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History of Orange County
Town of Newburgh
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ROBERT GARDINER was born in the city of Edinburgh, shire of MidLothian, Scotland, May 31, 1769; emigrated to this country, and settled temporarily in Dutchess County, about 1786, being then 17 years of age. He remained there but a short time, when he became an inhabitant of Orange. His first employment was as clerk to Mr. Hugh Walsh, and afterwards with John Anderson and John McAuIey, who were among the first who opened stores in Newburgh. In 1791, he married the daughter of Benjamin Smith—then owner of a great part of the land on which Newburgh is now situated. He soon after relinquished the mercantile business for inn-keeping, or as it was then termed, the keeping of a Coffee house, about 1795. Previous to the establishment of Gardiner’s Coffee House, malt liquor had never been kept here as an article of sale. He was the first to introduce it. It was sold by retail, and drank out of pewter mugs, holding a pint each, bright as silver, having an engraved circular wreath opposite the handle, inclosing the letters R. G.
In 1802, he became a citizen, and from this time to 1812 was variously engaged—as Captain of a sloop, Schoolmaster, Painter, and Merchant. In 1812, he was ordered with the company of Newburgh Infantry, of which he was first lieutenant, to Staten Island, where he continued to do duty for a considerable period of time. His first wife died in 1803, and he married his present widow in 180—. He was the father of 16 children, ten of whom are now living. He died March 3d, 1831, at a small farm which he had, named Mount Airy—and which still bears the name—situate about a mite west of Newburgh.
During his absence at Staten Island, his business—that of an extensive Grocery, Confectionary and Toy store—was conducted by his eldest son James (then pursuing his medical studies,) his wife, and his daughter, the late Mrs. Coit. It was at this time that shin—plasters reigned triumphant.— There was no silver, and they were used for the purposes of change. Among the many individuals and corporations by whom they were issued none had a greater circulation than Robert Gardiner’s small bills. Some idea may be formed of the extent of the circulation of small bills at that time, when the fact is stated, that the average weekly amount taken, in exchange for Bank Bills and his own, together with what he received in the course of business, amounted to no less. than $2,000.
JASON ROGERS.—This gentleman was one of the early settlers of the village, and of English Puritan descent, of honorable memory. He was enterprising, a man of character and property. He came from New London to Newburgh in the year 1785 or ‘86, and perceiving at once the natural advantages which the place and vicinity possessed for purposes of ship building, immediately entered extensively into the business, prosecuted it with vigor, and at the same time conducted the mercantile business, which gave an impetus to the progress and prosperity of the village, which it experienced for a long time afterward. He drew the plans and superintended the building of his vessels, which obtained for them a wide spread reputation for being very fast sailers.
He, like many of the fathers of our village, took part in our revolutionary struggle, and though but a youth, stood in defence of New London, his native city, when it was attacked and burned by the British.
He was a patriotic, warm hearted lover of his country— hospitable, open handed in his public and private benevolence—devoted and disinterested in his friendships. Early in life he attached to himself a circle of acquaintances, who continued, notwithstanding reverses and misfortunes, his true, warm-hearted friends until death. He lived to see the close of his 74th year, and during his residence here, ever felt a deep interest in the welfare and prosperity of the village. He died May 9th, 1836.
Jason Rogers, of Louisville, in the state of Kentucky, now at Monterey in Mexico, Lieutenant colonel of the First Regiment of Kentucky Volunteers, is a son of this gentleman.— Young Rogers, when a youth, entered the Military Academy at West Point, and after spending the usual time, graduated with a high standing in his class. After graduation, he remained some years attached to the army, stationed at different points in the western states, when he married the niece of Col. Preston of South Carolina. This lady was highly accomplished, beautiful in person, and the owner of a large estate in Kentucky. Within a few years death has deprived him of the loved partner of his youth and the cherished consolation of his manhood and age. On retiring from the army—the country then in a state of profound peace—he stipulated to rejoin it whenever in his judgment, the country demanded his services. The crisis came when a call was made for volunteer forces by the government for the invasion of Mexico, and Mr. Rogers raised a regiment of Kentuckians, and forthwith marched to the scene of action. He arrived in time to take part in storming the death dealing heights of Monterey. Here, for the first time, he snuffed the carnage of the battlefield and encountered all the dangers and horrors of real war. This was a rough and striking lesson for the first day’s attendance in the school where each was bound to do all the harm he could.
We have some slight acquaintance with this gentleman, from which however, and from the fact that he came from a father, who served his country faithfully during the war of the Revolution, we have no fears the place of his nativity will be disgraced in the personal bearing of Mr. Rogers.— Having had little intercourse with Newburgh since a boy, he has been, till recently, almost lost to the recollection of her citizens as one of her former children.