author
John R. (John Rogers) Bolles
1810–1895
A 19th-century Connecticut lawyer and civic booster, he wrote across an unusually wide range of subjects, from children’s chapbooks and poetry to local history, religion, and public affairs. His work offers a vivid glimpse of New England literary and civic life in the 1800s.
1 Audiobook
The Rogerenes: some hitherto unpublished annals belonging to the colonial history of Connecticut
by John R. (John Rogers) Bolles, Anna B. (Anna Bolles) Williams
About the author
John Rogers Bolles was an American writer, lawyer, and public figure from Connecticut. Records of his books show a remarkably varied body of work, including children’s pieces such as The Lullaby and The Story of the Two Bulls, poetry like Solitude and Society, and later historical writing including The Rogerenes.
He was also active in civic life in New London, where contemporary and bibliographic sources remember him as a prominent local attorney and advocate for the city’s development. That mix of literary interests and public involvement helps explain the wide scope of his writing, which moved easily between moral reflection, local history, and practical questions of community life.
Although he is not widely known today, Bolles remains of interest for readers exploring 19th-century American print culture, especially the overlapping worlds of juvenile literature, regional history, and reform-minded writing.