William J. McRoberts

William John McRoberts (died September 25, 1933) was an American businessman and politician from New York.

William J. McRoberts (1914)

Life

He was born[1] in Downpatrick, County Down, Ireland. Aged about 16 years, he emigrated to the United States and settled in New York City. There he worked on the piers of the port. In 1876, he opened McRoberts Protective Agency, a private security firm which initially offered to the shipping companies protection against theft of the cargoes which passed through the port of New York.[2] In 1893, he moved to Brooklyn. Later he also ran a shipping company,[3] and a contracting business. He married Catherine Louise, and they had four children.[4]

In November 1913, McRoberts was elected as a Progressive, with Republican endorsement,[5] to the State Assembly (Kings Co., 9th D.). McRoberts polled 7,190 votes, defeating the incumbent Democrat Frederick S. Burr who polled 5,589 votes.[6] McRoberts was a member of the 137th New York State Legislature in 1914. In November 1914, he ran for re-election, but was defeated by Burr.

In November 1915, McRoberts ran on the Progressive, Republican and American tickets for the State Assembly, but was again defeated by Burr, the vote stood 7,213 for Burr and 7,146 for McRoberts. McRoberts contested Burr's election, but his claim was unsuccessful.[7]

McRoberts died on September 25, 1933, at his home in Brooklyn, of heart disease.[8]

References
  1. There is some controversy about his birth year. Adding up the years in the Assembly candidate's bio published in 1914, places his birth year in 1843, and he would have been 90 years old when he died. His obit in the Brooklyn Daily Eagle gives his age as "70" which would place his birth in 1863, and would make him 13 years old when he founded his detective agency.
  2. McRoberts Protective Agency, Inc.
  3. Progressive Nominees for the Assembly in the Brooklyn Daily Eagle on November 1, 1914
  4. McRoberts Estate, Valued at $95,000, Is Left to Family in the Brooklyn Daily Eagle on October 25, 1933
  5. VOTERS' GUIDE FOR THE NEW ASSEMBLY in the New York Times on October 26, 1913
  6. New York Red Book (1914; pg. 163)
  7. TO CONTEST BURR'S SEAT IN ASSEMBLY in the Brooklyn Daily Eagle on December 21, 1915
  8. W. J. McRoberts, Ex-Assemblyman, 70, Dies at Home in the Brooklyn Daily Eagle on September 26, 1933
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