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Tribute to Mrs. Nan Roberts
Page 1 Nan Roberts was born Nancy Elliott, ninety years ago. She was the first colored child to be born in Noblesville. The home was a log cabin in what was known as Calamus Swamp in southeast Noblesville. Her parents came from Wayne county. They were never slaves thought their parents had been. Nan was named by Nannie Burns and Mariah Cole. Nannie Burns was the daughter of the man who kept a hotel, the Burns House, a tavern for the accommodation of travelers. It is now the Houston Hotel. When quite a young girl she was put out to work with “Aunt Han” Butler, the mother of T.T. Butler, whose eldest sister, Cora, was a young baby. Later she cared for the children of Albert Cole and R.L. Wilson and many others, among them Luna Loehr Christian whose family at the time lived in the Stanley house, a house on which James Whitcomb Riley once put a coat of paint. Included in the many fine weddings at which Mrs. Roberts very graciously assisted were those of Will Dunn and Fanny Ross; Fred E. Heylmann and Cora Ingermann; Harry L. Craig and Frank Davidson; Harmon Williams and mary Teeter; Walter Teeter and Luia Colborn; Eugene Pulliam and Myrta Smith; George Craycraft and Lucille Oursler; JA. Beals and Haddee Christian; Lucius Wainwright and Victoria Gray; David Porterfield and Margaret Curtis; Noel Neal and Mabel Dunn; Frank Cmpbell and Ella Wheeler; Willard Trueblood and Clara Stanley; and many others. She was married to Stephan (Steve) Roberts who was associated with Marion Alder, the Wheelers and Sam Craig in buying and shipping cattle. After her marriage she continued to serve people and since she was an excellent cook and a good manager, she was in much demand for social functions. Nan’s family was the first colored family to come to Noblesville. She recalls that before there was a church for colored people here they held meetings around in their homes, and other that sometimes Rev. Jabez Neal came by horseback from his home at Deming and preached to them, returning by the way of the Roberts Settlement where he would hold a meeting. Now, her family all gone, she lives alone in her home on Sixth Street. Recalling the past in now one of her greatest pleasures. She can tell of many weddings at which she was principal cook. For all of her ninety years, she is able to care for herself, her eyes are bright and she is alert and interested in today’s world. And, she is held in highest esteem by all the people of Noblesville and by all who know her fine qualities of heart and mind.
Death Takes Aunt Nan, Oldest County Resident
Hamilton County’s oldest resident, Mrs. nancy Roberts passed away at the Hamilton County Hospital Sunday after a lingering illness. Two weeks ago on April 4 she observed her 100th birthday. The first negro born in Noblesville there is no official record of er birth and while she always claimed Apr 4 1852 as her birth day there are many in Noblesville who believe she may have been even earlier. Mrs. Roberts better known to her host of friends as “Aunt Nan” was the widow of Stephen Roberts who died in 1915. He was a well known Hamilton County livestock dealer who was a business partner of Sam Craig. Service will be held at the A.M.E. church where she served as Stewardess for many , many years at 2 p.m. Tuesday with Rev. J.P.Q.Wallace, Presiding Elder of Indianapolis officiating. The body will be in state at the church for an hour before the services. Burial will be in Crownland cemetery. Friends may call at the Coaltrain Funeral Home until noon, Tuesday. An excellent cook and housekeeper, Mrs. Roberts worked in many of the prominent homes in Noblesville and was greatly loved and held in the highest esteem and respect by all who knew her. Her only son, Roy Roberts, died in 1924 and she lived alone since then. During her later years friends and neighbors looked after her needs and when she no longer was able to care for herself she was taken to the County Hospital a few weeks ago. |
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