GEN. ISAAC ROBERTS

"The Father of Maury County"

Gen. Isaac Roberts was born March 1, 1761 in North Carolina. He and his wife, Mary Johnston, had nine children, including Polly who married Peter I. Voorhies, Nancy who married Samuel Hawkins, Rachel who married Hugh B. Porter, Persia, Patsy, Mark, John, Moses and William.

In March 1806, Gen. Roberts acquired a tract of 2800 acres, lying east of the (Andrew) Jackson Highway, extending from the mouth of Bear Creek to Double Branch Rd. The land had been part of a 1788 North Carolina land grant of 5,000 acres each to Elijah and Mark Robertson. Gen. Roberts built his home near Double Branch Rd. and lived there until he died on February 19, 1816. The old Roberts home burned December 2, 1950. Gen. Roberts lies buried a half mile east of the Nashville Highway in an unmarked grave, now behind a mobile home.

Gov. Sam Johnson of North Carolina appointed Isaac Roberts First Major on November 14, 1789. William Blount, territorial governor of Tennessee, appointed him First Major on December 15, 1790. Blount then appointed him Lt. Col. Commandant of the Regiment of Davidson County on October 27, 1792. Gov. John Sevier appointed him to the same position on October 4, 1796, and he was made Brigadier General, 5th Brigade in 1804.

In 1794, Roberts and Joseph Brown were part of an expedition against the Indians and to discover a suitable route to the town of Nickojack and Running Water. They participated in invading these towns on September 13, 1794, along with Capt. John Gordon and William Pillow. After the massacre at Fort Mimms on August 30, 1813, Gen. Roberts was placed in command of a brigade at Fayetteville on October 4, to march south with Gen. Jackson to fight the Indians at Talladega. A dispute with Gen. Jackson occurred over a misunderstanding of length of recruitment time, and Gen. Roberts left the army at that time.

Roberts was a member of the House of Representatives in the General Assembly of Tennesee, which convened at Knoxville on September 18, 1797. He, along with Robert Weakley, represented Davidson County, which then included what is now Maury. He was Justice of the Peace in Davidson County in 1804, after Williamson (including what became Maury) was cut away. He was elected first Chairman of the County Court when citizens met at the home of Joseph Brown to organize Maury County, December 21, 1807. A site on Roberts' land on Bear Creek was almost chosen for the building of the county seat of Columbia.

Source: William B. Turner, History of Maury County, Tennessee