Vincent Roberts was a prominent citizen of Dodge County, Wisconsin, where he lived from 1845 until his death. He actively participated in public affairs while self-employed as a farmer and real estate and loan agent. Roberts was born March 10, 1818 in Llanegryn, North Wales, and arrived with his parents in Oneida County, New York, in 1823. There he was educated, learning the carpenter's trade from his father. On December 28, 1842, Roberts married Ann Jones, a native of Oneida County. In May of 1845 they moved with their first child, William, to a farm in Emmet, Dodge County, Wisconsin Territory, where the Roberts' second and third children, John and Vincent, were born. In May of 1848 they moved to Iron Ridge, where Roberts homesteaded eighty acres of heavily-timbered land. There his seven youngest children, David M., George W., Adam C., Watson, Lydia A., Mary, and Lovina (“Vina”), were born.
Upon the organization of the State of Wisconsin (1848) Roberts was commissioned a notary public by Governor Nelson Dewey, and also assumed the responsibilities of justice of the peace, a position he held for the next fifteen years. In 1847 Roberts was appointed highway commissioner, and in later years he held the offices of assessor, supervisor, and town clerk. In the late 1850s and early 1860s Roberts began to experiment with new means of livelihood. Through careful loaning of his money he was able to collect considerable interest, and this, added to his revenues as a merchant-farmer, enabled him to purchase more land for his private holdings. He also bought and sold mortgages on farmland, and in close connection with his occupation as a loan agent developed a real estate business as well.
With the rise of Roberts' economic position he sought elective office, running four times as a Republican for the State Assembly from his district, which was strongly Democratic. He was never elected. In his last attempt at election (1872) he received only 22 percent of the vote.
Roberts' later years found him increasingly on the road, traveling about the state obtaining and releasing mortgages, collecting interest on old loans, and issuing new ones. By 1880 his farm was a well-developed 260 acres with well-constructed buildings. On June 10, 1887, Ann Jones Roberts died; Roberts himself, though feeling the pressures of old age, continued his business adventures unabated. His last business trip took him to Oshkosh, where he died on October 5, 1888, following a heart attack.
