1776-1841
South Carolina - Kentucky - Illinois
It is possible we are not direct descendants of Jesse Roberts, although our latest position is that we are. The problem is that Jesse had both a son and a ward named Obadiah, and both were born at about the same time. I think we have traced the orphan Obadiah to Missouri, and that leaves our Obadiah as the only real candidate for son of Jesse. We could be wrong, but that is what we think now.
The narrative of his life is taken mostly from a biography found in a history of Marshall County, Illinois [Records of the Olden Times; or Fifty Years on the Prairie by Spencer Ellsworth (Lacon, Ill: Home journal steam printing establishment, 1880)], with additions from a couple of other county histories with entries on his grandchildren. I am told one should be wary of these sorts of biographies. However, they do provide a basic framework on which to hang the documents available, and clues about where to look for more. Much other information comes from Maxine Lacy, a descendant of Jesse through his son Jesse James Roberts; Ken Roberts and Mary Matthews have also provided a LOT of help
In brief: Jesse was born on the Little Pedee in South Carolina in 1776. He stayed at home until age 11 (1787), then was apprenticed to a saddler & harness maker for 7 years (until 1794). Then, age 18, he headed out. Went to Kentucky - passed by the Blue Grass country - thought it was too sparsely wooded - settled near Smithland Ky (Livingston County, which is on the Ohio River). After building a cabin, he returned to SC for a wife. They lived in Livingston County until about 1826, then moved across the river to Illinois: although Jesse had owned slaves, he now wanted to live outside the "influences of slavery." He died in 1841.
The Little Pee Dee River is in the northern part of the state and most of the people we (Maxine) think might be related to him live in more southerly parts. But then, people do move, even - or especially - back then. And it is possible for people to own land in more than one location. But it does complicate things. Oh well. Maxine suspects his mother was Effie Carter and that his brother was the Obadiah (Oba) Roberts who went to Alabama (children moved on to Texas); she also suspects he had another brother, Stephen.
IF his brother was Oba Roberts, then his father, from other genealogies found on the web, must have been William Henry Roberts, but Maxine does not mention him. According to Jesse’s biography, his father was a loyalist and was expatriated to New Brunswick after the Revolution. There was a Henry Roberts in South Carolina who fought for the British and who might have been Jesse’s father, but I have no way of knowing for sure.
Oba Roberts, by the way, had a son named Jesse Carter Roberts, which lends support to the theory, as does the fact that Oba was a saddler, and Jesse was apprenticed to one:
"In a deed book of Newberry County, Laurens, SC, 1793, Obadiah Roberts, “saddler of Newberry Co., District 96”, sells land that was originally granted to Henry Roberts in 1769. This Obadiah Roberts appears to be the one who married Margaret Ewing and went to Alabama and Texas, according to Ken Roberts (in GenForum posting)." (from Mary Matthews)
According to the published (on the Internet) genealogies, William Henry Roberts had three sons, Obadiah, James or Jesse, and Franklin; it was his (William Henry’s) brother John who had a son Stephen. So.
At any rate, as soon as Jesse had finished his apprenticeship, he headed west. His older brother (and Obadiah Roberts did have land in Newberry County, SC, which had originally been owned by Henry) inherited all the property, so Jesse had to make his own way. He settled in what is now Livingston County, in the western part of Kentucky by the Ohio River. From then on we/I do have some documentation for him - tax lists and property deals - and also mention of a bounty for wolf scalps.
[I did my original Roberts research at the beginning of my genealogical career, and I brought my own assumptions to it - eg I assumed Jesse walked from South Carolina to Kentucky by himself. I eventually noticed that people mostly moved in groups back in those days, and it does seem that a LOT of Robertses and their relatives moved to Kentucky at about the same time Jesse did. His brother Obadiah may even have been there for a short while. I am going to have to revisit all the sources I looked at, to look for his relatives/neighbors.]
According to the biography, as soon as he had fairly settled in, he went back to South Carolina for a wife - Margaret Davis. I know nothing about her before her marriage. I have come across a suggestion that she was the aunt of Jefferson Davis, but that seems to be a common legend among Davises. There is a wonderful website by Diana Gale Matthiessen that rather firmly squelches this particular story. Matthiessen points out that Davis is the 6th most common surname in the US, so coincidences are bound to happen. (In our case, the coincidence is that Jefferson D. was born in the same general area of Kentucky in which Margaret Davis Roberts lived.) She says further: "My research so far has shown that there were minimally four different, unrelated DAVIS families living in Christian/Todd Co., KY, in the first decade of the 1800s."
