David White RogersDavid White Rogers was born on October 4, 1787 in Morristown, New Hampshire. His family was of founding Puritan stock, having been in America for at least six generationsRogers was an important figure in early Mormon history. He was baptized as a Later Day Saint in New York City in 1837. In early 1838, he compiled and published the second Mormon hymnal. Of the 90 hymns in the hymnal, 14 were written by Rogers.In September 1838, Rogers and his family left New York intending to join the Latter Day Saints in Missouri. On the way, they received news that the Missouri church members had been expelled from the state. Rogers and his family abandoned their plans to settle in Missouri and joined the Mormon refugees who were sheltering in Quincy, Illinois.Rogers played a key role in selecting the site and acquiring land for the Mormons' main settlement at the time in Nauvoo, Illinois. David was an accomplished painter and while living in Nauvoo he painted two of the three portraits of Joseph Smith that were made during Joseph's lifetime.After the Latter-day Saints were driven out of Illinois in the mid-1840s, Rogers played a key role in the migration of the Mormon pioneers to Utah and the settlement of Utah, including helping to found and settle Provo, Utah.His sons Ross Ransom and Henry Clay were members of the first pioneer company that settled what became Lehi. Arizona, which was the first Mormon settlement in the Phoenix area and anchored further Mormon settlement in the region. In 1879, Ross Ransom's son, Joseph Knight Rogers, led the first group of Mormons that pioneered and settled the Gila River Valley in southeast Arizona in present-day Graham County. Read More Read Less