Charles E. Roberts (March 13, 1843 – March 1934) was an American

engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who invent, design, analyze, build and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while considering the l ...

inventor An invention is a unique or novel device, method, composition, idea or process. An invention may be an improvement upon a machine, product, or process for increasing efficiency or lowering cost. It may also be an entirely new concept. If an ...

and an important early client and patron of

Frank Lloyd Wright Frank Lloyd Wright (June 8, 1867 – April 9, 1959) was an American architect, designer, writer, and educator. He designed more than 1,000 structures over a creative period of 70 years. Wright played a key role in the architectural movements o ...

. In 1896, Wright remodeled Robert's house in Oak Park.

Personal life

Charles E Roberts was born on March 13, 1843, near

Rochester, New York Rochester () is a City (New York), city in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York, the county seat, seat of Monroe County, New York, Monroe County, and the fourth-most populous in the state after New York City, Buffalo, New York, Buffalo, ...

.,U. S. Census 1880 the son of David Roberts and his wife Elizabeth Whipple Roberts. On February 3, 1876, Roberts married Cleantha Wilbur. They had five children: Alice May, Owen Wilbur, James Wilbur, Charles Willis and Chapin Roberts, all of whom were born in Illinois. Alice May Roberts (born December 13, 1876), married

Prairie School Prairie School is a late 19th- and early 20th-century architectural style, most common in the Midwestern United States. The style is usually marked by horizontal lines, flat or hipped roofs with broad overhanging eaves, windows grouped in ...

architect An architect is a person who plans, designs and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...

Charles E. White, Jr. Charles E. White Jr. (1876–1936) was a noted Chicago area architect who for a time worked in the Oak Park studio of Frank Lloyd Wright and who, both before and after that time, had a successful and influential career as an architect and a writer o ...

(b May 18, 1876, in

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

) who worked in Wright's Oak Park Studio (1903–1905), and who later remodeled the Charles E. Roberts Stable, on November 26, 1901. Mrs. Charles E. Roberts (née Cleantha Wilbur) was the maternal aunt of B. Harley Bradley of Kankakee, IL, another important Wright client (her sister, Alice M. Wilbur, married Byron Chapman Bradley). Roberts died in Oak Park in March 1934.

Influence on architecture

Roberts was an influential member of the building committee of

Unity Temple Unity Temple is a Unitarian Universalist church in Oak Park, Illinois, and the home of the Unity Temple Unitarian Universalist Congregation. It was designed by the American architect Frank Lloyd Wright, and built between 1905 and 1908. Unity Te ...

Oak Park, Illinois Oak Park is a village in Cook County, Illinois, adjacent to Chicago. It is the 29th-most populous municipality in Illinois with a population of 54,583 as of the 2020 U.S. Census estimate. Oak Park was first settled in 1835 and later incorporated in ...

. For Roberts, Wright also developed a series of block plans from 1896 to 1903, notably several variations of the Quadruple Block Plan. For Roberts, Wright also designed the Charles E. Roberts Summer Home and five houses for Charles E. Roberts, Ridgeland, IL. Wright remodeled the Charles E. Roberts House and designed the Charles E. Roberts Stable in Oak Park. Many architectural historians have mistakenly identified Charles E. Roberts as the father of Oak Park Studio architect

Isabel Roberts Isabel Roberts (March 1871 – December 27, 1955) was a Prairie School figure, member of the architectural design team in the Oak Park Studio of Frank Lloyd Wright and partner with Ida Annah Ryan in the Orlando, Florida architecture firm, "R ...

, As has been well documented, Isabel's father was James H. Roberts, of

South Bend, Indiana South Bend is a city in and the county seat of St. Joseph County, Indiana, St. Joseph County, Indiana, on the St. Joseph River (Lake Michigan), St. Joseph River near its southernmost bend, from which it derives its name. As of the 2020 United S ...

, the son of William and Sarah Roberts of

Utica, New York Utica () is a Administrative divisions of New York, city in the Mohawk Valley and the county seat of Oneida County, New York, United States. The List of cities in New York, tenth-most-populous city in New York State, its population was 65,283 ...

. Charles E. Roberts and James H. Roberts were not siblings, in fact, even though both men were mechanically inclined, successful inventors, no family or business connection has been found between them.

Career

Charles E. Roberts served as the President and Director of the

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

Screw Company, President and Director of the Standard Screw Company and Vice President and Director of the Pearson Machine Company. Roberts invented a machine that could make the tops and bottoms of screws at the same time; he sold the business for a million dollars and devoted the remainder of his life to other inventions. Among those, Roberts was also the inventor of a machine for threading bung-bushes, for Crane Brothers Manufacturing Company, of Chicago. Roberts held

automobile A car or automobile is a motor vehicle with Wheel, wheels. Most definitions of ''cars'' say that they run primarily on roads, Car seat, seat one to eight people, have four wheels, and mainly transport private transport#Personal transport, pe ...

patent #748015 for an

electric car An electric car, battery electric car, or all-electric car is an automobile that is propelled by one or more electric motors, using only energy stored in batteries. Compared to internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles, electric cars are quie ...

which was made and marketed by the Standard Screw Company, issued on Dec. 20, 1903. Roberts also invented a “Machine for Cutting Butter or the like Material”, the patent of which was owned by Charles E. Roberts and his son, Owen W. Roberts, Chicago. The patent was filed on Feb. 26, 1907. Roberts served on the board of trustees of

Lombard College Lombard College was a Universalist college located in Galesburg, Illinois. History Lombard College was founded in 1853 by the Universalist Church as the Illinois Liberal Institute. In 1855, however, a major fire damaged much of the college, p ...

Galesburg, IL Galesburg is a city in Knox County, Illinois, United States. The city is northwest of Peoria. At the 2010 census, its population was 32,195. It is the county seat of Knox County and the principal city of the Galesburg Micropolitan Statistical ...

.The Universalist Register, Containing the Statistics of the Church, p. 103

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Roberts, Charles E. 1843 births 1934 deaths