The children of Jesse Roberts and Margaret Davis were, according to Maxine:
Obediah (possibly) born about 1800, married Louisa Eisen
Jane born 1802, married Thomas Philips
Martha born ? (possibly 1804-10) married a Gray (I haven’t been able to find him or her)
Livingston born 1812, married Margaret Dent.
Margaret born 1814, married Christopher Winters
Jesse born 1818, married Louisa Myers
I don’t know what Jesse did for a living - everybody in those days was called a farmer, unless he had a trade - and that meant, apparently, one did whatever one could. (His trade - the thing he had been apprenticed for - was saddler and harness maker.) He made some selling trips to New Orleans (and later son Livingston made similar trips to Chicago).
One of the biographies says the he was also a Universalist preacher. The Universalists believed in a loving God and universal salvation (although they did not always agree about the mechanics of this salvation) - they eventually merged with the Unitarians. Their ideas were popular among South Carolinians at about the time Jesse was born. One of their famous ones, Elhanan Winchester, began his serious thinking about Univeralism while he was in South Carolina in 1778-9 - although he started out as a fierce believer in predestination. He was minister at the Welsh Neck Baptist Church, on the Pee Dee River.
“In the year 1779 I found myself much stirred up to exhort my fellow-creatures to repent, believe, and obey the gospel, and began to adopt a more open and general method of preaching than I had used for some years before, - having been deemed one of the most consistent Calvinists upon the continent . . . . But now my heart being opened, and viewing the worth of souls, I felt great compassion towards them, and invited them with all my might to fly for mercy to the arms of Christ, who died for them, and who was willing to save them. I was gradually led into this way of preaching, without considering anything about its consistency with strict Calvinism . . .
Eddy, Richard. Universalism in America : A history (Boston: Universalist Publishing House, 1886), p 222-3 - this is a quote from Winchester himself, but I didn’t note where it came from, sorry.
He also began preaching to and baptizing slaves. (Universalists were opposed to slavery.)
Jesse himself did have slaves, but we keep looking for excuses for him, and we suspect his reasons for acquiring his first slaves might have been humanitarian. There was a very ugly happening in the neighborhood (and I may not have this exactly right - it was so horrible, I didn’t take notes): Lilburn Lewis and his brother tortured and murdered at least one slave, and when it looked like they might be punished for it, they made a suicide pact - but only one of them died, the other ran away. Jesse bought two of their slaves in 1815 (Judy and Andrew), and at some point he had another slave named Obed (about whom there is a curious little story in the biography below), but by the mid-twenties, he had had enough, and “wishing to educate his family beyond the influences of slavery,” he moved north across the Ohio River. I don’t know what happened to the men, but Judy didn’t want to go north, so he sold her to a master of her own choosing. It may have been the best he could do, but it was still awful.
Univeralism, by the way, did not have a long history in Kentucky. There were at least some there in 1793 in Lincoln and Logan counties. But while Rev. Peter Cartwright, Methodist preacher, made several allusions to them in his “Autobiography,” he also said that a revival commencing in 1801 spread through almost the entire inhabited parts of Kentucky, Tennessee, and the Carolinas, with the result that “Universalism was almost driven from the land.” (paraphrase, Eddy, p. 411)
Back to Jesse. The move north was in about 1826, according to most stories. (However, he still had business deals in Livingston County until 1828.) He stayed for a few years near Hillsboro, in what is now Montgomery County, then moved north again (about 1828) to what would become Marshall County, becoming the first settler in Roberts Township there. He “made his claim in a point of timber south of Sandy Creek” (Records of the Olden Times, p. 403), which is interesting - in Kentucky, when he was looking for a place to live, he ignored the blue grass country because it didn’t have enough trees.
Most of his children went with him. Obadiah went north long enough to help put in the first crop, but returned to Kentucky to marry. He stayed there for a while, close to his wife’s people, but he was back in Marshall County by 1840. Jane and her husband remained in Montgomery County all their lives - and it is possible that Martha eventually lived there as well. Both Livingston and Margaret got married in 1833; Livingston remained all his life in Marshall County, inheriting Jesse’s property and becoming quite a noted individual; Margaret and husband moved to Perry County, which is a couple counties south of Montgomery, which is a couple counties south of Marshall. Jesse James stayed in Marshall until about 1853, when he and his family - and probably his niece Caroline - moved to Iowa (Fayette County).
Jesse died in 1841 and is buried in Roberts Cemetery (which I think is a private family cemetery, but I’m not sure). Margaret lived with young Jesse for a while, then, when he moved to Iowa, she lived (probably) with daughter Margaret - at any rate, she died in Perry County in 1858 and is buried there.
