On Saturday, July 20^th, 2024, by popular demand, there will be another Robbins Reunion in Oregon.  Meeting again at Feyrer County Park just outside of Molalla, Oregon, this reunion is open to anyone related to the Robbins family who would like to come and visit and share family history.

This past summer’s very successful reunion was meant to be a “one-off”, a chance to report on the 2022 bicentennial reunion in Decatur County, Indiana, but the attendees all said they’d like to resume the former annual Oregon reunions, so here we go!

The park is located about 3 miles east of Molalla on S. Feyrer Park Road.  From downtown Molalla take E. Main Street to E. Mathias Road, travel south on that road a couple of blocks, and then turn east on S. Feyrer.  That road takes you to the park.  Picnic #2 is once again where the Robbins family will be gathering.  Be aware that there is an $8 parking fee.  Molalla is about 15 miles east of Interstate-5 at Woodburn or 16 miles south of 99E at Oregon City.

Even if you cannot come to this reunion, it would help if anyone reading this blog could pass along the word to anyone they think might be interested.  Getting word out is the key to a successful reunion.

I plan to have limited updates about the reunion in this blog; there will be a Facebook event page for anyone who would like to follow the reunion there (you can always “friend” me for an invite); and I have created an email mailing list.  If you would like to be included on the email list be sure to let me know by sending a message to:  oregonrobbinsreunion@gmail.com

The 2023 Oregon Robbins Reunion was a resounding success! We had between 50 and 60 attendees, about the same as last year’s reunion in Decatur County, Indiana. There were representatives from several Oregon pioneer ancestors: Nathaniel and Nancy Robbins, John and Theodoshia (Robbins) Herren, John Hudson Robbins, and Jacob and Sarah (Spilman) Robbins. There were also several other long-time Robbins family researchers who connect much further back through our pre-Indiana ancestors, as well as others who have Robbins ancestors but weren’t sure if they were connected to our specific family or not (it’s hard to say – our ancestors being on this continent for four hundred years – there are a lot of branches of the Robbins family!).

The four Oregon cousins who attended last year’s reunion in Indiana were all present: Sherrill, Nancy, Kathy, and myself.

Many of us at this reunion hadn’t seen each other since the Oregon reunions back in the 1990s or early 2000s so it was nice to get reacquainted. There were several actual Robbins’s in attendance too: James (“Jim”) DeSpain Robbins, a descendant of Jacob through son Harvey, and John Robbins and family, descendants of Jacob through son Levi.

I had originally planned this reunion as a one-off, a follow-up to last year’s bicentennial family reunion in Indiana, but the folks who came to this reunion want to keep it going, so we will plan for a 2024 reunion! What’s good about that is if you weren’t able to come to this reunion, you can always come next year, or the year after (?). And anybody interested in Robbins family history are welcome.

Below are several photos, a couple by me and a couple by cousin Brenda Pudwill.

There will be a Robbins Reunion on July 22^nd, 2023, at Feyrer County Park just outside of Molalla, Oregon.  This is a one-off event, not part of a resumption of the previous yearly reunions, but will give those of us who attended the bicentennial reunion in Decatur County, Indiana, last year a chance to report on that reunion and allow Northwest family members – as well as any others who happen to be in the area – to come and visit and share family history.

Feyrer Park was the location of many of the Jacob Robbins descendants reunions over the years.  Jacob and Sarah (Spilman) Robbins, Oregon Trail pioneers of 1852, settled in Molalla, as did some of their children and further descendants.  It will be nice to return for a brief visit to the community where so many of our ancestors and relatives lived.

The park is located about 3 miles east of Molalla on S. Feyrer Park Road.  From downtown Molalla take E. Main Street to E. Mathias Road, travel south on that road a couple of blocks, and then turn left, east, on S. Feyrer.  That road takes you to the park.  Picnic area #2 is where the reunion will be held.  Be aware that there is an $8 parking fee.

Molalla is about 15 miles east of I-5 at Woodburn or 16 miles south of 99E at Oregon City.

Molalla is also the site of the Adams Cemetery, where Jacob and Sarah, many of their children, and other relatives are buried.  Located between Molalla and Feyrer Park it will make an easy side trip.  From S. Feyrer Park Road, almost halfway between Molalla and the park, turn right, south, on S. Adams Cemetery Road and follow that road south to the cemetery.  I’ll have a post about Adams Cemetery and some of the prominent family burials there in the future.

For more information about the reunion feel free to email me at “mittge @ yahoo.com” or contact me through the comments on this blog.

Group Photo

Christina Newby of Milestones Photography has uploaded the group photo taken at the 2022 Robbins Reunion.  The direct link to the photos is:  https://milestonesphotography.pixieset.com/robbinsfamilyreunion/

The “download PIN” is:  2563

The gallery will expire Oct. 6, 2022.

I will include her email message here: 

Hello Robbins Extended Family,

Thank you again for allowing me to capture your family. I always hope these will be treasured for years to come!

Here are your images. These are the high res files that you can download. You can download them individually by clicking on each image, or all together at the same time, by clicking the down arrow button at the very top of the gallery. You can also select the resolution at download – I suggest downloading both the full resolution, and a second set at a lower web resolution, which makes it great for social sharing. Feel free to share this gallery with family and friends. Please note the gallery expiration date [Oct. 6, 2022].

Save time by ordering prints directly from this gallery. When you make a purchase, it is shipped directly to you. Please let me know if you have any questions, or need assistance with ordering.

