Decatur County, Indiana

Absalom Robbins Sr. and Family

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The second known child of Jacob and Mary Robbins was Absalom, born 11 September 1765 in Rowan (now Randolph) county, North Carolina.  The area in Rowan county the Robbins family lived in later became Randolph when it was formed in 1779.  (Note that Absalom is sometimes also spelled Absolem, among other variations; the name comes from the Bible where it is commonly spelled “Absalom”).

Signature of Absalom Robbins

We have his birth date from the deposition he gave in support of his sister-in-law Bethiah’s application for a pension based on his brother William Robbins’ Revolutionary War service.  In his deposition, Absalom states that:

“…he was born on the 11th day of September 1765 in Randolph County North Carolina that he resided in his said native County from the time of his birth until the surrender of Lord Cornwallis.  He was too young to serve in the army during those years of trouble but he was still old enough to observe passing events, and he still has the most vivid recollection of many incidents of that period.  He further states that he is the brother of William Robins late of this county [Decatur] who died on the 11th day of Sept 1834, and who was at the time of his decease a pensioner under the government of the United States and the husband of Bethia Robins, who is an applicant for a pension….”

Absalom was married to Mary Ogle on 13 March 1787 in Franklin County, Virginia.  Mary’s parents were Hercules Ogle and Mary Carson, probably.  There are several records mentioning Absalom and father-in-law Hercules, besides the 1787 marriage bond where both were the bondsmen for the Robbins-Ogle marriage.

Unlike his brother William, for whom I have found no land records in Virginia, in 1790, at the age of 25, Absalom Robbins is listed in the Montgomery county, Virginia, tax books as the owner of taxable property “in the district of Thomas Robinson, Commissioner, formerly the upper district of Botetourt County and now the lower of Montgomery County for the year 1790.”

Excerpt from Virginia land record

Absalom Robbins, as assignee of father-in-law Hercules Ogle, received a land grant for 56 acres on the Mine Creek waters of Little River adjoining Ogle’s land, and he received a land grant for 56 acres on the Mine Creek waters of Little River adjoining his own lands.

In 1791 Absalom was a witness, along with his brother William, to the marriage of his sister Mary Robbins to Valentine Chastain.

In 1800 he is first found in the Shelby county, Kentucky, tax lists, where he appears through 1805, thereafter appearing in Henry county, Kentucky.  In 1804, while in Shelby county he witnessed the consent given by his parents for his sister Margaret to marry Thomas Robbins.

Later in 1809 in Henry county he gave consent, along with his wife Mary, for their daughter Elizabeth Robbins to marry Philip Stark.  In 1818 he gave consent, alone, for son John to marry Edy Sanders.  He appears in the 1810 and 1820 censuses for Henry county and appears in that county’s tax lists through 1828.

There is then a gap of some years before we find Absalom in any more records (I have not found him in the 1830 census).  In 1838 he received a land patent in Decatur county, Indiana, for 40-acres in Section 4 of Township 9 North, Range 9 East (located about midway between Harris City and Gaynorsville).  Other neighboring land owners in his section include his nephews Marmaduke and Nathaniel Robbins, Nathaniel’s son William Franklin Robbins, and several other names associated with the Robbins family:  Herren, Meredith, VanTreese, and Burke.

Approximate location of Absalom’s land in Decatur County

In 1842 Absalom Robbins married Susannah Huffman, for some reason in Hendricks County, Indiana, which is located to the northwest of Indianapolis, quite a distance from his home in Decatur County.  The couple sold part of the same land that Absalom had received in 1838 to Jacob Deweese in 1847.  Deweese was married to Absalom’s grandniece, Mary Helen Robbins (daughter of Marmaduke and granddaughter of Absalom’s brother William).  And in 1853 in they sold part to “Absolem Robbins of Breckinridge County, Kentucky.”

By the early 1850s some of Absalom’s children had moved out of Decatur County, including Nancy (to Oregon in 1852), John (to Missouri, Iowa, and Illinois by 1840), Mahala (to Missouri by 1840), Absalom Jr. (to Kentucky by 1840), as well as numerous grandchildren, in particular the children of Micajah (to Kentucky by the early 1850s).

While Absalom and Susan were living in Decatur County for the 1850 census, he apparently decided to join his Kentucky children and grandchildren, and moved to Breckinridge County, Kentucky, by the mid to late 1850s.

While it is rare to find death records for this time and place, we are lucky to find Absalom Robbins listed in the 1860 Mortality Schedule of the U.S. Census.  The mortality schedule was a special enumeration collecting the details of those persons who died within the previous census year.  In 1860 the census enumerators listed the “name of every person who died during the year ending 1st June, 1860, whose usual place of abode at the time of death was in this family.”  And lo and behold, we find Absalom:

Absalom Robbins entry in 1860 Mortality Schedule

Now, he wasn’t quite 100 years old, he was 93, but who’s quibbling at that point?

It is suggested, but not confirmed, that he might be buried in the same decrepit cemetery where Absalom Jr. and Jemima are buried in the Old Robbins Schoolhouse Cemetery (you can find a brief description on FindAGrave here).

Below is my list, believed to be complete and accurate, of the children of Absalom and Mary Robbins. This list of names comes from miscellaneous family records, county histories, and the occasional other document that provides a relationship.

There is one possible problem with my list:  Absalom Robbins Jr.  Some oral family history says that Absalom had a son Absalom Jr. who in turn had one son Absalom III, who was married to Jemima Hanks.  I’ve made the case that there were only two Absaloms, and that Absalom III was really the youngest son of the elder Absalom.  I won’t go into all the reasoning here, and I may very well be incorrect, but you can read my blog post about it here. Note that some of the dates below are estimates based on available records.

