Biographical Details
Date of Birth: November 7, 1824
Birth Location: Henderson, KY, USA
Graduation Year(s): 1846
Degree(s) Earned: Bachelors
Date of Death: January 22, 1880
Death Location: Brazil, IN, USA
Robert Rufus Roberts
Life Experience
Robert Rufus Roberts was educated in Henderson, Kentucky, and subsequently in the Newburg Schools. He graduated from IU in 1846. He was first employed as a cashier at the Evansville Bank. He then became a farmer. During the Civil War, he served as a Captain of the Newburgh Grays and colonel of the 3rd Indiana Legion. After the war, he was a prominent member of the Methodist Episcopal Church. He was a dealer in coal in Newburg and Brazil, Indiana, where he lost his life in a boiler explosion in 1880.
Marriage and Family
Roberts married Martha C. Parrett of Evansville on November 20, 1849. She was the daughter of the Reverend Robert Parrett. In 1852, Roberts and Martha had a son. That same year, Martha’s sister, Jane, married fellow IU alumnus Alvah Johnson. Martha died in 1863. Roberts’ son and namesake, Robert Rufus Roberts, Jr., died the next year at age twenty-nine. Roberts, Jr. left no descendants.
References
- Wylie
- Findagrave.com