My Genealogy Hound

WILLIS R. ROBERTS. The name of Roberts is one of the most common among people of Welsh descent, because of the fact that Robert is one of the common first names so-called. The custom that formerly prevailed of using the connective “ap,” for “son of,” so that the children of Robert were John ap Robert, Thomas ap Robert, and so on, which in the course of time as an “S” was added to the surname and the “ap” dropped, became John Roberts, Thomas Roberts, etc., is at least partly responsible for the great number of Roberts families that now exist in this state and throughout the country.

The ancestor of Willis Read Roberts was Aaron Roberts, born about 1682. It was not until recently that the names of the parents of Aaron Roberts were ascertained. In a letter of removal which the father of Aaron brought with him to this country in 1690, his name is given as Robert Ellis. It is believed that he afterwards signed his name Ellis Robert, although it has been suggested that this may have been the signature of one of his sons. Robert Ellis is said to have come to Pennsylvania at the time that Hugh Roberts, a noted minister among Friends, one of the early settlers of Merion township, Montgomery county, Pennsylvania, returned to this country after a religious visit to his old home in Wales. Hugh had previously located in Merion, about 1683.

The letter of removal given by the quarterly meeting at Tyddyny Gareg to Robert Ellis, as the name was understood at that time; is very interesting, speaking of himself and his wife, Elin Ellis, as having been Preachers of Righteousness to and amongst their neighbors, they having been “convinced of the Truth about twenty years before” (that is, about 1670). At the same meeting a very beautiful letter was given to Hugh Roberts, then returning to Pennsylvania after a religious visit in which he had ministered very acceptably to Friends in Wales.

The first son of Robert and Elin Ellis was Abel. He married Mary Prince, in 1701, and he signs the marriage certificate as Abel Robert. In the family column of names on his marriage certificate, immediately under the names of himself and wife according to the custom of that day, appear the names of Moses Robert, Ellis Robert, Aaron Robert and Evan Robert. These are the names of four of the children of Robert Ellis as given in the letter of removal which has been mentioned, and it may be taken for granted that these four were his children and the brothers of Abel Robert.

Willis R. Robert is the son of John and Mary Adamson (Read) Roberts. He was born in Norristown, Pennsylvania, December 9, 1854. He was educated in the public schools and the high school of Norristown, and also took a course and received the degree of Ph. B. from the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor, Michigan. He was employed for a number of years at the office of the Norristown Herald, in the capacity of business manager. Later he secured a position with The Religious Press Association, a prominent Philadelphia establishment, with which he has ever since been connected. He married, June 3, 1880, Margaret M. Jamison, born June 4, 1856. They have three sons: Willis Read, born May 1, 1881; Victor Jamison, born January 29, 1883; and Paul Greir, born November 15, 1888. In politics Mr. Roberts is a Republican, but he has never sought public office, preferring to attend strictly to business. In religious faith he and his family are members of the First Presbyterian church of Norristown, he being an elder of the church. They reside in the old Jamison mansion at the corner of DeKalb and Airy streets.

John Roberts (father) was the son of John and Rachel (Shoemaker) Roberts. He was born at Norristown, November 8, 1823, and died December 20, 1864. He married November 1, 1849, Mary Adamson Read, daughter of Thomas and Sarah (Corson) Read. She was a most estimable woman, and survived her husband nearly thirty years. She was born September 14, 1824, and died February 4, 1894. Their children were: (1) Elihu Read, born December 12, 1851, married September 3, 1891, Isabella Webster, born August 19, 1856, of Philadelphia. They have one child, Gene Roberts, born November 9, 1893. (2) Willis R., subject of this sketch. (3) Nellie Jones Roberts, born November 17, 1858, died March 11, 1863. (4) Joseph, born April 4, 1864, died January 2, 1865. Elihu Roberts and Isabella Webster were married September 3, 1891. He is a prominent citizen of Norristown, an earnest Republican, and has represented the third ward for many years in town council. He has been president of that body for a number of years, and is a model presiding officer.

John Roberts (grandfather) was the son of Joseph and Hannah (Rees) Roberts. They resided near where Norristown has since been located, in Norriton township. John Roberts was born Ninth-mo. 8, 1769. He married Twelfth-mo. 10, 1801, Rachel Shoemaker, a member of an old Montgomery county family of German descent.

Joseph Roberts (great-grandfather) was the son of Aaron and Sarah (Longworthy) Roberts. Joseph Roberts was born in Norriton township, Ninth-mo. 11, 1729, and married, Eleventh- mo. 13, 1757, Hannah Rees, of an old family of Welsh descent.

Aaron Roberts (great-great-grandfather), born about 1682, married, Eighth-mo. 6, 1727, Sarah Longworthy, of an English family. He was the son of Robert Ellis, whose certificate from meeting at Tyddyny Gareg, in Merionethshire, Wales, is dated Fifth-mo. 28, 1690, and Elin (Ellen), his wife. Robert and Elin Ellis had seven children, as follows: Abel, Moses, Ellis, Aaron, Evan, Rachel, and Jane, all of whose surnames were Roberts, or at that time Robert. When they came to Pennsylvania in 1690, Robert Ellis and his wife were probably both of middle age (probably forty or fifty years old) when they came to this country in company with Hugh Roberts. Aaron, who was their fourth child, was probably eight or ten years of age at that time. Aaron bought land in Norriton township, in or near what is now Norristown, in 1714. His marriage with Sarah Longworthy, of Radnor, took place in 1727.

The maternal grandparents of Willis Read Roberts, Thomas and Sarah (Corson) Read, resided at what is now known as Mancill’s Mill, in Upper Merion township, a short distance below Port Kennedy, for many years. Thomas Read was a native of Delaware county, Pennsylvania, as were also his parents, William and Susan Read. Sarah Corson, his wife, was the fourth child of Joseph and Hannah (Dickinson) Corson, who lived beyond childhood. She was born December 13, 1793, in Plymouth township, Montgomery county, Pennsylvania, on what has since been known as the Campbell farm, near Hickorytown. In 1816 she married Thomas Read. They lived for a short time at Hickorytown, and then removed to Pawling’s Bridge, in Chester county, Pennsylvania, next to the farm and mill in Upper Merion township, and finally to Norristown, where both died, Thomas on September 23, 1856, Sarah on May 8, 1859. Their children were: Susan, born October 6, 1817, died at the age of seven years; Sarah, born September 13, 1819, married Charles Jones; Hannah, born January 2, 1822, married George Schultz, and was for many years a widow and died September 16, 1901; Mary Adamson, mother of Elihu R. and Willis R. Roberts; Edwin, died in infancy; Louis Wernwag, surgeon-general of Pennsylvania, and one of the most eminent physicians and surgeons of his time: Joseph Corson, married Minnie Burrins; Alan Wright, who resided abroad and died unmarried December 29, 1901, at Copenhagen, Denmark. Sarah Corson Read belonged to a family distinguished in the line of medical and other attainments. She was a sister of Dr. William Corson, of Norristown, and of Dr. Hiram Corson, of Plymouth Meeting, as well as of Allan W. Corson, a celebrated teacher, horticulturist and mathematician, of Plymouth Meeting. All her children are deceased.