  • Micajah Robbins (1788-1865) – lived out his life in Decatur county, Indiana.
  • Elizabeth (Robbins) Stark (1790-1886) – married Philip Stark, lived many years in Decatur county, before moving to Boone county, Indiana.
  • George Robbins (1792-1887) – lived out his life in Decatur county, Indiana.
  • Nancy Robbins (1797-1880) – married her cousin Nathaniel Robbins, lived in Decatur county, until 1852 when she and her family moved to Oregon.
  • John Robbins (1799-1857) – lived in Decatur county, Indiana, before moving on to Missouri and Iowa.
  • Mahala Robbins (1802-1866) – married David May, lived in Decatur county, Indiana, before moving to Missouri and Texas.
  • Absalom Robbins Jr. (1810-1885) – lived in Decatur county, Indiana, before moving to Breckinridge county, Kentucky.
  • Charity Robbins (1811-1892) – married (1) James Hanks and (2) John Purvis; lived out her life in Decatur county, Indiana.

I believe that today there are descendants of Micajah, Elizabeth, George, and Charity in Decatur county, Indiana.

My next family group post will discuss three siblings of William and Absalom:  Jacob Jr., James, and Margaret.

[Jacob Robbins-Absalom Robbins]

William Robbins Sr. and Family

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This is the first in a series of blog posts about major Robbins family groups in anticipation of this years’ Decatur County, Indiana, bicentennial reunion.

The eldest son of Jacob and Mary Robbins appears to be William Robbins, who was born on 21 September 1761 in Rowan county (now Randolph), North Carolina (Randolph county not being established until 1779).  William served in the North Carolina militia during the Revolutionary War (you can read about that here:  https://robbinsroots.blog/2017/07/01/william-robbins-teenager-in-the-american-revolution/) and was married to Bethiah Vickrey, a daughter of Marmaduke and Elizabeth Vickrey, on 27 February 1779.  (Vickrey may also be spelled Vickery).

There is a family tradition that Bethiah Vickrey was married to two separate men named William Robbins.  I’m not sure that I believe this account.  I won’t go into all the reasoning here but the marriage date above comes from Bethiah’s application for a pension based on the service of this William Robbins in the war.  All of the known children were born after this date.  Therefore, either Bethiah was married to one William and not two, or she lied on the application.  Without any further evidence, one way or another, except for oral family tradition, for the purposes of this post I’m assuming one marriage to one William Robbins.

Following the Revolutionary War, which devastated parts of North Carolina with partisan, brother-against-brother violence and destruction, William and Bethiah moved to Franklin County, Virginia, with other members of the Robbins family.  One marriage bond there in 1791 lists William as a witness to the marriage of his sister Mary to Valentine Chastain.  Another marriage record in 1795 has William, along with his brother Absalom serving as a bondsman for the marriage of their sister Martha (called “Massey”) to Rene Chastain.  I have not found William in any land records in Virginia, either Franklin, nor nearby Montgomery county where others of the family lived.

William and Absalom Rob[b]ins witness the marriage of their sister Mary Robbins to Valentine Chastain

William Robbins does appear in Henry Co., Kentucky deeds, and he appears in that county’s tax lists beginning in 1804 and continuing through 1825. He also appears in the 1810 and 1820 censuses there in confusing census entries, and in 1822 was a bondsman along with John Herren to Herren’s marriage to William and Bethiah’s daughter Theodoshia.  At some point after that he moved to Decatur County, Indiana. 

On 26 May 1826 he was a granted a federal land patent to 80 acres of land in Decatur County, located in Section 9 of Township 9 North, Range 9 East, about half way between todays Greensburg and Westport.  Others in the same section were his son Nathaniel Robbins; nephews Micajah, George, and Henry Robbins; and son-in-law Abraham Anderson.  Surrounding sections were also full of family members. 

Location of William Robbins property in Decatur County, Indiana

Later, in 1831, William and Bethiah deeded the property over to their son-in-law Abraham Anderson, who was married to their next to youngest daughter Charlotte.  The deed entry records that “for and in consideration of the natural love and affection which he the said William Robins hath and beareth unto the said Abraham Anderson as also for the better maintainance support livelihood and preferment of him…” and that further “…it is express[ly] understood that the said William Robins is to have the use and possession of the above granted premises as long as he lives, and at his death the above deed to be of Full Force and virtue in law.”  The closeness of the parents to Charlotte and her husband is also underscored in the 1850 census where the widow Bethiah is listed living in the household of the couple.

Signature of William Rob[b]ins from his pension application

William applied for a pension based on his service in the North Carolina militia on 31 October 1833.  Following his death, his widow Bethiah applied for her portion of the pension, with a supporting affidavit from William’s brother Absalom.

William died on 11 September 1834 and is buried in the Mount Pleasant Cemetery in Decatur County.  His widow Bethiah survived until 8 December 1850, living until she was 90-years of age.

William Robbins gravestone installed by the D.A.R.

The three oldest children of William and Bethiah were born in North Carolina before the parents had left the area.  All of the remaining children were born in Virginia, with exception of the youngest who was born after they arrived in Kentucky. 

Below is a list, believed to be complete and accurate, of the children of William and Bethiah Robbins. This list of names comes from miscellaneous family records, county histories, and the occasional other document that provides a relationship.

