Born near
Raleigh, North Carolina in 1825, Rogers attended common schools in
Wake County and attended the
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, graduating in 1846. After studying law, he was admitted to the bar in 1848 and commenced practice in Raleigh. As a
Whig, he was elected to the
33rd United States Congress in 1852 and served one two-year term (March 4, 1853 - March 3, 1855), declining a renomination in 1854. Rogers served solicitor of the Raleigh district of the superior court. During the
American Civil War, he served in the
Confederate States Army as a lieutenant in the Fourteenth Regiment of North Carolina State Troops in 1861; was commissioned colonel of the Forty-seventh North Carolina Infantry April 8, 1862, and resigned January 5, 1863, upon being elected attorney general of the State of North Carolina. Rogers served as
North Carolina Attorney General until 1866. In 1868, he stood for election to Congress once more, but was unsuccessful. He claimed election as a
Democrat in 1870 to the
42nd United States Congress, (March 4, 1871 - March 3, 1873). His election was contested, however, by his Republican opponent, and Rogers was disqualified to serve under section 3 of the
Fourteenth Amendment. After the election contest was dropped and Congress voted to remove his disabilities, Rogers was sworn in on May 23, 1872. Rogers served a single-term and failed to gain re-election in 1872 and died in Raleigh on August 14, 1874; he is buried in the
City Cemetery in Raleigh. He built the
Rogers-Bagley-Daniels-Pegues House about 1855, and it was listed on the
National Register of Historic Places in 1979. ==References==