In order to compile a more complete picture of family history for my sons, I’ve also done extensive research on my husband’s lineage. For a long time, David Clinton Rogers, my husband’s maternal grandfather, was another frustrating brick wall on my tree. I could easily find my husband’s grandmother in records, but David seemed to have evaporated from the narrative. Surprisingly, a few years ago, I was able to knock down that wall in a very unexpected way. The story I unearthed was quite astonishing.

My husband never met his maternal grandfather and, according to him, not much, if anything, was ever said about David within the family which, of course, made me extremely curious.

I started my research with the ‘knowns’, which was his grandfather’s name, David Clinton Rogers, that had also been passed down to his son (my husband’s uncle) as well as his grandmother’s name, Hilda Heck.

As ‘Heck’ was not her maiden name, rather her second husband’s name, it took some digging to trace her backwards. Grandmother Hilda Heck was born Hildegarde A. ‘Hilda’ Stone on December 22, 1888 in McKeesport, Pennsylvania.

David Clinton Rogers was born on December 23, 1888 (one day after Hilda) to David Clinton Rogers I (1858-1910) and Margaret (Ghriest) Rogers (1859-1941) in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He was one of four children, only three of whom survived to adulthood. David had two older sisters, Edith born in 1885 and Jean born in 1887.

To date, I have not found an actual marriage certificate for Hilda and David, however, there is a newspaper article from November 1914 that references Mrs. D. Clinton Rodgers (sic) as the former Hilda Stone and that she had been married the prior May (1913). In 1913 both Hilda and David were 24-years old.

This was a first marriage for Hilda and a second marriage for David.

Backtracking a few years prior to their marriage, in 1906 when David is 17 years old, he placed an ad in the local papers of Buffalo, New York (where he was residing at the time) looking for a ‘young lady’.

I do not know if this ad attracted the attention of his future wife, Jean, but in 1908 there is a death certificate that 19-year old David and his first wife, Jean have a stillborn son in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Her maiden name and age is not recorded.

A few years later, in the 1910 Federal census, David is now recorded as ‘single’, working in the steel industry in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and living back at home with his mother, Margaret, and older sister, Jean A. Rogers. I have not been able to locate any divorce records for David and Jean. Also, I am not sure where David’s father, also named David Clinton Rogers, is in 1910 as he does not die until 1913 and yet he is not recorded in their household.

In 1913, David Clinton Rogers, II marries his second wife, Hilda. Their first daughter, Dorothy, is born February 1915, followed by Eleanor in December 1916, Margaret (‘Peg’) in October 1919, son (yet another) David Clinton Rogers, III in December 1921, and my mother-in-law, Elizabeth in March 1924.

The next trail I pick-up on the family’s story is in the 1930 Federal census where David is documented as living in Chicago, marital status ‘single’ and listed as a lodger in an apartment.

This information seems to suggest that there has been some sort of a split in the marriage. When this happens, my mother-in-law was, at the oldest, six years old when her father leaves, and likely younger.

Conversely Hilda is recorded in the 1930s Federal census as ‘married’, head of household living in Pittsburgh and working as a housekeeper. All five children are living with her.

Ten years later, in the 1940s Federal census, David, now 52 years old, is still living in Chicago. This time he’s residing with his sister, Edith (Rogers) Wilson. Also included in the household is David and Edith’s mother, Margaret who is an 82-year old widow.

Here’s one of the many times we see David ‘misremember’ his date of birth and he presents himself as much younger than his chronological age. He was not born in 1900, he was actually born in 1888 (see headstone photo at bottom of blog that confirms that date).

What’s interesting is that in the 1940s Federal census, Hilda is recorded as still living in Pittsburgh with three of her children, however, she now lists her marital status as ‘widowed’ versus ‘married’ (as in the 1930s census) or ‘divorced’. I do not know if they divorced and she claimed widowhood to avoid embarrassment, however, her first husband, David is still very much alive at this time and will be until 1962. Perhaps she had no way of tracking him down and genuinely, at that time, thought he had died.

