THE ROBERTS FAMILY IN AMERICA
Arriving in 1739 via the Cape Fear River, the first settlers of what is now Cumberland County, North Carolina were from the Highlands of Scotland. Phillip Roberts, our ancestor, was born in June 1730. His family appears to be among the early Scottish settlers in Cumberland County.
We know that he had arrived by the mid-1700’s, because by 1763 (and possibly earlier) he had married Mary Jordan, who was born in Cumberland County around 1744.
Although we do not yet know the origin of our Roberts ancestors, the picture of the early settlement of Cumberland County may offer us a clue that our ancestors could be Scottish in origin. Please note: this is NOT an established fact!
Transcription of the will of Phillip Roberts
In the Name of god and man I Philip Roberts of the County of Cumberland & province of North Carolina, Being of perfect sence and memory doe make & ordain this my last will & Testament in manner & forme following. I promise and give to Philip Roberts my oldest son one hundred acres the half of my plantation and to John Roberts my youngest son the other half which is one hundred acres. I order the old ????? gun to Philip ???? the big? Colt.
All the rest is to be kept for the use of the children to there mother’s decease and then equally divided amongst the children.
I make and ordain ?????? and appoint my ???? and loving wife & William Jordan my ???? sole Executor of this my last will and testament, whereof I hereunto sett my hand and seal this is the seventeenth of July 1779.
/s/ Phillip P? Roberts / Signed sealed and declared / in the presence of / John Jordan + / ????? Jordan
Phillip and Mary Jordan Roberts were living on the banks of the Cape Fear River when Phillip Jr. “the Revolutionary” was born.
PHILLIP and SARAH KIRTLEY ROBERTS
Phillip “the Revolutionary” was a patriot who left North Carolina around the beginning of the Revolutionary War. He joined forces with General Marion in South Carolina. After the war, he married Sarah Kirtley and began raising a family.
Phillip “the Revolutionary” came to the midlands of South Carolina from the old Cheraws. Phillip seems to have been somewhat of a wanderer, but several of his offspring made the South Carolina midlands their home.
1777 — Moved to The District of Darlington, South Carolina
1778 — Enlisted for the American Revolutionary Army under Captain Amos Windham
1781 — Moved to Harrison County, Kentucky
1832 — Allowed pension while residing in Harrison County, Kentucky
1 Dec 1838 — Married in Harrison County, Kentucky [second marriage to Sarah Daniels]. (In 1870, Sarah’s address was Oddville, Harrison County, Kentucky.)
24 Nov 1854 — Died in Harrison County, Kentucky.
–per letter to Mr. Oscar Boruff, Owensburg, Indiana, from the Board of Pension re. Philip Roberts “the Revolutionary.”
“Mr. Phillip Roberts, came to the Browns Chapel Area from the old Cheraws. He fought in the American Revolutionary War, ‘To the Honorable Members of the Senate, the honorable peition [sp] that he served as a soldier in the Revolutionary War under General Francis Marion in the Regiment of Colonel Baxter, in the Company of Campain Amos Wyndam [sp]. That he served about nine months, and that he is very poor at present and fiftys eight years of age, also that he has ten children, four of whom are under age of twenty one, and that he is constrained to labor for their support and his wife, though he labors as well as his wife under rheumatic pain. Therefore he prays your honorable body to grant him such relief and assistance to his old age as your honorable body may seem meet in as much as your petitioner never did as yet receive one cent for his said services.’ 7 December 1821 Signed /Philip Roberts/.
“There was also a letter written to the Senate, saying that before he heard from the petition that he moved from this State to the State of Kentucky, where he came into much illness and decided to come back to this State. He was given sixty dollars per year until 1831, when he probably died.”
–Beiman Otis Prince, a Richland County historian and genealogist
“Death of one of Marion's troop.—We learn from the Cynthiana (Harrison county) News of the 14th, that on the 10th inst. Philip Roberts, aged about ninety years, one of ‘Marion’s Merry Men,’ died near that place. The News says he was a soldier in the Marion war, in South Carolina, and a soldier of the Cross in the Methodist church over sixty years, and died in full triumph of the faith of the Gospel.”
