Hugh Rogan, Irish Immigrant

Hugh Rogan, Irish Immigrant. . Hugh Rogan fled Ireland in 1775, several years later he came to this area with a surveying party. He returned in 1779, eventually settling with his family about three miles from here. , Risking All for Freedom and Opportunity , Hugh Rogan, a devout Roman Catholic, fled Ireland in 1775. Little did he know that his departure marked the beginning of a twenty-year separation from his wife and son. Before they were reunited, Rogan explored the Cumberland Valley and took an active role in its settlement. , Hugh Rogan was one of the signers of the Cumberland Compact, the first instrument of government in Middle Tennessee. He helped defend the fortified stations in the Bledsoe's Creek area, often risking his life to insure the safety of families moving into the frontier. , Irish Patriot , Hugh Rogan was born in 1741 in Glentourne, County Donegal, Ireland. He married Ann Duffy, called Nancy by her family, from County Tyrone. The couple had a son, Bernard, in 1774. The following year, Rogan left Ireland. He feared arrest by the British because he was a former member of the Defenders, a group opposed to laws the English Parliament enacted against Catholics. , Weaver, Surveyor, Frontier Guide , Like many Irish immigrants before him, Rogan made his way to North Carolina, where he worked as a weaver. Several years later, he accompanied the surveying party mapping the boundary between what became Kentucky and Tennessee. He returned to the Cumberland Valley in 1779, guarding a party of settlers led by John Donelson. The arduous trip, delayed by snow and ice, took months., The Rogan Family is Reunited , About 1796, when attacks by Native Americans had ended, Hugh Rogan returned to Ireland for his family. The Rogans settled on land Hugh received for service to the country. The 640-acre parcel was on Bledsoe's Creek about three miles northeast of here. Hugh and Nancy had a second son, Francis, in 1798. Hugh Rogan died in 1818 on the farm he had settled. He was buried in the family cemetery there.