Background
Roberts was born on March 22, 1814 in New York. He was apparently the son of Owen Roberts, a Welsh physician who settled in New York City about 1800 and died when Marshall was a child.
capitalist entrepreneur naval agent Erie railroads director president of the North River Bank
Roberts was born on March 22, 1814 in New York. He was apparently the son of Owen Roberts, a Welsh physician who settled in New York City about 1800 and died when Marshall was a child.
By 1834 he was a ship chandler.
He engaged in Hudson River navigation and is said to have been among the original promoters of the Erie and the Lackawanna railroads: of the former he was a director.
In 1847 Roberts came into prominence through connection with government subsidy of mail steamships.
With George Law and others as joint trustees, he took over the contract just awarded to Albert G. Sloo.
In 1851, they started direct lines from New York and New Orleans to Aspinwall on the Isthmus, in addition to the stipulated Havana run, receiving no added subsidy.
n 1850 Roberts and his associates organized the United States Mail Steamship Company (incorporated Apr. 6, 1850), to which they assigned their interests in the Sloo contract.
In 1858 when the contract expired.
Roberts made nearly three millions from a half dozen steamers bought as a rule for a very low prices.
Early in 1865, was purchased at Lincoln's order for $400, 000. This price was set by a board headed by Roberts' friend Moses Taylor, though army officers thought her worth only half that price. Congress investigated these dealings in 1866 and 1878 but nothing happened. Roberts made several generous gestures during the war with gifts and bond purchases.
In 1856 and he was a delegate to the first Republican National Convention.
In 1865, he lost the New York mayoralty to J. T. Hoffman by a narrow margin.
In 1868, he was a presidential elector and helped finance the senatorial election of R. E. Fenton
He was for many years president of the North River Bank.
He worshipped for years at the Broadway Tabernacle; finally at Calvary Church.
He was rated with A. T. Stewart as one of the leading Republican contributors.
An anti-Seward Whig and then a Republican, he was defeated for Congress in 1852 and was a delegate to the first Republican National Convention in 1856.
Quotes from others about the person
Roberts made several generous gestures during the war with gifts and bond purchases, and, as his obituary remarked, "his patriotism stood him in good stead" (New York Herald, Sept. 12, 1880).
The first of his three wives was a Miss C. D. Amerman of New York City; the second, Caroline D. Smith of Hartford, whom he married in 1847; she was an organizer of the Young Women's Christian Association, and died in 1874. His third wife was Susan Lawrence Endicott, daughter of John Endicott of New York City.