Robert Roberts (1780 in

Charleston, South Carolina Charleston is the largest city in the U.S. state of South Carolina, the county seat of Charleston County, and the principal city in the Charleston–North Charleston metropolitan area. The city lies just south of the geographical midpoint o ...

–1860) was the author of ''The House Servant's Directory: A Monitor for Private Families''. Published in 1827, the book was the first commercially published book written by an

African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...

in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. His intent in writing this was to teach the "general rules and directions for servants to go by as shall give satisfaction to their employers, and gain a good reputation for themselves." The book was sufficiently popular that two later editions were printed. In 1825 he became the butler for

Christopher Gore Christopher Gore (September 21, 1758 – March 1, 1827) was a prominent Massachusetts lawyer, Federalist politician, and U.S. diplomat. Born into a family divided by the American Revolution, Gore sided with the victorious Patriots, establis ...

, Governor and Senator from

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett language, Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut assachusett writing systems, məhswatʃəwiːsət'' English: , ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is the most populous U.S. state, state in the New England ...

, and remained in the position until Gore's death in 1827. Previously he had been a butler or manservant for Nathan Appleton and it is likely that Roberts traveled abroad with Appleton from 1810 to 1812. Roberts married Dorothy Hall in 1805. They had no children, and Dorothy died of tuberculosis in 1813. Later in 1813 he married Sarah Easton. They had twelve children. Later in life he was known in Boston as an

abolitionist Abolitionism, or the abolitionist movement, is the movement to end slavery. In Western Europe and the Americas, abolitionism was a historic movement that sought to end the Atlantic slave trade and liberate the enslaved people. The British ...

and for his efforts to secure equal school rights.

References

''The House Servant's Directory''
Full text of 1827 edition made available through Michigan State University Library website.

See also

References

Further reading