Descendants of Robert Richford
ROBERTS and Elizabeth OLDHAM
as of 11 December 2002
Generation No. 1
Return to Roberts
Outline
1. Robert Richford4 ROBERTS (Robert Morgan3, John2,
John1) was born 2 Aug 1778 in Frederick Co. MD1,2,
and died 26 Mar 1843 in Lawrence Co. IN3. He married Elizabeth OLDHAM Feb 17994. She was born 8 Nov 17755.
Notes for
Robert Richford ROBERTS:
1800 PA
Census: Mercer Co. township not stated, p. 458, line 4
Series
M32, roll 39
Robert
ROBERTS Jr.
Males: 1 (16-26)
Females: 1 (16-26)
_______________________________________________
Dumas
Malone, editor, Dictionary of American Biography, (New York:
Charles Scribner's Sons, MCMXLIII), volume XVI, p. 15:
[excerpt]
"His
Conference reproved him in 1808 for neglecting his appointments. That same year
he started for the General Conference to be held in Baltimore with only a
dollar in his pocket, and biscuits, cheese, and oats in his saddle-bags. During
the session he preached to the Methodists of Baltimore with such acceptance
that on their request Bishop Asbury stationed him there."
1810 MD
Census: Baltimore Co. Baltimore, Ward 7, p. 85, line 18
Series
M252, roll 13
Robert R.
ROBERTS
Males: 1 (26-45)
Females: 1 (26-45)
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1820 PA
Census: Mercer Co. Salem Twp. p. 161, line 14
Series
M33, roll 107
Robert
ROBERTS
Males: 1 (<10); 1 (26-45)
Females: 2 (<10); 1 (16-26)
1 engaged
in agriculture
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1830 IN Census:
Lawrence Co. Township not stated, p. 91, line 5
Series
M19, roll 26
Robert R.
ROBERTS
Males: 1 (10-15); 1 (50-60)
Females: 1 (15-20); 1 (50-60)
4 family
members total
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H.W.
Beckwith, History of Iroquois County [Illinois], Chicago: H.H. Hill & Co., 1880, pp. 640
"To
Robert R. Roberts, one of the honored bishops of the Methodist church, belongs
the honor of purchasing the first land in Ash Grove, while through his
influence, and we may safely say through his charity, the first settlement was
effected."
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1840 IN
Census: Lawrence Co. Township not stated, p. 213, line 27
Series
M704, roll 86
R.R.
ROBERTS
Males: 1 (20-30); 1 (50-60)
Females: 1 (20-30); 1 (50-60)
4 family
members total; 1 engaged in a learned profession
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History
of Mercer County, Pennsylvania, Chicago, Ill., Brown, Runk
& Co., 1888, volume I, pp. 269-270
Methodist
Church.--Methodism made its appearance in the county about the close of the
last century. The pioneer was, doubtless, Rev. R.R. Roberts, afterward so well
known as Bishop Roberts. He was born in Frederick County, Md., August 2, 1778.
In 1785 he removed with his father to Westmoreland County, Penn., where he
continued to reside until the spring of 1796, when, at the age of eighteen, in
company with his brother Thomas and three other young men of his neighborhood,
he started to make his fortune in a yet newer country. The point finally
reached was the tract lying north of what is now called Leech's Corners, where
he began a settlement by erecting a log cabin. In the spring of 1797 Thomas and
Lewis Roberts, in company with Rev. Jacob Gurwell, a
local Methodist preacher, made their appearance in the settlement, and
continued to share its hardships. The privations of those pioneers make an
interesting narrative, but cannot be given here. This is the introduction of
Methodism into Mercer County.
Mr.
Roberts began to preach in 1801, and subsequently became famous in his church.
In the year 1798 the parents of Mr. Roberts moved to the neighborhood in which
he had settled. They were soon followed by the Stevensons,
the Walkers, the McLeans, the Dumars,
etc., all of whom were members of the Methodist Church. The two Irish local
preachers, Jacob Gurwell and Thomas McClelland,
settled in the same district, and began their work by preaching in log cabins
and groves and wherever people could be assembled to hear them. The class
formed at that time, of which R.R. Roberts was leader, became the nucleus of
Methodism in the Shenango Valley. It included R.R.
