Recognizing Rogers Family Farm

Floor Speech

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Mr. THOMPSON of Pennsylvania. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize the bicentennial of the Rogers Family Farm in Menard County, Illinois.

Founded in 1826, this farm is still operated by the Rogers family, making seven generations of stewardship. This family heritage includes Samuel Rogers, who serves on my staff as counsel for the House Agriculture Committee.

The Rogers family settled around New Salem, Illinois, the community that helped shape President Abraham Lincoln's early life. The family's founding patriarch cast his votes for Lincoln. In one extraordinary surviving affidavit, Lincoln himself signed Samuel Rogers' name, an enduring testament to the civic trust that bound citizens together.

Frontier families like the Rogers family didn't just build farms. They built schools, townships, church communities, and civic networks that helped form the ground for Lincoln's political identity and the principles of the modern Republican Party,

That same spirit lives on today in their descendants, including Samuel and his brother, Benjamin, a current University of Illinois veterinary medical student.

Mr. Speaker, today, we honor the Rogers family and, through them, the enduring strength of the American community. I congratulate the Rogers family on this milestone.

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