Buckley: Roberts advocated for equal rights

Robert Roberts of Waltham, who was the man-servant of Christopher Gore, led a double life. His ideas and hints on how servants should organize a well-run household were eventually compiled in an 1827 book titled "The House Servant's Directory." But when he was not serving Gore, Roberts was a leading participant in the struggle to keep emancipated slaves free.

He did not choose to champion this issue; he was plunged into it when his three brothers in-law were kidnapped. Roberts married Dorothy Hall in 1805. She was the daughter of Jude Hall, a famous Revolutionary War hero who had fought at the Battle of Bunker Hill.

Around 1810, James, Aaron and William Hall were kidnapped and sold into slavery. Robert immediately began to solicit the legal advice of several Boston lawyers. But they had no intention of helping him or his in-laws. In a statement made to the head of the Boston Anti-Slavery Society, Roberts said that he and Mr. Hall had been trying to locate and rescue the three brothers but that the lawyers were involved in a conspiracy to undermine his efforts.

His position on this matter was clear. He felt that since William Hall had fought in the Revolutionary War, he and his family should be considered free for the rest of their lives. He also believed that the U.S. Government should automatically protect families such as the Halls from unscrupulous persons who considered ex-slaves property that could be bought and sold at will.

Disgruntled about the lack of cooperation by local, state and federal officials concerning the rescue of his three brothers-in-law, Roberts made this cause a permanent part of the civil rights issues he raised and championed throughout his life.

After his wife died in 1813, Roberts began to be concerned about discrimination in houses of worship. After a suitable period of mourning, he began to court Sarah Easton, who was the daughter of another Revolutionary War veteran, James Easton.

During the period of courtship, Roberts would skip away on Sunday mornings from employers such as Gore and join his future father-in-law in protest efforts against the Baptist Church. Apparently, when ex-slaves were admitted into some Baptist churches, they were placed in what were called "negro pews," which were usually located in the rear of the church.

Easton decided he could not tolerate this arrangement so he started seating in the main body of the church. He was forcibly ejected from these places on several occasions. In order to make his point more strongly, Easton enlisted the aid of his future son-in-law.

So, on several Sundays in March 1815, both James Easton and Robert Roberts sat in the restricted area and were carried out of church by irate members of the congregation.

He and his new wife, Sarah, rented a house on Second Street in South Boston where she and his family resided while he carried out his duties as a man-servant in the homes of his wealthy employers.

Determined to be a homeowner, Roberts saved enough money over a seven-year period in order to buy the house on Second Street. He was able to do so despite the fact that he had a large family. Her and Sarah had 12 children, seven of whom lived beyond childhood.

Roberts also became a leading opponent of the well-meaning efforts of some white abolitionists to return ex-slaves to Africa. He wrote pamphlets denouncing the American Colonization Society (ASC).

In March, 1831, Roberts was the main speaker in a three-day forum at the African School House on Belnap Street, Boston. He was elected to be the spokesman to bring the concerns of those gathered at the schoolhouse to the attention of the ASC. In his presentation before the ASC, he pointed out that returning ex-slaves to Africa would not improve their lives. Rather, it would make their lives more miserable. He suggested that if ex-slaves have to be transported anywhere, they should be sent to Haiti, the first black republic in the New World.

He also challenged the position of the ASC, that sending ex-slaves back to Africa would lessen slave trade. He pointed out that although the United States was a democracy and was supposedly more civilized than governments in Africa, some U.S. citizens were quite capable of kidnapping ex-slaves such as his brothers-in-law. What then would stop slave traders in a less civilized land from kidnapping the resettled ex-slaves and selling them back into slavery?

The fact that U.S. President James Monroe eventually adopted the resettlement proposal as a policy of his administration did not deter Roberts from continuing his opposition to the idea.

In these and other ways, Roberts became one of the chief advocates of equal rights for ex-slaves living in the United States.