  1. Abel Robbins (1779-1866) – lived his entire adult life in Henry county, Kentucky.
  2. Charity Robbins (1780-c1832) – married Buell or Boal Wooden and lived in Henry and Oldham counties, Kentucky.
  3. Benjamin Robbins (1781-1841) – said to have gone to Tennessee.
  4. Marmaduke Robbins (1786-1838) – settled in Decatur county, Indiana.
  5. Jacob Robbins (1786-1873) – lived first in Decatur county then moved to next-door Bartholomew county, Indiana.
  6. Elizabeth Robbins (1788-1877) – married Jesse Watkins and they settled in Scott county, Indiana.
  7. Mary (aka “Polly”) Robbins (1791-1851) – married John Kirkpatrick and they lived in Decatur county, Indiana.
  8. Nathaniel Robbins (1793-1863) – married his first cousin Nancy Robbins – they lived in Decatur county, Indiana, and then traveled to Oregon in 1852.
  9. John Robbins (1795-1881) – lived out his life in Decatur county, Indiana.
  10. William Robbins, Jr. (1797-1868) – lived out his life in Decatur county, Indiana.
  11. Charlotte (Lottie) Robbins (1799-1874) – married Abraham Anderson and they lived out their lives in Decatur county, Indiana.
  12. Theodoshia (Dosha) Robbins (1804-1881) – married John Herren; they lived in Decatur County until they moved to Missouri, and then finally on to Oregon in 1845.

Of these children, the only one known, for certainty, to have descendants today in Decatur County is William Robbins Jr.

Some of the children had descendants in the county for many, many years, but over time they moved elsewhere in Indiana, elsewhere in the U.S, or, in a few cases, moved internationally.  A few of the family lines just petered out in recent decades.  I believe that the last descendant outside William Jr.’s family (in fact a descendant-in-law – is that a term?), was Dorothy (Meek) Gannon who died in Greensburg in 2007.  She was the wife of William Emerson Gannon, a descendant of Polly (Robbins) Kirkpatrick.  The descendants of William Jr. in Decatur county were prolific, as were the family members who moved elsewhere.

However, William Sr. wasn’t the only child of Jacob and Mary to settle in Decatur County and leave descendants; my next post will discuss their son Absalom Robbins, who also has descendants there today.

[Jacob Robbins-William Robbins]

William Franklin Robbins: Family Historian

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At the 1922 Robbins reunion, celebrating 100 years of the Robbins family being in Decatur County, Indiana, a man named William Franklin (W. F.) Robbins read a history he wrote about the family.  This history was also published in the newspaper along with the story about the reunion.

William Franklin (W. F.) Robbins (photo courtesy of Joyce King Higginbotham)

When I first started researching my family history in the late 1970s, my parents and I visited Greensburg, Indiana, where we met up with Melvin and Rosalie Robbins.  Rosalie had a done a lot of family history and she gave me my first copy of W.F. Robbins’s history.  I say, first copy, because over the following years, each time I made contact with another Robbins family researcher, they usually sent me, uninvited, another copy of the W.F. Robbins history, until I had quite a collection!

The typed copies all mentioned that they were transcribed from the history as printed in the Greensburg newspaper, but no one seemed to have a copy of the actual article.  It was only in the 1990s, with the assistance of interlibrary loan of microfilm, that I was finally able to find the article in the newspaper and make a fresh transcription.

Now, more recently, I have been given a copy of the physical newspaper that contains the history, by Robbins cousin Sherrill Beck.

In transcribing and reading the history I did notice that W. F. got some things wrong, but in general the story of a large family moving into a county, with some folks staying for decades, with others moving on to new locations, was accurate.  Considering that the man was compiling a family history without the Internet and online collections of genealogical material, genealogy libraries, or easy access to near or distant record collections, he wrote a good introduction to our family’s history.

So, who was William Franklin Robbins?  He was born in 1850 in Decatur County to Jonathan and Margaret (Spilman) Robbins and was reared near the small community of Westport.  Jonathan was the son of George, the third child of Absalom and Mary (Ogle) Robbins.  Margaret Spilman was the sister of Sarah Spilman, wife of Jacob Robbins, who emigrated to Oregon in 1852.  The close, first-cousin, relationship between W.F. and his cousins in Oregon is reflected in his knowledge of his Pacific Northwest kin and their knowledge of Decatur County happenings.

W.F. Robbins was raised among the many, many Robbins family members that lived in Decatur County at that time.  He, himself, was one of nine siblings, while his father Jonathan was one of eleven, and each in turn had large families.  He was married to Julia Elizabeth Miller in 1873 and the couple had seven children of their own, five of whom lived to adulthood: Mary Cordelia (Robbins) Morgan, Elizabeth Leota (Robbins) Davis, Emma Flora (Robbins) Williams, Henry Cleveland “Cleve” Robbins, and Courtland Carlysle “Todd” Robbins.

W. F. was educated at Hartsville College, in neighboring Bartholomew County, just about ten miles to the northwest.  (The school was in Hartsville from 1850 to 1897, when the college building was destroyed by fire in January of 1898).

He taught school in Sandcreek Township in the 1870s and in 1886 was elected trustee of that township and served for eight years.  Besides a lifetime of farming he also worked as an attorney in Westport, and after moving into Greensburg about 1912, he served as the Decatur County prosecuting attorney from 1913 to 1915.  Politically he was a Democrat and a supporter of temperance, helping to “banish the saloon.”  A wealthy landowner, according to a local newspaper he was referred to as “Squire” Bill.  At the time of his death he and his wife Julia resided at 410 North Broadway in Greensburg.

His death made the front pages of the Greensburg newspapers, The Evening Times and the Greensburg Daily News. 

