thumb|290px|Mayflower in Plymouth Harbor by [[William Halsall (1882)]]
Thomas Rogers (c. 1571 – January 11, 1621) was a Leiden Separatist who traveled in 1620 with his eldest son Joseph as passengers on the historic voyage of the Pilgrim ship Mayflower.
Thomas Rogers was a signatory to the Mayflower Compact, but perished in the winter of 1620/21. His son Joseph, who at the age of 17 had travelled with Thomas on the Mayflower but had been too young to sign the Mayflower Compact, survived to live a long life.
English origins
Thomas Rogers was born in the area of the village of Watford, in Northamptonshire, England, which has extensive history from the Roman, Dane, Viking and Saxon eras. His birth year of approximately 1571 is based on his date of marriage. Thomas Rogers was a son of William Rogers and his wife Eleanor. He married Alice Cosford in Watford parish October 24, 1597, with their six children being baptized there between 1598 and 1613. The family went to Leiden from England sometime after their last child, Margaret, was baptized in 1613.
In Leiden
Thomas Rogers was a member of the English Separatist church and sometime after 1613, the last recorded baptism of his children, he, his wife, and children, moved to Leiden as members of the Separatist church there. The earliest Leiden record for Thomas Rogers notes that on February 14, 1614, he bought a house on Barabarasteeg from Jan Bloemsaer, a baker. Leiden records also notes that Rogers became a citizen of Leiden on June 25, 1618, guaranteed by Englishmen William Jepson from Worksop, Nottinghamshire and Roger Wilson of Sandwich, co. Kent. That record states that he was a merchant of camlet, a luxury Asian-type fabric made from a combination of silk and camel's hair.
Thomas Rogers and his 18-year-old son Joseph departed Plymouth, England aboard the Mayflower on September 6/16, 1620. The small, 100-foot ship had 102 passengers and a crew of about 30–40 in extremely cramped conditions. By the second month out, the ship was being buffeted by strong westerly gales, causing the ship's timbers to be badly shaken with caulking failing to keep out sea water, and with passengers, even in their berths, lying wet and ill. This, combined with a lack of proper rations and unsanitary conditions for several months, attributed to what would be fatal for many, especially the majority of women and children. On the way there were two deaths, a crew member and a passenger, but the worst was yet to come after arriving at their destination when, in the space of several months, almost half the passengers perished in cold, harsh, unfamiliar New England winter.
On November 9/19, 1620, after about three months at sea, including a month of delays in England, they spotted land, which was the Cape Cod Hook, now called Provincetown Harbor. After several days of trying to get south to their planned destination of the Colony of Virginia, strong winter seas forced them to return to the harbor at Cape Cod hook, where they anchored on November 11/21. The Mayflower Compact was signed that day.
Thomas Rogers was listed as the 18th signatory to the Mayflower Compact. The actual order of signatures is not known. His son Joseph was then about 18 years of age and could not sign the Compact.
- John Rogers. Baptized April 6, 1606 and appeared on the Leiden poll tax list of 1622. He came to Plymouth from Leiden in 1630, possibly with Margaret and Elizabeth, his sisters. Worked as a weaver. On the Plymouth tax list for 1633 and the 1643 Able to Bear Arms List for Duxbury he was listed with his brother Joseph. He married Anna Churchman in Plymouth on April 16, 1639, and had six children: Abigail, John, Elizabeth, Edward, John, and Hannah. He died in Duxbury on August 27, 1691.
- Elizabeth Rogers. Baptized December 26, 1609. She is listed as "Lysbeth", the Dutch variant of Elizabeth, on the 1622 Leiden poll tax. She is believed to have come to New England sometime between 1627 and 1634. Possibly married Samuel Eddy.
- Margaret Rogers. Baptized May 30, 1613. She is listed as "Grietgen", the Dutch variant of Margaret, on the 1622 Leiden poll tax. She is believed to have come to New England sometime between 1627 and 1634.