W. B. Roberts

William Beauregard Roberts (March 5, 1861 - October 3, 1940) was an American Democratic politician, lawyer, planter, and banker. A resident of Rosedale, Mississippi, he represented Bolivar County in the Mississippi State Senate for six consecutive terms, from 1920 to his death in 1940. He was the Senate's President Pro Tempore for two stints in 1931 and 1940 and also served as the Acting Governor of Mississippi in December 1931.

Early life William Beauregard Roberts was born on March 5, 1861, in Louisville, Kentucky. He was the son of Clay Roberts (died 1880), a former Tennessee state senator from Nashville who was of English descent, and his wife, Mattie Louis (Cable) Roberts. Roberts attended an "old time boys school" known as the A. L. Minines or Mimms Academy near Nashville. In 1879, he took a law course at Vanderbilt University.

Career

1880–1919 Roberts became a lawyer, a banker, and a planter. He served as the Democratic Chairman of the Bolivar County Executive Committee and participated in the "final restoration of political authority to the whites" there following the end of Reconstruction. He served as its president from the bank's founding until his retirement in 1929, and was a member of the bank's board until his death. During the runoff election on August 26, Roberts defeated his opponent, Dr. E. E. Shivers, by "a large majority". In November, Roberts won the general election. He won the primary and got elected for the 1924–1928 term.

1927–1931 Roberts was re-elected and served again in the Senate in the 1928–1932 term. During this term, Roberts was the chairman of the Senate's Finance "B" Committee. The Senate President, Lieutenant Governor Bidwell Adam, did not join Speaker Bailey in calling for the legislative conference. Although a majority of members of each branch of the legislature attended, it was unknown whether it met Bilbo's unspecified request for a "substantial majority". During the session, Roberts authored three bills: a bill (jointly authored by Roberts and his son-in-law Sillers) that would (for the following two years) reduce cotton farming acreage by 30 percent to limit overproduction, a second bill that would reduce taxes by 40% in the Mississippi Delta and 25% in the rest of Mississippi, and a third bill that would grant the government the ability to issue $7.5 million in short-term notes in order to make up for the budget deficit. Roberts' cotton bill, mirroring the cotton reduction plan of Texas, was passed over the objections of legislators like House member L. T. Kennedy and Senator Ed Smith. The finance bond budget-deficit bill was passed by the Senate on October 21 with a 30–1 vote. On October 28, Roberts joined in a filibuster against a proposed bill, already approved by the House, that would limit salaries.

In late October, Bilbo and Adam agreed to leave Mississippi simultaneously at some point between then and January 1 in order to give Roberts the opportunity to be the acting governor of Mississippi for a short time ending before the end of Bilbo's term as governor.

Acting governor On December 21, 1931, Governor Bilbo and Lieutenant Governor Adam left Mississippi to go on a hunting trip for the Christmas holidays, as part of the previously made deal to briefly make Roberts acting governor. On December 22, for his first act as acting governor, Roberts issued a proclamation calling for fellow states in the American South to hold special legislative sessions to pass laws restricting cotton farming in order to limit cotton overproduction. Also on December 23, Roberts issued his first pardon in his time as acting governor, for an 84 or 87-year-old black man named Calvin Butler who had for 3 months been working on a prison farm in order to pay off a $100 liquor possession fine.

1931–1935 After either receiving no opposition or winning the first Democratic primary, Roberts served again in the Senate in the 1932–1936 term. During the 1932 session, Roberts opposed ad valorem taxes and, citing declining property values, instead supported a complete overhaul of the tax system, including reducing the sales tax to 3% for all sales. This proposition was opposed by Senator Luther Whittington and other legislators, who accused Roberts of wanting to deprive the state treasury of its main source of income. During this term, Roberts was the chairman of the Senate's Finance Committee and also served on other committees including Judiciary; Banks and Banking; Levees; and Rules. During this term, Roberts was nominated for and elected to the position of the Senate's president pro tempore. One amendment was created in the bill that would separately store textbooks for black students "to protect the health of white pupils". These amendments were opposed by members of the legislature's education committee, who pointed out that the provisions for racial discrimination would "weaken the bill's constitutionality" and allow the ACLU to make a legal case against them, and that the "red-blooded Mississippians and sons of Confederate soldiers" managing textbook distribution would ultimately segregate textbook storage anyway without the specifications in the amendment. On March 5, 1940, Roberts was at home in Rosedale celebrating his 79th birthday, and the senate adopted resolutions honoring Roberts. who married Frank R. Reid (died 1928) in 1906 and in 1930 remarried to James Alcorn Swift (1890–1957), the grandson of Mississippi Governor James Alcorn; and Zoe Roberts (1889–1981), who married Dr. Leon B. Austin (died 1953) in 1911. who married Walter Sillers Jr. in 1911; William B. Roberts Jr., who died in infancy; and William Clay Roberts (1904–1962), who became a lawyer, member of his father's law firm, county supervisor, and president of the Bolivar County bar association.

Death Roberts died after a brief illness at his home in Rosedale, Mississippi, at 4 AM on October 3, 1940. He was 79 years old and the Senate's incumbent president pro tempore. A funeral service was held on October 4, and Roberts was interred at Rosedale Cemetery. He was survived by his son and three daughters.