Ephraim ROBERTS

                   Notes taken from: "Roberts from Connecticut to California"  by Daphne Hartle, Family History Library, Salt Lake City, Utah, Book 929.273  R541  h.

1. Dr. Daniel Roberts moved with his parents from Connecticut to Trumbull County, Ohio about 1804 or 1805.  He served as an apprentice to Dr Miles Clark of Portage County, Ohio. Dr. Daniel later married Dr. Clark's daughter Eliza Aldula.
2. The story does not show a move by the Roberts from Ohio to Winchester, Scott County, Illinois, but we learn from the history of William DeWitt Roberts, their seventh child, that the family moved from Winchester to Pike County in 1838  After several moves about Illinois the family crossed the Mississippi River on the ice and located at Garden Grove, Decatur County, Illinois which is about 60 miles west of Nauvoo. Dr. Daniel Roberts was baptized in Scott County Illinois in 1841.
3. Dr. Daniel Roberts was a personal friend of the Prophet Joseph Smith.
4. Dr. Daniel Roberts was also closely involved with correspondence to Brigham Young about questions about properties on which some of the Saints were living. The Deseret News of the 1848 period carried the story.

5. Dr. Daniel Roberts did not stay in Utah. In the spring of 1852, he went Placerville, San Jose, then San Bernardino, California, for a time where a Mormon settlement has been established. In the fall of 1853, he returned east to permanently reside in Lancaster, Schuyler, Missouri, where he practiced medicine. His wife, Eliza Aldula remained in Utah until 1856 when her son Orville Clark took her and two younger brothers back to Lancaster. She remained there until her son, William DeWitt came to Missouri in 1862 and married Maria Lusk. Then William brought his wife, mother, and brothers to Utah. Daniel, however, remained in Lancaster where he died in 1865.

Dr. Roberts was well thought of by all who knew him and was remembered by many for his medical skill and his congenial disposition. He always gave a new baby its first bath while he instructed the woman who was to care for it. His son, Orville Clark said his father would drive his one-horse cart to visit his patients, sometimes for miles, in all kinds of weather and all hours of the day and night. He loved people, especially children, and was always happy to have a group listening to his stories.
                  

                   1. Clark told the enumerator of the 1850 Census Scott County Illinois that he was born in Pennsylvania.
                  

                   1. Trumble County is now spelled Trumbull.
2. I have two historical sketches written about Horace Ephraim Roberts and Harriet McEvers. Excerpts taken from these. The first written by Maria Louisa Roberts Newell dated 1891 when Maria was 62 year old.  Maria was #1 child of Harriet and Horace Ephraim. The second sketch was dictated  by Laura Celestia Roberts Bell at age 82 #9 child of Harriet and Ephraim.
3. Other references: "Our Ellis Forefathers from Wales - England to America by Fern D. Ellis 1989
Reference: Family History Library, Salt Lake City, Utah. Book 929.273 El59ell , pages 43 & 44.
"The Roberts Family-Connecticut to California, by Daphne R. Hartle.  Family History Llibrary, Salt Lake City Utah, Book 929.273 R541 h. Pages 16, 17 & 18.

4. Horace Ephraim is the 2nd gr. grandson of Samuel Roberts who was born in England in 1666 and settled in New Haven, Connecticut.  He was a potter by trade. The family seemed to have the urge to move west because there were children born in Connecticut, with Horace being born in Ohio in 1807.  By the 1840 Census we find Horace and Harriet plus others of the family living in Illinois close enough to visit each other.

5. While Horace and Harriet were living at Ripley, Brown County, Illinois, the Mormons were being driven out of Missouri and relocating in settlements in the general area. Many of them were passed by the Roberts home. Horace and Harriet took some of them in and gave shelter and food which brought the rath of the mob against the Roberts who were not Mormons. Two years later they accepted the gospel and were baptized members of the church.  Maria Louisa the youngest daughter of the Roberts describes it thus: " We were set upon by mobs, our house was stoned, our windows broken, our home and property was taken from us and we were compelled to leave.  In Feb 1841 we went to Nauvoo, taking everything in one wagon and on the road were father, mother, and five children, and the wagon driver. We arrived at Nauvoo all right.

