Representative Benjamin Franklin Roberts View All Years

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Benjamin Franklin Roberts

Harrison County

Born in Tolland County, Connecticut on May 27, 1839. When seventeen years of age he came to Iowa and began farm life on Mill Creek, in Harrison Township, working on a farm at $10 per month, which at that time was fair wages. Two years later he opened up a small farm on section 23, and sold the products of his first year's labor, after hauling it with ox-teams to Council Bluffs. In response to the call for volunteers in 1862, he left his farm and enlisted as a private in Company C, Twenty-ninth Iowa Infantry. He was soon promoted to Corporal, and after the battle of Jenkins' Ferry, upon the recommendation of commanding officers, was promoted to Sergeant. At the close of the war he returned to his farm, only to find his fences destroyed by prairie fires and buildings in a dilapidated condition. In the spring of 1866, he was married to Miss Ellen Rogers, a native of Michigan. Although not an active politician, he was nominated by the Republican party and elected to represent Harrison County in the Twenty-second General Assembly, but refused the candidacy for the second term. He is now one of the three among the first settlers of the township, who still reside within its borders.

House District 32