
| 1. Rena May ROBERTS, b. 14 February 1876 | |
| 2. Walter Elijah ROBERTS, b. 18 July 1878 | |
| 3. Lenora May ROBERTS, b. 26 May 1890 | |
| 4. Howard Ernest ROBERTS, b. 21 August 1885 | See Howard Ernest ROBERTS & Frances Theresa CARGILL OR Howard Ernest ROBERTS & Olive MILLER |
| 5. Arthur J ROBERTS, b. December 1887 | |
| 6. Minnie L ROBERTS, b. 1873 | See William H BARROWS & Minnie L ROBERTS OR John Arthur HABERSHON & Minnie L ROBERTS |
Other Marriages/Unions for Ann KNIBBS:
See Orville Albert ROOT & Ann KNIBBS
Notes for Elijah ROBERTS:
We can see Elijah Roberts in 1870 living at Farmington with his parents and siblings:
Elijah Roberts 49 Farmer England
Sally Roberts 44 England
Elijah Roberts 22 Farm Labourer England
Enoch Roberts 11 Connecticut
William Roberts 8 Connecticut
Harriet Roberts 7 Connecticut
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The 1880 US Federal Census has it that Elijah was born in England, but so far, I don't know where for sure. However, FreeBMD has one Elijah ROBERTS being born at the right time, and that was in the 3rd quarter of 1848 in the District of St Austell, Cornwall, England.
Making it even more interesting, there is a marriage between an Elijah ROBERTS and a Sally RICHARDS in the same District of St Austell, Cornwall, England in the 3rd quarter of 1843.
We know from the 1880 US Federal Census that there is an Elijah and Sally Roberts living at Farmington, Connecticut - so - it is a reasonable assumption that these are the parents of Elijah, and they emigrated as a family when Elijah Jr. was a young boy, probably in the 1850's? Maybe?
Whilst I accept this is by no means certain, I consider that the name Sally was fairly uncommon in those days, so I suspect that to find a Sally and Elijah Roberts in the same area of Cornwall, and then again in Hartford County Connecticut, AND associated with an Elijah Roberts of the right age must surely be more than coincidental.
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West District School, Unionville, Connecticut.
This is a picture of the schoolhouse at West District, Unionville that was built by Elijah in 1871-2 as a replacement for the old stone school.
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Elijah Roberts was listed in the 1887-1888 City Directory as:
Roberts, Elijah j., Carpenter, h 6 Woodruff
So too is his brother Charles:
Roberts, Charles A., Horse Shoer, Plants pl, Pv, h West n Center
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Elijah and Annie can be seen in the 1880 US Federal Census living at Southington, Hartford County, Connecticut with a daughter Minnie. They also have William Stephens, aged 14 years living with them but I'm not sure who he was - maybe just a lodger.
Elijah ROBERTS Self M Male W 32 ENGLAND Carpenter ENGLAND ENGLAND
Annie ROBERTS Wife M Female W 28 ENGLAND Keeps House ENGLAND ENGLAND
Minnie L. ROBERTS Dau S Female W 7 CT ENGLAND ENGLAND
William STEPHENS Other S Male W 14 CT ENGLAND ENGLAND
We can also see who I believe are quite probably Elijah's parents and three of his siblings living at Farmington, Hartford, Connecticut at the 1880 census:
Elijah ROBERTS Self M Male W 59 ENG Laborer ENG ENG
Sally ROBERTS Wife M Female W 54 ENG Keeping House ENG ENG
Mattie ROBERTS Dau S Female W 26 CT ENG ENG
Enoch ROBERTS Son S Male W 21 CT Laborer ENG ENG
Hattie ROBERTS Dau S Female W 17 CT ENG ENG
I believe 'Mattie' and 'Hattie' are probably Martha and Helen who are named in the document identified below concerning the estate of their sister Elizabeth Y Judd.
Also, Elijah's sister Cecelia, already widowed, living at Cheshire, New Haven, Connecticut at the 1880 Federal Census:
Cecilia PECK Self W Female W 36 ENG Keep House ENG ENG
Hiram J. PECK Son S Male W 20 CT Farm CT CT
Mary H. PECK Dau S Female W 15 CT Home CT ENG
Clayton E. PECK Son S Male W 5 CT CT ENG
Clinton C. PECK Son S Male W 5 CT CT ENG
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I understand from his great-granddaughter Shirley Walter, that Elija died when his son Howard Ernest was aged about 7 years. Apparently he fell from a roof in Unionville, Connecticut and died. Shirley visited his grave at Southington, Connecticut which confirmed his dates of birth and death.
