John Henry Rogers

John Henry Rogers (October 9, 1845 – April 17, 1911) was a United States Congressman from Arkansas and United States federal judge.

Rogers was born in Roxobel, North Carolina to Absalom Rogers and his wife Harriet Rice. He moved with his parents to Mississippi in 1852, settling near Madison Station (now Madison). During the American Civil War, he enlisted in the Confederate Army at the age of 17 as a private in Company H of the 9th Mississippi Infantry Regiment. Rogers was wounded twice and was commissioned a first lieutenant for gallantry at the Battle of Franklin, Tennessee. At the war's end, he entered Centre College in Danville, Kentucky, but transferred to the University of Mississippi as soon as it reopened. He graduated from law department of the University of Mississippi in 1868, was admitted to the bar, and entered private practice in Canton, Mississippi. He moved his practice to Fort Smith, Arkansas in 1869, and resided there until 1877, when he was appointed to the Circuit Court in Little Rock, Arkansas. Rogers resigned in 1882 and returned to Fort Smith. He was elected a U.S. Representative from Arkansas as a Democrat and served in the 48th through 51st Congresses, from 1883 to 1891. Declining to be renominated, he resumed his private practice in Fort Smith.

In 1896 Rogers was appointed a federal judge on the United States District Court for the Western District of Arkansas. He received a recess appointment from President Grover Cleveland on November 27, 1896, to fill a seat vacated by Isaac C. Parker. Formally nominated on December 8, 1896, he was confirmed by the United States Senate on December 15, 1896, and received his commission the same day. He held the position until his death in Little Rock in 1911 of an apparent heart attack.

He was survived by his wife, Mary (Gray) Rogers, and four children.