Benjamin F Roberts

ROBERTS

Posted By: County Coordinator (email)
Date: 4/26/2010 at 11:14:16

Boone county lost one of its valued and representative citizens when Benjamin F Roberts passed away on ay 22, 1899, for he had been a resident of Harrison township form 1857. He came to Iowa from New York, having been born in Jefferson county, the Empire state, in 1830. His parents were Dr Hugh and Betsy (Burdick) Roberts, who were also natives of New York, where they spent their entire lives. The were of Quaker faith and the father was a practicing physician, who also owned and supervised a farm.
Benjamin F Roberts was reared in his native county, where he learned the wagon makers trade following that pursuit in the east until 1857, when he removed westward to Boone county and began farming in what was then Jackson, but now Harrison township. In his work he met with a large measure of success. He kept in tough with the advanced methods of farming brought his land t a high state of cultivation, and as improved machinery was placed upon the market, he became a purchaser thereof and thus facilitated his farm work. His place ever presented a neat and attractive appearance, and the result of his labors was attainment of a gratifying competence.
In Jefferson county, New York, on August 24, 1854, Mr Roberts was untied in marriage to Miss Elizabeth Houghton, who was born in Jefferson county, New York, September 6, 1835, a daughter of Elijah and Harriet (Dopking) Houghton, who were natives of Massachusetts and New York respectively and were farming people. Mr and Mrs Roberts became the parents of two daughters, Harriett Estella is he wife of J R McNaughton, a farmer living at Cedar Rapids, Linn county, Iowa, and they have four children: Mrs Ollie Delany, Mrs Lillian Privett, Earl of Des Moines, and Benjamin F a student of the Art Institute of Chicago. Emma who was married July 31, 1884 to William F Boggs, who was for many years a hardware merchant of Streator, Illinois, and for five years conducted business at Story, Iowa. He has followed farming in Boone county, operating the Roberts farm in Harrison township. He was born July 10, 1854, in Clarion county, Pennsylvania, and in 1857 was taken to Illinois by his parents, Robert M and Isabella May (Baumgardner) Boggs. They remained in Illinois until 1873, when they removed to Plainview, Nebraska, where they resided until they passed away. William F Boggs attended the high school. He afterward entered the hardware business an din 1889 formed a partnership at Streator, Illinois, becoming a member of the firm of McFeely, Boggs Company. In 1905 MR Boggs withdrew from that firm and removed from Streator to Story, Iowa, where he engaged in the hardware business for five years. On May 5, 1910, he arrived in Boone, where he has since made his home, and is today one of the valued and respected residents of this city. Mr and Mrs Boggs have one son, Sidney R who is a graduate of the Boone high school of the class of 1914. Mr Boggs served for five years as a member of the state militia of Illinois. His political allegiance is given to the republican party, and while in Streator he served as a member of the board of education for nine years. He belongs to the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, the Modern Woodmen of America and the Knights of the Globe. Since 1884 he has been a member of the Methodist Episcopal church and he is interested in the Young Men’s Christian Association.
In his political views Benjamin F Roberts was a stalwart republican, supporting the party from its organization until his demise. He was a man of progressive views ad ideas. He helped to build the first agricultural college, donating liberally to the institution and attending in 1859 the first picnic on the campus, tighter with Mrs Roberts, who also attended the last one, held in 1909. While fifteen years have come and gone since Mr Roberts passed away, he is yet remembered by many citizens of Harrison township and other sections of the county, who esteemed him highly because of his any excellent traits of character, his public spirited devotion to the general good and his loyalty in friendship.

1914 Boone County History Book