This photo is identified as "Margaret Roberts."
We think she is Jesse's wife and not Livingston's.
Back to Top
Back to: Roberts Home Page | Lee's Genes Home Page
Forward to: Children (in general) | Obediah
Timeline
(The number after the source is the pamphlet number at the Wisconsin State Historical Society Library)
1776 May 11 - born - Little Pedee, South Carolina
1787-1794 - apprenticed to a saddle and harness maker
1794 - walked to Kentucky - settled near Smithland (eventually Livingston County)
17xx - went back to South Carolina for wife (Margaret Davis)
1798 - Livingston County formed from Christian
1799 - land grant, Bio Creek
Roberts, Jesse 200A 10-14-1799 S Fk Bio Cr
Kentucky Land Grants
- file submitted to USGenWeb Archives by Ed Roberts 5 May 1999
1800 - tax list Livingston County
1800 Nov 26 - Jesse Roberts - 2 woolf scalps - 16 shillings
1801 July 7 - County Court no 84 - Jesse Roberts 200 acres
Livingston Co, Ky - Court Order Books
1802 August 7 - daughter Jane born
1803 - land grant, Bio Creek
Roberts, Jesse 300A 9-18-1803 Bio Cr
Kentucky Land Grants
- file submitted to USGenWeb Archives by Ed Roberts 5 May 1999
1803 Oct 11 - 19 Oct 1808 - something to someone AND Obadiah Roberts
26 Sep 1807 Nathan Davis appoints Jesse Ford his attorney to transfer a plat & certificate of survey of 200 acres on Bio Creek to Ob. Roberts. Orig granted to Thos Austin & transferred to Wm Mitchusun- Mitch to Ford - Ford to Davis
[16 July 1808 George Robinson to Jesse Roberts 17 ¾ acres on Bayo Creek for $17 and 3/4]
27 Sep 1808 Ob to Jesse 200 acres on Bio Creek for $300
19 Oct 1808 Jesse Roberts to Benjamin Simpson 200 acres on Bio Creek
being granted by the commonwealth unto Obadiah Roberts assignee of Nathan Davis assignee of Jesse Ford who was assignee of Wm Mitchuson assignee of Thos Austin, for $400 grant bears date of 7 Oct 1808 & was conveyed by Obadiah unto Jesse Roberts 27 Sep 1808
Livingston Co, Ky - deeds etc.
1805 Apr 1 - estate of John Phillips - buyer Jesse Roberts
Livingston County Estate Records - Jerome 04-1227
1806 - land grant
Roberts, Jesse 200A 1-7-1806 S Fk Bio Cr
Kentucky Land Grants
- file submitted to USGenWeb Archives by Ed Roberts 5 May 1999
1808 Dec 5 - estate of Joseph Montgomery - buyer Jesse Roberts
Livingston County Estate Records - Jerome 04-1227
1810 - land deals
B 89 - 19 Oct 1808 - Jesse Roberts to Benjamin Simpson 200 acres on Bio Creek
being granted by the commonwealth unto Obadiah Roberts assignee of Nathan Davis assignee of Jesse Ford who was assignee of Wm Mitchuson assignee of Thos Austin, for $400 grant bears date of 7 Oct 1808 & was conveyed by Obadiah unto Jesse Roberts 27 Sep 1808
B 135 - 16 July 1808 George Robinson to Jesse Roberts 17 ¾ acres on Bayo Creek for $17 and ¾ ... Test: Wm Cheny, Abr. Roberts, Joseph Ramage
27 Sep 1808 Ob to Jesse 200 acres on Bio Creek for $300
19 Oct 1808 ?
Jerome, Brenda Joyce. Livingston County, Kentucky deeds : books A-C, 1800-1817.
Newburgh, Ind. : B.J. Jerome, 1991-
1810 census - Livingston Co, Ky
Roberts Jesse 0201 2001 (2 m 10-16, 1 m 26-45. 2 f under 10, 1 f 26-45) notice no slaves
2 f under 10 b. 1800-10 Jane b. 1802, Unknown f (Martha?) b. 1804-10
2m 10-16 b. 1794-1800 Unknown m, Obadiah? b. 1800?
