Jane Roberts (first lady)

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For other people named Jane Roberts, see Jane Roberts (disambiguation).
Jane Roberts
Jane Roberts (3d01922v) (cropped).jpg
Born
Jane Rose Waring

c. 1819
Virginia, United States
Died(1914-01-10)January 10, 1914 (aged 94–95)
London, England
Resting placeStreatham Cemetery
London, England
NationalityAmerican (Before 1824)
Liberian (After 1824)
Spouse(s)

Jane Rose Waring Roberts (née Waring; c. 1819 – January 10, 1914) was an early African-American colonist of the Colony of Liberia as well as a member of the Americo-Liberian community. As the wife of President Joseph Jenkins Roberts, she was the first First Lady of the Republic of Liberia from 1848 to 1856 and again from 1872 to 1876.

Early life[]

Jane Rose Waring was born free in the American state of Virginia around 1819.[1] On February 13, 1824, the Cyrus arrived in Liberia, carrying the Waring family, including a four-year old Jane.[2] The Waring family was prominent in Virginia's sizeable free black community.[3] Her father, , was a reverend and a successful businessman. Colston sold his notable holdings in the United States and established a profitable commercial firm in Liberia.[4] Colston served as vice colonial agent of the Liberia and died in 1838. Jane was educated in Liberia. She learned to read and write, and speak fluent French.[1] Jane dedicated her life to Christian charities and the promotion of women's education.[5]

Marriage[]

Jane Roberts, widow of Joseph Jenkins Roberts, in London, 1905

In 1836, Jane married Joseph Jenkins Roberts. Roberts was a free born merchant from Virginia who had immigrated to Liberia with his family in 1829.[1] Roberts' first wife and infant child died within the first year of arriving at Monrovia.[6] Roberts' marriage to Jane connected him with the Waring family and allowed the two families to consolidate their wealth and social status.[4][7] The marriage produced one child, Sarah Ann Roberts, in 1838. Sarah was educated in England and married William A. Johnson.[1] While her husband served as governor of Liberia from 1842 to 1848, Jane made some contributions to farming, such as raising turkeys.[8] She likewise took a role in educating some Liberian children.[8] In 1847, Joseph was elected the first president of Liberia following the nation's independence.[1]

As president, her husband made diplomatic visits to several countries and met with several heads of state, in an effort to gain recognition for their new country. Jane accompanied him on some of these trips, including Barbados, the United States, England, Belgium, and France.[1] During their state visit to England, Queen Victoria received the couple on her royal yacht and honored them with a seventeen-gun salute. The couple then returned to Monrovia on a British warship.[9] French President Louis Napoleon III likewise met the couple in 1851, the second of two meetings, and later donated equipment to the Liberian military.[1]

In 1856, Joseph left the office of the presidency for the first of two times. From then until 1872, he served as president of Liberia College. In 1872, Jane again served as first lady upon her husband's second election to Liberia's presidency. The following year, one of Jane's sisters, Susannah Lewis, as well as her mother, Harriet Graves Waring, who had by 1847 married Vice President Nathaniel Brander, died.[1] Soon after Joseph had left the presidency for the final time, in 1876, he died. Jane tried to nurse him back to health when he was ill, but she did not succeed.[1]

Widowhood and death[]

Jane continued to be active in her community as a widow.[1] In 1887, Jane started a project to construct a hospital in Monrovia.[5][10] While raising money, she visited the United States, where she dined with President Grover Cleveland and his wife at the White House.[5] She was the only black woman to do so. President Cleveland ended up contributing money to the hospital. In 1891, she spoke at the annual meeting of the Pennsylvania Colonization Society.[1]

In 1892, Jane would meet with Queen Victoria a second time. Before the meeting with Victoria, Jane saw a quilt Martha Ricks had been making for Victoria. She had spent over twenty-five years making it. Upon seeing the quality of the quilt, and hearing the story behind it, she had Ricks accompany her to present the quilt to Victoria herself.[9][11] The two met with Victoria at Windsor Castle in July 1892.[1] Jane's second meeting with Victoria was the subject of an Elton Fax illustration in 1947.[12]

From 1906 until her death, Jane lived in London with one of Britain's first black mayors, John Archer, and his wife Bertha.[1] In England, she continued to accumulate funds for the Monrovia hospital, through gifts from friends. Hallie Quinn Brown noted, with regard to a visit in 1910, that while Jane was ninety-one years old, she was still "clear in mind and wonderfully active."[9] On January 10, 1914, Jane died in the Archer home.[13] At the time of her death, she was one of the oldest members of the Liberian community. She was interred at Streatham Cemetery in London.[1]

References[]

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Gates, Henry Louis and Evelyn Brooks Higginbotham (2008). The African American National Biography: Moore, Lenny-Romain. pp. 620–621.
  2. ^ "ROLL OF EMIGRANTS THAT HAVE BEEN SENT TO THE COLONY OF LIBERIA, WESTERN AFRICA, BY THE AMERICAN COLONIZATION SOCIETY AND ITS AUXILIARIES, TO SEPTEMBER, 1843, &c". Christine's African American Genealogy Website. Retrieved May 24, 2021.
  3. ^ Woodson, C. G. (1948). Negro history bulletin v.11 Oct. 1947-June 1948. pp. 99–100.
  4. ^ a b Sawyer, Amos (1992). The emergence of autocracy in Liberia: tragedy and challenge. p. 110.
  5. ^ a b c Gates, Henry Louis, Jr. (2011). Life Upon These Shores: Looking at African American History, 1513-2008. p. 59.
  6. ^ "Roberts Family". University of Virginia. Retrieved May 24, 2021.
  7. ^ Shick, Tom W. (2008). Behold the promised land: a history of Afro-American settler society in nineteenth-century Liberia. p. 50.
  8. ^ a b Harris, Joseph E. (1993). Global dimensions of the African diaspora. pp. 374, 379.
  9. ^ a b c Brown, Hallie Q. (1971). Homespun heroines and other women of distinction. pp. 47–49.
  10. ^ "American Colonization Society". Library of Congress. Retrieved May 24, 2021.
  11. ^ Benberr, Cuesta (1992). Always there: the African-American presence in American quilts. p. 36.
  12. ^ Fax, Elton (19 February 1949). "They'll Never Die". Jackson Advocate. Jackson, Mississippi. p. 5. Retrieved 24 May 2021.
  13. ^ "Race News". The Colorado Statesman. Denver, Colorado. 24 January 1914. p. 5. Retrieved 24 May 2021.
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