Rochester H. Rogers

Rochester H. Rogers was the great grandson of Colonel Nathaniel Rochester, who the city of Rochester, New York is named after. In 1950 he published a small book titled Nathaniel, named after his son (named after his ancestor) who had passed away a few years before. The book is a testimony to his faith in Spiritualism, and his hope that his experiences might bring comfort to others. 

He wrote in the foreword to the book, "This little volume, written by a busy man for busy men, makes no claim to scientific infallibility. It is simply an honest statement of facts, as my wife an I have seen them, aided by many, too numerous to mention, who, like ourselves, have sought and found a factual foundation for the essentials in the Faith of our Fathers. If it replaces despondency with hope in any single home, it will serve its purpose."

A few weeks after his son Nathaniel passed away unexpectedly from an unnamed illness in 1945, the famous medium and a leader of the General Assembly of Spiritualist Churches, Arthur Ford, came to visit several local Spiritualist Churches in Rochester. 

Rogers wrote that his wife attended a service lead by Ford at the Open Door Spiritualist Church at the Hotel Seneca where she received several evidential messages from their son Nathaniel through Arthur Ford. A few days later Rogers attended with his wife, and the  Rev. Dorothy Maxwell delivered several detailed evidential messages to the couple from their son. These messages marked a turning point for Rogers and he began to earnestly study Spiritualism, and reexamine his personal faith in a new light.  

Rodgers mused philosophically in the book that although he and his wife still continued to attend services at the Episcopal Church they were raised with, their faith was only strengthened by their association with Spiritualism.

With a new understanding of faith in Spirit, Rogers and his wife began to regularly attended seances at the Anderson Park Spiritualist Mission, and other private Spiritualist Circles in Rochester. They also set out to travel during the summer months regularly visiting several Spiritualist Camps including Lily Dale, New York, Freeville, New York, Chesterfield, Indiana, and Silver Belle, Pennsylvania. While at the Spiritualist Camps Rogers witnessed several different forms of mediumship, including many forms of physical phenomena such as Trumpet Mediumship, Slate Writing, and even Materialization.   

He ends his short work comparing the spiritual gifts mentioned in the Bible with the spiritual phenomena of Spiritualism. Reassuring readers that Doubt and Skepticism are to be expected when learning about Spiritualism for the first time, pointing out that the Apostle Thomas "like most of us, had to hear, see, or feel to believe," and that the reader will one day "find your family and friends waiting to meet you - young, vibrant, and humorous as ever."