1m, 1f 26-45 b. 1765-84 Jesse 1776 = 34, Margaret Davis
1811 May 11 - daughter Margaret born
1812 March 24 - son Livingston born
1815 Mar 25 - heirs of Randolph Lewis - squabble
“In obedience to an order of the Circuit Court appointing me to sell all the slaves belonging to the estate of Randolph Lewis dec’d . . . I proceeded to sell said slaves as follows: Negro Judy to Jesse Roberts, Negro Andrew to Jesse Roberts [CirCt Order Bk E, p.46]
Livingston County Estate Records - Jerome 04-1227
Note: this must be the “motherly old slave named Judy” - who cared for all his children - and was sold just before the move to Illinois.
1816 - commissioner of some sort
C 326 - 9 Oct 1816 Agreeable to an order of Livingston County Court at April 1816 ... David Fort, William Montgomery and Jesse S Roberts, commissioners, met to divide lands...
Jerome, Brenda Joyce. Livingston County, Kentucky deeds : books A-C, 1800-1817.
Newburgh, Ind. : B.J. Jerome, 1991-
1816 Aug 19 - Jesse Roberts appointed guardian for Obadiah Roberts, Frances Roberts, Benjamin Roberts and Phereby Roberts, infant orphans of Stephen Roberts, dec’d and entered into bond with John McKernan his security
Livingston County Estate Records - Jerome 04-1227
In 1816 in Kentucky, Jesse S Roberts was appointed guardian of the children of Stephen Roberts, deceased. One of the children was an Obediah. I do not have a birthdate for him. In all the records I have seen Obediah is listed as the son of Jesse S. Roberts. I don’t know if this Obediah is the same child he was appointed guardian for or if he is a natural born son. They would have been about the same age. [June 13, 2000 from Maxine Lacy]
1816 no date - filed with Dec - estate of Cullen Cook - buyer Jesse Roberts
Livingston County Estate Records - Jerome 04-1227
1817 - tax list (Simmons, pamphlet 84-3115)
1817 - no Eison wm 21+, bm, total b, horses acres watercourse
Phillips, Thomas S 1002 130 Tradewater
Roberts, John 1002
Matthias 1001
Jesse 1223 403 Bio
Wiley 1483 207 Sandy
1817 May 31 - estate of John McCoy - buyer Jesse Roberts
Livingston County Estate Records - Jerome 04-1227
1818 - tax list (Simmons, pamphlet 84-3115)
1818 - Euen, Jacob 1005 300
Phillips, Thomas S 1003 130 Tradewater
Roberts, John 1001
Matthias 1001
Jesse 1225 417 Bio
Wiley 1264 230
1818 son Jesse James Roberts born - 10 Jan
Jesse James s/o Jesse S & Margaret Roberts, 10 Jan 1818
Livingston County Births -
file submitted to USGenWeb Archives by Ed Roberts 5 May 1999
1819 - tax list (Simmons, pamphlet 84-3115)
1819 - Eison, Jacob 1006 183 Ohio
“ 300 Bland’s Cr
Phillips, Thomas S 1002 250 Tradewater
Roberts, John 1002
Matthias 1001
Jess 1224 406 Buck
Silas 1000
1819 Nov 29 - estate of William Salibury - appraiser and buyer Jesse Roberts
Livingston County Estate Records - Jerome 04-1227
1820 - tax list (Simmons, pamphlet 84-3115)
1820 - Eison, Jacob 1119 300 Phillip’s Cr
“ 193 Ohio
Phillips, Thomas S 1002 250 Tradewater
Roberts, John 1001
Matthias 1001
Jesse 1222 411 Bio
Silas 1001
Stephen 1001
(Maxine thinks this must be an older son of the Stephen for whose children Jesse was guardian)
1820 Kentucky Livingston Salem
p. 16 Jesse (actually not readable) Roberts - 200010 11110 01
2m under 10 b. 1810-20 Livingston b. 1812, Jesse James b. 1818
1f under 10 Margaret b. 1811
1f 10-16 b. 1804-10 Unknown f Martha?
1f 16-26 b. 1794-1804 Jane b. 1802
1m, 1f 26-45 b. 1775-1794 Jesse 1776 = 44, Margaret Davis 1780 = 40
so where is Obadiah - and the other orphans?
