Rogers, George W.
Section 28.8
ID # 281107

George W. Rogers
alias – Macklemar
Giles Co.

Nineteen Penitentiary inmates died of Cholera during the June 1833 Epidemic in Nashville. They were buried at Nashville City Cemetery. In 2016 wooden markers were placed at the cemetery for these Cholera victims.

Fred Zahn of the Metropolitan Historical Commission was responsible for the carving of the inscriptions on the 19 wooden markers and locating where to place them at the Nashville City Cemetery. To read about his work on the project, click here.

To read the account of John Hill, a contemporary of these men and survivor of his time in the penitentiary, click here.

For more information, and to see a listing of the inmates’ names & counties of residence prior to incarceration, please see the following newspaper article in the Nashville Republican and State Gazette, Friday, July 5, 1833.

Charles A. Sherill has given permission to quote from Tennessee Convicts: Records of the State Penitentiary, Vol. I. 1831-1850, by Charles & Tomye M. Sherrill, published 1997:

Page 106
“Washington Rayborn Rogers was received in the Penitentiary Aug. 27, 1831. He is 5′ 10 ³/₄” high, 32 years of age, common weight 175 lbs. Fair hair, light complexion, blue eyes. By profession a shoe maker. Born in Boutetort [sic, Botetourt] Co., Virginia, brought up in Knoxville, Tenn., where his mother now lives. Has an uncle residing in Abington, Virginia. A scar on the wrist of the left hand, also a scar occasioned by a rifle ball on the right arm between the elbow and shoulder. A scar from branding on the left hand. Was found guilty of horse stealing at the Circuit Court of Giles County, and sentenced to five years and six months imprisonment in the Jail and Penitentiary House of the State of Tennessee. Washington R. Rogers died of cholera on the 11th June 1833. [Ledger 45, p. 151]”

Research Report August 2017