 1909 he was elected mayor of the city of Lebanon and took office January 1, 1910, serving four years, or until January 5, 1914. Thus for a continuous period of ten years he has been one of the leading local public officials, and all will acquiesce in the statement that during that decade he has done a
great deal that will be of permanent benefit to the county-seat and community, having discharged his duties in a manner that reflected much credit upon himself and to the satisfaction of all classes, never failing in his efforts to upbuild the city and enforce law and bring about a high state of moral and wholesome citizenship. He is a member of the county and state bar associations, and fraternally, he belongs to the Masonic Order, the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks and the Improved Order of Red Men. He and his wife are members of the Presbyterian church.

Mr. Rogers was married February 10, 1909, to Gertrude Avery, a lady of many commendable attributes, a daughter of M. D. and Emma (Pollard) Avery, both parents now deceased. Mr. Avery was a noted educator in northern Indiana, and for some time was superintendent of schools at Zionsville, and later professor of English in the State Normal School of Minnesota. Late in life he retired from this vocation and turned his attention to fruit farming in Minnesota. His death occurred in 1907. His wife died at the birth of their daughter, Gertrude. One child was born to Mr. and Mrs. Rogers, which died in infancy, unnamed.

Personally, Mr. Rogers is a gentleman of exemplary habits, genial, a good mixer, broad-minded, plain and unassuming.
 

Source Citation: Boone County Biographies [database online] Boone County INGenWeb. 2008. <http://www.rootsweb.com/~inboone> Original data: Hon. L. M. Crist. "History of Boone County, Indiana : With biographical sketches of representative citizens and genealogical records of old families." Indianapolis, Ind.: A. W. Bowen, 1914. pp 581-583.

Transcribed by: T. Stover - October 5, 2008