Roberts, Thomas McClelland and wife, James Stevenson and wife, William Lindsey
and wife, William McGranahan and wife, John Caughey and wife, John Rodgers and wife, William McLean and
wife, William Stewart and Nancy Wilson. A year or two later the inflowing tide
of inhabitants extended southward and established what was known as the south
class, embracing George McFetridge and wife, Thomas Dumars and wife, John Waters and wife, Rev. Jacob Gurwell and wife, Bradson Gibbons
and wife, Morris Dunlavy and wife, William Gurwell and wife, and in 1802 John Leech and wife; some
twenty-two all told.
Mr.
Roberts had, in February, 1799, been married in Ligonier to Miss Elizabeth
Oldham, of York County. She, in company with her husband and Lewis Roberts,
about two weeks after marriage, rode on horseback through the woods to their
new home in the Shenango Valley. She was mounted on a
good horse, with cooking utensils and a blanket strapped to the saddle. As they
were going through a dense forest, her brother-in-law being ahead with the
provisions, she and her husband were compelled to stop over night in the woods.
Building a fire, they lay under their blankets, but were not permitted to sleep
on account of the howling of the fierce wolves about them. Thus they spent the supperless night.
________________________________________________
History
of Mercer County, Pennsylvania, Chicago, Ill., Brown, Runk
& Co., 1888, volume I, pp. 577-578
Salem
Township
Pioneers.--In
the spring of 1796 a party consisting of John Caughey,
Robert Roberts and James Hubanks, intent upon
securing homes in the new territory of the northwest, which had been thrown
open to settlement just four years before by the act of 1792, arrived in what
is now the township of Salem, from Westmoreland County. Roberts in after time,
became known as the celebrated Bishop Roberts, afterward conspicuous in
Methodist Church history. The party which thus arrived had set out from
Westmoreland County on foot, carrying all their provisions and equipage on
their backs. Each of the party had a gun, with the exception of Roberts. When
the company left Westmoreland County it was larger by two than when it arrived
in Salem Township. A brother of Robert Roberts, Thomas by name, and William
McLean started on the expedition. As they reached a point on the Allegheny,
afterward known as Freeport, their hearts failed them and they turned back.
Thomas endeavored to induce his younger brother Robert, then only eighteen
years of age, to return to the settlements with him, but the lad spiritedly
declined, stating that he was not afraid of a little hardship. In Elliot's Life
of Roberts, we find that on the third day after the return of Roberts and
McLean, the remainder of the party, who had been pushing resolutely forward,
reached what was known as the old Venango path, which they followed to its
intersection with French Creek. Here a short stop was made, and after a brief
council they determined to follow the stream up to the mouth of the Cussawago (now Meadville). After they had arrived at the
place they retraced their steps for a distance of eight miles, and then pushed
off in a southwesterly direction until they arrived at the headwaters of the
Little Shenango. Following the custom of all early
pioneers, as soon as they reached a suitable spot for location, they halted and
built their cabins. The point at which this was done was located about a mile
north of the residence occupied for a number of years by John Leech, Sr. Here
they at once began clearings, commencing their operations by girdling the
trees. In the course of a few weeks two strangers appeared and asked the
privilege of joining them in their labors. The names of these are not related,
nor has inquiry found out. The "Life" referred to states that after a
brief time the provisions of the party were exhausted. Wild game, of course,
was abundant, deer being especially so, but fresh meat became a monotonous diet
when depended upon altogether. So the whole party walked to Meadville and
packed their goods home on their backs. They purchased seed potatoes and corn,
paying $3 per bushel for the former and $2 for the latter. These trips were
repeated at different intervals. Upon one occasion young Roberts started back
from Meadville with some sugar in his arms. It was on Sunday. A rain which fell
dissolved it, leaving the party to do without their sweets. Roberts believed
that the accident was a direct punishment from God for their wickedness in
traveling on His holy day.
In the
following June Roberts and Hubanks returned to
Westmoreland County, leaving Caughey to look after
their interests, and, in accordance with the act of 1792, to occupy their
tracts and keep them free from intruding squatters. Caughey,
however, was not destined to long remain alone in the township, for in the same
spring a party, consisting of Stephen Riley, William Lindsay, Lewis and Thomas
Roberts, from Ligonier, and Rev. Jacob Gurwell, entered
and began settlements. Some accounts say that John Caughey
had returned to the populous regions, and came back to his new land in company
with the party. At any rate, the new-comers entered the region of Salem
Township and prepared to secure land claims. The two Roberts brothers and Gurwell shortly afterward returned to the place whence they
had come, intending to replenish their store of provisions, which had run low.
