| Notes |
- Research notes from Dennis Suggs
Ed used 3 aliases in his life George Laine , Edward J. Roberts and Joseph Edward Roberts. the last child of 12 born to Emily (Garrett) Suggs. Emily first married Elias B son of William who died at an early age in 1869
Edward J Roberts AKA Joseph Edward Roberts b. 1883 Moniteau, Missouri is not his real name and is not the son of Daniel W. Roberts and Sarah Ann White as he claimed.
The following documents provide evidence of this fact.
1. The 1900 Census: taken a few months after the death of Sarah shows Dan as widowed living with four minor children, Lulu 15, Pearl 13, Beulah 11 and Roy Chester 9. In 1900 Dan did not have a 17 year old child Edward.
2. The newspaper Obituary of Dan's son Roy Chester who died in 1907 at the age of 17 in a mine accident. His obituary story mentions he is survived by sisters and 3 brothers. Known sons of Daniel are Johnny, Louie, Ellis and Roy Chester. In 1907 Roy Chester did not have a 4th brother Edward.
3. Edward J Roberts b.1883 Moniteau, Missouri does not exist on the 1910 census.
Edward J. Roberts did not exist anywhere in 1900, 1907 or in 1910 and could not be the son of Daniel W. Roberts.
Edward J. Roberts is a fictitious alias used by Edward D. Suggs.
Ed was born Dec. 1881 in Moniteau, Missouri. He moved to Pryor, Oklahoma with his parents, sister and two brothers about 1888. Before 1911 Ed was busy being Edward D. Suggs living in Pryor, Oklahoma.
He lived with his parents until 1903 when he married his first wife 16 year old Emma Haynes. They had two children, Lillie in 1904 and James in 1906.
After finding out that Ed was having an affair, Emma abandoned him and the kids in 1907, she later remarried in 1908. The kids went to live with their Grandparents Eli and Emily in late 1907.
He then married his mistress, second wife Lena “Belle” Marshall in 1908. By 1910 he must have told Belle about his previous marriage and children. I’m guessing after the conception of Ralph. Belle was probably not too happy to hear that she was the mistress. They had son William 'Ralph' Suggs (my father) in Sept of 1910. Ed abandoned Belle and Ralph in mid 1911, faked his death as a mine accident and became the Missouri coal miner Edward J. Roberts.
My Grandmother Belle told me that Ed told her that he was going to move back home to Missouri to find steady work in the coal mines and he would send for her and the baby when he got settled. As she recalled, it was in early 1912 she received the news that Edward D. Suggs was killed in a mine accident.
A fake burial followed the news of his death.
Referring to a list of all Missouri mining injuries and deaths from 1902 to 1918 compiled and digitized by the Denver Public Library’s Western History/Genealogy Department, Edward Suggs or the last name of Suggs does not appear in the collection. Edward Suggs did not die in a Missouri coal mine.
Facts that support a name change to Edward J. Roberts
· There are no public records of any kind of Edward Roberts existing before 1913. Edward Roberts first appears in official records in 1913 when he married Louise Machetta.
· There is no death or living record of Edward Suggs after 1910.
· They were both coal miners.
· They were both born in Moniteau County Missouri.
· They both claim to be born in the same year, 1883.
· And what I love the most..Edward J Roberts declares on the 1920 and 1930 census that his mother was born in Kentucky. Emily Garrett Suggs was born in Kentucky. Sarah Ann Roberts was born in Missouri.
Edward J. Roberts’ claim that Daniel W. Roberts is his father
He is not. Further confirmation, in my communication with Carolyn Roberts Underwood (Ed's Granddaughter) (in an effort to convince me that Dan is Ed's father) in an email to me stated that her father (George Roberts) remembers his Grandpa Dan fondly living and sharing their lives together. She said George remembers living with his Grandpa Dan who died when he was 9 years old. George was born December 18, 1917. He would have been 9 years old almost the entire year of 1927.
In his later years did Daniel W. Roberts live with Ed?
No, he did not. Daniel W. Roberts could not possibly have been the person George remembers passing in 1927. After the death of his second wife Martha in 1921, Dan moved a few miles north to Moberly to live with his sister Nancy Margaret (Goff).
Dan’s address on his death certificate is 1022 Sturgeon, Moberly. Nancy’s address on her 1939 death certificate is 1022 Sturgeon. Dan died while living with his sister Nancy Margaret in Moberly.
Dan did not live with Ed and pretend to be the children's Grandfather.
If George's recollection is correct, his Grandpa Dan died when he was 9 years old in 1927 while he was living with the family. Daniel W. Roberts’ death certificate states he died May 15, 1926 while he was living with his sister.
Then Who Was Grandpa Dan?
Creditable Assumption:
Ed’s mother Emily died in 1918. By 1921 Grandchildren James and Lillie (Ed's children) had become independent and left. Ed’s father Eli was living alone in Pryor, Oklahoma. Edward invited him to come back to Missouri and live with them.
There was a problem. Edward is falsely established and living as Edward J. Roberts, son of Daniel W. Roberts.
Shortly before June of 1921 Eli tells his son Charley to apply for his Civil War death benefits. Charley reports Eli’s death to the City of Pryor stating that Elias is buried in Fairview Cemetery and applies for Eli’s Death Benefits (see image of application). As evidenced by Fairview cemetery line card (see image) Elias B Suggs is not buried in one of the family plots in Fairview. Charley did not collect the benefits. He could not produce a death certificate as required.
