Ed and Ivy Thomas Rogers -- Prominent Trigg County Couple

 

Ed and Ivy Thomas Rogers

Charles Edward “Ed” Rogers was born on December 1, 1911 in the Caledonia community of Trigg County, Kentucky, the older of two sons of James Edward Rogers and Lola Maude Thomas Rogers, both Trigg County natives and a farm family. His younger brother, Ernest Crenshaw Rogers died at the age of one year.  Ed grew up on the farm and attended school at Montgomery and graduated from Cadiz High School in 1929.

Ivy Elizabeth Thomas was born on November 13, 1915 in the Canton community of Trigg County. Ivy was the oldest of four children of Eura Wesley Thomas and Lucy Pearl Lawrence Thomas both Trigg County natives and a farm family.  Ivy’s siblings were Leslie Edward Thomas, born in 1918 and died at the age of four; Virginia Dare Thomas, born in 1923 and married Pete Alexander and Doris Jean Thomas, born in 1931 and married W. C. Skinner.  Ivy also grew up on the farm and attended school for one year at Oak Grove, then at Warrenton and Cadiz High School.

Ed and Ivy became acquainted when Ed after graduation from high school began working on a farm next to Ivy’s family home on the Maple Grove Road.   It was the middle of the depression and the only form of entertainment for the couples of the county  were “play” parties which were held at the homes and churches where dancing and mingling were allowed.  These events allowed Ed and Ivy the opportunity to get to know each other.  They soon realized that they were meant to be together.  They suspected their parents would not approve of a marriage, so Ivy, then 17, spent the weekend with a cousin and Ed, 21, put on his only suit, got in his Model T Ford and picked up his bride-to-be and they drove to Hopkinsville where they were married in the First United Methodist Church parsonage on July 1, 1933.  Times were tough and Ivy did not have a wedding dress and Ed didn’t have a ring to give his bride until several years later.  Their honeymoon consisted of taking “the scenic route through Christian County” back to Cadiz.  For the first few years of marriage, they lived with Ed’s family before moving in with Ivy’s mother and her two sisters on their farm. Ed and Ivy spent the next 50 years living on that farm until they moved to Cadiz.

Ed worked as a farmer until 1953 when he began working as a bus driver with the Trigg County Board of Education.  He also worked in the school cafeteria and as a maintenance worker for the school.  He retired from the school system in June 1977.

Ivy. who lived on the same farm that she had lived since she was seven years old, began her working career as a cashier where she was known as “Miss Ivy” for the J. W. Cowherd Grocery Company, one of the oldest grocery stores in Cadiz and she later worked for the Economy Cee Bee Grocery.  She became the gift shop manager at Lake Barkley State Park in April 1972 where she worked until she retired on July 15, 1982.

Ed and Ivy were the parents of one child, a son, Charles Thomas Rogers, who was born on March 20, 1935.

Ivy died on January 4, 2001 at the age of 85 in Bowling Green, Kentucky.  She was buried in the East End Cemetery in Cadiz.  Ed died on October 5, 2007 at the age of 95 in Bowling Green.  He was buried in the East End Cemetery next to his wife.

A young Ivy and Ed

Ivy and Ed's tombstone

LINEAGE:  (Charles Edward Rogers was the son of James Edward and Lola Maude Thomas Rogers and the grandson of Seldon Trimble and Martha Elizabeth Bridges Thomas.  Seldon was the first child of James Jasper and Mary Magdaline Cunningham Thomas. James Jasper was the fourth child of Starkie and Mary Bridges Thomas.  Starkie was the fourth child of James and Mary Standley Thomas.)

(Ivy Elizabeth Thomas was the daughter of Eura Wesley and Lucy Pearl Lawrence Thomas and the granddaughter of Wesley Gunn and Eliza L. Henderson Thomas.  Wesley Gunn was the sixth child of Stanley and Emily Ann Light.  Stanley was the second child of Starkie and Mary Bridges Thomas. Starkie was the fourth child of James and Mary Standley Thomas.)