Reuben Derrith Roberts (1744 - 1841)

Born 4 Jan 1744 in Manchester, Lancashire, England

Ancestors

Husband of Mary Millie (Asher) Roberts — married 17 Aug 1785 in North Carolina

Descendants

Died 2 Aug 1841 at age 97 in Warren, Tennessee, United States

Problems/Questions Profile manager: John Auborn [send private message]

Biography

Reuben Roberts served with 6th North Carolina Regiment, Continental Army during the American Revolution.

Reuben Roberts was a North Carolina colonist.

Apparently a migrant from England to colonial North Carolina, Reuben’s early American roots in North Carolina are murky.

Reuben, like many of his family and neighbors, joined the revolution early. He enlisted at Hillsboro, North Carolina, in April or May, 1775 joining the 1st or 2nd North Carolina regiments. Reorganized later in 1776 to the 6th North Carolina in companies of Capt William Lytle and then Capt. Thomas White in the Continental Army.^[1][2] 1777 was a busy year when Reuben fought at Brandywine Creek, White Horse Tavern, and Germantown where his right arm was disabled by a musket ball. He served out his enlistment, likely at Valley Forge, and was mustered out, still a private, in June 1778. Reuben didn’t stay out of the war and was soon back in the NC militia, unit unknown. In 1799, he was in Augusta at the siege of the White House. In 1780 he was at Kings Mountain in North Carolina, 1781 saw Reuben as part of a scouting party at the Guilford Battle in North Carolina, and part of Capt. Amis Co. attached to Col. Lee's Corps of Horse in Virginia. He served until after the capture of Cornwallis when his unit was dispersed and applied for his pension in 1818.^[3][4][5]

On 17 August 1785, Reuben married Mary Millie Asher in Orange County North Carolina. She was born in 1759 and died after Reuben 14 August 1847 in Warren Co., Tennessee at the age of 88 years. Her birthplace is variously listed as Orleans, France; Desmonts, Orleans Parish, Louisiana (New France), and a completely different liniage through Halifax County, Virginia and North Carolina.

Reuben and Mary first lived in Orange County North Carolina after they married in 1785 and began their family.

In 1791 the Roberts clan began a series of moves west crossing over the Allegheny Mountains and settled on the Watauga River near the present town of Elizabethton, Tennessee. This area was formerly Washington County North Carolina, but had been ceeded to the federal government in 1790 and was in the process of several attempts to form a new state. Mary and Reuben secured 50 acres of land and lived there until about 1802. In 1796 that area became part of the new state of Tennesee.

In about 1802, Mary and Reuben moved down the Wilderness Road to Anderson County Tennessee, which was formed in 1801 after the Cherokee Indians were forced from this land. They settled on Brushy Fork of Popular Creek in Buckhorn Valley west of Black Oak Mountain about 10 miles south of Clinton, in Anderson County. They acquired 50 acres, and lived in this valley for the next 10 years.

In 1810, Mary and Reuben's house burned down. This is documented in Reuben's Revolutionary War pension documents. About 1812, they moved to the Mud Creek area of Warren County, Tennessee. They eventually acquired about 270 acres of land.

Reuben settled on land near Rock Island along the Chickamauga path, an Indian trail that became the old Kentucky road. This is present day Warren County Tennesee.^[6]

Reuben, sons, and sons-in-laws were Methodists who built the Asbury Meeting House, an old log church 2 miles south of Rock Island on the old Kentucky road.^[7] This is also the site where he and several family members are buried.

Children include: (note many lists vary on his children)

Amos 1778-1840 (need sources)

Elizabeth T Roberts 1786-1850

Thomas Roberts (1788 - 1867)

Mary Martha Roberts Cotton (1789 - 1850)

John Roberts (1791- 1862)

William B Roberts (1793 - 1849)

James Monroe Roberts (1793 - 1844)

Millie Emily Roberts (1796 - 1859)

Susan Lucinda Roberts Gribble (1798 - 1853)

Nancy Roberts (1799 - 1850)

Reuben Roberts (1802 - 1883)

Caswell Cobb Roberts (1804 - 1890)

Sarah or Sallie 1798 (need sources)

Matthew Scott Roberts (1808 - 1858)

By 1820, when he applied for and was granted a Revolutionary War Pendion, Reuben was crippled from a broken arm and Millie was also an invalid from injuries suffered in a fall.