Eli changes his name to Daniel W. Roberts and in June of 1921 moves back home to Missouri to live with his son Ed and his family. Ed’s son George would have been about 3 years old. By 1927 George is 9 and has developed a strong relationship with his Grandpa Dan who passes in that year.
There’s not a single family descendent of Joseph Edward Roberts that does not believe that Daniel W. Roberts is their ancestor. And they would be right except the Daniel W. Roberts they knew as Grandpa Dan is not who he said he is.
The person family members all personally knew and loved as Grandpa Dan was actually Ed’s father Elias B Suggs son of Moses Suggs, the children's real Grandfather.
Further confirmation that Grandpa Dan was Elias B Suggs.
When daughter Etty died at an early age in 1894, Eli bought a block of 8 grave sites at Fairview Cemetery in Pryor. The Suggs family grave next to Emily is occupied by Liege Suggs. Liege is not a known name in our family. Records indicate that Liege Suggs was buried June 23, 1927 in that family owned plot next to Emily.
It’s clear that when Elias (Grandpa Dan) died they transported him to Pryor and laid him to rest next to his wife Emily.
They could not bury him under the name Elias Suggs because of Charlie’s attempted federal fraud reporting his death to the city of Pryor and applying for Eli’s Death Benefits in 1921. So they buried him as Liege Suggs. No one but Elias would be occupying that family grave next to Emily, Absolutely no one. Grandpa Dan was Elias B Suggs.
Edward J. Roberts alias Joseph Edward Roberts is in fact Edward D. Suggs born Dec 1881 to Elias B. Suggs and Emily Garrett Suggs in Moniteau, Missouri.
Creditable Hypothesis
Elias B. Suggs and Daniel W. Roberts were long-time close friends. Eli and Dan are about the same age. They may have even gone to school together. Eli was born in Moniteau and grew up there to become a wagon maker in his adult years. Dan also grew up in the Moniteau area and was a farmer his entire life. It seems perfectly reasonable to assume that they may have had a business relationship or friendship.
Eli explains to Dan that Ed is having woman problems and asked him if Ed could come and stay with them until he got on his feet. Dan says okay and Edward D Suggs moves back home to Moniteau, Missouri in 1911 and becomes Edward J. Roberts son of Daniel W. Roberts. And the rest (as they say) is history.
A personal note: It’s sad to know that my father was not an orphaned, only-child as he always believed, he had a father and he was rich in siblings with 10 half Brothers and Sisters. The children of three families of the same father knew nothing of each other. Lillie and James were children from Ed’s first marriage to Emma Haynes, they were sent to live their lives with their grandparents in 1907. Ralph (my father) came from 2nd wife Belle in Sept of 1910. Even though Lillie and James lived close, Belle most certainly did not want to have anything to do with them. Then of course the 8 Roberts children who knew nothing of their fathers checkered past.
To the descendents of Edward J. (Joseph Edward) Roberts: Your true roots are in my Suggs line not the Roberts line. Daniel W. Roberts is not your ancestor.
My Great Grandfather Elias B. Suggs is your ancestor. I offer this information in hopes that you will (some day) find your true roots. Dennis
Blood Line Verification
If you are a descendent of Edward J Roberts, and if you want to verify your blood line, get a kit from 23andMe.com or Ancestry.com and upload the results to GEDmatch.com free, and you should know in short time if you are a Suggs.
This information was compiled by Dennis Suggs, Grandson of Edward D. Suggs and Lena Belle Marshall Suggs. Over the years of investigating and searching I produced the content of this information, in that period I did not find one piece of discrediting or disqualifying data that would dispute anything written here and no person has presented such. Carolyn tried but ended up only strengthening the story. Carolyn, this story leaves no doubt that your father George and my father Ralph are half brothers, we have the same grandfather (Edward D. Suggs) whether you believe it or not.
Results of DNA Test - Subjects:
1. Ricky D. Roberts, son of George Roberts, son of Edward Roberts (Joseph Edward Roberts)
2. Dennis Suggs, son of William Ralph Suggs, son of Edward D. Suggs
Y-Chromosome STR DNA test done by PaternityUSA.com between Dennis and Ricky.
How the test is analyzed. There are sections of DNA where sequences of the letters ACTG repeat themselves.
i.e ACGTAGAG ACGTAGAG ACGTAGAG etc. (spaces were added for visual clarity)
The number of characters in each group vary (from 6 to about 34) and the order they appear vary and the number of times a group repeats vary in each section tested.
Our test involved 11 sections. We matched exactly in character sequence, number of characters in each group and the number of groups in 9 of the 11. There were 2 (what’s called) double mutations that varied by a count of 1 and a count of 2. Because of that Ricky and Carolyn both reject a match and do not believe we are related.
Wanting to get a professional opinion of the results, I found Dr. John Butler of the National Institute of Standards and Technology who did a study of mutation rates with 360 father-son pairs and found double mutations in his study. After a couple of emails of introduction, I sent him the test results and asked for his opinion. His reply to me was:
"With the two differences you have DYS390 one repeat difference and DYS391 two repeats. These differences are certainly possible with true paternal relatives. So please feel free to believe that he is your cousin."
He referred me to his study regarding mutation rates among fathers and sons. http://www.cstl.nist.gov/strbase/pub_pres/Decker_YfilerMutationRate.pdf
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Early Colonial Settlers of Southern Maryland and Virginia's Northern Neck Counties
1881 - 1959 (~ 77 years)