THOMAS N. ROBERTS
Thomas N. Roberts was born in Wesley township, Washington county, Ohio, December 13, 1832. He is the son of Adolph and Elizabeth (Crosby) Roberts, both of whom are natives of Pennsylvania. His father was born on the 21st of November, 1802, and with his parents settled in Ohio previous to the war of 1812. His mother was born June 18, 1803. When she was seven years of age, her parents removed to Ohio. After his marriage, Adolph removed to Washington county, Ohio, where he bought timber land, clearing a portion of it. In 1836 he sold and removed to Athens county, and purchased timber land, erecting on it a log cabin, where, with his family, he resided until 1843, in which year he sold his place and removed to the, then, Territory of Iowa. His family then consisted of himself, wife and seven children. The journey westward was made with one team of horses, provisions and household goods being thus transported from Ohio. Arriving west of the. Mississippi, they selected a location in Louisa county, which after a trial of one and a half years, they gave up for a more desirable one in Linn county, his farm there being on the present site of Cedar Rapids. In August, 1849, they removed to Johnson county, where Adolph had previously entered land, located in Penn township. he died there in 1872, but his widow still occupies the homestead. Thomas N. made his home with his parents until 1851, when he entered a blacksmith shop in Cedar Rapids, as an apprentice. He served nearly three years, then returned home and built a shop on the old homestead, where he worked at his trade and managed his father's farm three years. He then opened a shop in West Liberty, where he worked at his trade until August 13, 1862, when he enlisted in company E, Twenty-eighth Iowa Volunteer Infantry, serving three years. Among the more important engagements in which he took part, were the following: Port Gibson, Edwards Station, Champion Hill, siege of Vicksburg, Sabine Cross Roads, Perryville, Winchester and Cedar Creek. He was wounded at Winchester, where a ball took a piece off the top of his ear. He was taken prisoner, at Sabine Crossroads, on the 8th of April, 1864, and detained as a prisoner of war, at Mansfield, Louisiana, until June 11, of the same year, when he was paroled, and went to New Orleans, where he remained until August 4, 1864, when he rejoined his regiment in Virginia. He was mustered out with the regiment on the 31st of July, 1865. He returned to Johnson county, and, Cincinnatus-like took up his old occupation of farming. Here he remained until 1873, when he came to Cass county, and located on section 2, in Pleasant township, where he has erected good buildings and has his farm in a state of high cultivation. He was married in 1855, to Maria Dean, daughter of David and Melinda (Beckwith) Dean, who were the first settlers of Buckingham township, Tama county, in 1852, and were among the pioneers of Wright county, in 1855. They have five children--William R., Gilford A., Thomas Everett, Emery E., and Orin Adolph.
Contributed by Lisa Varnes-Rex from "History of Cass County, Iowa. Together With Sketches of its Towns, Villages and Townships, Educational, Civil, Military and Political History: Portraits of Prominent Persons, and Biographies of Old Settlers and Representative Citizens." Springfield, Ill.: Continental Historical Company, 1884, pp. 813-814.
