Frank H. Roberts. One of the best known operators in real estate and loans in Woodward County is Frank II. Roberts, who has been engaged in this business at Quinlan since 1902. Skilled in realty values, a man of practical experience, business acumen and great foresight, while carrying on his operations and gaining personal success he has contributed materially to the growth and prosperity of his adopted community through the introduction of new blood into the business veins of this thriving and productive part of Oklahoma.

Mr. Roberts was born February 3, 1865, at Des Moines, Iowa, and is a son of Benjamin Franklin and Elizabeth Jane (Hendrickson) Roberts. He belongs to a family which originated in Wales and the founder of which in America was his grandfather, who upon his arrival in this country located at Martinsville, Indiana, with his wife, whom he had married shortly before embarking

for the new home across the waters. Benjamin F. Roberts was born at Martinsville, Indiana, in 1832, and early in life developed talents as an inventor and architect, in connection with which latter profession he carried on building. It was as an architect that he won reputation, particularly in Iowa, where he constructed many buildings after his arrival in 1858 and assisted in the creation and construction of the capitol building at Des Moines. In 1885 he went to Nebraska, where he continued his career in architecture until his death, at Fremont, September 20, 1896. Although a man of eminent talents, he was never wont to push himself forward, and while an ardent and unswerving democrat, never sought favors at the hands of his party. In 1858 Mr. Roberts was united in marriage with Miss Elizabeth Jane Hendrickson, who was born in Indiana in 1838, a daughter of Ezekiel and Lydia (Tilford) Hendrickson, the former a native of Kentucky and the latter of Virginia. She died at Fremont, Nebraska, in 1902, in the faith of the Methodist Episcopal Church, of which throughout her life she had been a devout member. Mr. and Mrs. Roberts were the parents of two sons and three daughters, all of whom are living, as follows: Alice Douglass, born in 1857, who was married in 1880 to George E. Jennings, now postmaster of Garden Grove, Iowa, and has three children–Bessie Lyle, Georgia and Marian; Elizabeth Maude, born in 1861, and now the wife of J. A. Shields; Benjamin T., born in 1863; Frank H.; and Hattie G., born in 1867, and now the wife of Henry J. Smith, of Omaha, Nebraska.

Frank H. Roberts was educated in the public schools of Leon, Iowa, and was twenty years of age when he removed with his parents to Nebraska, in 1885. There for three years he was engaged in working on a stock ranch and at the end of that period accepted a position as a salesman for a clothing house at Fremont. After five years in this position he was sent on the road as traveling representative in the Black Hills country, a vocation in which he met with success and formed a wide acquaintance all over that region. Mr. Roberts came to Quinlan in 1902, and here established himself in the real estate and loan business, an enterprise in which he has continued with success to the present time. He has been successful in interesting outside capital in Woodward County lands and has encouraged settlement, both in the towns and farming districts, while his broad and practical knowledge has made him a valuable medium in the consummation of a number of important deals. He is a democrat, but has not cared for public office, preferring to be known as a business man without political aspirations. Fraternally he is well known in Masonry, being a thirty-second degree Mason and a member of Guthrie Consistory.

Mr. Roberts was married June 11, 1895, at Genoa, Nebraska, to Miss Minnie G. Gardner, who was born September 11, 1868, at Lostant, Illinois, a daughter of Milton G. and Louise J. (Kays) Gardner, the former a native of Pennsylvania and the latter of Illinois. Prior to her marriage Mrs. Roberts was engaged in teaching public school for a number of years, and became known as one of Iowa’s efficient and popular educators. Mr. and Mrs. Roberts are the parents of two daughters: Frances Louise, born at Genoa. Nebraska, April 12, 1905; and Ruth Elizabeth, born at Woodward, Oklahoma, January 31, 1907.