Nicholas Franklin Roberts (October 13, 1849June 25, 1934) was a leading Baptist minister and educator in Raleigh, North Carolina. He was a faculty member and for a short time acting president at Shaw University. He was also a city alderman in Raleigh and served on the county board of education.
Early life and education Nicholas Franklin Roberts was born in Seaboard, Northampton County, North Carolina on October 13, 1849. As a child, he worked on a farm. He showed aptitude for mathematics at a young age and entered Shaw University (then Shaw Collegiate Institute) on October 10, 1871. He graduated in May 1878 and was then hired as a professor of Mathematics at Shaw.Simmons, William J., and Henry McNeal Turner. Men of Mark: Eminent, Progressive and Rising. GM Rewell & Company, 1887. p205-207
Roberts was active in Republican politics, even as a student, serving as secretary of a Republican county meeting in July 1872.Republican Meeting in Northampton County, Tri-Weekly Era (Raleigh, North Carolina), July 2, 1872, page 1, accessed September 9, 2016 at https://www.newspapers.com/clip/6565856// Along with Shaw University president, Henry Martin Tupper, and fellow student, Edward Hart Lipscombe, Roberts was an editor of the quarterly journal, African Expositor, founded in 1878A New Quarterly, The Observer (Raleigh, North Carolina), September 14, 1878, page 3, accessed September 9, 2016 at https://www.newspapers.com/clip/6565929/a_new_quarterly_the_observer_raleigh/ and was later the business manager of the Baptist Sentinel.Pipkin, James Jefferson. The Story of a Rising Race: The Negro in Revelation, in History and in Citizenship. With introduction by John B. Gordon. ND Thompson, 1902. p392-393
Baptist church service In March 1872, he converted to the Baptist religion and on May 20, 1877 he was ordained a minister. On July 2, 1882, he was made pastor of Blount Street Baptist Church in Raleigh, North Carolina. From 1873 to 1883, he was president of the State Sunday School convention, a position he served in many times.Pegues, Albert Witherspoon. Our Baptist Ministers and Schools. Willey & Company, 1892. He was also elected president of the State Baptist Convention numerous times, first in October 1885. He was made general missionary among the poor in North Carolina by the American Baptist Home Mission Society in 1881.[No Headline], The Biblical Recorder (Raleigh, North Carolina), May 11, 1881, page 2, accessed September 9, 2016 at https://www.newspapers.com/clip/6566609/no_headline_the_biblical_recorder/ He resigned as pastor of the Blount Street Baptist Church in August 1891 to focus on his other activities.
Public service
Roberts was heavily involved in political, educational, and religious organizations and served as an officer of many bodies. He was vice president of the state Colored Education Convention in 1877.Colored Education Convention, The Observer (Raleigh, North Carolina) September 2, 1877, page 3, accessed September 9, 2016 at https://www.newspapers.com/clip/6565903/colored_education_convention_the/ In 1886, he was an alderman in Raleigh and a member of the street committee.Board of Alderman, News and Observer (Raleigh, North Carolina), November 6, 1886, page 4, accessed September 9, 2016 at https://www.newspapers.com/clip/6566630/board_of_alderman_news_and_observer/ He was elected to the county school board in 1897.The New School Board, The Press-Visitor (Raleigh, North Carolina) June 9, 2897, page 1, accessed September 9, 2016 at https://www.newspapers.com/clip/6566685/the_new_school_board_the_pressvisitor/ He also led the Institute for Colored Teachers in the early 1900s.The Colored Teachers, The North Carolinian (Raleigh, North Carolina), August 28, 1902, page 8, accessed September 9, 2016 at https://www.newspapers.com/clip/6567128/the_colored_teachers_the_north/
In late 1897 and early 1898, Roberts hosted South African tribal nobility, including the grandson of Chief Kama (also called King Kama) of Kaffraria and the nephew of Chief William Shaw Kama, Alfred Impey, as Alfred attended Shaw University.An African Prince Here, The Morning Post (Raleigh, North Carolina) December 7, 1897, page 4, accessed September 9, 2016 at https://www.newspapers.com/clip/6566763/an_african_prince_here_the_morning/ However, Impey died of consumption in North Carolina in April 1898.Prince Impey Dead, The Press-Visitor (Raleigh, North Carolina), April 5, 1898, page 1, accessed September 9, 2016 at https://www.newspapers.com/clip/6566814/prince_impey_dead_the_pressvisitor/
Shaw served as acting head of Shaw University for five months after Tupper died on November 12, 1893, serving from that date until March 14, 1894.Chang, Derek. Citizens of a Christian nation: Evangelical missions and the problem of race in the nineteenth century. University of Pennsylvania Press, 2011. p147 He later held the positions of vice-president,Colored Baptist Convention, The Biblical Recorder (Raleigh, North Carolina) November 27, 1901, page 7, accessed September 9, 2016 at https://www.newspapers.com/clip/6567098// dean of faculty,Colored Baptists Meet, The Raleigh Times (Raleigh, North Carolina), August 4, 1909, page 8, accessed September 9, 2016 at https://www.newspapers.com/clip/6567187/colored_baptists_meet_the_raleigh/ and dean of the theology department.Dr. Roberts, Negro Educator of Shaw University, Dies, Greensboro Daily News (Greensboro, North Carolina), Tuesday, June 26, 1934, Page: 8
Personal life and death He married Mary S. Chavis of Union, North Carolina in 1904.Postscripts, The Morning Post (Raleigh, North Carolina), June 8, 1904, page 8, accessed September 9, 2016 at https://www.newspapers.com/clip/6567169/postscripts_the_morning_post_raleigh/ He died on June 25, 1934. Roberts Lane in Oberlin Village was named for him.
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