Seven months after the 1922 reunion, and just four weeks after he and Julia’s 50th wedding anniversary, William Franklin Robbins was killed when his automobiile was struck at the Mulberry Street crossing in Westport by a B. & O. passenger train detouring over the Big Four tracks.  The newspapers reported that the car was carried about 50 feet down the tracks.  He had been visiting one of his sons outside Westport before coming into town to conduct some business.

One of the newspapers stated:  “It is believed that Mr. Robbins, being familiar with the regular train schedules on the track which he was crossing, did not take the extra precaution to look up and down the track as he approached it.”

The train…..”hit the Overland car which he was driving and smashed it to pieces.  The body of Mr. Robbins was carried about fifty feet and he lived but a few minutes.  The body was taken to the Hamilton undertaking parlors” [now known as the Bass & Gasper Funeral Home in Westport].

“Because of telephone trouble the word did not reach Mrs. Robbins in this city for more than an hour after the accident.  A Times reporter who called carried the first word to her of a report that her husband had been injured.  She stated that she had already become uneasy because of having no message from him after his arrival in Westport as she had expected and had made an unsuccessful attempt to use the telephone.  It was left to a daughter to convey to her the death message.”

Not only was the news slow to reach his wife, but due to the fact there were multiple William Robbins’ in Decatur County there was confusion about who exactly had been in an accident.  The newspaper reported:  “When the news first reached Greensburg it was reported it was William H. Robbins of southeast of Greensburg. Later it was reported that it was Will S. Robbins of Horace.”

William Franklin Robbins, the very accomplished early historian of the Robbins family, is buried in the Mapleton Cemetery in rural Decatur County.  The gravestone he shares with his wife Julia has their photograph embedded in the center.

[Jacob Robbins-Absalom Robbins-George Robbins-Jonathan Robbins-William Franklin Robbins]

1922 Robbins Centennial Reunion

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On June 11, 1922, the Robbins family celebrated 100 years in Decatur County, Indiana.  So many people showed up that the event made the front page of the local newspaper, The Evening Times.  The headline read:  “1,000 People at Reunion: Sixty-Two Families Were Represented at the Robbins Annual Assemblage Yesterday.”

The actual 100-year-old newspaper was given to me by Sherrill Beck, a descendant of Jacob Robbins (1809-1896), a leader of the 1852 Robbins wagon train to Oregon.  The Robbins family in Oregon kept in contact with their Decatur County relatives for many decades.  In fact, Harvey Robbins, brother of Sherrill’s ancestor Levi, reportedly went back to Indiana to attend the this reunion.

The article states:

One thousand persons, it was estimated, participated in the annual reunion of the Robbins families of Decatur county held Sunday at the Liberty Baptist church and at which the one hundredth anniversary of the pioneer Robbins settlement in Decatur county was celebrated………the descendants of the pioneers who attended the reunion yesterday were representatives of practically every field of human endeavor.  At the reunion 62 Robbins families were represented.

The newspaper went on to state:

One of the big features of the all day meeting was the dinner which was served at noon in the grove adjoining the church.  With the exception of one table at which the elder members of the Robbins descendants were served, the dinner was served in cafeteria style.  Two hay wagon loads of food were served during the noon hour.  Twenty gallons of ice cream in cones was consumed during the day.

The program which was given in two sessions, morning and afternoon was excellent and included a number of exceptionally fine features.  “A History of the Early Robbins Pioneers,” read by Squire William F. Robbins [a descendant of Absalom Robbins], was of special historical value and will be printed The Times tomorrow.  Roy C. Kanouse, who claims he is one of the Robbins descendants by marriage [he was the husband of Elizabeth “Nell” Pleak, a descendant of William Robbins], was in charge of the program which was given as follows.

While this was a special, centennial reunion, the Robbins family had been having reunions for years and were so well organized they had officers.  The newspaper reported the following were elected:

W. S. Robbins was elected president of the organization of the descendants for the coming year.  Other officers elected were:  Frank R. Robbins, vice-president; Earl Robbins, secretary; Mrs. J. B. Kitchin, assistant secretary; committee on time and place for holding next reunion, C. F. Wright, Frank Kitchen, and John E. Robbins of Horace; corresponding committee, J. B. Kitchin, W. F. Robbins, John E. Robbins, of Greensburg; tables and eats committee, Robert McCoy, George Robbins, L. W. Gillespie, Londa Wright, Arthur Lemmon, John Gilchrist; committee on entertainment, Roy C. Kanouse, Hal Kitchin, Harry Robbins; finance committee Walter B. Pleak and W. H. Robbins; advising and assisting committee, F. B. Kitchin, Charles M. Woodfill, John E. Robbins of Horace; committee on parking, Ira Rigby, Calvin Thornburg, William Sefton Robbins, Bernard Kitchin, and Greely Robbins.

In the summer of 2022 we may not have 62 separate families represented, nor 1,000 attendees, but those of us who attend can be assured of an unforgettable bicentennial reunion.

I might add that William F. Robbins’ History was a great resource for me getting started in Robbins genealogy.  My next post will discuss the life of William and his sad death only six months later.

Robbins Bicentennial Reunion – 2022

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We now have a date and a place for the Robbins Bicentennial Reunion in 2022. Saturday, July 30th, at the Westport Community Center in Westport, Indiana, about 20-minutes south of Greensburg, will be the location for the event. The Robbins family first arrived in Decatur County in 1822; a 1,000-person reunion was held in 1922; and we hope to have a great attendance at this once-in-a-lifetime event. Decatur County is also celebrating it’s bicentennial next year and there will be county-wide events.

