Roberts, James

Born: 1829-12-26 Missouri

Died: 1863-02-17 Pekin, Illinois

Born in Potosi, Missouri, James Roberts was an attorney. He was admitted to the bar in Missouri in 1849 and began practicing law in Washington County, Missouri. He moved to Pekin, Illinois sometime in the early 1850s and continued practicing law. In November 1853, he married Ann Fowler Bage, with whom he had at least three children. He became a successful attorney with a large law practice, and tried well-known harvester patent cases in the U.S. Supreme Court. By 1860, he owned $2,000 in real estate and another $300 in personal property. He died of exhaustion from overwork.

History of Tazewell County Illinois (Chicago: Chas. C. Chapman, 1879), 388; U.S. Census Office, Seventh Census of the United States (1850), Washington County, MO, 172; Missouri, U.S., Compiled Marriages, 1805-2002, 9 November 1853, Jefferson County (Lehi, UT: Ancestry.com Operations, 2007); U.S. Census Office, Eighth Census of the United States (1860), Pekin, Tazewell County, IL, 66; Gravestone, Lakeside Cemetery, Pekin, IL.