"The Prophet Joseph Smith advised my father to build a pottery and make crockery for the poor saints.  But what with... that was the question only the Lord could answer.  However, there was no such word as fail.  He went to work at it and ere long he had it in running order." Horace Roberts shop was located on his property four blocks east of the temple on  Mulholland Street, in Block 27 of the Wells Addition.

Outside Nauvoo, Hancock County had only one pottery functioning in 1840, a one-man operation, so the production of earthenware was a pressing need. In an attempt for more local home industry and self-sufficiency, Horace Ephraim Roberts became Nauvoos first full time resident potter. Roberts unique status as an American-born, early Mormon potter is noteworthy, for his work predated the arrival of any British or Scandinavian craftsman by at least two years. Over the five year period he practiced his craft in Nauvoo, hundreds of pottery items were no doubt furnished to Nauvoo housewives. Many of those pieces would have found their way west and into homes throughout the Mormon corridor.

Maria continues: "Many times he was detailed for guardsman and for other public work for the defense of the city and the people." She continues to write, "I knew the Prophet and family quite well, his adopted daughter Julia attended the same school as I and we were quite friendly.  I well remember the days of trouble and persecution the Saints were called to endure and the martyrdom of Joseph and Hyrum Smith. I saw their bodies in their coffins, saw some of their wounds."

The Horace Ephraim Roberts family lived at Garden Grove, Iowa, for a year or two raising crops for themselves and the saints headed to Utah. They moved to Winter Quarters by spring of 1848, where their four year old son, Charles, drowned in the Missouri River. They relocated in Kanesville across the river that same year.

Few details are known about Horace Roberts activities in Kanesville, Iowa. Living three years in the area necessitated supporting his family somehow, and it seems logical he would engage in pottery work, providing he could find a source of clay. At the time, Kanesville was a major outfitting location for huge numbers of Mormons and non-Mormons headed west, and Horace would have had a ready market for his earthenware. The Pottawattamie High Council Tithing Record dated 18 Dec 1849 lists Horace Roberts Offering to the Poor, Crockery $1.50; Onions .75, 1 ½ bushels.41 In addition, the 1850 Federal Census listed Horace Roberts as a potter in Pottawattamie County, age 44, with seven members in his household.42 Pottawattami County records for 1849 show that Horace owned a pottery (property) at a location known as Duck Hollow, what is now Harrison Street, a short distance north of the junction of Harrison and Harmony Streets in Council Bluffs.43 These facts affirm that Horace produced earthenware in the area. Surely, some of his ware would have been transported west by the emigrants, serving useful purposes on the trail and in their frontier kitchens.

Finally, they were able to outfit themselves with a team of oxen and a wagon and they started the move to Utah in the fall of 1851.  They answered a call to to move on south of Salt Lake City to help settle Provo. There Horace Roberts immediately went to work to establish a pottery.  The Deseret News of 7 Feb 1852 stated, "A pottery is in blast in Provo and a good crockery is produced by Horace Roberts."

Horace built an adobe house with one and half stories with seven rooms, also a cellar, porch and a good well. It was located on the northeast corner of Fifth West and Fourth North in Provo. His potters shop had 3 rooms with the upper floor being used as a community room and dance hall and the lower floor for the making and storing of the pottery. He had a kiln built nearby for baking and glazing the pottery.

Laura, who witnessed the pottery operation from age two to sixteen, supplied a vivid description of both the pottery and the methods used by her father, although these recollections contain some technical inaccuracies. "Fathers potter shop was a large adobe building. The lower floor he used for crockery ware, and the upper floor for a dance hall where the boys would pay for their tickets with home-made candies, squash, carrots, and such things.

