John settled in Putney, VT in 1768, where all five of his children were born. John enlisted for the Revolutionary War from New Hampshire and served as a private. He applied for a pension from Putney in 1820 where he stated his age as 72 and his assets as "1 old jack knife, 1 tobacco box, 1 pair spectacles for a value of $.81. In his application he stated that in the spring of 1776 he was taken prisoner by the Indians at a place called "The Cedars" in Canada and after being held prisoner by them for about 10 days, he made his escape and rejoined his regiment. He was discharged because of sickness about 15 December 1776 at a place called Mount Independence. After receiving his pension he left Putney for Thetford where his daughter Hannah Roberts Burr lived.88

Records of a Putney town meeting of 27 March 1781 indicate a dependence on neighbors for necessities. His sons John and Joseph agreed as early as 1790 to provide for their father, the last agreement appears in the Putney land records of 1816 and Williamstown records of 1817. This appears shortly after John Roberts married Sabra Corey of Hartford, VT in 1816.88

John and Hannah had five children born between 1768 and 1779. Joseph was the second child.88