Rogers, John R
merchant, journalist, governor, author, was born Sept. 4, 1838, in Brunswick, Maine. He was educated in his native town, learned the drug business in Boston and followed it for some years in Mississippi a n d Maine. He engaged in farming in Iowa and Kansas, and held several public offices in the latter state, serving as a commissioner of Harvey county for some years. He established and was editor for three years of the Kansas Commoner, now published at Wichita. He came to Washington in 1890, locating at Puyallup, where he has since resided. He was a member of the fourth legislature as a representative from Pierce county, and took a very active interest in legislation pertaining to education, coal mining and taxation. In 1896 he was elected governor of Washington. He was the author of the measure familiarly known as the barefoot schoolboy law, and it was due chiefly to his energetic efforts that the bill was enacted after a memorable contest.