"Father had what was called a potters wheel which was run by pedals underneath it. The wheel was level and he would put great balls of clay on it, and shape it into crocks with his hands while turning the wheel with his feet. Then he had a big sponge which he wet and washed the loose sand and dirt off the crocks. He then put them on a shelf to dry. After they had dried he glazed them with a lead glazing. People in those days used tea, which they bought in caddies made of lead and paper. Father would melt these caddies in a big iron pot and burn the paper out. Then he would make paste of flour [a compound that looked like flour] and water and mix with the lead and glaze the crockery in that. After the soldiers came [Johnsons Army] he bought lead bars from them. The bars were about 18 inches long and about as large as my finger and he made glazing out of them, instead of the tea caddies. After the glazing was finished the crocks were put into a kiln and burned. There were not only crocks but plates, cups and saucers, bowls, pitchers, mugs, and almost everything that anyone used in the kitchen. If he wanted a different color he would add lamp black to the glazing mixture. The dishes were made in molds of clay. After they had stood a few minutes on the mold, they would shrink away and could be easily lifted off. They were then sponged and glazed just as the crocks were.

"The kiln was a big room made of adobe with a door in one end. The crockery was piled in there in such a way as to let the heat go all through it. The fire was built in an arch underneath the kiln. The arch ran the full length. For fuel he used quaking asp and cottonwood which was brought from the canyons near Provo. The fire was started slow and gradually increased until the crockery was all red-hot. This took a week or ten days. Father would then close up the place where he fed the fire with sheet iron and dirt to shut out the air and then leave it for several days to cool off gradually so that the crocks would not crack. People for miles around knew when he was burning crockery because they could see the smoke coming from the top of the kiln. It was roofed over with adobes with here and there a four inch hole left for the smoke and steam to escape."

Laura wrote about her fathers business practices: "Father was known as potter Roberts because he was a potter by trade. After father and mother decided to make their home in Provo, President Brigham Young asked father to put up a potter shop because people were so short of dishes and such things. And the potter shop soon became known all around the country. And the poor were supplied as well as the well-to-do. Father never denied anyone what they wanted and would take anything they offered as pay- potatoes, eggs, molasses, butter, wheat or flour or anything else, and if his family couldnt use it, he would trade it off for something they could.

"He used to send young men out with wagon loads of pottery, packed with straw and grass or sawdust, to sell for him. One day one of the peddlers was out with a load of crocks. He came to an old Danish lady, who said she wanted some crocks and wanted to pay for them with cheese. But she said, I have nothing to weigh the cheese with. O yes, I have, heres my garter, loop it around the cheese and hook the scales in it. And she took a long knit garter from around her knee. No, no, said the peddler, Ill take a strap off the harness, which he did- as if a strap off the old sweaty harness was cleaner than the old ladys garter."

Horace operated the Roberts Pottery from 1852-1855, assisted by his son Ephraim and probably other helpers. During the period of 1855-1865, Brigham Young began an effort to revive the Law of Consecration and Stewardship throughout the Church. In August of 1855, Horace Roberts complied with the request of his prophet, deeding land and possessions, a value totaling $2012.00, to the Church. Such a figure indicates that the pottery enterprise was profitable when compared to the economic circumstances of the Utahs general population at this time. It is difficult to ascertain how this consecration principle impacted his business practices, but consecration deeds were largely symbolic and not literal. In any case, Horace continued to manufacture and sell pottery. The 1860 Territorial Agricultural Census lists Horace Roberts as a potter with $3,000 invested: clay and raw material ($100); 1,000 lbs. lead ($250); 36 cords of wood ($288); 2 male employees ($100 /month); crockery ware ($2,700). At the 1860 Deseret Agricultural and Manufacturing Fair, Horace Roberts won 3rd place for Best Specimen of Earthenware.

Another movement of establishing cooperatives was prevalent church wide in the 1860's. At some point, Roberts joined the Provo co-op and his shop became the Zions Co-Operative Pottery, which he operated with the help of his son Ephraim, youngest brother Levi, and nephew William DeWitt Roberts (son of Horaces brother Daniel) until 1866. (Levi was a potter in Ripley for a number of years and did not emigrate to Utah until after the death of his father Ephraim Jr. in 1861.) Horace was only 59, but ill health prevented him from working. Perhaps, the long exposure to lead used in glazing pottery caused his demise, as it later did his son, Ephraim, who also engaged in the risks of the trade.

