William Y. Roberts was a state representative in Pennsylvania[1][2] adjutant general, lieutenant governor under the Topeka Constitution,[3] and then a colonel in the Union Army from Kansas during the American Civil War. He was a commander of the 1st Regiment Kansas Volunteer Infantry.
William Bigler was a mentor to Roberts. He was a supporter of the Topeka Constitutional Convention that President Franklin Pierce opposed.[4] Roberts warned that Civil War would result of efforts at popular sovereignty were rejected.[4]
In 1856 he and Samuel C. Pomeroy wrote from Willard's Hotel in Washington D.C. to Cyrus K. Holliday in Topeka in efforts to resolve the dispute over Kansas Territory status and whether it would become a free or slave state. They noted legislative efforts and involvement from United States President Franklin Pierce.[5]
Roberts was a regimental commander during the American Civil War.[6]
Personal life
editHe was the second husband of Louise Gates.[7]
References
edit- ^ "Journal". 15 May 2018. Retrieved 15 May 2018 – via Google Books.
- ^ Shepherd, Henry Elliot (15 May 2018). "Nelson's Biographical Dictionary and Historical Reference Book of Fayette County, Pennsylvania: Containing a Condensed History of Pennsylvania, of Fayette County, and the Boroughs and Townships of the County : Also, Portraits and Biographies of the Governors Since 1790, and Genealogies, Family Histories and Biographies of Representative Men of the County : Illustrated". S.B. Nelson. Retrieved 15 May 2018 – via Google Books.
- ^ "Territorial Kansas Online - Browse by Keyword". www2.ku.edu. Retrieved 15 May 2018.
- ^ a b Smith, Adam I. P. (6 October 2017). The Stormy Present: Conservatism and the Problem of Slavery in Northern Politics, 1846–1865. UNC Press Books. ISBN 9781469633909. Retrieved 15 May 2018 – via Google Books.
- ^ "William Y. Roberts and Samuel Clarke Pomeroy to Cyrus Kurtz Holliday - Kansas Memory - Kansas Historical Society". www.kshs.org. Retrieved 15 May 2018.
- ^ Blackmar, Frank Wilson (1912). Kansas: A Cyclopedia of State History, Embracing Events, Institutions, Industries, Counties, Cities, Towns, Prominent Persons, Etc. ... With a Supplementary Volume Devoted to Selected Personal History and Reminiscence. Standard Publishing Company. ISBN 9780722249055.
- ^ Armitage, Katie H. (15 May 2018). Lawrence: Survivors of Quantrill's Raid. Arcadia Publishing. ISBN 9780738577999. Retrieved 15 May 2018 – via Google Books.