Edward James Roye

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Edward James Roye
Edward James Roye

5th President of Liberia
In office
January 3, 1870 – October 26, 1871
Vice President(s)   James Skivring Smith
Preceded by James Spriggs Payne
Succeeded by James Skivring Smith

Born February 3, 1815
Newark, Ohio
Political party True Whig

Edward James Roye (February 3, 1815 - 1872) was a American-Liberian political figure.

Edward Roye was born into a prosperous family in Newark, Ohio, in the United States. His father, John Roye, managed a ferry across the Wabash River at Terre Haute, Indiana and, by conservative spending, acquired considerable land in Terre Haute and in Vandalia, Illinois. John Roye died prematurely and Edward located in Terre Haute in 1836 where he established the community's largest barber shop, boasted a barber pole 79-feet high, "the tallest in western Indiana." Attracted by the American Colonization Society, Roye emigrated to Liberia in 1846 and set up business as a merchant. In 1849, Roye became active in Liberian politics, rising to the position of President of Liberia in 1870. Before becoming president, Roye served as speaker of the Liberian house of representatives and chief justice of the supreme court. He was the first darkskinned person elected president of Liberia. Roye took office in the midst of a fiscal crisis and was ultimately ousted by his opponents in 1871. The circumstances around his death are unclear [1]

He attended Ohio University, in Athens, OH.

Preceded by:
James Spriggs Payne
President of Liberia
1870–1871
Succeeded by:
James Skivring Smith


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