William R. Roberts

American politician

William Randall Roberts (February 6, 1830 – August 9, 1897) was a Fenian Brotherhood member, United States Representative from New York (1871–1875), and a United States Ambassador to Chile. Roberts, an Irish immigrant who became a wealthy businessman, rose quickly to a position of major influence amongst the Fenian Brotherhood before eventually taking leadership. Under his direction, the Fenians in America moved to use Irish American veterans of the American Civil War to invade Canada in the hopes that they could leverage this against the British Empire to negotiate for an Independent Irish Republic. After the first attempt to invade Canada was not successful, Roberts resigned from the leadership of the Fenians and began to transition into American politics. He served as a United States Representative from New York and Ambassador to Chile until a stroke ended his career.

Roberts was born in Mitchelstown, County Cork, Ireland, the son of baker Randall Roberts and Mary Roberts (née Bishop). Roberts was educated in Cork before he immigrated to the United States in July 1849, aged 19, with the rest of his family. Roberts worked as a clerk for a dry goods company in New York for many years before he set up his own successful dry goods business, the ‘Crystal Palace’, which he would run until his retirement in 1869.

Roberts joined the newly emerging Fenian Brotherhood in 1863, an organisation made up of the Irish diaspora in America that was dedicated to establishing an independent Irish Republic. The Fenian Brotherhood operated as the American support wing of the Irish Republican Brotherhood, a secret society controlling the movement. Roberts, whose wealth allowed him to regularly donate to the organisation, quickly found himself amassing influence amongst the American Fenians. During the American Civil War, which raged from 1861 to 1864, thousands of Irishmen had joined the ranks of the Union Army, gaining military experience and were often now influenced by the idea of Radical Republicanism. The leader of the Fenian Brotherhood, the scholarly John O'Mahony (who himself served as an officer in the Union Army), thought the Irish veterans should be deployed to Ireland post haste for a rebellion there, funded by the Irish in America. However, Roberts quickly became the leader of a faction of Fenians with an alternative plan. Roberts and his supporters argued instead that the Fenians should gather the Irish veterans and their resources, and instead attack Canada with the hopes of securing at least one Canadian region. By holding part of Canada, Roberts and his faction believed they could either hold that region for ransom from the British, or divert British military forces out of Ireland and into Canada, thereby leaving Ireland vulnerable to a rebellion. A subtext to Roberts and his faction's argument was that many veterans of the Union Army were angered by British support for the Confederacy during the war, and sought a measure of revenge by attacking Canada, regardless if this furthered Fenian objectives or not. In February 1865, with the Civil war now finished, thousands of Fenians assembled for a convention in Cincinnati, Ohio. There Roberts' faction revised the Fenian Constitution by adding a preamble modelled on the Declaration of Independence as well as introducing of a number of checks and balances which effectively stripped O’Mahony of most of his power. The most notable of these changes were the introduction of a "senate" to advise the President of the Brotherhood, with most senators being made up of Roberts' supporters. In October 1865 the Fenian Brotherhood held another convention in Philadelphia. In the days beforehand, Roberts lead a delegation of Fenians to a meeting with William Seward, the US secretary of state, and President Andrew Johnson. When Roberts' group pointedly asked what the Johnson Administration's response to a Fenian invasion of Canada would be, their reply was sufficiently vague enough for the Fenian delegation to believe they could launch the plan without significant resistance. Roberts arrived at the Philadelphia convention and relayed his account to the assembly. With the assembled Fenians enthralled by the report that the American government would not stand in their way should they raid Canada, Roberts and his faction would make a heave against O'Mahony. But before they did, O'Mahoney attempted to make a stand, proposing a motion supported by his mentor and the head of the IRB James Stephens; O'Mahoney proposed that longstanding US Army veteran Thomas William Sweeny be named "Secretary of War". Unbeknownst to either O'Mahoney or Stephens though, was the fact that Sweeny was also a supporter of the plan to invade Canada. Sweeney was elected to the position, but regardless, the senate faction pushed for another chance in the Fenian Brotherhood's constitution, which would replace the office of President (which O'Mahony held) entirely with the senate, which would be headed by Roberts. Before a rancorous convention, Roberts' "Senate" faction succeeded and O'Mahony was deposed.

During the early summer of 1866, thousands of armed, uniformed and supplied Fenians crossed the border from the US into Canada as part of an invasion. Although having some initial success against inexperienced Canadian militias, the Fenians were undone by poor logistics and the American government moving swiftly to block their efforts, fearing their activity would the pretext for a war between the US and the British. Roberts participated in the invasion, and for his part, he was arrested in New York on 7 June. He would be detained until 15 June. 3 days later, Roberts (thanks to the support of Irish American politicians) was allowed to deliver an address to the US Senate appealing for them to support amnesty for IRB prisoners in Ireland. Afterwards, Roberts went on a speaking tour of America, where he told audiences that American politicians would not receive the support of the Irish community unless they supported Fenianism. Perhaps aware that this might be an accurate reading of sentiments, in September 1866 President Johnson ordered that the arms seized by the United States army from the Fenian during the invasion be returned. He was buried in Calvary Cemetery, Woodside, New York. He was survived by a wife and son, but whom he had been separated from before his stroke.