Jonathan ROBERTS, Congress, PA (1771-1854)

ROBERTS, Jonathan, a Representative and a Senator from Pennsylvania; born near Norristown, Pa., August 16, 1771; privately tutored; apprenticed as a wheelwright; member, State house of representatives 1799-1800; member, State senate 1807-1811; elected as a Democratic Republican to the Twelfth and Thirteenth Congresses and served from March 4, 1811, to February 24, 1814, when he resigned, having been elected Senator; elected as a Democratic Republican to the United States Senate to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of Michael Leib; reelected in 1815 and served from February 24, 1814, to March 3, 1821; chairman, Committee on Claims (Fourteenth through Sixteenth Congresses), Committee to Audit and Control the Contingent Expenses (Sixteenth Congress), Committee on Public Buildings (Sixteenth Congress); member, State house of representatives 1823-1826; collector of customs at the port of Philadelphia 1841-1842; died on his farm, “Robertsville,” King of Prussia, Montgomery County, Pa., on July 24, 1854; interment in the Roberts family cemetery near Norristown, Pa.

Bibliography

Dictionary of American Biography; Champagne, Raymond W., Jr., and Thomas J. Rueter. “Jonathan Roberts and the ‘War Hawk’ Congress of 1811-1812.” Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography 104 (October 1980): 434-49; Roberts, Jonathan. “Memoirs of a Senator from Pennsylvania: Jonathan Roberts, 1771-1854.” Edited by Robert Klein. Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography 61 (October 1937): 446-74, 62 (January 1938): 64-97, 62 (July 1938): 213-48, 62 (July 1938): 361-409, 62 (October 1938): 502-51.

Source: Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, 1771-Present