The 12th essay in A Noble Company, Volume 5, is Hannah Gardner Rogers

Hannah Gardner Rogers (1754-1793) was born to Quaker parents and grew up in Philadelphia. As a teenager she left the Friends’ Meeting and began attending the First Baptist Church of Philadelphia. After William Rogers (1751-1824) became the new pastor of the church, one of those he baptized was Hannah Gardner. Apparently they were impressed with one another, for they were married the following summer. Hannah’s life followed a pattern typical of well-educated colonial women. She helped with her husband’s work, gave birth to children, and served the needy in Philadelphia. She had a special regard for charitable work, and gained the reputation of being a woman with “a most enlightened mind, and a heart truly benevolent.” She died at the relatively young age of 39 from a yellow fever epidemic in the city. A prayer she spoke the day before her death models her Christian experience: “O God, have I been impatient? If I have, forgive me! Oh, Jesus, into thy hands I commit my spirit!”