Benjamin B. McRoberts
 

Praise is always due to merit and especially where merit is the product of unassisted energy and perseverance. The self-made man commands our highest respect. Those struggles by means of which he has risen from obscurity to honorable distinction cannot fail to enlist sympathy and call forth our warmest applause. Benjamin B. McRoberts, of Lebanon, is a notable example of the successful, self-made man, and as such has made his influence felt among his fellow citizens by rising to one of the most important positions within their power to confer, being at the present time the capable and popular sheriff of Boone county, being the second time that he has been incumbent of the same, and in which he has ever displayed ability of a high order and fully met the high expectations of his friends and the general public. Mr. McRoberts springs from a sterling old Kentucky family, the name being an honorable one and wherever known stands for upright manhood and patriotic citizenship. Those bearing it have ever been jealous of the family honor, and tracing the genealogy back through a long line of sturdy ancestors but few, if any, instances can be discovered in which that honor has been sullied or its luster tarnished by the commission of unworthy acts. The subject of this review is a creditable representative of the family and seems to inherit to a marked degree many of the commendable qualities by which his antecedents have so long been distinguished.

Mr. McRoberts was born in Lincoln county, Kentucky, near the town of Stanford, September 20, 1848. He is a son of George T. and Ellen (Gains) McRoberts, the father born in the same vicinity as was our subject, while the mother's birth occurred in Boyle county, Kentucky. These parents grew to maturity in the Blue Grass state and were educated and married there and established the family home on a farm. The father learned the carpenter's trade in early life, which he followed in connection with farming. He and his wife spent their lives in their native state and both died there a number of years ago. They were industrious and honest, honored by their neighbors and acquaintances.

Benjamin B. McRoberts grew to manhood on the home farm in Kentucky and assisted his father with the general work there, attending the common schools in his neighborhood during the winter months. He remained under the parental roof-tree until 1881, when he came to Boone county, Indiana, and hired out at farm work by the month. He saved his wages and thereby got a start. In December, 1883, he married Martha Abbott who was born in Union township, this county, where she was reared and educated in the rural schools. She is a daughter of John and America (Sedgwick) Abbott, the father a native of Decatur county, and the mother of Boone county, Indiana. After his marriage our subject rented a farm in Union township for one year. This was on the Shoemaker farm, then he moved to the Marvin farm, where he spent two years, then moved to the John Abbott farm, that of his father-in-law. After living there a year he moved to the Weed farm, in Marion township, where he spent sixteen years, then bought a farm of one hundred and sixty acres, where he lived until January 1, 1908, then bought eighty acres north and forty acres south of Elizaville, making a total of two hundred and eighty acres, when, having been elected sheriff of Boone county the previous fall, he assumed the duties of this important office and moved to Lebanon. After serving one term to the eminent satisfaction of the people he returned to his farm and engaged in general agricultural pursuits with his usual success for four years more, then was again elected sheriff of his county and is now serving his second term in a most faithful and conscientious manner; in fact, many pronounce him the best sheriff the county has ever had; it seems certain, any way, that he has had no superiors. He has done much to suppress the tendency of law breaking in all forms in the county and has done much toward the civic betterment of the community in many ways.

The following children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. McRoberts: George Arson, who lives in Marion township; Teressa is the wife of Earl Barhard, of Clinton township; William Otis lives in Clinton township; Jessie is the wife of Clint Sanders, of Clinton township; Harvey is living on his father's old farm.

Politically, Mr. McRoberts is a loyal Democrat and has long been active in party affairs. Something of his high standing and popularity will be seen from the fact that he is the first sheriff to be elected on the Democratic ticket in Boone county since 1883. Fraternally, he is a member of the Masonic Order, including the Chapter and Commandery; also the Independent Order of Odd Fellows at Lebanon. He is an obliging and courteous gentleman, broad-minded, straightforward and self-possessed, a man who impresses you at once.

Submitted by: Amy K. Davis
Source: "History of Boone County, Indiana," by Hon. L. M. Crist, 1914