John was the second child of Robert Roberts (1832-1862) and Esther (Shockley)Roberts. He had an older sister, Mary M (Roberts) Bean, and a younger brother, Robert Ambrose "Bode" Roberts (1861-1943).

His father died when he was a small child and his mother remarried to Henry Nesson in 1863. On the 1870 MN and 1875 MN State census he and his siblings are living with their mother and Henry Nesson.

He married Carrie Converse on Nov 26 1878 at Zumbro, Wabasha Co. MN. They had 7 children. Carrie passed away suddenly at the age of 40 in 1902, leaving the oldest child at 21 years of age and the youngest about 5 years old. The older daughters took charge of the children and all followed the eldest daughter (Maude)'s husband when he moved out to California about 1905.

In 1900 John worked for the Reading-Ohio Railroad.
In 1910 John was living & working as a farm laborer at the Ft.Totten Indian Industrial School in Benson Co., ND.

John's great granddaughter, Lynn, found this interesting info on the school.
"This John Roberts was working as a farm laborer (rather than a teacher) at Fort Totten.
Fort Totten State Historic Site, 612 East Boulevard Avenue, Bismark, ND.
Fort Totten served American Indian policy from 1867 to 1959. Constructed as a military post, it became and Indian boarding school, Indian health care facility, and a reservation school.
Initially, the fort policed the surrounding reservation. The soldiers enforced the peace, guarded overland transportation routes, and aided Dakota )Sioux) who lived near Devils Lake after 1867. Fort Totten was decommissioned in 1890.
On January 5, 1891, the former post became the property of the Bureau of Indian Affairs. The post served as an Indian boarding school until 1959. Academic and vocational training prepared Indian youth for life off the reservation. Enrollment sometimes topped 400."

John's second wife was Frances E. Thackrey whom he married about 1912, possibly in South Dakota. They had 4 sons (one set of twins) born in South Dakota.

He died at the age of 73 as a result of Gangrene from a broken ankle. Other health issues were Nephritis (inflammation of the kidneys) of a duration of about 1 year.