1820 daughter Jane marries
Roberts, Jane - Thomas Phillips - 25 Jan 1820 (bondsman Jesse Roberts)
Livingston County, Kentucky, marriage records : bonds, licenses, consents and misc. loose papers by Joyce M. Woodyard for the Livingston Co Historical & Genealogical Society. [Smithland, Ky.] : The Society, c1992-
1821 - land
E 152 - 15 Oct 1821 - Yancy Baynes to Patrick Calhoun & Jesse Roberts, 100 acres on Bio Creek, to secure payment of $48 mortgaged by Baynes to a branch of the bank of the commonwealth of Kentucky at Princeton, Calhoun & Roberts being security for Baynes
I don’t have bib. info for this but it must be a continuation of the Jerome book
1822 - slaves
E 200 - 18 Mar 1822 - John McKernon to Jesse Roberts & Malcolm Rafferty, negroes Dick, about age 60, and Ann, about age 45, for $500. signed John McKernon rec 18 Mar 1822
I don’t have bib. info for this but it must be a continuation of the Jerome book
1823 Aug 7 - appointed to appraise estate of James Foster - Jesse Roberts, Thomas Phillips (Jesse also buyer)
Livingston County Estate Records - Jerome 04-1227
1823 Nov 3 - appointed to divide land of Lilburn Lewis - Jesse S Roberts, Jacob Eyson
Livingston County Estate Records - Jerome 04-1227
1825-6 - land deals
AA 514 - 24 Oct 1825 - Jesse S Roberts & wf Margaret to Yancy Baines, $300 for 95 acres on waters of south fork of Bio Creek, adj. Thomas Philips s. Jesse S (X) Roberts, Margaret (X) Roberts. Margaret Roberts assigned her dower over to within deed. s. Jonah Hibbs JP rec 2 Jan 1826
Deed Book BB - 1826-1829
BB 10 - 16 Mar 1826 - Jesse S. Roberts & wf Margaret to Philip Beardin, $300 for 105 acres on Bio Creek, being part of a 200 acre survey originally patented in name of Jesse S Roberts, adj. David Fort. s Jesse S Roberts, Margaret (X) Roberts. Margaret Roberts relinquishes right of dower and rec 16 Mar 1826
BB 12 - 10 Mar 1826 - Jesse A(sic) Roberts to William H Abingdon $17 ¾ for 17 acres on Bio Creek, being part of a 200 acre tract granted by the state to George Robertson 7 Oct 1807, No 3963. s. Jesse S(sic) Roberts. Margaret Roberts, wf of Jesse S, relinquishes right of dower & rec 16 Mar 1826
BB 13 - 11 Jan 1826 - Jesse S Roberts to William H Abington $300 for tract of land on Bayo Creek adj. Jesse Ford’s line where Patrick Porter’s (? my notes bad) line crosses it. s. Jesse (X) S Roberts wit C Alsbrook, David Fort. Margaret Roberts, wf of Jesse, relinquishes etc...
I don’t have bib. info for this but it must be a continuation of the Jerome book
1826? moved to Illinois - settled in the vicinity of Hillsboro (now Montgomery Co), staying there about 2 years.
(Daughter Jane remained there all her life.)
1827 son? Obediah marries
Roberts, Obediah - Louiza Eison 20 Oct 1827 by James Johnson
bond 19 Nov 1827 - Bondsman Jacob Eison. groom given as Obid Roberts. license 19 Nov 1827. The consent of the father of Louiza given and sd. Roberts is of age.
Livingston County, Kentucky, marriage records : bonds, licenses, consents and misc. loose papers by Joyce M. Woodyard for the Livingston Co Historical & Genealogical Society. [Smithland, Ky.] : The Society, c1992-
1828 Nov 11 - estate of Benjamin Pippin - buyer Jesse Roberts
Livingston County Estate Records - Jerome 04-1227
1828 - to Illinois
1828 - rented a piece of land above Ottawa (now LaSalle County - just ne of Marshall)
“during that summer he came into Putnam County and was advised by Mr. Knox to make the claim upon which he lived until his death, August 7, 1841, aged sixty-five.” from the biography in the History of Marshall Co.
1828 - Jesse and Livingston Roberts settled in Marshall county in what is now Roberts township. Livingston Roberts hauled a load of oats to Chicago in 1830, which at that time consisted of two cabins, a store and barracks for a company of soldiers, making the trip in seven days with three yokes of oxen. He was unable to sell the oats in town, but did dispose of them to
a settler in the area, taking a greyhound as part payment. The Roberts family purchased a large tract of land three miles north of present Varna in Roberts Township.
History of Marshall County, Illinois
1830 census - not found
1831 - May - Hennepin, Putnam Co - 1st Circuit Court -
among the Grand Jurors for the term Jesse Roberts [Earliest Historical Facts of Marshall-Putnam Counties....by Mr. Henry A. Ford, 1860]
1831 Aug 1 - Putnam Co divided into 4 districts. On the poll list for Sandy District is Jesse Roberts [Ibid]
1833 son Livingston and daughter Margaret marry.
