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An entry from
"A History of the City of Buffalo," published by the The Buffalo Evening News, 1908

William A. Rogers

William A. Rogers (1851-1946) made his fortune in iron-making. He and John Albright were involved in financing Lackawanna Iron & Steel's move from Scranton, Pa. to Lackawanna, a suburb of Buffalo. (See The Lackawanna Steel Company and the Buffalo and Susquehanna Iron Company for more information.)

Rogers was born in Berkshire, Tioga County, New York, September 8, 1851, the son of Doctor Melanchthon Rogers and Mary Elizabeth Leonard Rogers. He was graduated from the Scientific Department of Yale University with the degree of Ph. B. in 1874. For the first thirty-nine years of his life he resided principally in Cincinnati, Ohio, and after his graduation from college he engaged in the iron business in that city.

In May, 1890, he came to Buffalo. Aside from his association as the senior member of the firm of Rogers, Brown & Company, he is at the present time president of The Buffalo and Susquehanna Iron Company, The Tonawanda Iron and Steel Company, The Punxsutawney Iron Company, The Rogers Iron Mining Company, and the Monro Iron Mining Company; vice-president of The Iroquois Iron Company, of Chicago, The Cascade Coal and Coke Company, and The Buffalo and Susquehanna Steamship Company.

He is also director in The Cleveland Furnace Company, The Rogers-Brown Ore Company, the Marine National Bank, the Erie County Savings Bank, and a trustee in the Young Men's Christian Association.

In 1884 Mr. Rogers married Eleanor Silliman, of New Haven, a daughter of professor Benjamin Silliman, of Yale University. [Mrs. Rogers was vice-president of the Board of Women Managers for the Pan-American Exposition.] Mr. and Mrs. Rogers have three children -- William Silliman, Alice Leonard, and Alden Rogers.

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An entry from
"A Field Guide to Forest Lawn Cemetery"

William A. Rogers Memorial

The family monument is a 10-foot-high bronze statue of a woman called "Aspiration," designed by the nationally acclaimed sculptress, Harriet Whitney Frishmuth, and cast in 1926, installation date unknown.

The freestanding sculpture is of a caped and hooded woman, her arms uplifted, framed against a backdrop of light-colored granite.

The strikingly beautiful bronze on the William A. Rogers monument is an outstanding example of classical theme professionally transformed into outdoor sculpture. It was designed by the nationally acclaimed sculptor Harriet Frishmuth [1880-1980] and executed in 1926 in an edition limited to three (a similar monument by Frishmuth was installed in Laurel Hill Cemetery, Philadelphia, in the fall of 1933. The sculptor died in 1979.)

The 10-foot bronze, "Aspiration,"depicts a lightly robed woman, her head covered with a cape that sweeps behind her body as if blown by wind, her right arm stretching up and her expectant face tilted toward heaven. Any hint of sentimentality is dispelled by the palpable exaltation of the exquisitely modeled and energetic sculpture. Its size is monumental in scale and its subject is traditional in origin, but its spirit is thoroughly modern.

See also: Joy of the Waters, by Harriet Whitney Frishmuth

Eleanor Silliman Rogers Lot 71 Date of Death: 7/11/1930 By Patrick Kavanagh History of Women in Forest Lawn Lawn Cemetery Eleanor was born in New Haven, CT to Professor Benjamin Silliman who taught at Yale University and Susan Forbes Silliman. Mrs. Rogers is a 7th generation Mayflower descendent of John Alden & Pricilia Mullins. From another family line, Mrs. Rogers is the great great granddaughter of Jonathan Trumbull, 1st Governor of Connecticut and personal friend to George Washington. When George Washington needed to raise money for the Continental Army, he turned to Trumbull for help. Eleanor attended Yale Art School. She married William Arthur Rogers, a local banker and industrialist. They lived at 309 North Street, Buffalo. Between 1913-1921, Eleanor was a Trustee of Buffalo General Hospital. She was Director of the 20th Century Club, a Member of the Executive Committee of the Board of Women Managers for the Pan American Exposition held in Buffalo in 1901 and a Charter Member of the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR). The First Presbyterian Church on Symphony Circle houses a plaque honoring both William & Eleanor Rogers for their support. Their grave monument is a replica of "Aspiration" which was originally designed by Harriet Frishmuth, a noted female sculptor of the early 20th century& cast in 1926.