Cheers,

Christina Newby [christina@milestonesphotostudio.com]

I have downloaded both the large and small resolution sets and that was very easy.  I have also ordered a copy from Christina Newby (Milestones Photography) as well as Costco (where I usually have photos printed) to compare price and quality.  Though I’m sure Milestones archival quality will far surpass Costco many of us may just want a good affordable copy of the photo.  Ordering from Milestones was a little more complicated as it leads you to Paypal – I was able to pay with a credit card and not Paypal – but it took a few extra steps even though I also have a Paypal account.  Be patient with that process.

Feel free to share this post or send copies of the photos to anyone you think might be interested.  I sent out an email to all the attendees and all went through except for one that bounced.

It has been suggested that we identify everyone who appears in the photo.  I’m not sure the best way to do that – perhaps in the comments here – or you can email me at mittge@yahoo.com and I’ll compile a list. Identify by row (there are four) – and the number from either the right or left.

Reunion Demographics

I thought it would be interesting to share where everyone who attended the reunion came from.  This is taken from the reunion sign-in sheets and while I don’t believe everyone signed in we’re pretty close to the total.  The breakdown by state is as follows:

California                    1

Colorado                     2

Florida                         1

Indiana                      37

Michigan                     2

Oregon                       4

Pennsylvania               2

Texas                           1

The specific Indiana locations (where given) included:  Connersville (3), Decatur County (5), Fishers (1), Greenfield (1), Greensburg (10), Indianapolis (4), Morgantown (1), Poland (1), Spencer (2), Westport (3), Winchester (1), and Zionsville (2).

The 2022 Bicentennial Robbins reunion in Westport, Indiana, was a great success!  We had 50 to 60 people attend.  There was meeting of new cousins, reunions of long separated cousins, and friends discovering they were cousins of one another.  During our program William (“Bill”) Hunter Robbins welcomed family to Decatur County, Greg Robbins discussed the importance of DNA to solving Robbins genealogical brickwalls, and I (Kevin) read a very brief family history.  (I had an expanded seven-page history – still quite brief – as a handout; if you weren’t at the reunion and would like a copy, feel free to email me at “mittge @ yahoo.com” – it’s too long to post on here).

The attendees were extremely generous and we collected donations well in excess of the cost of the room rental and photographer, so I will be passing along a donation of $251 to the Decatur County Historical Society in the name of the 2022 Robbins Reunion!

Once it is available I will be sending out the link to the group photo taken by Christina Newby, our photographer.  The photo will be available to have prints ordered or to be downloaded if folks would like to save it or print it elsewhere.

Below are some photos from the reunion.

Tomorrow is the day!  Hope to see some of you there.  The Westport Community Building has a very nice, large room – and we’ve set some tables and chairs up but we can add more depending on how many folks attend. 

A couple of things to mention:

Museum:

Don’t forget that the Decatur County Historical Society Museum will be open from 9am to 11am tomorrow. It is located at 222 N. Franklin St. in Greensburg.

Getting to Westport:

There is a detour sign as you drive south on Highway 3 from Greensburg to Westport.  I’m not sure what the official detour route is but if you drive down Highway 3 past Letts to almost the road closed sign you can take a right on CR (County Road) 800 South.  Drive west to CR 700 West (you could turn on CR 600 West but it looks smaller and narrower), turn left and take CR 700 West south to CR 1100 South – then turn left and you drive past the Westport Cemetery and into the small community of Westport.  Go straight across Highway 3 and continue into town – the Westport Community Center is on the right.  Here is a map from the Indiana atlas.  (You’re basically driving a rectangle around the closure through beautiful lush corn fields).  It probably adds less than 10 minutes to your drive.

In Westport:

There is parking in the front and along the sides (especially the west side) of the Community Building.

The entrance into the back large room of the community center is on the east side of the building along a short driveway. Unless it is too windy there will be a poster outside.

Having seen several drivers pulled over by police it appears that Westport P.D. takes it’s 20 MPH speed limit seriously!  Drive safely through this tiny town.

Places to visit:

If you are visiting Greensburg and haven’t been to the Decatur County Historical Society’s museum before, you can visit the morning of the reunion.  The museum will be open on Saturday, July 30^th, from 9am to 11am, for any one wanting to stop by before going on the reunion site!  The museum is located at 222 N. Franklin St. in Greensburg.  This is one block north of the courthouse square on the east side.

The Greensburg Public Library has a genealogy room with a lot of information.  The hours over the reunion weekend are Friday, 9am to 5pm, and on Saturday, 9am to 1pm.  The library is closed on Sunday but open again on Monday at 9am.  The library is located at 1110 E. Main Street.  Main Street is on the south side of courthouse square and you can just follow that east to the library.

Family History and Photographs:

One of the fun things about family reunions is sharing family history and family photographs.  I would encourage all of you to bring things to share. I am bringing three Robbins photograph albums, three large working notebooks of genealogy, four stand-up trifold historical displays, and more.

I will also have a laptop, portable scanner, and some extra thumb drives for those who want to share or save material to take home (or we can email them from the reunion).  All of the photos in my albums are on my laptop for easy access and sharing.

I am also bringing a twenty-foot abridged four-generation family chart starting with our common ancestors Jacob and Mary Robbins.  Note that I said abridged!  It’s twenty-feet long and it still doesn’t include everyone down to the fourth generation.  Which by the way, is about our great-great-grandparents’ level.  It will give you a feel for our family’s immense size.  The chart is very simple, see example above, called a working chart, and will probably be outdated with only a little more research.  But it’s fun to ponder!