In 1822 the children of William, Absalom, and Jacob Robbins arrived in Decatur County, with their parents and other relatives arriving over about the next ten years. They were later joined by some of the families of their younger siblings James Robbins and Margaret (Robbins) Robbins (she was married to Thomas Robbins). Other members of the family settled in nearby Jennings, Scott, Bartholomew, Washington, and Jefferson counties. I will highlight some of the Decatur County families in upcoming blog posts.

With the date and venue scheduled, we can now begin more serious planning. Safety considerations for Covid, publicity, food and catering, cemetery and local history excursions, and more, all remain to be planned. Any blog readers who would like to help, in any way at all, can contact me at “mittge @ yahoo.com.” If you have Facebook an Events page has been set up by cousin Laura Robbins Miller. Contact me for an invitation to this private group. And keep reading this blog for further updates!

Robbins Bicentennial? – An Update

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Last year I had proposed that there should be a Robbins reunion in Decatur County, Indiana, celebrating the 200th anniversary of the family being in that county.  In 1922 there was a large (1,000 attendee reunion according to the local newspaper) reunion and it would be nice to see another special reunion next year.  Several blog readers expressed an interest in helping organize such an event.  Unfortunately, none of us actually live in Greensburg or Decatur County.

Earlier this summer I contacted Russell Wilhoit of the Decatur County Historical Society and asked if something could be added to one of their upcoming newsletters.  While he said he would see if he could get something in the next issue, the Fall 2021 newsletter doesn’t include any mention, but, and this is important:  2022 is also the bicentennial of the founding of Decatur County and there will be activities planned around that.

In August I visited with my cousin Janet Ketchum Armbrust in Kalispell, Montana.  While a Myers descendant not a Robbins (my ancestor William Franklin Robbins was married to Melvina Myers and Janet descends from one of Melvina’s sisters) she did suggest a contact in Greensburg who writes for the Greensburg Daily News.

As result of contacting Pat Smith in Greensburg there was an article in the September 8, 2021, edition of the newspaper, describing our interest in a reunion and asking three questions:  (1) is anyone already planning a bicentennial reunion for 2022?  (2) or are there any plans for a regular annual Robbins family reunion that would welcome relatives from across the country to make a larger, special event?  (3) or if not either of those two are there Robbins family descendants in Greensburg/Decatur County who would be interested in helping plan such an event with cousins from around the country? as it would be very helpful (and probably necessary) to have someone local to advise about venues, dates, etc.

In my email to Pat Smith I had described myself as “befuddled” about making contact with local family members who could assist.  Sadly my last contact were Melvin and Rosalie Robbins, who have both passed away.  “Befuddled Genealogist” then made it in as part of the headline of the story.  Oh well!  But it was great to have the question of a bicentennial reunion out there.  The article provided just about every possible way to contact me.

The upshot is so far I have not heard from anyone in Greensburg or Decatur County.  While cousins in Decatur County may still be thinking about responding, at this point if we wish to have an event, even if it just includes us from “away”, we will probably have to plan it without local assistance.  I have the list of folks from last year who were willing to help plan an event but if anyone else would like to help, please let me know (it’s probably a good idea for those who replied last year to confirm their wish to be involved).  I have a few ideas but I’m sure others will have great input too.

Regardless of a formal reunion, I am planning on visiting Decatur County sometime in the summer of 2022.  At the very least it would be great to coordinate a visit with others, get together to talk family history, and maybe take field trips to local family history sites (for example, the Mt. Pleasant Cemetery where William and Bethiah Robbins are buried).  For easiest contact my email is “mittge @ yahoo.com”.  Perhaps we can discuss this together, one way or another, in October!

George Thomas Robbins

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George Thomas Robbins was born in Decatur County, Indiana, to Jonathan and Margaret (Spilman) Robbins (my previous post featured his brother Theodore Irvin Robbins).  He grew up among numerous Robbins and Spilman cousins in Decatur County.  In fact, his aunt Sarah Spilman, was married to Jacob Robbins, and his first cousins in that family crossed the plains to Oregon in 1852.  His younger sister Nancy Jane (Robbins) Meredith, would tell her children the story of the Robbinses leaving Indiana in 1852. As later recorded by her son James:

Mother [Nancy] had a cousin, the daughter of Jacob and Sarah Robbins, a few years older than my mother [Nancy Jane (Robbins) Gilliam].  They would play together very often, and for some years they kept up a correspondence between Indiana and Oregon.  Mother told that she could remember the folks loading the great wagons.  They baked a lot of bread and packed it away in boxes.  They killed hogs and salted away the meat, they loaded a great variety of dried foods as well as household goods in the wagons.  She said she and her cousin would help take bundles to the wagons for the others to pack away.

George himself would leave Decatur County and strike out west, but a couple decades later and he would only go as far as Iowa and Kansas, but in the latter state he would become a prominent community member.

George Thomas Robbins (courtesy of Joyce King Higginbotham)

In October 1864, late in the war and at the age of 22, George Robbins would enlist as a private into Company G of the 35th Indiana Infantry as a “substitute.”  That is, he was paid to substitute for a draftee who could afford to supply a replacement.  The 35th Indiana regiment was serving that autumn in the Nashville campaign – an ill-fated attempt by Confederate General John Hood to try to draw William Tecumseh Sherman and his army away from Georgia to come rescue Nashville.  Sherman didn’t bite and Hood was defeated outside the city in December of 1864 and his army retreated and disintegrated.  George’s service in the Indiana regiment would have seen some serious, but successful, fighting in Tennessee and Alabama.  Later after the war ended the regiment was ordered to New Orleans and Texas, before returning to Indiana for discharge in September of 1865.

