Biography - Thomas Roberts
Thomas W. Roberts, the bright young lawyer of Tuscola, attorney for the I. D. & W. R.R. Co. and city attorney, has from the humble walks of life pressed his way to the front and to-day stands among the leading and most successful lawyers at the bar.
Thomas W. Roberts was born in Owensburg, Green county, Indiana, May 1, 1866, and soon thereafter came with his parents to Douglas county, and located at Camargo, where young Roberts attended school until sixteen years of age. In 1882 his father removed to Tuscola, and there the young man learned the tinner's trade. But that was only a means to an end, and in 1886 he was appointed to a clerkship in the treasury department at Washington, where he worked day time and attended school at night, and for four years continued in the preparatory department of Georgetown University, after which he took a four-year course in the law department of the same institiution and was graduated in 1892. Mr. Roberts was at once admitted to the bar of Illinois, and entered upon his chosen profession, becoming the partner of the late C. W. Woolverton, with whom he continued until the death of his associate in 1895, since which time Mr. Roberts has continued in the practice alone. He is attorney for the I. D. & W. R. R. Co. in Illinois, attorney for the Corn Belt Building & Loan Association, attorney for the bank of Baughman, Bragg & Co. and this along with his other practice makes him a very busy man.
Mr. Roberts is the son of Henry Clay and Anna Elizabeth (Sleet) Roberts, both natives of Kentucky. Henry Clay Roberts came to Douglas county in 1870, and here resided for some years; later he removed to South Dakota, where he at present lives. He was a member of the Ninety-seventh Regiment, Indiana, in the Civil War, volunteered in 1861, and was mustered out in 1865. Thomas Roberts (grandfather) was one of the early Virginia settlers in Boone county, Kentucky, as was his grandfather Sleet.
In June, 1888, Mr. Roberts wedded Mrs. Jennie Sharp, a daughter of R.H.B. Madison, of Tuscola. Two children have blessed their union: Irene Elizabeth and Ralph Henry. In Masonry he is a Knight Templar, a staunch Democrat in politics, and is popular and influential in the county.
Extracted by Linda Lang from the Historical and Biographical Record of Douglas County, Illinois, page 289.
