Scope and Content Note
The papers of the Joseph Jenkins Roberts family span the years 1839-2001 and consist of certificates, correspondence, documents relating to the government of Liberia (chiefly land grants and ship registrations), wills, and miscellaneous genealogical material. Present also are one reel of microfilm and five microfiches of correspondence, land grants, ship registrations, wills, and miscellaneous items.
The focus of the collection is on land sales, mainly 1841-1883, to individuals by the Liberian government and the acquisition of property by members of the Davis and Roberts families in Monrovia, Liberia. Joseph J. Roberts, the first president of Liberia, signed many of the land grants.
The 2020 Addition consists of a letter written in 1847 by Joseph J. Roberts, then governor of Liberia, to Benjamin Coates, a merchant and member of the American Colonization Society of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.