Joseph Jenkins Roberts letter to Benjamin Coates, 1839

Access and use

Location of collection:
University of Virginia, Special Collections Dept.
Albert and Shirley Small Special Collections Library
University of Virginia
P.O. Box 400110
170 McCormick Rd
Charlottesville, Virginia 22904-4110
Contact for questions and access:
POC: Special Collections Public Services & Reference Staff
Phone: (434) 243-1776
Fax: (434) 924-4968
Restrictions:

This collection is open for research.

Preferred citation:

MSS 16969,Joseph Jenkins Roberts letter to Benjamin Coates, Albert and Shirley Small Special Collections Library, University of Virginia Library.

Summary

Extent:
.04 Cubic Feet 1 legal folder
Creator:
Roberts, Joseph J. (Joseph Jenkins), 1809-1876
Language:
English
Preferred citation:

MSS 16969,Joseph Jenkins Roberts letter to Benjamin Coates, Albert and Shirley Small Special Collections Library, University of Virginia Library.

Background

Scope and content:

This collection contains a letter from Joseph J. Roberts, an African-American merchant who emigrated to Liberia and later became its first president, to Benjamin Coates, a Philadelphia abolitionist. The letter gives early news from Morovia nearly a decade before the independent Republic of Liberia was formally established. It details his travel, news of the growing colony, issues with funding from America, and an interest in the New School Abolitionists.

Free-born in Norfolk, Virginia, Joseph Jenkins Roberts was the son of a Welsh planter and a woman of color. After his father's death in 1829, he emigrated to the colony of Liberia. Liberia was established by the American Colonization Society (ACS), an American organization dedicated to transporting formerly enslaved and freeborn Black people to Africa.

Roberts and his younger brothers became successful merchants. In 1833, he became a High Sheriff, and then in 1839, Roberts became lieutenant governor under Thomas Buchanan, who is mentioned in the letter. Roberts served as the first black governor of the colony of Liberia from 1841 until 1847, and in 1848, he was elected the first president of the new Republic of Liberia. Roberts served as president twice, from 1848 to 1856 and again from 1872 to 1876.

Under his leadership, in response to trade conflicts with British merchants and the lack of support from the American government, Roberts and the American Colonization Society (ACS) began working for Liberian independence. Benjamin Coates, a Philadelphia wool merchant and Quaker, was both an abolitionist and heavily involved with the ACS. Roberts and Coates worked closely together to encourage Liberian emigration as the best strategy to end slavery in the United States. Also included is the vendor's transcription of the letter.

Acquisition information:
This collection was a purchase from Maggs Bros Ltd., to the Small Special Collections Library at the University of Virginia Library on 7 May 2026.
Rules or conventions:
Describing Archives: A Content Standard