Tim’s 6th-great-grandfather was a veteran of the War for Independence, taking part in the Lexington Alarm battle, when he was 33 years old.
The first battle of the Revolutionary War, fought in Massachusetts on April 19, 1775. British troops had moved from Boston toward Lexington and Concord to seize the colonists’ military supplies and arrest revolutionaries. In Concord, advancing British troops met resistance from the Minutemen, and American volunteers harassed the retreating British troops along the Concord-Lexington Road. Paul Revere, on his famous ride, had first alerted the Americans to the British movement.
~ The Society of Colonial Wars in the State of Connecticut website
Capt. Lemuel Roberts, son of Lemuel and Abigail (Beaman) Roberts, was born 2 October 1742 in Simsbury (Hartford) Connecticut, and died there 19 December 1789. He married there 8 December 1763, Ruth Woodford, who was born 4 November 1744 in Farmington (Hartford) Connecticut, and died about 1800 in Bloomfield (Hartford) Connecticut, daughter of Samuel and Mary (Thompson) Woodford.
Lemuel lies buried in the Old Wintonbury Cemetery (formerly Old North Cemetery) in Bloomfield, Connecticut.
The following account is from Lester A. Roberts, Esq., “Descendants of John Roberts of Simsbury, CT and Bloomfield, CT,” The New England Historical & Genealogical Register, Vol 42, July 1888: 246:
[Lemuel’s] stern patriotism made him some enemies, and in 1787 a protest was made to the General Assembly against his reappointment as Justice of the Peace, but without avail. He was found dead one morning at the foot of stone steps from a house in which he had held a court the evening before. Being lame, he was the last to leave, and if he fell or was thrown down the steps was never known. On his grave-stone in the Bloomfield burial-ground, under the usual inscription, are the following lines:
No Cordial to revive his heart,
No one to hold his head,
No friend to close his dying eyes;
The ground was his death bed.
Lemuel & Ruth were the parents of eight children:
1. Lemuel Roberts (Tim’s 5th-great-grandfather), born 17 April 1766, died 2 July 1829 in Bloomfield. He married 5 October 1786, Roxy Gillett, who was born before 19 March 1769 and died 6 September 1848 in Bloomfield, daughter of Amos and Susanna (Webster) Gillett. Lemuel & Roxy were the parents of six children.
2. Ruth Roberts, born 24 January 1768 in Simsbury, died 31 May 1847 in Worthington (Franklin) Ohio. She married in 1789, Ezra Griswold, who was born 6 December 1767 and died 22 October 1822 in Worthington, son of Elisha and Eunice (Viets) Griswold. Ruth & Ezra were the parents of two sons.
3. Hannah Roberts, born 15 March 1770, died 15 March 1829. She married Augustus Filley who was born before 31 August 1766 and died 5 March 1812 in Otis (Berkshire) Massachusetts, son of Jonathan Filley.
4. Samuel Roberts, born 20 March 1772 in Simsbury, died 9 October 1846 in Sharon (Litchfield) Connecticut. He married (as his first wife) in 1793, Eleanor “Elethea” Calkins, who was born about 1733 and died 24 January 1813 in Sharon. Samuel & Eleanor were the parents of four children, possibly more. Samuel married (as his second wife) in 1815, Pamela Patchin. Samuel & Pamela were the parents of a daughter.
5. Eunice Roberts, (twin), born 22 August 1774 in Simsbury, died 13 August 1825 in Hartford (Hartford) Connecticut. She married 3 March 1799 in Bloomfield, James Goodwin, who was born 27 December 1777 in Hartford, and died there 13 September 1844, son of Jonathan and Eunice (Olcott) Goodwin.
6. Lois Roberts, (twin), born 22 August 1774 in Simsbury, died 7 November 1847 in Indiana. She married Zopher Topping, who was born 17 June 1773 in Granby (Hartford) Connecticut and died 7 September 1814 in Worthington.
7. Hezekiah Roberts, born 5 June 1776, died 6 June 1776 in Bloomfield, age 0.
8. Hezekiah Roberts, born before 26 August 1781. He married Harriet King. Hezekiah & Harriet were the parents of three children, possibly more.