They promised to be back in a short time. Weeks and months ensued, but they
came not. Riley also returned home, and Lindsay was left to meet starvation. He
subsisted for an almost unendurable period on squirrels and other small game.
But this proved so weakening that he was almost prostrated, when, upon looking
out his cabin door, he beheld a party of whites approaching, which made his
heart beat with joy. It comprised the Roberts family, including the father,
three sons and one daughter, Elizabeth, the first woman ever in the territory.
The new-comers brought abundant supplies, and also a few head of stock, with
which to begin farming in earnest.
During
the two following winters Robert, the future bishop, and his sister Elizabeth
were left in the wilderness to guard the cabins, the remainder of the party
having returned to Ligonier. It is related that during the long winter days,
when there was nothing to do inside, Robert would take his rifle and depart on
a hunting expedition into the surrounding forests, leaving his sister to pass
the day alone. There was, fortunately, nothing to frighten her, as the few
Indians who lived in the vicinity at the time were generally peaceful, and all
had a high respect for the plucky woman. At night she used to take her station
on the cabin roof, and by shouting at the top of her voice guide her brother in
to his home. His answer to this signal was always a gunshot, which he fired to
let her know he was coming. In the spring of 1798 Lindsay, Caughey
and Robert Roberts settled permanently in the township, and became thereafter
prominently identified with its history and development. Lindsay became
Elizabeth's husband, while Caughey married her
sister.
_______________________________________________
Rossiter Johnson, Ph.D., LL.D., The Twentieth Century Biographical
Dictionary of Notable Americans; Boston:
The Biographical Society, 1904, volume IX [Qua-Stearns], no page number
ROBERTS,
Robert Richford, M.E. bishop, was born in Frederick county, Md., Aug. 2, 1778;
son of Robert Morgan and Mary (Richford) Roberts; grandson of Thomas Richford
of Kent county, Md. His paternal great-grandfather was a native of Wales. He
removed to Ligonier valley, Westmoreland county, Pa., with his parents in 1785,
received a limited education and worked on a farm until 1802. He united with
the Methodist Episcopal church in 1792, and in 1796 removed to Shenango, now Mercer, county, Pa. He was married in 1798 to
Elizabeth, daughter of Thomas Oldham of York county, Pa. He was licensed to
preach in 1800, and was received on trial in the itinerant ministry of the
Methodist Episcopal church by the Baltimore conference in 1802, and appointed
to the Carlisle, Pa., circuit. He was made deacon by Bishop Asbury, April 20,
1804, and elder, March 20, 1806, and served on various circuits in Maryland,
Pennsylvania and Virginia until consecrated bishop in the Methodist Episcopal
church by Bishop William McKendree, May 17, 1816. In
1819 he removed to Lawrence county, Ind., where he accomplished much for the
western missions. See his "Life" by the Rev. Charles Elliott (1853).
He died in Lawrence county, Ind., March 26, 1843.
_______________________________________________
Dumas
Malone, ed., Dictionary of American Biography; New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, MCMXLIII, volume XVI
[Robert-Seward], pp. 14-15
ROBERTS,
ROBERT RICHFORD (Aug. 2, 1778 -- Mar. 26, 1843), bishop of the Methodist
Episcopal Church for nearly twenty-seven years, was born in Frederick County,
Md. His father, Robert Morgan Roberts, of Welsh descent, was a farmer of small
means and a Revolutionary soldier; his mother, Mary, daughter of Thomas and
Esther Richford, was probably of Irish ancestry. Robert was one of thirteen
children and the third of that name, two others to whom it was given having
died when young. He was taught the rudiments of reading, writing, and
arithmetic and instructed in the catechism of the Church of England, of which
his father was a stanch adherent. In 1785 the family moved to Ligonier Valley,
Westmoreland County, Pa., undeveloped country where frontier conditions
prevailed. Although he was but seven years old, Robert's schooling was now
practically ended; his time was occupied in helping clear the land for
cultivation. Methodist preachers entered the neighborhood, and yielding to
their influence in spite of his father's Episcopalian prejudices, Robert was converted
and joined a Methodist society. In the spring of 1796, with several companions,
he made an exploratory expedition into the Shenango
district, now Mercer County, Pa., and the following year with two of his
brothers took up land there. For some five years he was a frontiersman, living
in a log cabin, clearing land, planting crops, fishing, hunting, and selling
furs. In January 1799 he married Elizabeth, daughter of Thomas and Hannah
Oldham of York County, Pa.