Shirley's uncle Howard E Roberts tells us how it was that Elijah had that fateful accident in 1893. Story had it that he'd been working with some other men. They were finished for the day, and Elijah realized that he'd left his level on top of the chimney. It was December and there was snow on the roof. The other men tried to convince him not to go back up but he did, and that's when he fell off.
From an unknown newspaper at that time:
FATAL ACCIDENT SATURDAY AFTERNOON
Death From the Effects of a Fall
E.J. Roberts of Plainville, a boss builder and contractor, fell from the scaffolding of a new house which he was building for John Taylor of South Burritt street Saturday afternoon and received injuries from the effect of which he died in half an hour. Mr. Roberts was standing upon a scafolding, nailing a corner board to the cornice when he slipped on a piece of ice and fell to the ground, a distance of twenty-five feet, striking on the top of his head. He was carried into Mr. Taylor's house near by and Dr. Stone was sent for, but medical aid was of no avail and the man died of concussion of the brain a few minutes after the doctor's arrival. The body was taken in charge by the Porter brothers and taken to their undertaking establishment on Main Street. Yesterday morning the body was taken to Plainville. The funeral will take place from his late home at Scott Swamp, Plainville, tomorrow at 12 o'clock. The burial will be in Southington, his native town.
Roberts formerly worked for O. F. Curtiss, the contractor and builder of this city, but some time ago he started in business on his own account. He was 43 years old, leaves a wife and three children aged 6, 8 and 16 years.
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A document given to me by Shirley Walter, concerning the estate of Elijah's sister Elizabeth Y Judd, indicated that Elijah had the following siblings:
Elizabeth Y Roberts Judd - died in abt. 1927
Celia A Roberts Peck - died before 1927 - born about 1844
Mrs Martha L Turner
Mrs Helen Willard - died before 1927
Albert Roberts - died before 1927
Enoch Roberts
Charles Roberts - died before 1927
Mrs Henry Rice
Sources for Elijah ROBERTS:
Notes for Ann KNIBBS:
Also known as: Annie or /Anna/Ann's great-granddaughter Shirley Walter visited her grave at Southington, Connecticut which confirmed her dates of birth and death.
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A picture of Ann Knibbs taken, I would guess, when she was still married to Elijah Roberts.
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Another 5 generation photograph showing on the right, James Knibbs b. 1828 at Clifton, Oxfordshire, England. He emigrated to Connecticut in the 1850's with his oldest daughter Ann (shown at the left of the picture). Ann Married Elijah ROBERTS and the lady standing in the picture is their daughter Minnie ROBERTS. The younger lady is Minnie's daughter, Irene YOUNG, with her daughter Una and son Archie. I believe the photograph is taken in about 1810.
Sadly, I'm not 100% certain of the name of Irene's daughter as all I have to go on is the hand written note on the back of the photograph. It could be Tina, Lina or Una.
Sources for Ann KNIBBS:
Notes for Rena May ROBERTS:
Shirley Walter visited her grave at Southington, Connecticut which confirmed her dates of birth and death, and her middle Christian name "May".
Sources for Rena May ROBERTS:
Notes for Walter Elijah ROBERTS:
Shirley Walter visited his grave at Southington, Connecticut which confirmed Walter's dates of birth and death as well as giving us his middle Christian name "Elijah".
Sources for Walter Elijah ROBERTS:
Notes for Lenora May ROBERTS:
Also known as: /Minnie/Sources for Lenora May ROBERTS:
Notes for Arthur J ROBERTS:
We can see Arthur in the 1900 census return living with his mother and her second husband, Orville Root:
Orville A ROOT Head Apr 1840
Ann ROOT Wife May 1852
Arthur O ROBERTS Son Dec 1887
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Arthur married and had two children, Arthur Jr., and Ernest. We can see him in the 1920 census return living at Wolcott, New Haven, Ct. Ernest was then aged 8, and Arthur, 5. There was no wife or mother listed in the household but there was a housekeeper and her daughter:
Roberts Arthur J Head 32 Connecticut Carpenter
Roberts Earnest Son 8 Connecticut
Roberts Arthur Son 5 Connecticut
Knapp Emma Housekeeper 32 Germany Housekeeper
Knapp Doris M Boarder 8 Connecticut
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He's buried at Oak Hill Cemetery, Southington, Ct, USA
Sources for Arthur J ROBERTS:
Copyright © 2008 Don Knibbs
This page was created on 10 October 2008 using UncleGed ver. 9.01 Copyright © 1999-2007 D. M. DeBacker