William and Levi Roberts continued their involvement in the pottery until about 1874, along with A.H. Bowen, who then bought the establishment. In the early 1870's, an advertisement appeared in the Deseret News which read: "Zions Co-op Pottery, Provo City. We will keep on hand constantly a complete assortment of choice potter ware, which they may offer for sale much cheaper than ever before offered in this territory. Liberal discount to peddlers and other dealers. N.B.A. First class molder wanted. Wm. D. Roberts Manager." William produced stoneware, was among the early brick makers of Provo, and was known for many other accomplishments in the territory. [See William DeWitt Roberts' notes.] His brother, Bolivar, also figured prominently in the history. [See Bolivar Roberts' notes.] Levi set up shop and ran the Logan City Pottery with the help of his son, Jerome, from 1874 until about 1879 when it was destroyed by fire. Ephraim made pottery in Mona, Utah, from 1866-1893, then relocated to establish the Naples Pottery near Vernal, Utah, which operated from 1893-1898. [See Ephraim Roberts' notes.]

Horace Roberts indispensable skill as a potter and his resulting financial status earned him a position of respect in the community. Coupled with being a man of means, his devotion to spiritual matters qualified him for an honor of a different nature. Church leaders requested his participation in plural marriage, and on 29 September 1852, he married Mary Jane Bigelow, a former plural wife of Brigham Young. Apparently, Mary Jane was not satisfied with the arrangements because the marriage did not last.[See Mary Jane Bigelow's notes.] According to Church ordinance records of the Provo 2nd Ward, Horace assisted in re-baptizing or re-confirming several members of that ward during 1852-1855. The first was Mary Jane Bigelow, rebaptized on Aug 28, 1852. [LDS Family History Library, Film 0026325.]

Evidently considered wealthy, Horace was asked to sponsor a PEF emigrant, Jane Eliza Graves, coming from England. Jane was an educated commoner who came to live with the Roberts family and began teaching school. On December 11, 1856, she became Horaces third wife. They had two children, Emaline Elizabeth and a son whose name is unknown, although he is mentioned in her obituary. Janes home was located directly east of the pottery on the corner of 4th North and 4th West in Provo, Utah. [See Jane Eliza Graves' notes.]

Utahs pioneer communities required about twenty years to develop independence. Along with other essential trades, the pottery industry was vital to the success of early settlements particularly before the completion of the railroad. An accomplished potter such as Horace Roberts was a valued and prominent citizen. Horace Ephraim Roberts died on December 25, 1868, at the age of 61 and was buried in the Provo Cemetery. Horaces posterity would continue his tradition of pottery for a time and his legacy of spirituality for generations to come. Moreover, a wide community of friends, who recognized and benefitted from Horaces fine craftsmanship, would honor him in their memory each time they used a piece of his earthenware.

6. We all know the story of the arrival of the Pilgrims in 1620 and of the subsequent establishment of the Plymouth Colony with its several towns. We also know the story of the Puritans who began coming to New England in 1629. They settled near the Plymouth Colony, and founded Boston and nearby towns and became the Massachusetts Bay Colony. The Puritans hated sin and thought it their duty to punish people who they believed to be sinners. Their political government was church-connected and church-led. This caused much discontent and in 1635 and 1636, several hundred residents of the Bay Colony moved into the Connecticut River Valley in the Windsor-Hardford-Wethersfield area. Here in 1639 they adopted the Hartford Constitution called the Fundamental Orders, which is honored as the first written constitution of a self-governing people. It was based on the concept that "The foundation of authority is in the free consent of the people."

Included among those who helped found this first permanent settlement in Connecticut were our ancestral families of Dibble, Gibbs, Phelps, Wetmore (Whitmore) and Wilton. Among those who came to the settlements later were Adkins, Griswold, Hoskins, Marshall, and Moore.

On 10 April 1638, a group of Puritans under the leadership of Theophilus Eaton and the Reverend John Davenport founded New Haven which did not become a part of Connecticut until 1665. They had arrived in B
                  

                   1. Levi was a potter in Ripley for a number of years and did not emigrate to Utah until after the death of his father Ephraim Jr. in 1861. He then joined with his brother Horace Roberts in the Provo Pottery business until 1866 when Horace was forced to retire. Then he joined forces with his nephew, William DeWitt Roberts to continue running the Roberts Pottery in Provo. Later, Levi set up shop and ran the Logan City Pottery with the help of his son, Jerome, from 1874 until about 1879 when it was destroyed by fire.