Livingston Roberts and Margaret Dent, January 24, 1833 by Hooper Warren
Christopher Winters and Margaret Roberts, January 31, 1833 by Hooper Warren
1833 -1834 Putnam County Marriages
1840 census - with son Livingston? m70-80 Jesse = 64, f 50-60 Margaret = 60
1840 Illinois Marshall Lynn Pct, p. 196
Obediah Roberts 2010001 110001
Livingston Roberts 211130001 10011001
Jacob Bissel (Levi Bissell with Livingston in 1850) 1111001 0011001
David Myers (Jesse James Roberts married Louis Myers 1840) 1201301 0221101
John Myers 00211001 1101001
Enoch Dent (Livingston m. Margaret Dent) 0111101 1110001
1841 August 7 - died (his stone says August 5) - buried Roberts Cemetery, Roberts Twp, Marshall County, IL
1850 - Margaret with son Jesse James Roberts
1850 Illinois Marshall
p. 123 Roberts Jesse 36 m farmer 1000 KY - son of SC Jesse
Laura 28 f OH
Washington 9 Il/ Mary 5 Il/ Laura 3 Il/ Elsy 3/12 Il/ Alice 3/12
Margaret 70 f SC
1858 March 15 - Margaret Davis Roberts died - buried IOOF Cemetery, DuQuoin, Perry, Illinois
(daughter Margaret Winters lived there.)
Back to Top
Back to: Roberts Home Page | Lee's Genes Home Page
Forward to: Children (in general) | Obediah
Records of the Olden Times; or Fifty Years on the Prairie by Spencer Ellsworth (Lacon, Ill: Home journal steam printing establishment, 1880). And apparently there was a newer edition put out by Brookhaven Press in 2001. Both are currently unavailable from Amazon.
p. 191
The first settlers here were: 1828 - Livingston Roberts; 1829 - Dr. J Gaylord, Abel Estabrook, Horace Gaylord; 1830 - Enoch Dent, Geo Marten, G. H. Shaw, Wm. Cowan . . . .
p. 403 - Chapter XL Roberts Township
This Township derived its name from the first settler in Marshall County, Jesse Roberts, who made his claim in a point of timber south of Sandy Creek, and for many years lived there noted as an eccentric but hospitable and generous man.
p. 407 (I think we’re in the same chapter) “The History of a Paper Town” is at the top of the page. Then further down the caption -
Jesse S Roberts
The man from who the Township derives its name and the first settler in the County deserves a more extended notice than is given to most of the pioneers. This was Jesse S. Roberts, who was born on the Little Pedee, South Carolina, May 11, 1876 (obviously a typo for 1776). His father took sides with the mother country in her efforts to subdue the colonists, and at the close of the was was expatriated, taking up his residence at St. Johns, New Brunswick, where we believe he subsequently died. His family remained loyal, and were permitted to occupy the valuable property he held, which, by the law of primogeniture then in force, reverted to the oldest son, leaving the others, among whom was the subject of this sketch, to care for themselves.
Until eleven years old he lived at home with his mother, going to school occasionally and assisting in the labors of the farm as he could. At that age he was indentured to a saddler and harness maker, serving his master the full time of seven years, as was the good old custom. As before intimated, his father’s estate was inherited by an elder brother, and the manifest injustice so embittered him that he determined to leave the country and seek out a home for himself in the new and fertile regions beyond (sic) the Ohio.
It was six hundred miles to his proposed destination, the road leading over mountains, through sparsely settled districts, and hostile tribes of Indians. Nothing daunted, however, he shouldered his axe, put a spare shirt or two in his bundle and set out, walking the entire distance.
He passed over the now justly celebrated “blue grass region,” thinking it too destitute of timber, and proceeding to the vicinity of Smithland, Kentucky, selected a location among the heavy timber of the region, and putting up a cabin of rough logs open at one end, plied his axe industriously for three months, living by himself and doing his own cooking and washing.
Leaving his new home at this time he started back to South Carolina for a helpmeet, receiving along with her a feather bed and an old frying pan. With his wife and dowry mounted on an old mare - his sole worldly wealth - and himself trudging by her side, he again made the journey to the El Dorado of his hopes. His wife proved a most worthy companion, and together they cleared up a large farm, while children were born and their fortunes grew apace.
In the course of time he owned slaves - a woman to help his wife and two stout fellows to assist him on the farm. He also built a flat boat and commenced making voyages to New Orleans, loading his craft with grain, sheep, hogs and poultry, which he converted into cash and returned on foot, carrying about his person as high as six hundred dollars in silver. His road lay through the Indian nation, where he found cabins erected for the entertainment of travelers, who were expected to furnish their own provisions.
