My Genealogy Hound

GEORGE K. ROBERTS. The gentleman whose honored name appears at the head of this sketch is one of the old and prominent residents of Johnson County, having lived on his present excellent farm since 1860. This property is located on section 25, township 46, range 28, but the owner is retired from its management, and is enjoying the comforts which the toil of the early years of his life has made possible.

William R. Roberts, father of our subject, was a Kentucky farmer, and died in that state after having passed his eightieth birthday. He married Miss Margaret Tood, who lived to be about sixty-five years of age. To them were born three sons and three daughters. Of this household Margaret, Thomas and William are deceased; Jackson is living in Clay County, this state, and James is a resident of Madison County, Ky.

The subject of this sketch was the third child born to his parents, his birth occurring January 15, 1812, in Madison County, Ky., on his father’s farm, eight miles south of Richmond. Here he was reared to man’s estate, and although there were schools conducted on the subscription plan in the neighborhood, he was not permitted to attend very regularly, as his services were in demand on the farm. This temple of learning, however, was very primitive in its construction, being built of logs, with a fireplace in one end of the room and holes cut in the wall for windows, over which hung greased paper. The seats were rough boards with wooden pins inserted in the ends for legs, and some of the smaller pupils found great difficulty in mounting to their assigned places. Mr. Roberts was very quick to learn, and being observing, soon added to the fund of information gained from books by actual experience.

Our subject was married, when twenty-one years old, to Miss Elizabeth Rhodes, a native of Kentucky. They continued to live in the Blue Grass State until 1840, when they changed their location to Franklin County, Tenn., and later were residents of Coffee County, that state. In 1857 they came northward to Missouri and located in this township. Here he speculated in land, making money out of almost every transaction. He was considered an excellent judge of property, and when a tract came into his possession he held it until new settlers came in who desired to purchase, when he sold and located elsewhere. His first farm included one hundred and twenty acres, for which he paid $1,400, besides a few oxen and a few lots of which he was the owner. This estate he sold later for $3,686, and buying another farm for $800, afterward disposed of it at a profit of $400. He now makes a specialty of raising a good breed of hogs, which he ships in large numbers each year to the city markets. He has been a resident of his present farm for thirty-five years, and having devoted himself energetically to its cultivation during his younger years, he is now enabled to live comfortably.

To our subject and his wife has been born a large family of twelve children. Emily is the wife of A. Longacre, and lives in Kingsville. Samuel is deceased. Joseph was killed while in the service of his country during the late war. William Franklin married Miss Lacy, and their five children are Willie, Pearl, Callie, Carney and an infant. John Miller married Jennie Downey, and lives in Arkansas; they are the parents of six children, Ada, William, George, John (deceased), Anna and Bowen. Jackson, who lives on a farm three miles east of the home of his father, married Catherine Hays, and of the seven children born to them, two are deceased; they were named respectively, Anna, Bettie, Ada, Minnie Ruth, Maggie Lee, Alberta May and Allen. James Allen, whose home is also in this locality, married Nancy Wide, and has seven children, namely: John, James A., Thomas Lee, Mary Etta, Margaret Irene, Hattie Bell and Fannie Gertrude. Margaret Elizabeth is the widow of James Middleton Harmon, and her family included George William (now deceased), Tevis B. and Irene. Bradford married Wallace Thompson, and is residing in this county; their family comprised three daughters, Jessie, Nora F. and Pearl, of whom the two latter are deceased. Eliza Jane married J. Green, and is living in Bates County; their four children are Maude, Willis C., George K. and Lawrence R. George Washington married Julia Ferguson, and also makes his home in Bates County; he is the father of four children, William M., Ethel, Beulah and Nora Frances. One son died unnamed. Our subject is the grandfather of thirty-five grandchildren. His wife departed this life November 26, 1889, and his daughter Margaret Elizabeth now lives with him and superintends the housekeeping. She is a lady of refinement, and is a great comfort to her father, caring for him tenderly during his declining years.

In politics George K. Roberts is a stanch Democrat, and in religious affairs is a member of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church. He has been very influential in his community, and during his early years took an active part in everything pertaining to the welfare of his township.