According to his obituary, George attended Hartsville College, a United Brethren school in Indiana.  The college was established in 1847 by the citizens of Hartsville, which is located just to the west of Decatur County in Bartholomew County, but in 1850 turned the college over to the Church of the United Brethren in Christ.  His connection to that denomination must have lasted his lifetime as his funeral was conducted at his local Brethren church in Kansas.

Compared to many people of the time, George married late.  He was 33-years-old when he would marry the young widow Mary Elizabeth (Vanderbur) Huddleston.  The Vanderburs were a large and prominent family in Decatur County and she was not the only member of the Vanderbur family to marry a Robbins: her cousin William Thomas Vanderbur was married to George’s cousin Jennie Robbins.

Robbins-Vanderbur relationships

At the time of their marriage, the couple were living in Lucas County, Iowa  George was there as his oldest brother James H. Robbins had moved there with his family as early as 1867.  Whether he moved with James or came to visit is not known but there he encountered another Decatur County acquaintance, Mary Vanderbur.  Mary had been married to a younger man, John Huddleston, in the same county in 1873 but John died in Kansas in 1874 (he and Mary had no children), and Mary was back in Lucas County marrying George Robbins in 1875.  George and Mary would be the parents of seven children.

In 1877 George, wife Mary, and their first child, Charles Leonidas Robbins, moved to the town of Russell situated almost in the center of Kansas in Russell County.  Over the following years more children came along including Ethel Laverne (Bratt), Earl, Floyd Joseph, Olive (Treiber), Meredith, and Roy Stone Robbins.

In Russell county George Robbins worked as a teacher, a carpenter and a bookkeeper.  He was a member of the local school board and he served as postmaster of Russell from about 1893 to 1897, during the administration of Grover Cleveland.

Official Register of the United States Containing a List of the Officers and Employees of the Civil, Military, and Naval Service….(Vol. II, p. 119), 1 July 1887.

George Thomas Robbins died in Russell in 1913.  Most of his children seemed to have moved away from Kansas with the exception of youngest son Roy.  His widow Mary died in 1942 in Canton, Ohio, where daughter Olive Treiber was then living.  Both George and Mary are buried in Russell, Kansas.

Obituaries of the time were typically effusive in their praise of prominent citizens, but even allowing for hyperbole, it is clear that George was a well-liked individual.

He was a man of first class habits, whose conduct and walk in life was not only a good example to his children but to the community as well.  He built up a fine reputation for honesty and integrity and was most highly respected in the community.  He leaves to the world a legacy in the way of a splendid family of sons and daughters which would well be a credit to any man.  His cheery disposition and agreeable nature made a pleasant association and valued friend.

[Jacob Robbins-Absalom Robbins-George Robbins-Jonathan Robbins-George Thomas Robbins]

A Letter from Theodore Robbins

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I’m not sure from whom I obtained photocopies of several letters from Theodore Robbins of Indiana to his cousin Levi Robbins in Oregon.  I was going through my files and came across these recently and thought I’d share.  One letter copy is very clear and easy to transcribe.  The others are very faint and if I can puzzle them out I’ll include them in future posts.

Theodore Irvin Robbins
(photo courtesy of Joyce King Higginbotham)

Theodore and Levi were actually double cousins – Theodore’s parents were Jonathan and Margaret (Spilman) Robbins and Levi’s parents were Jacob and Sarah (Spilman) Robbins.  Jonathan and Levi Robbins were cousins, while Margaret and Sarah were sisters, daughters of Thomas and Nancy (Love) Spilman.  There are a lot of similar connections between Decatur County families. 

I don’t have a lot of information about Theodore Robbins. He was born in 1856 in Decatur County and apparently died in Galveston, Texas, in 1899.  It is not known if he was ever married or had any children.

Family members referred to in the letters are Robbins and Spilmans, but it’s not entirely clear sometimes who is who.  After the letter I’ve added some comments about the names mentioned.  I’ve found that letters of this time usually covered two topics: family news and farm prices!

Gaynorsville, Ind.

June 7th, 1875

Dear Cousin1,

I received your letter of the 14th of May a few days ago.  We were glad to hear from you and know you are all well.  We have had a small amount of sickness in our family this spring although none serious.  We are all well at present.  We got a letter from George2 at the same time we got yours.  Himself and James’s3 folks were all well with the exception of colds.  Aunt Polly’s4 folks are living in Greensburg.  They were all well the last time we heard from them.  Jane5 died last fall of consumption.  I don’t know whether you have heard it or not.  Uncle Franks6 folks are living near Greensburg.  They have had a great deal of sickness in their family for the last year but they are all able to get around now.  Times here is pretty hard.  Corn is worth from .90 cents to $1.00 per bushel.  Hogs are worth six and seven centers per pound.  The coming crop of wheat will not be more than one half of a crop on account of the cold winter.  We had a very backward spring but corn in this locality looks very well considering the time it was planted.  The Taylor you spoke of, I have found out nothing about them yet.  [Line at bottom of page is missing]…time you write.  Father and mother have lost the track of them.  Tell Uncle,7 now that he has sold out he might come to old Hoosier and see us.  We would like to see him very much.  In deed we would like to see all of you.  Well I must quit for this time.

Write soon and often,

Your cousin

Theodore I. Robbins

P.S.  Enclosed you will find Fathers and Mothers pictures.