Reuben died 2 August 1841 at age 99 and is buried in a family plot at Asbury Methodist, Rock Island, Warren County, Tennessee.^[8]

Research Notes

Locations names, states, and counties change over time. I have attempted here to re-construct the location of the Roberts homes to facilitate looking up the right county records. Only The Watauga Valley prior to 1794 and Rock Island (post 1794) locations were used.^[9]Auborn-4

• Colonial period - Virginia and North Carolina had conflicting claims on the lands of Tennessee, and several surveys were necessary to finally settle the boundaries.
• 1777 - Washington County, North Carolina - All of present-day Tennessee was recognized as a single North Carolina county, created from western portions of Wilkes and Bertie Counties.
• 1786 Sumner County, North Carolina (future home to the Roberts) was organized after the American Revolutionary War, when Tennessee was still a part of the former colony of North Carolina.
• 1790 What is now Tennessee, then part of North Carolina, was ceded to the federal government and known as the Southwest Territory.
• 1796, Sumner County, Tennessee - Tennessee was admitted to the Union as the 16th state on June 1.
• 1799 - Smith County Tennessee was established from a portion of Sumner County.
• 1806 - White County Tennessee created out of Smith and Jackson counties.
• 1807- Warren County Tennessee was created from part of White County.

When Reuben Derrith Roberts (Veterian of The American Revolution War) was born on January 4, 1744, in Manchester, Lancashire, England, his father, John, was 27 and his mother, Willie, was 44. He married Mary Emily "Millie" Ashor on August 17, 1785, in Orange, North Carolina. They had 18 children in 55 years. He died on August 2, 1841, in Warren, Tennessee, at the impressive age of 97, and was buried in McMinnville, Tennessee.

Ellis B Roberts was born, the daughter of Willhelmina and John. She had one brother.

Family Relationships Children No known children

Ellis B Roberts Parents

John Isaac Roberts

Willhelmina Holifield Willie

Sources

1. ↑ The American Revolution in North Carolina: Capt Thomas White citing private Reuben Roberts and battles
2. ↑ "United States Rosters of Revolutionary War Soldiers and Sailors, 1775-1783", database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QG2M-RDFJ : 16 March 2018), Reuben Roberts, 1778.
3. ↑ "United States Revolutionary War Pension and Bounty Land Warrant Applications, 1800-1900," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:NS8S-4M3 : 9 March 2018), Reuben Roberts, pension number W. 1492, service N.C.; from "Revolutionary War Pension and Bounty-Land Warrant Application Files," database and images, Fold3.com (http://www.fold3.com : n.d); citing NARA microfilm publication M804 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1974); FHL microfilm 972,059.
4. ↑ Pension Records of Reuben Roberts (images)
5. ↑ Pension Records of Reuben Roberts (transcript)
6. ↑ Indian Trails of the Southeast by William E Meyer, pages 849-859
7. ↑ Tennessee Records: Tombstone Inscriptions and Manuscripts By Jeannette Tillotson Acklen, Heritage Books, 2009, page 414
8. ↑ Find A Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com : accessed 17 October 2018), memorial page for Reuben Derrith Roberts (4 Jan 1744–2 Aug 1841), Find A Grave: Memorial #18821061, citing Asbury Cemetery, Warren County, Tennessee, USA ; Maintained by Donna Reed McBride (contributor 46865013) .
9. ↑ Historical Atlases and Maps of U.S. and States

see also:

• http://www.thehennesseefamily.com/media/Reuben_Roberts_Notes.pdf
• http://gw.geneanet.org/tdowling?lang=en;pz=timothy+michael;nz=dowling;ocz=0;p=reuben;n=roberts
• http://wc.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=dowfam3&id=I412672
• Birth, death: Dowling Family Tree - Tim Dowling - rootsweb, 2001-2014 - - electronic - I412672

• Roots Web - ID: I06030