educator executive trustee writer Presbyterian clergyman
William Charles Roberts was born on 23. 09. 1832
at Galltmai, near Aberystwyth, Wales, the son of Charles Cross and Magdalene (Evans) Roberts. His father was a well-educated farmer. During William's seventeenth year financial reverses brought the family to America while the cholera epidemic of 1849 was raging at New York. Within a week after landing both parents and two of the children died of the disease.
The ambition to become a professional man which had led him to Evans Academy in Aberystwyth soon took him, however, to the school of the Rev. David H. Pierson, and in 1852 he entered the College of New Jersey as a sophomore.
After graduation with honors in 1855, he read law and served as private tutor, but during the winters studied in Princeton Theological Seminary, from which he was graduated in 1858. On October 13 of that year he was ordained by the Presbytery of Newcastle
Left the eldest of six orphans, William in a few months began work for a leather manufacturer at Elizabeth, N. J. The ambition to become a professional man which had led him to Evans Academy in Aberystwyth soon took him, however, to the school of the Rev. David H. Pierson, and in 1852 he entered the College of New Jersey as a sophomore. After graduation with honors in 1855, he read law and served as private tutor, but during the winters studied in Princeton Theological Seminary, from which he was graduated in 1858. On October 13 of that year he was ordained by the Presbytery of Newcastle, and six days later was married to Mary Louise Fuller. His initial pastorate was at the First Presbyterian Church, Wilmington, Delaware. , where he remained until 1862. The next two years he served the First Church, Columbus, Ohio. In December 1864 he became the colleague of his former pastor, Dr. David Magie, at the Second Church, Elizabeth, N. J. , and, on the latter's death the following May, his successor. When the city's growth required the organization of another church, Westminster was formed with one hundred members--all except seven from Second Church--with Roberts as pastor. The congregation grew rapidly, and in time erected one of the most costly edifices in New Jersey. He was sent to Great Britain in 1877 as a delegate to the Council of Presbyterian Churches, an honor twice repeated in later years. In 1889 he was moderator of the General Assembly. Although Roberts held these notable pastorates, his most marked contribution was to Christian education. While at Wilmington he served Lafayette College as a trustee (1859 - 62); during his pastorate at Columbus, he was a member of a committee that prepared the way for the founding of the College of Wooster; he was a trustee of the College of New Jersey (1866 - 86); and he declined the presidency of Rutgers College in 1882. In that year he became secretary of the denomination's Board of Home Missions, holding the position until 1886 and again from 1893 to 1898. During the intervening seven years he was president of Lake Forest College, Ill. Under his leadership, the faculty was augmented, new departments were created, and funds amounting to about $1, 000, 000 were raised. The number of students increased to more than 1, 500. His last five years were spent as president of Centre College, Danville, Ky. , during which period, in 1901, Centre College and Central University at Richmond, Ky. , united to form the Central University of Kentucky.
He was a president of Lake Forest College, Ill. Under his leadership, the faculty was augmented, new departments were created, and funds amounting to about $1, 000, 000 were raised. The number of students increased to more than 1, 500. He published numerous religious pamphlets in both English and Welsh, and several books, of which Great Preachers of Wales (1865) and New Testament Conversions attracted most attention.
He read law and served as private tutor, but during the winters studied in Princeton Theological Seminary, from which he was graduated in 1858. On October 13 of that year he was ordained by the Presbytery of Newcastle
William Charles Roberts was married to Mary Louise Fuller
