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Fig. 1. Jacob S. Rogers

Jacob S. Rogers (c. 1824-1901)

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Jacob S. Rogers (c. 1824–1901) was the son of Thomas Rogers most famous product was a locomotive named The General
(1792–1856), a mechanical engineer who, in 1832, partnered with (Fig. 2), built in December 1855, best known for being at the heart
Morris Ketchum and Jasper Grosvenor to found the manufacturing of an incident in the Civil War known as the ‘Great American Chase’.
company Rogers, Ketchum and Grosvenor. The company built This was a military raid that occurred April 12, 1862, in northern
agricultural and textile machinery as well as railroad steam Georgia. Volunteers from the Union Army commandeered ‘The
locomotives, springs, axles, and other small parts for the United General’ and took it northward toward Chattanooga, Tennessee doing
States’ first railroads. They were responsible for several major as much damage as possible to the vital railroad line from Atlanta to
innovations in the railroad industry, including the development of cast Chattanooga as they went, while pursued by Confederate forces.
iron wheels and the use of counterweights. When Thomas Rogers
died in 1856, Jacob took over the company and reorganized it as Rogers was known as shrewd and frugal businessman and did
Locomotive and Machine Works of Paterson, New Jersey. Under his not spend time his developing social relationships, philanthropical
leadership, the company became the second largest manufacturer pursuits, nor an interest in art. Yet, eight years before his death,
of steam locomotives in North America. Most 19th-century U.S. Rogers became a member of The Metropolitan Museum of Art and
railroads owned at least one Rogers-built locomotive. The company's made the acquaintance of the Museum’s first Director, Luigi Palma

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