This oil-on-canvas portrait by Eli H. Fordham depicts Dr. John Nugent, one of the key owners of the Rogers Mansion.
In 1858, he was born in Riverhead to Irish immigrants Robert Nugent and Ellen Ducy. He would attend high school in Riverhead followed by pursuing his medical degree at the University of Michigan, which he received in 1881. After his graduation, he returned to Southampton to open an office for his medical practice. In 1886 he would marry Helen Howell Fordham, a descendant of Robert Fordham, and had their first son John Jr. in 1888.
The Nugent family would purchase the Rogers mansion from Jetur Rogers (one of the final Rogers family members to live at the mansion after 8 generations) in 1889. While living in the Mansion, they would have two more sons: William born in 1893, and Paul in 1897. Dr. Nugent would also set up a home office in which he would treat his neighbors within his medical field. Within their time at the Mansion, they also built the Nugent Carriage house on the northwest corner of the property.
Even after selling the Rogers Mansion to Samuel Parrish in 1899, the Nugent family continued to live in Southampton for the rest of their lives.
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