John M. Roberts (abt. 1775 - 1852)

Born about 1775 in Rowan County, North Carolina

Husband of Sarah (Gheen) Roberts — married 1795 in Rowan County, North Carolina, USA

Descendants

Died 23 Jun 1852 at about age 77 in Lawrence County, Alabama, USA

Problems/Questions Profile managers: Lisa Young [send private message], Karen Martindill [send private message], and Kyle Roberts [send private message]

Biography

He was born about 1775 in Rowan County, North Carolina.

John M. Roberts married about 1795 in Rowan County, North Carolina, USA to Sarah Gheen ^{[1] [2]} (1776-1838).

He passed away on 23 Jun 1852 in Lawrence County, Alabama, USA and was buried at Old Town Creek Cemetery in Landersville County, Alabama, USA. ^[3]

Research Notes

Sources are needed to confirm his info ...

b: 28 Dec 1774 ? OR

b: 28 Dec 1777 ? OR

b: 28 Dec 1779 ?

transposition of day and month on marriage date ...

m: 1795/09/11 ?

m: 1795/11/09 ?

There are some ongoing disputes as to John's full name and birth year. Many family trees use the letter "M" for his middle initial and some even say it is Marion. Maybe that mystery will someday be solved. But no records to date prove it either way. The bigger issue is his birth year. Again many trees list it as 1779. However if that is the case then his wife Sarah would have been 4 years older than he was. She would have been 19 and he would have been 15. There is also a big disparity between the two families. The Roberts were in a far less social standing than the Gheen's and I doubt her father would have approved of the marriage if he were that much younger than her.

Also at this time there is no clear concise record of who our John Roberts parents were. Anyone claiming to know for sure cannot back the claim up with undisputed documentation. There were several John Roberts' in Rowan County, North Carolina and they are mixed up quite frequently. I can state unequivocally that Edmond Roberts was most definitely not and I repeat NOT! his father!

The Matthew Roberts Family Bible was transcribed and records were printed stating John's birth year was 1779. Several descendants have seen the original hand written records from the bible and claim that 1779 was actually 1774. 4's and 9's are transcribed incorrectly quite often. Further evidence for 1774 is the 1850 Lawrence County, Alabama census with John living with his son Howard. This record stated his age in 1850 was 76. That would make the birth year 1774.

The Matthew Roberts Family Bible lists only nine children born to John and Sarah Gheen Roberts. They are as follows: Jessie B., Matthew, John (d: @4yrs), Mary "Polly", John Wilburn, Catherine, Hiram, Howard and William C. Roberts. ^{[4] [5]}

The only headstone in the Roberts Cemetery for a Roberts is that of Nancy (Sutton) Roberts. She was the wife of Howard Roberts. There is a cemetery plat that was published by the Lawrence County Historical Society which showed that to the right of Nancy's headstone were three small unmarked stones that were Howard, Sarah, and John's markers in that order.

Sources

1. ↑ "North Carolina, County Marriages 1762-1979" on FamilySearch database with images (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:Q21B-DZ1F : 28 Nov 2018) for John Roberts & Sarah Gheen, m: 09 Nov 1795 Rowan, Bladen County, North Carolina, USA
2. ↑ North Carolina, Marriage Index 1741-2004 on ancestry.com citing Family History Library in Salt Lake City, UT, County Court Records; FHL#0317002 & #0500949-0500957
3. ↑ Find A Grave: Memorial #47721257
4. ↑ Roberts Family Bible
5. ↑ "Old Lawrence Reminiscences" 1992 #4

• 1820-1840 USA Census of Lawrence County, Alabama

• "United States Census 1850" on FamilySearch database with images (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MH5S-62P : 12 Apr 2016) citing family#333; for John Roberts in household of son Howard Roberts, res: Lawrence County, Alabama, USA

• Unsourced family tree handed down to Karen Martindill.