Whitpain Township once was a thriving farming community known for agriculture. But the only "well-known" farmer around the area during the 18th-19th century was Job Roberts.
Job was born on March 23, 1756, the youngest son of John and Jane Roberts of the "Woodlawn Plantation." A pioneer of scientific farming in the late 18th century, he became known as "The Pennsylvania Farmer." He conducted various experiments and recorded them in a book he published in 1804:
Here's a list of his experiments included in the book:
Experimented with the use of various materials for potential use as fertilizer (lime, plaster, various barnyard manures).
Deep ploughing of land.
Built improved harrow, a farm implement used to break up and smooth the surface of the soil, preparing it for planting.
Devised a new roller (1792).
Attached a water wheel to dairy churn (making it possible to churn 150 lbs of butter per week) (1797).
Invented a machine for planting corn (1815)
Advanced the growing season of corn by soaking the seed before planting.
Introduced Merino sheep into Pennsylvania.
Interested in the cultivation of mulberry for silk culture.
Substituted green fodder for his cattle for grazing
Outside of farming he was appointed Justice of the Peace* in Whitpain in 1791, and served until his death in 1851. He was called "Squire* Job Roberts."
NOTE:
*Justice of the Peace- a local magistrate empowered chiefly to administer criminal or civil justice in minor cases.
*Squire- a man of high social standing who owns and lives on an estate in a rural area, especially the chief landowner in such an area.
In his personal life, he married Mary Naylor on May 22, 1781, and they had two children together. Their granddaughter Suzanne was the last Roberts to be born in the "Woodlawn Farm/Plantation."
Bibliography:
Browning, Charles Henry. Welsh settlement of Pennsylvania. (Philadelphia: W.J. Campbell, 1912), 272, 285.
Walters, Susan. "History: Local: CHAPTER LXXX : Whitpain Township: Bean's 1884 History of Montgomery Co, PA." USGenWeb Archives. Accessed April 13, 2020. http://files.usgwarchives.net/pa/montgomery/history/local/mchb0071.txt.
Who Was Who In America: A Component Volume of Who's Who in American History. (Chicago: A.N. Marquis Company, 1963), 447.
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