Charlie Washington Wash Roberts. Birth: Sep. 25, 1861 Tennessee, USA Death: Feb. 24, 1963 Wellington Collingsworth County Texas, USA He was the last of the 88ers, the small group that came that year to the still unorganized county, who found rolling hills covered with fine grass as far as the eye could see, and who stayed to develop it into a leading agricultural county. Mr. Roberts life was so interwoven with the growth of this area that when he reminisced it was history itself told first hand. But Collingsworth County at he loved so well was not the first frontier on which he lived. As a 12 year old boy, he had walked beside a covered wagon as it brought his family from southern Illinois to their new home at Fort Worth - a town that had only two grocery stores and two restaurants, one of which his father bought. Charlie Washington Roberts was born in Eastern Tennessee September 25, 1861. When he was still a baby, his parents moved to Illinois. He accepted Collingsworth county sight unseen. He decided to quit the freighting business in Fort Worth and move his wife and two small children to the new country north of Childress in 1888. He bought his first land for $2 an acre and later the state reduced this to $1.Only two other families were in the entire Flats when he arrived. I thought it was the prettiest county I ever saw. I have like it ever since I saw it for the first time, He once said. There were many first in Mr. Roberts life in Collingsworth. He attended the first preaching services. He hauled the first load of Lumber for the first school, Fresno, and for many years he was a trustee. In 1890, with the organization of the county, Mr. Roberts was one of seven men chosen to pick the site for the first town. They chose a tract of land at the present intersection of State Highway 203 and FM 1035 and named it Pearl. Then the rival town of Wellington was started and the countys first town became only a memory. Mr. Roberts knew this when it was Indian country. He had contact with these men as they came through on hunting parties, but realist that he was he did not take part in the famous Indian scare of early county history. He reasoned that the Comanches trek across the prairies was still another hunting trip. After a number of years in the Fresno area, Mr. Roberts moved to the Lillie area, where he lived until he moved into Wellington.Through the years he added to his land holdings, until he was one of the major landowners of the county. Then he disposed of much of his land and concentrated on Wellington property. Mr. Roberts was always a builder, not only in the physical sense, but also a builder of community strength and progress. It was the level headed strength of such as this sturdy pioneer, and others like him, that set the conservative course from which this county has not deviated. His physical strength and stamina and his keen mental alertness remained with him until the end of his life. He drove his car until after his ninetieth birthday, and even after that supervised repairs of his property. He had been a devoted member of the Methodist Church since early in life and long was active in First Methodist Church here. Mr. Roberts was married to Miss Lula E. Matkin in Fort Worth June 3, 1884. She died February 21, 1940 Spouses: Lucinda Elizabeth Matkin Roberts (1868 - 1940) Alma Solomon Matkin Roberts (1890 - 1979) Children: Bertie May Roberts Atkinson (1887 - 1949)* Charlie Elisha Roberts (1888 - 1957)* Lula Roberts Bean (1892 - 1921)* Thad Rolla Roberts (1893 - 1954)* Ollie Carrie Roberts Turley (1895 - 1980)* Albert David Roberts (1900 - 1901)* Burial: South Fairview Cemetery Wellington Collingsworth County Texas, USA ---findagrave
Posted on: Sun, 11 Jan 2015 22:34:53 +0000
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