Henry Oliver Roberts
Henry Oliver Roberts, one of the old and representative citizens of Cross Creek Township, Jefferson County, Ohio, who owns the homestead farm of 200 acres, was born on this farm December 11, 1836, and is a son of William and Sarah (Mansfield) Roberts.
William Roberts was born in Harrison County. Ohio, and came to the present farm when it was yet in a comparatively wild state. He labored hard to clear his land but was overtaken by disease and for a number of years before his death was an invalid and was practically helpless and dependent upon the sturdy strength of his youngest son, Henry Oliver, who proved faitliful to every demand made upon him. In this connection, the latter recalls when a blast from the horn would call him from the distant fields where he would be working, to return to the house in order to make his ailing father more comfortable. The father was not forgetful of this tilial care and in his last will and testament gave this son 109 acres of the home farm. William Roberts married Sarah Mansfield, who was also born in Harrison County, Ohio, and was a daughter of Thomas Mansfield, and to them were born the following children: Rachel, deceased, who was the wife of Joseph Gladden; Mary, deceased, who was the wife of Robert Latimer; James, deceased, who was married first to Elizabeth Porter and after her death to Rachel Taylor, also now deceased; Matilda, deceased, who was the wife of Herdman Taylor; Thomas M., who was married first to Melissa Martin and after her death to Jane Watt, and third to Maria Maxwell, who is also deceased; William, deceased, who married Elizabeth McCullough, deceased; Sarah, deceased, who was the wife of William Cabel, now deceased; Esther Ann, deceased, who was the wife of Thomas Markle; Jane Kimble, who is the widow of Henrv Oliver Scott; and Henry Oliver.
Henry Oliver Roberts had few educational opportunities in his youth and all the schooling he received was in the old log schoolhouse that stood on a hill above his farm. When he was sixteen years old he had not only the farm duties to perform but also, as indicated above, to assist in the care of his invalid father. He continued to manage the farm and after the death of his mother, following that of his father, he bought the holdings of the other heirs and has continued to reside on the old place ever since. In the long course of years he has made many changes and improvements and this farm is numbered with the most valuable in the township.
On August 27, 1862, Mr. Roberts was married to Miss Caroline Crawford. Her parents were James and Anna (Taylor) Crawford and her grandparents were James and Sarah Crawford and Edward and Elinor Taylor. The Crawford family originated in Wales. The parents of Mrs. Roberts died on their farm in Cross Creek Township. They had the following children: Abel J., who was married first to Mary Hammond and secondly to Mrs. Rachel C. Bracken; Edward T., deceased, who married Virginia Hammond; Serena, deceased, who was the wife of E. T. Ekey; Caroline, who married a Mr. Roberts; Harriet, deceased, who was the wife of Frank B. Smith; Emma Jane, who is the wife of Rev. W. D. Slease, a minister in the Methodist Church; and James H., who married Martha Smith.
Mr. and Mrs. Roberts have the following children: Anna, who married H. H. Vermilion and they have two children, Carrie E. and Edward R.; James C, who married Bertha Cameron and they have three children, Olivia, James C, Jr., and Eugene A.; William N., who married Elizabeth Welday Warren, and they have one daughter, Elizabeth M.; Edward H., who married Olive Birney, and they have two children, Birney H. and Harriet Crawford; Sarah Maud, who married James McConnell, and they have three sons, William Henry, Charles Ross and James Ernest; and Mary Oliver and Carrie Slease, twins, the former of whom is a school teacher and the latter resides with her parents and is engaged in household duties. Mr. and Mrs. Roberts were both reared under Methodist discipline and they and their four children are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church. Mr. Roberts is identified with the Republican party but has never been a seeker for office. He has taken a great interest, however, in educational affairs in his township and for twelve years served as school director.
From 20th Century History of Steubenville and Jefferson County, Ohio, by Joseph B. Doyle. Richmond-Arnold Publishing Co., Chicago, 1910