WI BIO - Lafayette Co - ROBERTS, John

History of La Fayette County, Wisconsin. Chicago: Western Historical, 1881, 
p 794

John ROBERTS, farmer and hotel proprietor, Town of Fayette, Lafayette County, 
Wisconsin, was born 08 March 1817 in Somerset County, Pennsylvania. In 1818 
he was moved, on horseback, to Mercer County [Pennsylvania], and afterward 
learned the carpenter's trade there. In 1845 he moved West to Wisconsin, and 
stopped at Hazel Green [Grant County], coming to his present home [in the 
Town of Fayette, Lafayette County] in 1846. He bought his land of John P. 
SHELDON, and now owns 157 and a half acres on Section 9 [Fayette Township, 
located northeast of the city of Darlington].

In 1841 he [John ROBERTS] married [his first wife] Miss Emily A. MILLER of 
New York, who died 04 November 1870. On 08 November 1871 he [John ROBERTS] 
married again, to [his second wife] Mrs. Thomas WOODS, of Covington [Kenton 
County], Kentucky. There are four children [the mother(s) of these not 
identified by the author]: (1) J. S., (2) S. M. E., (3) S. E., and (4) 
Carrie L. Mr. ROBERTS has been Justice of the Peace, and is now a 
Republican. He belongs to the Methodist Episcopal Church, of which he is a 
Trustee. [No founding or present members are given in the text for the 
Methodist church in the Town of Fayette, which was the first church built in 
that town, in 1854. By 1881 there were three churches in the Town of 
Fayette, two Methodist and one Free Will Baptist. Before its organization in 
1849, the Town of Fayette was known as Prairie Precinct. John ROBERTS is 
listed as the Vice President of the Lafayette County Agricultural Society in 
1861 and 1879, and one of three Vice Presidents in 1867.]

[No houses were built in the Village of Fayetteville until 1845, and (from 
page 636) "in that year, John ROBERTS, who still resides in the town, where 
he maintains the only hotel, put up a tavern, a frame structure, one story 
high, located on the main street, opposite Mr. ROBERTS' present caravansary, 
and was known as the tavern. Here immigrants came and found shelter, 
travelers, adventurers, and speculators, and received a welcome."]

[Miscellaneous Mentions of ROBERTS in this Source: The years between 1830 
and 1840 saw the greatest influx of settlers in what became the town of 
Shullsburg, Lafayette County. Among their number were "Andrew, John and 
David ROBERTS." (p 659) The Methodist Episcopal Church in Belmont was 
organized in 1868, and listed among its founding members is a "James 
ROBERTS." (p 622) The church was erected in 1869-1870. No ROBERTS is listed 
among the 1881 members listed in the text.]

Submitted by Cathy Kubly