Columbus Roberts, Sr., was a businessman, farmer, political leader, philanthropist, and influential Christian layman. He was born in Beulah, Alabama, on September 23, 1870, and was one of ten children. At the age of 18, he moved to Atlanta as an employee of the Southern Express Company. Four years later he returned to Alabama and went into business for himself, organizing and operating a bottling plant. On January 16, 1895, he married Fannie Cobb of Opelika, Alabama. Two daughters and a son were born to this union.

In 1902, Roberts organized the Coca-Cola Bottling Company in Columbus, Georgia, thus establishing his financial success as a businessman. He also had an agency in Columbus for Studebaker and other automobiles, and he established the Pure Oil Company. His interest in religious work and Christian education is evident from the generous donations made to Mercer University and Bessie Tift, Shorter, and Truett-McConnell colleges in Georgia. He served as deacon of the First Baptist Church in Columbus, president of the Georgia Baptist Convention, and trustee of Mercer University, receiving an honorary degree from the university in 1944.

Interested in youth, he was president of the Columbus YMCA, and later the state “Y” organization. As a practical farmer, commissioner of agriculture, and organizer of the Georgia Milk Producers’ Confederation, Roberts was an authority in the production and marketing of crops. He was active in politics, serving as representative for Muscogee County and leader of a number of significant committees and associations. His 1944 campaign for governor of Georgia was unsuccessful.

Roberts died in August 1950, a month prior to his 80th birthday. He was buried in Columbus beside his wife who died in 1943.