Background
Edward James Roye was born in Newark, Ohio. His father, John Roye, who had been born in Kentucky, was thrifty and on his death in 1829 left his son some personal property and land.
Edward James Roye was born in Newark, Ohio. His father, John Roye, who had been born in Kentucky, was thrifty and on his death in 1829 left his son some personal property and land.
The boy was educated in the public schools of Ohio.
Roye taught school a few years in Chillicothe. He then started in business as a sheep-trader and shopkeeper and lived in various parts of the Middle West. On the death of his mother in 1840, he began to consider the possibility of emigrating to some foreign country in order to escape American prejudice. He first chose Haiti and began to study French at Oberlin, but he finally changed his mind and went to Liberia. He arrived there with a stock of goods in 1846. His energy soon made him the leading merchant in the country; he exported African products to England and to the United States and was rated in 1870 as the richest man in Liberia.
In 1849 he was speaker of the House of Representatives, and he served as chief justice from 1865 to 1868. Three times he was candidate for the presidency, was finally elected, and in January 1871 was inaugurated president. He immediately announced a progressive policy. He wished to undertake a complete financial reconstruction, some measures for general education, and an improved system of roads (Inaugural Address of President Edward James Roye, 1870). For these purposes Liberia needed capital, and he began to negotiate for a loan from Great Britain.
He went to England in 1870 to settle a boundary dispute and conducted negotiations for the loan. Unfortunately, he made the initial mistake of yielding too much to Lord Granville, agreeing to a rectification of the boundary that practically gave back to England land Liberia had formerly bought. He returned to Liberia before finishing the matter of the loan but left negotiations in the hands of two Liberians and a white man, David Chinery, who was consul for Liberia in London. A loan for $500, 000 was finally negotiated on very severe terms, carrying interest at seven percent. and issued at thirty percent below par with three years' interest deducted. He hastily agreed to the terms without consulting the legislature and ordered certain goods to be charged against the loan. As a final result, Liberia actually received something like $89, 515 cash, while her bonds were issued for at least $400, 000. The result of all these negotiations caused great resentment in Liberia against him.
He was also accused of embezzling some of the money and foolishly made matters worse by seeking to extend the two-year term of the presidency by edict. Public indignation was excited to fury, and the people, rising in insurrection, overpowered him and his friends, seized his house, and imprisoned him with one of his sons.
In October 1871 he was deposed from his office, an executive committee was appointed to carry on the government until a new president was elected and Joseph J. Roberts was recalled from retirement. He was then summoned to trial before the supreme court but escaped during the night, either because of carelessness or connivance, and tried to reach an English steamer in the harbor. He was drowned in the attempt to ride the breakers in a native canoe.