In 1944 when David is 55 years old, he is living in Glendale, California and has married Hazel Faye Owens. David’s occupation was a government inspector and Hazel worked at a defense facility which is likely how they met.

I am not sure just how much Hazel knew about David’s life before their marriage, but he indicates on their marriage record that this is his first marriage when it is actually his third marriage. Also, he is not 47 years old, the age he gave when they filed for the license. This incorrect age information, although fiction on this record, is (again) bore out by the birth and death years engraved on his headstone.

In October 1947, David Clinton Rogers has another child, his first and only with Hazel. To protect privacy as this story goes deeper, I will only refer to that son as Lastborn Son Rogers. This son is still living (as of 2026) which is where the story gets more interesting.

Lastborn Son Rogers was born when my mother-in-law, Elizabeth (‘Betty’) was 23 years old. As this discovery of my mother-in-law’s half-sibling (and my husband’s new-found uncle) was entirely unexpected and since my mother-in-law passed in 1984 and could not provide any details, I continued to dig into the archives. Ultimately I turned to Google sleuthing and located a business and phone number contact for Lastborn Son Rogers. Not knowing how old this information was I emailed the contact listed for him and passed along my email and my phone number.

He texted me a very short time later and then subsequently called.

For context, Lastborn Son Rogers and my mother-in-law’s father, David Clinton Rogers, died in 1962 when Lastborn Son was 14 years old. Lastborn Son’s mother, Hazel, died a couple years earlier from cancer when he was 12 years old. At his father’s death, this left him an orphan of sorts.

When he called we spoke for about 20 minutes and he confirmed that he was indeed my mother-in-law’s half brother. During that conversation, also revealed that when he was young he would often spend summers with his ‘Aunt Ellie (Eleanor Rogers)’ my mother-in-law’s sister. Both Lastborn Son and Eleanor lived in California at the time.

Knowing where Lastborn Son lived and where his half-sister Ellie lived, I calculated via Google Maps that they were only 38 miles apart. By this close proximity, I knew that although this half-sibling may not have been something the family openly discussed as the phrase goes ‘among the adults’, they were more than aware of his existence. That being said, my husband and his brothers who were not aware of this half uncle were shocked (and surprised in a good way) to hear this news.

Based on Elizabeth’s close relationship with her sister Eleanor, it’s clear that the existence of their half-sibling would not have been a secret. What I will never likely know now that all of David Clinton Rogers’ children from his marriage to Hilda have passed is just how much they knew about their father and his ‘new life’ in California, including his wife, Hazel, and this child. Since they knew about Lastborn Son, did they have any kind of relationship with their father who left their mother when they were very young children?

Unraveling this history has been one of the most satisfying family stories I’ve been able to tell, most especially because it wasn’t only my research that told the tale. It was actually confirmed by my conversation with Lastborn Son Rogers.

Unfortunately, since that initial interaction after which I sent a link invite to the family tree on Ancestry (and Ancestry confirmed he had viewed the tree), even after reaching out a couple more times, I have not heard back from Lastborn Son Rogers. While I am absolutely thrilled to have uncovered this life story, I am quite honestly a bit sad that we weren’t able to connect again to discuss more and get a bigger picture view of my husband’s grandfather and his life in his later years. While Lastborn Son Rogers grew up with his father, there are no known photos of David that are available to his children and family from his marriage with Hilda.

Maybe sometime in the future, Lastborn Son will reach out again. For now, I’m so grateful we were able to speak for any amount of time and that he was able to flesh out and confirm my research. It’s been incredibly rewarding.

Edited to Add: If additional information becomes available, I always like to share. Today after I posted this blog I discovered a newspaper article in the archives liquidating the estate of David Clinton Rogers in October 1963. This article includes the address of his home in Sunland, California where he resided at the time of his death, 7841 Jayseel Street.

The photos below of the actual home are from a Google search 2026 and what it looks like currently.

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Note: Hilda’s second husband was William Heck, hence, the surname my husband and his siblings knew her by. They considered William Heck their grandfather versus the absent David Clinton Rogers and affectionately called him ‘Daddy Bill’.