Los Angeles County, CA, Biographies

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HENRY C. ROBERTS.
 
        Among the early settlers and well-known agriculturists and business men 
of the Azusa Township is the subject of this sketch. Mr. Roberts is a native of 
Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, born in 1833. His father, Ebenezer S. Roberts, was 
also a native of that county. His mother, nee Eliza Heis, was of German 
parentage, and a descendant of an old and wealthy family of Philadelphia. In 
1842 Mr. Roberts's father moved to Illinois and located at Rockford, where he 
was largely engaged in agricultural pursuits, and also in mercantile and banking 
operations There the subject of this sketch was reared and given the advantages 
of a good schooling, but when seventeen years of age his ambitious and energetic 
disposition prompted him to start out in life upon his own account, and, in 
March of 1850 he joined an emigrant train and came across the plains to 
California. Upon his arrival in the Golden State he located in the mining 
counties, and for the next four years followed the varying fortunes of a miner. 
In 1854 he went to San Jose, and for some months was a clerk in a mercantile 
house, and in the fall of that year came to Los Angeles County. He took up his 
residence in Los Angeles until the next spring, and then, tired of quiet 
pursuits, decided to try his fortunes in Arizona. He accordingly located in the 
Weaver district in that Territory, and engaged in prospecting and mining. The 
Indians were bitter and hostile in those days. They killed his animals and made 
war upon his party, and he was compelled to abandon his enterprise and return on 
foot to California. Upon his return to Los Angeles he established a livery 
stable, and engaged in stock-raising upon the Santa Anita Ranch, near Los 
Angeles, where he remained until 1859. In May of that year he came to the Azusa 
Township, and located upon 160 acres of land near the mouth of the San Gabriel 
Ca�on. There he established the first store ever opened in the township. He also 
engaged in mining enterprises in the San Gabriel Ca�on, and opened a store in 
the San Gabriel mines. During this time he was also engaged in a bitter fight 
with the Azusa grant holders over the ownership of the land he had taken up as a 
Government claim. This contest lasted for more than twenty years, and Mr. 
Roberts was among the most prominent and energetic settlers in contesting the 
grant claims, until it was finally settled in 1883 by the United States 
Government issuing patents to the settlers. This contest was one of great 
importance to the Azusa Valley, as it opened up for settlement thousands of 
acres of the rich and productive lands of the Upper San Gabriel Valley, and made 
possible the magnificent improvements and population of which that section now 
boasts. Mr. Roberts, at this writing (1889), is the owner of 250 acres of land 
(including his original claim of 160 acres), located about one mile from the 
town of Azusa, upon which he is engaged in agricultural and horticultural 
pursuits. He has twenty acres of citrus fruits and five acres of deciduous 
fruits. His vineyard is forty acres in extent, and contains a variety of the 
most approved wine grapes in the San Gabriel Valley, among which are the 
Zinfandel, Burger, Concord, Mission, Hamburg, Flaming Tokay and Black Morocco. 
His lands are irrigated by water from the San Gabriel River. His location is 
such that he has the advantages of climate, soil, etc., that are especially 
adapted for vine culture, and is fast building up one of the representative 
places of the valley. He has other property interests in the Azusa, among which 
is a forty-acre tract at Covina, thirty acres of which are devoted to wine 
grapes of the Burger and Zinfandel varieties. Mr. Roberts is also interested in 
business and residence property in the city of Azusa, and has been largely 
interested in building up that place, as the efficient agent of the Azusa Land 
and Water Company. He also owns eighty acres of mineral land in the San Gabriel 
Ca�on, about twelve miles north of Azusa. Mr. Roberts has been one of the most 
active business men in his section, and has done much to develop its resources. 
His mining operations in the San Gabriel Ca�on embrace a period of twenty years, 
and he is a strong believer in the mineral wealth of that ca�on and the Sierra 
Madre Mountains. He has been for many years the president of the board of water 
commissioners, of the Azusa district, and is also largely interested in 
developing the water supply in the Sal Se Puda Ca�on, which is intended for the 
irrigation of the Vineland district. As an enterprising and public-spirited 
citizen, he is always ready to identity himself with and liberally support any 
enterprise that tends to develop the resources and build up the Upper San 
Gabriel Valley. He is a strong supporter of schools, and was one of the first 
school trustees of his district. In political matters he is a strong Republican, 
and was a firm Union man during the dark days of the Rebellion. In 1864 the 
subject of this sketch was united in marriage with Miss Susanna Melendrez, a 
native of California, and the daughter of Vicente Melendrez, a well-known 
resident of Los Angeles. The following are the names of the children from this 
marriage: Frederick, Edward, James D., Thomas, Charles, Esculapius, Marietta, 
Henry C., Henrietta, William and Vicente, all of whom are members of their 
father's household. Frederick married Miss Sorieda Maestran, a native of Los 
Angeles County. Mr. Roberts's father is now (1889) a resident of Los Angeles, an 
active and well-preserved gentleman of eighty-four years.
 
An Illustrated History of Los Angeles County, California �  Chicago, The Lewis 
Publishing Company, 1889   Page 616
Transcribed by Kathy Sedler