On one occasion he took down a likely young negro named Obed and bargained him away for six hundred dollars. The chattel was unusually sharp, and divining the nature of the transaction, “lit out” before the delivery of the property, reaching home two weeks before his master. There was some difficulty over the sale, but Roberts insisted that he sold him on the run, and it was compromised by the seller, accepting four hundred dollars. Obed continued to light the fires and perform any service required until he heard his master was coming, when he started for Canada and was not seen again.
Slave property was in very good demand. Roberts paid at one time for a likely young black, seven hundred dollars in cash and one hundred and fifty acres of land. When he left the country he was the owner of a motherly old slave named Judy, who had nursed all his children, and as shed did not wish to leave, he sought out a master satisfactory to her, and sold her for three hundred dollars cash, a barrel of whiskey and a keg of powder. It is needless to say the whisky was all imbibed by the crowd which came to bid them adieu.
Wishing to educate his family beyond the influences of slavery, Mr. Roberts in that year sold his farm, came to Illinois and settled in the vicinity of Hillsboro, remaining there two years. In the meantime he came north, and renting a piece of land above Ottawa, raised a crop of corn there in 1828. During that summer he came into Putnam County and was advised by Mr. Knox to make the claim upon which he lived until his death, August 7. 1841, aged sixty-five.
Unknown Atlas
Ken Roberts found this information in an atlas at the Denver Public Library when, as he says, "I was just beginning researching and didn't know about citing sources." So apparently everyone goes through the same learning curve!
County Histories
Marshall County.
. . . . Jesse Roberts was the pioneer of the region, locating at the point which bears his name in the spring of 1828, at which time he had no neighbors to the southward nearer than Washington, and very few northward to the Illinois River. . . . During the Blackhawk war, they sent their families to Tazewell for protection.
The Biographical Record of Bureau, Marshall and Putnam Counties, Illinois. (Chicago: SJ Clarke Publishing Co, 1896)
p. 363 - John Murphy. . .
Our subject was reared by his step-father . . . . On the 23rd of January, 1884, he married Miss Ida I Roberts, a daughter of Livingston and Margaret (Dent) Roberts. Her grandfather, Jesse S. Roberts, was the first settler of Marshall county. He was born in Kentucky, and married Miss Davis, a native of South Carolina. They removed from Smithland, Kentucky, to Montgomery county, Illinois, in 1827, and the three sons, Livingston, Obed and Jesse, planted crops that year. The grandfather selected the land on which Mrs. Murphy is living, in 1828, and Roberts Point became a famous place in pioneer days. He made a clearing, erected a rude log cabin without doors or window, and removed his family to the new farm in 1829. They went through the usual experiences and hardships of pioneer life. Corn ground in a hominy block served as breadstuff and Pekin was their nearest trading point. Jesse Roberts served as a soldier in the war of 1812. His death occurred in 1841, and his wife then went to Du Quoin. They had six children - Mrs. Jane Phillips, Obed, Jesse and Livingston, all deceased; Mrs Margaret Winters, of Du Quoin, and Mrs. Martha Gray, deceased.
Livingston Roberts was born March 24, 1812, in Livingston county, Kentucky, and was a youth of sixteen when with the family he took up his residence upon the farm which is now the home of Mrs. Murphy, there spending his remaining days. His wife was born in Muskingum county, Ohio, July 18, 1814, a daughter of John Dent, who came to Magnolia, Illinois, in 1833 and made a permanent location. The parents of Mrs. Murphy began housekeeping in a new cabin, which they occupied until 1840, when it was replaced by the present brick residence. The bricks for this house were burned in the timber here, the lumber was hauled from Chicago, and the sand from Starved Rock, in La Salle county. The home was then on the direct road between Chicago and Peoria, and early became a stage station, where the horses were changed and the passengers procured meals. It was in this way that Mr. Roberts earned the one hundred dollars with which he first purchased land. Roberts Point was also the general stopping place for the many movers who passed through this region and no one was ever turned from their door. They furnished dinner for as many as eighty-nine persons and during one summer the least number that sat down at their table was twenty-seven. The hospitality of the Roberts household was proverbial and a hearty welcome was ever extended to the guests. Mr. Roberts was a peace-loving, honorable man, who was never concerned in any lawsuit, and his word was so implicitly trusted that, although he signed papers for the amount of one hundred thousand dollars he was never asked for security. In the early days he carried one end of the surveyor’s chain, laying out the state road from Springfield to Chicago. He was a strong, vigorous man and tireless worker, and never failed to be present to assist his neighbors at a house raising. He served as an officer of the regulars and was one of the fifty men who drove the Reeves gang from the country. Although his home was not a regular station on the underground railroad, he never turned a negro from his door hungry. He served as a lieutenant during the Black Hawk war, and during those troubles a stockade was built around the Roberts cabin. His early political support was given to the whig party, but later he became a republican, and for many years served as postmaster, also as a school director and road commissioner.
