Biography

08/12/1875 - 01/06/1909

Algernon Brooke Roberts (R12) Montgomery County 1902-1909

Early Life:

Algernon Brooke Roberts, born August 12,1875, Pencoyd Farm, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania; son of George B. and Miriam P. Williams Roberts; Episcopal Academy, Philadelphia; Princeton University, 1896; University of Pennsylvania Law School, 1899; admitted, Philadelphia bar, 1899; elected, commissioner of Lower Merion township, 1900; presidential elector at large in 1901; appointed, Assistant United States Attorney, Eastern district of Pennsylvania, 1901;  elected, president, Board of Commissioners, Lower Merion Township, 1902; married, Elizabeth Binney Evans, 1902, son, Algernon; elected, Republican, Pennsylvania State Senate, 1902- death 1909; admitted, Montgomery County bar, 1903; died, January 6, 1909 (aged 33), in office of the Senate, attempting to recuperate from illness, Nordhoff (now known as Ojai), Ventura County, California; interment, Church of the Redeemer Cemetery, Bryn Mawr, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania.

Early Career: 

Attorney, law firm of Duane, Morris, Heckscher and Roberts, city of Philadelphia.

Pennsylvania Politics:

Elected, commissioner of Lower Merion township, 1900. 

Appointed, Assistant United States Attorney, Eastern district of Pennsylvania, 1901. 

Presidential elector-at-large on the Republican ticket for McKinley and Roosevelt, 1901.

Elected, president, Board of Commissioners, Lower Merion Township, 1902

Elected, Republican, Pennsylvania State Senate, 12th district, Montgomery County, 1902- death 1909; defeated, John A. Wentz; committee assignments, Agriculture, Appropriations, Corporations, Education, Forestry, Judiciary Special; author of the Sproul-Roberts Road bill, providing for state aid to highways, he was it champion in the senate and secured its passage through that body by a practically unanimous vote. Death, vacancy filled, Thomas B. Harper, elected February 16, 1909. 

Legacy:

Father, George B. Roberts, president, Pennsylvania Railroad Company.

Cited:

Cox, Harold. "Senate Members "R"". Wilkes University Election Statistics Project. Wilkes University.

The Pennsylvania Manual, (1908). Miller, H.P., (Compiler). Baker, W.H., (Assistant Compiler). Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, pages 909, 915-917, Biographical Sketches of Senators, page 889.

Biographical Annals of Montgomery County, Pennsylvaniapublished, T. S. Benham and Company and The Lewis Publishing Company, 1904.

The Morning Call (Allentown, Pennsylvania) · Monday January 11, 1909 · Page 2.

Algernon Brooke Roberts (1875-1909) - Find a Grave Memorial