Henry W. Roberts, postmaster of Clinton, Oneida county, has been a conspicuous figure in the business and public life of his community for a good many years. He was born in the town of Deerfield, Oneida county, December 1, 1858, and is the oldest child and only son of the late Ellis R. and Ann (Johns) Roberts, both of whom were natives of this county. His grandfather, Ellis Roberts, came to Utica from his native Wales in 1818 and worked on the Erie canal while it was in the process of construction. When the canal was finished in 1825 he took up farming in this vicinity. His son, Ellis R. Roberts, started out in life as an agriculturist, but after the Civil war, in 1867, he went to Utica, where he engaged in the grocery business. In 1873 he came to Clinton and here continued in the same line of work until his death on October 26, 1899. His wife, who has attained the advanced age of eighty-seven, makes her home with her only daughter in Watertown, New York.
Henry W. Roberts was educated in the public schools of his native town of Deerfield, Utica and Clinton, after which he started to learn the grocery business under the direction of his father. Later he farmed for a time. In 1883 he became associated with Comstock Brothers in the wholesale drug business in Utica, continuing with them for about six years. Mr. Roberts returned to Clinton in 1888 to start a grocery business for himself and continued this enterprise successfully for twenty years, eventually selling out to H. E. Thomas & Company.
A little more than twenty years ago Mr. Roberts entered the arena of public affairs, which has occupied his attention more or less ever since. His first important elective office was that of county treasurer, which he was chosen to fill in 1902 and he served for two terms of three years each. In 1906 he was one of the men who organized the Clinton Knitting Mills, his associates in this venture being E. B. Stanley and O. J. Burns, and after the expiration of his second term as county treasurer Mr. Roberts became manager and treasurer of this mill, a position he retained for some six years. In the fall of 1916 he was elected supervisor of the town of Clinton, a post that he resigned after six years of able and faithful service in order to accept the postmastership of Clinton, to which he was appointed in February, 1923. Mr. Roberts began his new duties on May 1, 1923, and has been filling them in a manner most acceptable to the patrons of the local office. In years past Mr. Roberts held the office of town clerk and for twenty-five years he sat on the local board of education, occupying the place of chairman during the last three years of his service. During the World war he was a member of the questionnaire board as well as an active worker in the war drives. Politically the postmaster is affiliated with the republican party, which regards him as one of its most valuable leaders in this section. For several years he was committeeman for Clinton, while frequently he has represented this district in party conventions. There are probably few men in Clinton so well versed in the local political situation or more capable of assuming the leadership of a hard-fought campaign.
Mr. Roberts was married in Clinton, in 1883, to Miss Anna Clark, the daughter of Patrick Clark, and she comes from one of the old families of this region. Two children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Roberts: A son, Leo H., and a daughter, Miss Gertrude. They are associated in the management of a local grocery store in which their father is financially interested. Leo H. Roberts volunteered his services to his country during the World war and was stationed at the Great Lakes Naval Training Station north of Chicago on Lake Michigan for eight months. He was unfortunate in that he did not have an opportunity to see active service on the high seas before the signing of the armistice brought an end to hostilities. The family is affiliated with the Presbyterian church of Clinton, of which Mr. Roberts is a member and a trustee. Fraternally he is identified with the Masonic order, his membership being in Clinton Lodge, No. 169, A. F. & A. M.; and the Utica Consistory. He is likewise an Elk, belonging to Utica Lodge, No. 33. Mr. Roberts is a devotee of the great American game of baseball, which he follows closely during the season, and is also fond of motoring.