From the
time of his conversion he was regarded by his Methodist associates as suited
for the ministry. Although without education, he had a good mind, was sincerely
religious, and possessed the qualities of character that command confidence.
The Shenango settlement grew and a Methodist society
was formed there, Roberts becoming class leader. He was urged to become a
preacher but natural diffidence and a feeling of unpreparedness
held him back. In 1802, however, he applied for a license, which was granted,
and the same year he was admitted on trial to the Baltimore Conference. On Apr.
28, 1804, he was ordained deacon by Bishop Asbury, and on Mar. 20, 1806, elder.
The first years of his ministry were spent on long and hard circuits in
Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Virginia. He received little salary, was very poor,
and, unlike most of the itinerant preachers, was encumbered by a wife. In the
hope of adding to his means of support he built a mill on land he owned in Erie
County. This took him from his calling and caused some grumbling. One person,
zealous for the interests of the kingdom of God, harshly declared that "it
would be well for the people if his (Roberts') wife were dead and the mill
swept down the river" (Elliott, post, p. 131). His Conference reproved him
in 1808 for neglecting his appointments. That same year he started for the
General Conference to be held in Baltimore with only a dollar in his pocket,
and biscuits, cheese, and oats in his saddle-bags. During the session he
preached to the Methodists of Baltimore with such acceptance that on their
request Bishop Asbury stationed him there. Later he was appointed to Fell's Point (1810), Alexandria (1811), Georgetown (1812),
and Philadelphia (1813-14). In 1815 he became presiding elder of the Schuylkill
district. Owing to the death of Bishop Asbury and the illness of Bishop McKendree, it was necessary to elect a presiding officer at
the Philadelphia Conference of 1816, and Roberts was chosen. He filled the
chair with such dignity and displayed such well-balanced judgment that he
became the nominee of the Northern Conferences for bishop. The Westerners were
surprised and delighted to have one of their "fellow backwoodsmen"
put forward, and at the General Conference of 1816 he was elected.
For more than
a quarter of a century he performed the arduous duties of his office, involving
thousands of miles of travel to all sections of the country. Of more than
average height and of heavy frame, he was physically fitted for strenuous
activity, and his frontier training stood him in good stead. During the last
year of his life he visited six different states and four Indian territories,
on horseback and in carriage, stage, and steamboat covering 5,484 miles. He was
a simple, direct, and effective speaker, and a dignified, imperturbable, and
judicious administrator. "It was his peculiar temperament," says a
contemporary, "to pursue with steady and untiring perseverance whatever he
undertook, without even the appearance of zeal, or any movement that would
create the least noise, or attract the gaze of public attention to his course.
He was always silent, except when compelled to speak; he was in the rear and
shade, except when thrust out into observation…" (Elliott, pp. 256-57). In
some respects he remained a backwoodsman. His first episcopal
residence was his old cabin in Shenango; in 1819 he
moved to Lawrence County, Ind., where he had as a home another rough cabin,
built in part by himself. Here he died, and his body was buried in a cornfield
on his own farm. Soon, however, it was removed to the grounds of Indiana Asbury
University (now De Pauw), Greencastle, Ind.
[Chas.
Elliott, The Life of the Rev. Robert R. Roberts (1844); Minutes of the Ann.
Conferences of the M.E. Ch., for the Years 1842-1843 (1843); Ladies'
Repository, Apr. 1844; T.L. Flood and J.W. Hamilton, Lives of Meth. Bishops (1882); Abel Stevens, Hist.
of the M.E. Ch. in the U.S.A., vol. IV (1867).]
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Endnotes
1. Dumas Malone, editor, Dictionary of American
Biography, (New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, MCMXLIII), volume
XVI, p. 14.
2. Rev. Charles Elliott, D.D., The Life of
the Rev. Robert R. Roberts, (New
York: G. Lane & C.B. Tippett, 200 Mulberry Street, 1844), p. 13.
3. Dumas Malone, editor, Dictionary of
American Biography, (New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, MCMXLIII), volume
XVI, p. 14.
4. History of Mercer County, Pennsylvania, (Brown, Runk &
Co., Publishers, Chicago, IL, 1888), p. 270.
5. Rev. Charles Elliott, D.D., The Life of the
Rev. Robert R. Roberts, (New
York: G. Lane & C.B. Tippett, 200 Mulberry Street, 1844), p. 73.
Return to Roberts
Outline