Elder Roberts was active in the Church and practiced the principle of plural marriage. He married Sarah Louisa Smith in 1878, Celia Dibble in 1884, and Margaret Ship in 1890. In 1889 he served six months in prison for unlawful cohabitation [following a mock-trial before corrupt officials with an unqualified and unconscionable judge.
He labored principally in the State of Tennessee, and was appointed president of the Tennessee conference In 1883 he was called to the Southern States, being appointed to the presidency of the mission under the direction of Elder John Morgan. He labored in that capacity until released by a transfer to the British Mission in December, 1886.
On his return from anther mission to England he was chosen a member of the First Council of Seventy, ordained and set apart by Pres. Lorenzo Snow.
Elder Roberts was one of the most voluminous writers in the Church. His works are historical, biographical and doctrinal, and consist of the Gospel, Ecclesiastical History, New Witness for God, The Life of John Taylor, Missouri Persecutions, The Rise and Fall of Nauvoo, Succession in the Presidency, and many more.
Elder Roberts also produced some of the most important L.D.S. theological works of his time, including a series of Seventy's yearbooks, The Mormon Doctrine of Deity, and an unpublished magnum opus, The Truth, the Way, the Life which contained some of his own docrinal theories.
He is often remembered to prefer writing to sleep, health, family, and anything in his way.
