Kenneth Lewis Roberts was born in the seaport of Kennebunk, Maine, the only child of Frank Lewis and Grace Tibbets Roberts. Little is known of his father; however, his mother and her family, who were New Hampshire natives, greatly influenced his early life, and the historic novels which he was to write. His maternal grandmother traced her ancestors back to the Nasons, an early Maine family of pioneers and patriots. Members of that family served as officers at the siege of Louisburg in the French and Indian War, marched to Quebec with Benedict Arnold during the American Revolution, and were present at the surrender of Burgoyne at Saratoga, the turning point of the war. Another Nason, captain of a privateer in the War of 1812, was captured by the British and confined in Dartmoor Prison.

After attending public schools in Malden, Massachusetts, Roberts graduated from Stone's School, a private...