Notes:

  1. I am assuming that the letter is to Levi Robbins.  One of the other photocopied letters I have included the envelope addressed to Levi.  Levi was a first cousin via the Spilmans, and a second cousin, once removed through the Robbins family. 
  2. George Thomas Robbins, brother of Theodore.  In 1875 was in Iowa and in 1877 moved to Russell, Kansas.
  3. James Harvey Robbins, brother of Theodore.  He lived in Lucas Co., Iowa.
  4. Not sure who he is referring to, possibly the older sister of Margaret and Sarah?
  5. Again, I do not know who this is.
  6. Probably referring to Frank Spilman, Margaret and Sarah’s brother.
  7. Jacob Robbins, father of Levi, husband of Sarah Spilman (thus both uncle and cousin to Theodore).

I’ll consider posting additional letters if I can transcribe them from the very faint copies I have.

[Jacob Robbins-Absalom Robbins-George Robbins-Jonathan Robbins-Theodore Irvin Robbins]

August Miscellany: Reunion, Allied Families, and DNA

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Robbins Bicentennial Reunion Update 

I have received a number of messages and emails about a possible 2022 Robbins Bicentennial Reunion in Decatur County, Indiana.  It’s wonderful to see the interest in this idea and I appreciate the offers to help.  While I don’t believe any of the people who contacted me are folks who actually live in Decatur County I’m going to continue to let the word spread and percolate and will come back to the project in the fall.  

Other Decatur County Surnames 

There are a lot of descendants of Jacob and Mary Robbins in Indiana, the United States, and around the world.  Focusing just on Decatur County descendants I wanted to list some of the “allied” families, that is, families who married into the Robbins family, no longer have the Robbins surname, and may or may not know of their Robbins ancestry.  There are likely Robbins descendants with these or other surnames in the county and some of you might recognize them.  

The list below is divided by the children of William, Absalom, Jacob, and James Robbins.  Besides those who moved out of state, a lot of family members moved next door to Bartholomew, Shelby, or Rush counties, or northwest to Indianapolis.  But this list, which is not complete, focuses solely on Decatur County. 

Children of William Robbins

Marmaduke:  House, Knarr, McCracken, Ralston, Scripture, Vanderbur

Elizabeth:  Owens

William:  Barnes, Evans, Kitchen, McCoy, Mendenhall, Mozingo, Pleak, Smiley, Smith, Stewart, Styers, Thornburg, Whipple, Wright 

Children of Absalom Robbins

Micajah:  Holcomb, Mozingo

Elizabeth:  Guthrie, Pavey

George:  Bower, Espy, Gannon, Giddings, Hood, Kutchback, Leisure, Meredith, Scripture, Shoemake, Stone, Voiles

Charity:  Allen, Jessup, Purvis, Skinner, Stout, Whipple 

Children of Jacob Robbins

William:  Harrison, Hartley, Miller, Spencer, Taylor 

Children of James Robbins

Matilda:  Terrell 

There are a lot of family members still in Greensburg and Decatur County but in compiling this list I was struck by how many families, especially since about 1940 or 1950, have left Decatur County.  Besides the neighboring counties mentioned above, and Indianapolis, many have moved on to Fayette, Boone, Scott, and other Indiana counties.  Much earlier in a time a very large group of descendants moved to Breckinridge County, Kentucky, while others moved on to Iowa, Missouri, Minnesota, Colorado, California, and the Pacific Northwest.  I hope to discuss some of these families in future blog posts.

Ancestry to Remove 6-8 cM Matches Soon 

As they do every few years, Ancestry is making changes to DNA results.  If you are an Ancestry DNA customer you may have noticed that they periodically update and change your ethnicity estimates – sometimes the results seem reasonable and sometimes they seem way off.  It’s a continual effort to make the results more accurate.  Each DNA testing company does this. 

This time Ancestry is planning on removing any match you have where the centimorgans (cM) are less than 8.  Or I should say the segment is less than 8.  Because you could have a match at 10 cM on two segments.  That would likely go away because both segments would probably be under the 8 cM threshold. 

Now, I’m no expert in using DNA results, though I have tried to teach myself as much as possible.  If you want a good overview of Ancestry’s proposed changes (now postponed to the end of August due to push back from the genealogy community), I’d highly recommend you read the DNAeXplained blog written by Robert Estes.  In particular, her first post, which describes ways to preserve these smaller matches:  DNAeXplained.

DNAeXplained screen shot

 Ancestry will not delete these smaller matches if you have (1) exchanged messages through Ancestry with that individual; (2) assigned the match to a “group”; or (3) added a comment on that match. 

My method is to pull up the matches (and I also do this with my siblings’ DNA results that I manage on Ancestry) and then filter for “Common Ancestors.”  The “common ancestor” listed is not necessarily accurate, because the information is based on members trees, and trees are not always accurate.  I’ve run cross a few of those lately.  But out of all your thousands and thousands of matches, I’d rather spend my time on those who have trees – whether public or private – and that’s why I do a “Common Ancestors” filter. 

Common Anc cM sort DNA

 You will probably still have a lot of matches in this group.  You can filter further.  You will notice that you can enter a custom cM range.  I started with 6 cM.  Note that on the right hand side of the entry for each match you can assign them to a group.  These are color coded.  A while back I created a “group” for each of my great-grandparents surnames.  In most cases I can identify each match to that level and assign them to a group.  By clicking on each match I can add a comment too, such as how they descend from our common ancestor.  I’ve been doing that with all of my matches, but starting at the top end, with those who I share a lot of DNA with. 

