Roberts, James A. (James Arthur), 1847-1922

James A. Roberts was a lawyer and financier in Buffalo and New York. He was born in Maine, served in the Civil War and received degrees from Bowdoin College. He moved to Buffalo ca. 1875 and practiced law there until 1894; he was a member of the State Assembly, 1879-1880, and New York State Comptroller, 1894-1899. Roberts lived in New York City from 1902 to 1922. Frank S. Sidway, son of Buffalo banker Franklin Sidway and son-in- law of James A. Roberts, was born in Buffalo and attended Phillips Exeter Academy, Harvard, and the University of Buffalo Law School. His Buffalo legal practice was substantially devoted to real estate investments. Sidway was a captain in the 74th and 202nd Infantry Regiments of the New York National Guard, fought in the Spanish-American War and attained the rank of colonel in 1919. E.G. Spaulding was president of the Farmers and Mechanics National Bank and served as Buffalo alderman and mayor, state assemblyman, state treasurer and three-term member of Congress during the Civil War. Spaulding's daughter Charlotte married Franklin Sidway.

From the description of Roberts-Sidway-Spaulding papers, 1850-1936. (Buffalo History Museum). WorldCat record id: 34178506

Biographical/Historical Sketch

James A. Roberts earned his AB in geography at Stanford in 1955.

From the guide to the James A. Roberts papers, 1971-2000, (Department of Special Collections and University Archives)