James "Billy" Ladson Rogers

Happy Birthday Billy!  

This week it is Billy's 100th birthday!   I have not been able to locate a birth certificate for Billy, but his death certificate lists January 23, 1920 as his birthdate.


Asa Lloyd Rogers and Delphia Olivia Epps were married in 1916 (est.).  On March 28, 1918 Delphia gave birth to their oldest child, Sarah "Sally" Elizabeth Rogers.  In her autobiography, Sally says she was born "in" her grandparents house (picture below.)  After her birth, the small family moved to Sumter, South Carolina for several years.  By 1920 they had moved back into the home of Delphia's parents, Henry Daniel Epps and Sarah Lillian Walne, at 120 Warren Street, Timmonsville, South Carolina.  Also living in the home was another of Henry and Lily's daughters, Carrie.  The 1920 United States Census was conducted on January 10, 1920 and confirms all of this.

"an ink drawing of this house sketched from a tiny faded Kodak picture—but an exact replica."  Digital copy of numbered drawing in the collection of Edward R. Olsen. © Edward R. Olsen 2020.01.23

Very shortly after the census was taken, James was born on Friday, January 23, 1920 in Timmonsville, SC.  Sally indicates that "...James Ladson was named for a friend of Daddy’s and called Billy by my grandfather, who sang the song “Billy Boy” to him all the time)."
"Digital scans of pictures in the printed book "Davidson Family 1819-1991" in the collection of Edward R. Olsen. Original photographs in the collection of my mother-in-law.  © Edward R. Olsen 2020.01.23 In her autobiography, Sally says: "I remember Billy as a beautiful brown-eyed child always with a shaggy dog named Jabot."  Sadly, Billy's life ended way too soon.  Sally goes on to say: "I also remember his holding his head and complaining of headaches before he was taken to the hospital in Florence..."  I'm not sure how many total days he was in the hospital, but on his death certificate the doctor indicates that he saw Billy for six days and that he died on Tuesday, June 15, 1924 due to meningitis.

"I was six years old and remember the family returning home from the hospital as I sat on the front steps—our first tragedy."  On June 16, just a day after he died, Billy was laid to rest in Byrd Cemetery, Timmonsville, South Carolina.  

Photo by David McGlothlin; downloaded from https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/32535987/james-ladson-rogers, January 19, 2020.

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How I'm "related" to James Ladson Rogers:

                                                Asa Lloyd Rogers = Delphia Olivia Epps
                                                            ________|_____________
                                                            |                                                   | 
Joseph W. Davidson = Sarah Elizabeth Rogers           James "Billy" Ladson Rogers                                             |
     Wife's father = Wife's mother

                              |

                 Me = Wife

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Resources:
Autobiography of Sarah "Sally" Elizabeth Rogers in the personal collection of Edward R. Olsen