Roberts was born August 20, 1866, in Decatur, Michigan.

[2] In 1918, Roberts was elected to the Illinois House of Representatives as a Republican.

After the Chicago race riot of 1919, Governor Frank Orren Lowden's appointed Roberts to the Chicago Commission on Race Relations created in response to the incident.

During his tenure, he was a resident of the Douglas community area.

[4] In 1984, Senator Margaret Smith and Representative Howard B. Brookins Sr. successfully campaigned to have a statue of Roberts installed in the Capitol rotunda.