With these small matches, of which there are many, I may not have time right now to look at each individual match with a “Common Ancestor,” especially with an Ancestry deadline approaching and me planning on being away for a couple weeks of socially distanced camping and hiking.

2nd screen shot

So as Roberta Estes suggested, I created a group called “Holding Group.”  I can go straight down the list of these matches (without opening each one up) and put each one in my “Holding Group”, so Ancestry won’t discard them, and I can review them later at my leisure.  After working the 6 and 7 cM matches, I move up to 8 cM, then 9, and so on until I’m confident that the matches will survive Ancestry’s upcoming purge. 

What am I finding in these small – 6 and 7 cM – matches?  Between myself and my siblings I’m finding DNA matches with almost every branch of the Robbins family – not only through every child of William and Absalom Robbins of Decatur County, but also through their brother James Robbins of Jennings County and their sisters Martha and Mary who married Chastains and lived in Washington and Scott counties. And, surprising to me, even more distant cousins who descend from brothers or cousins of our most distantly documented ancestor, Jacob Robbins.  And I’m finding matches with descendants of the siblings of Bethiah Vickrey (who married William Robbins) and Mary Ogle (who married Absalom Robbins), as I descend from both of those couples.  I might have not found any of these if I had ignored these smaller matches. 

So, if you’ve tested with Ancestry, and have the time and interest, I’d highly recommend preserving those small cM matches.

John Robbins and the Mt. Pleasant Church

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In the early years of the history of the state of Indiana there were several Protestant religions which built small community churches, usually beginning their existence in someone’s log cabin until the membership was large enough to support their own church building. One of these groups, the Methodists, who were known for their circuit riding ministers, covering many miles on horseback preaching across the states of the Midwest, played a huge role in the lives of our pioneer ancestors.

The origins of the Mt. Pleasant Methodist Church began in the log cabin of John Robbins, son of William and Bethiah Robbins. John, born in 1795, was married to Ruth Anderson down in Henry County, Kentucky, and then came north to Decatur County with much of the rest of the family around 1821. He settled south of today’s Greensburg, his property located just north of todays intersection of County Road 60 Southwest and County Road 400 South, which includes the site of the historic Mt. Pleasant Cemetery.

Mt Pleasant church area

Google Earth view of Mt. Pleasant area

The image above marks the Mt. Pleasant Church (bottom) and the Mt. Pleasant Cemetery (top), located on private property.  John, his wife, children, parents, and many other relatives are buried in the cemetery.  Compare that to an image from the 1882 Decatur County Atlas below.

mt-pleasant-ara-1882.jpg

Mt. Pleasant area in 1882

Lewis Harding’s History of Decatur County, Indiana (1915), is the source for the history of churches in Decatur County.  Several stories discuss John Robbins and Harding quotes an early source entitled History of Methodism in Greensburg, Indiana:

John Robbins, who is living at this date (September 13, 1881) states that he settled near Mt. Pleasant Methodist Episcopal church, March 28, 1822, four miles south of Greensburg.  The first Methodist sermon he heard in the county was about September of the same year by Rev. James Murray, of the Connersville circuit-then of the Ohio conference-at the double log cabin of Col. Thomas Hendricks [in Greensburg].  Mr. Robbins immediately afterward received authority by letter from Mr. Murray to organize a class, which he did at his own house, and from this [grew] the first religious organization in the county.  After this he [Robbins] attended the organization of the Baptist church at Sand Creek.

The members of this first Methodist class were John and Ruth Robbins, Robert Courtney, Elizabeth Garrison, John H. Kilpatrick (sic) and Mary his wife—seven persons, and soon afterward they were joined by Jacob Steward, A. L. Anderson, Mary Garrison, Tamzen Connor, Lydia Groendyke, Rev. Wesley White and wife Elizabeth, and James and Polly Armstrong.

Besides John and Ruth Robbins, other members of our family included John Kirkpatrick, married to Polly Robbins (John’s sister); Abram L. Anderson, married to Lottie Robbins (John’s sister); Elizabeth Anderson (Ruth’s sister, married to the Rev. White).  The Garrisons mentioned were related to John Daniel Herren, husband of Dosha Robbins, who emigrated to Oregon in 1845.

In his chapter on churches in Decatur County, historian Harding later writes:

The story is told that John Robbins, one of the early settlers, was at work near his cabin, when two men approached on horseback and bid him the time of day.  They talked for a while and then Robbins said: “You men look like Methodist ministers.”  The strangers admitted that they were and said that they were on their way to attend conference.  Robbins wanted them to stop a while and organize a class, but they stated that they had no time to spare then, but that they would gladly do so on their return.  One of these horsemen was John Strange, an early minister.  When conference was over the men returned and organized a class in Robbins’ cabin.

Harding provides another list of the early members of John Robbins’ church and includes the additional names of Nat Robbins (his brother) and Nancy Anderson (sister of his wife Ruth).

The first church was built in 1834 and called Mt. Pleasant.  It was described as a log building, 24 feet wide and 30 feet long.  In 1854 a new church was built.  A story in the Greensburg Daily News in 2008 [“Mt. Pleasant Rising Anew From Ruin” by Pat Smith, 18 December 2008], reported that in 1858 the church paid $50 for the deed to the property.  After a 100-year-old hickory tree fell and damaged the church in 2008, money was raised to repair the damage and the church was back in service.

Mt Pleasant church

Mt. Pleasant church today (courtesy of Google Maps)

John Robbins was associated with the Mt. Pleasant Church from 1822 until his death in December 1881, just months after the History of Methodism in Greensburg, Indiana was compiled.

(Jacob Robbins-William Robbins-John Robbins)