–from Fayetteville Observer, Fayetteville, N. C., 1 January 1885, pg. 2, c3
Note: Phillip, a native of Fayetteville, died in Oddville, Harrison County (near Cynthiana, northeast of Lexington).
PHILLIP and MARY ANN EVANS ROBERTS
Among the Robertses who made the South Carolina midlands their home was Phillip Roberts III, who married Mary Ann Evans, a Richland County native. They owned a plantation in what is now lower Richland County, and accumulated a sizable estate. The Roberts records in this website focus on the family and descendants of Phillip and Mary Ann Evans Roberts, although other lines are also explored.
The Roberts family is closely related to the beginnings of Methodism in Richland County, especially in lower Richland. When Susan Ann Roberts Freeman died, her obituary noted that “She was a member of one of the pioneer families of Methodism of this section of the county.” Members of the Roberts family were charter members of the Brown’s Chapel, Main Street, and Shandon Methodist churches. Many of the Brown’s Chapel families were displaced by Fort Jackson and that church has long been closed. But Main Street and Shandon churches are still strong Columbia churches. Many Columbia-area United Methodist churches have had Roberts family connections over the years.
Descendants of Phillip and Mary Ann have contributed strongly to the business, social and religious life of Columbia and Richland County.
DAVID and SARAH REBECCA BOLTON ROBERTS
David Roberts was the second son, and fourth issue, of Phillip and Mary Ann Evans Roberts. He married Sarah Rebecca Bolton, daughter of Robert Bolton and Rebecca Rowan, around 1847. David became a prominent planter in Richland County. He and Sarah became leaders not only in the Brown’s Chapel Methodist Church, but in the work of Methodism in Richland County and South Carolina. David Roberts traveled often to attend the meetings of the Methodist Episcopal Church in South Carolina. Seven of their nine children lived to adulthood, and the six who married raised fine families. Among David’s descendants were farmers, early leaders in real estate and insurance businesses in Columbia, prominent retail merchants in Columbia, an editor of the Southern Christian Advocate (the S. C. Methodist journal), the superintendent of the Epworth Children's Home of the S.C. Methodist Conference, an outstanding member of the law faculty of the University of South Carolina, a missionary, and many fine citizens who have contributed to their communities, churches and work forces.
WILLIAM JAMES and ELLEN E. HAY ROBERTS
William James “Jim” Roberts was the second son and second issue of David and Sarah B. Roberts. On 3 January 1878 he married Ellen E. Hay, daughter of Daniel J. Hay and Elizabeth Flowers. For a number of years he was primarily a planter in lower Richland County. As his family began to grow and mature, the family moved into the city of Columbia, and Jim became a car inspector for the railroad while continuing to maintain some farming operations. In 1899 Ellen died. In 1903, Jim was preparing to go to the country to see his father, who was close to death. Before leaving he went repair the air brakes on the private car of Supt. Towsley of the Seaboard Air Line. After this he boarded a train which would take him to near where his home was, he disembarked the train and did not see a train moving in reverse direction toward him. It struck and killed him. His oldest living daughter, Lula, had recently married and her younger siblings came to live with her. Jim and Ellen were leaders in the Brown’s Chapel Methodist Church in lower Richland County.
My maternal grandfather, Frank Lester Roberts, was orphaned at an early age. His mother, Elizabeth E. Hay Roberts, died exactly two weeks after his second birthday. His father died in the tragic accident with a train before his sixth birthday. He was raised in the home of his oldest living sister, who had been married less than one and one-half year when their father died. Granddaddy was short in stature, but tall in character. He and my grandmother, Allie Scott Roberts, established a remarkable home through which many people were blessed. Their three daughters all entered Christian service. Frances, the oldest, was a field worker for the Argentine Baptist Women's Convention. My mother, the middle daughter, was a pastor's wife. Martha, the youngest, was a church musician. Granddaddy was a leader in the Park Street Baptist Church in Columbia, at that time one of Columbia's largest congregations. A member of the Columbia Laymen's Evangelistic Club, he filled many preaching engagements. The Roberts family has been a strong influence in my life. The Roberts research is dedicated to the memory of my mother, Anne Elizabeth Roberts Hepler, whose love for family will never be surpassed in any of our lives.
