| WOODSON COUNTIES, KANSAS. | 447 cont'd |
THOMAS W. ROBERTS.
THOMAS W. ROBERTS, one of the energetic young farmers of Elsmore township, Allen county, was born in Washington county, Indiana, on the 3rd of August, 1857. His father, John L. Roberts, was also a native of the Hoosier state, and there wedded Miss Laura Edwards, one of Indiana's daughters. In early life John L. Roberts engaged in teaching school, but at the breaking out of the Civil war he put aside all personal considerations, donned the blue and joined the One Hundred and Seventeenth Indiana Infantry, with which he saw some hard service during the winter of 1862-3. His regiment was in eastern Tennessee and marched all over that section of the country from Camp Nelson, Kentucky, to Cumberland Gap, and to Greenville, Tennessee. They were only about half clothed and their food supply was cut down three-quarters. They were hemmed in in that district, being unable to communicate with the main branch of the army and thus were forced to undergo much suffering. In the spring of 1863 they marched back to Camp Nelson and by train Mr. Roberts proceeded to Indianapolis, Indiana, where he was honorably discharged by reason of the expiration of his term of service. In 1865 he removed to Illinois where he engaged in farming until 1876 and then went with his family to California, but after a year he returned to the Prairie state, remaining there until the spring of 1885 when he came to Kansas and purchased two hundred and forty acres of land two miles northeast of Elsmore. There he resided until his death which occurred in February 1896, when he was sixty-three years of age. His wife still survives him and is now living on the old homestead with her son, Thomas W.
The subject of this review is the only surviving member of their family of six children. He has assumed the management and care of the farm, making a good home for his mother and relieving her of all responsibility. He was reared in Indiana and in his boyhood days pursued his education in the common schools, while later he continued his studies in Ashbury University at Green Castle, that state. He afterward engaged in teaching, spending one year as a teacher in Illinois. After the death of his father he abandoned teaching in order to take charge of the farm which he has since successfully conducted. He raises cattle, hogs and horses and the well-
| 448 | HISTORY OF ALLEN AND |
tilled fields yield to him good harvests. There is a comfortable residence and modern improvements upon the place and everything about the farm is neat and thrifty in appearance, indicating his careful supervision.
On the 26th of October, 1890, Mr. Roberts was united in marriage to Miss Sarah A. Canaday, a native of Indiana. They have never had any children of their own, but have adopted a little daughter. In his political views Mr. Roberts is a Republican and he keeps well informed on the issues of the day. In farming, as in teaching, he has met with success and is now numbered among the energetic and reliable agriculturists of his community.
Pages 447-448, transcribed by Carolyn Ward from History of Allen and Woodson Counties, Kansas: embellished with portraits of well known people of these counties, with biographies of our representative citizens, cuts of public buildings and a map of each county / Edited and Compiled by L. Wallace Duncan and Chas. F. Scott. Iola Registers, Printers and Binders, Iola, Kan.: 1901; 894 p., [36] leaves of plates: ill., ports.; includes index.
