The Fearless Fifty-Nine, John S. Roberts

John S. Roberts was the 40 year old Nacogdoches representative. At sixteen, Roberts participated in the Battle of New Orleans during the War of 1812. He moved to Louisiana soon after and in 1826 became a deputy sheriff of Natchitoches. That same year he served as a major in the Fredonian Rebellion. From 1827 to 1832, he entered the mercantile business with John Durst. He then participated in the battle of Nacogdoches in 1832 and enlisted in the Nacogdoches Independent Volunteers in 1835 as a first lieutenant. After the Convention, Roberts joined with Durst and George Allen to create a mercantile business on the town square in Nacogdoches. Between 1837 and 1839, he served as quartermaster of militia. By 1838, he was in financial ruin after a series of lawsuits. In the late 1840s, he entered the grocery and saloon business once again in the town square of Nacogdoches and then later in the Old Stone Fort which he operated until his death in 1871.