This honored pioneer, who was so prominent a figure in the development of Marshall county, died March 27, 1889, and his wife passed away January 28, 1892. On the 24th of January, 1883, they celebrated their golden wedding, issuing seven hundred invitations. Four persons who attended the wedding fifty years previous were present on this occasion. Mr. and Mrs. Roberts had twelve children: Thomas D. married Thene Compton, who died, leaving one child, and for his second wife wedded Dora Ellsbury, by whom he has three children; Alonzo, deceased, married Almira Stateler, and they had one son; Melissa J. is the deceased wife of Joseph Taggart, by whom she had a son and daughter; Jesse L. married Josephine Neal, and has five children; Zilphia L. is the wife of John Burns and has one son; John A. wedded Mary Finley and has one daughter; William G. wedded Mary Glenn and has five children; Elizabeth E. is the wife of Jerry Trone; Henry died in infancy; Riley B. married Minnie Haws and has four children; Mrs. Murphy is the eleventh of the family, and Mary H., the youngest, is the wife of Dr. J. W. Evans, and has one daughter.
Mrs. Murphy was born February 27, 1857, on the farm, where her entire life has been passed and where she yet makes her home. She was married in this house, and here was born the only child of Mr. and Mrs. Murphy, Olney, whose birth occurred August 19, 1887. The farm is the oldest in Marshall county, and the house has stood for a half century. The place comprises on hundred and twenty-two acres of rich land, all of which is under a high state of cultivation . . . .
Portrait and Biographical Record of Montgomery and Bond Counties, Illinois . . . . (Chicago: Chapman Bros, 1892)
p. 501 - Hon Jesse J. Phillips.
The distinguished subject of this sketch was born in Montgomery County, Ill., May 27, 1837, the son of Thomas Phillips, a native of Macon County, Ill., . . . .
Our subject’s mother was Jane Roberts, a native of Kentucky, born August 7, 1802, and was reared at Smithland, in the same state. Her demise occurred May 23, 1888. Her father, Jesse Roberts, was a native of South Carolina, where he was reared and pursued the vocation of a Universalist preacher. His mother was Effie Carter, a native of North Carolina. Jesse Roberts had one brother, Obadiah, who left a son, Orvin [Ken has corrected this to Oran], who took an active part in the struggle for the independence of Texas, and subsequently was a Judge of the Supreme Court of Texas and also Governor of that State. He still resides at Austin and is know as the “Old Alcalde.”
The father and mother of our subject were married at Smithland, Ky., and later removed to Illinois. They were the parents of eight children, five sons and three daughters. One son died in infancy, while the others grew to maturity; the youngest, Sidney B., was Sergeant-Major of the Ninth Illinois Infantry, and was mortally wounded at the battle of Shiloh, April 6, 1862, dying from the same June 8 following. Burrell, the second son, was a member of the General Assembly of the State of Illinois from the Forty-first District, in 1876, and again in 1886 from the counties of Montgomery and Christian. The eldest son, Henry, is a resident of Jefferson County, Ill.; Hannah is the widow of Gen. Scott; Unity J. is the wife of George Seward, of Montgomery County, Ill. Permesea was the wife of William H. Brewer, and died in 1868.
Our subject is the seventh child and fourth son . . .
He was a lawyer. In 1861, he raised a company of men, was elected captain. They became part of the Ninth Infantry - Jesse became Major. He kept rising in the ranks - lots of descriptions of battles etc. He remained until the capture of Atlanta, when he resigned (1864) - returned to Hillsboro, went back to the law, was commissioned Brevet-Colonel AND Brigadier-General by brevet (whatever that means) on the same day in 1865, “both commissions being for gallant conduct and for meritorious and distinguished services during the war. In politics our subject is a Democrat, high in the councils and confidence of his party, having twice been the nominee for State Treasurer, in 1866 and 1868, and was defeated both times, because his party was in the minority. He is now and has been Circuit Judge, a position he has filled with distinguished ability.” (p. 504)
Back to Top
Back to: Roberts Home Page | Lee's Genes Home Page
Forward to: Children (in general) | Obediah
questions, comments, additions, corrections?
contact me at: lee@leesgenes.com
Page last updated 10 Apr 2007