The Ancestors of My Children
By James W. Robinson, Jr.
THE ROBINSON LINE
As of 24January, 2007
In this document, the names in bold type are either my direct ancestors or those of my wife Lena Campbell. In either case, they are direct ancestors of our children.
My father was James William Robinson, son of William Robinson. William was the son of two Irish immigrants, Hugh Robinson and Elizabeth Lloyd Dosey. Elizabeth’s name also appears on various official documents in different forms such as:
Eliza Loyd Dosey, on the front of her marriage license to Hugh.
Eliza Loyd Dosey, on the back of her marriage license to Hugh.
Elizabeth Lloyd, on her daughter Elizabeth’s birth certificate.
Elizabeth Lloyd, on her son William’s birth certificate.
On the back of her marriage license, she lists her mother’s maiden name as Elizabeth Loyd and her father’s name as Wm. Dosey.
The earliest Robinson in our line for whom we can find records is Hugh Robinson Sr. I call him Sr. because his son is also Hugh Robinson. Any place where I leave off the Sr. will be a reference to Hugh Robinson Jr. I will not use the appendage “Jr.” for him in this document. Hugh Senior is my great, great, grandfather. Hugh is my great-grandfather. I believe Hugh Sr. lived in CountyAntrim in Northern Ireland. I have run across writings which make me believe that these Robinson folks were from County Antrim, Northern Ireland. Some writings indicate that Robinsonwas a name predominately found in CountyAntrim, as well as the fact that Hugh and Joseph both departed from Moville, Ireland. These things lead me to believe they were from CountyAntrim. But this is not proven. Moville was apparently a shipping town, and was located to the west, in CountyDonagal, across a bay from Counties Antrim and Londonderry. Ships from Glasgow, Scotland typically stopped off at Moville to embark and disembark passengers, when the ship was on the way to the United States.
Northern Ireland was known as Ulster, consisting of 9 counties. Following a period of guerrilla warfare between the nationalist Irish Republican Army (IRA) and British forces, a treaty was signed in 1921 creating the Irish Free State from 23 southern counties and 3 counties in Ulster. The other 6 counties of Ulster made up Northern Ireland, which remained part of the United Kingdom. In 1949 the Irish Free State became an independent republic. CountyAntrim is the most northeastern county of Northern Ireland, and is close to Scotland. For a map, see Attachment A018.
We do not know for sure the name of Hugh Senior’s 1stwife. Hugh Robinson’s marriage certificate at Attachments A001 and A002, lists his father’s name as Hugh Robinson, and his mother’s maiden name as Margarett Farrell. This could be her maiden name, or could have been her current married name. We do not know at this time. She apparently was present and signed as a witness. However, all handwriting on the certificate looks to be in the same handwriting. Perhaps a clerk or one of the persons named in the document did all the writing. On Hugh Robinson’s death certificate at Attachment A003, his mother’s maiden name is listed as Elizabeth Graham. Margarett Farrell or Elizabeth Graham would be my great-great-grandmother. I have not been able, using the very few Irish records that I have access to, been able to verify the existence of Hugh’s parents in Ireland. I have found several Hugh Robinson names but have no way to connect them with our Hugh and his father, Hugh Senior.
Consider that when Hugh got married, he may have listed his mother with her current name or her maiden name. Also consider that information on Hugh’s death certificate was probably given by his current wife, Josephine Foster Robinson. See the back side of Hugh’s death certificate, Attachment A003 and A004, and Josephine’s death certificate, AttachmentsA005 and A006. Hugh’s cremation papers at Attachments A095 and A096.
Thirdly, consider that Hugh Senior and Hugh’s mother may not have been married. And lastly, consider the coincidence that on Hugh’s death certificate, his mother is listed as Catherine Graham, and he lived at 434 Graham Avenue, in Brooklyn. Did Josephine know Hugh’s mother’s name, or did she make up a name, or was there a clerical error?
On June 29, 1871, Hugh Robinson arrived in New York City, from Moville, Ireland on board the ship SS Australia. The Australia departed Glasgow, Scotland, stopped at Moville, and then traveled on to New York. Hugh is shown at line 316 on the Australia’s manifest. See Attachment A007. His age is listed as 18. However, if he was indeed born in March, 1855, he would be 17. See 1900 census, line 91, Attachment A008. Perhaps he lied about his age for any number of reasons. I could find no one else on the manifest that looked as if they were traveling with him.
Hugh had a brother named Joseph Robinson, who also came to New York. Joseph, as far as I can tell arrived onboard the SS Anchoria. The Anchoria traveled the same route from Glasgow, Scotland, via Moville, Ireland, to New York, as did the Australia. See the manifest at Attachment A009. This Joseph apparently traveled with Sarah Robinson, age 48, Martha L. Robinson, age 26, and Isabel, age 17. This may or may not be our group, but it is the best bet among all the manifests that I could find. Joseph was born in April 1870 according to the 1900 Brooklyn, New York census. See Attachment A022.
It is possible that Hugh and Joseph may not have had the same mother, making them half brothers.
It is possible that Hugh named one of his daughters Isabella, (later known as Charlotte or Lottie). I know of no way to tell if her name was something like Charlotte Isabella Robinson. See 1880 New York, Manhattan census, Attachments A010 and A011.
This 1880 census shows Hugh, his wife Elizabeth, and two children, William and Isabella. I believe that this Isabella is later known as Charlotte or Lottie. They would have been the same age. Perhaps Isabella was her middle name. There was another daughter, Elizabeth, older than William, but she is not seen or heard of after her birth. Both Hugh and his wife Elizabeth are listed on this census as being born in Ireland. Thus, their children are 100% Irish. Hugh’s wife Elizabeth is my great grandmother.
See babyElizabeth’s birth certificate at Attachment A012. No further record is found of baby Elizabeth. During this period and up until May 1883, Hugh and Elizabeth lived at 238 Henry Street, Manhattan, New York. Henry Street was in lower eastside Manhattan, about 4 blocks from the East River. Very near where the ManhattanBridge to Brooklyn was later built. It was about 12 blocks from where the BrooklynBridge to Brooklyn is located. In fact, the BrooklynBridge was under construction while Hugh lived there. We know that Hugh was listed on several official documents as a galvanizer. We also know that the BrooklynBridge contains over 14,500 miles of hot-galvanized wire in its cables. Would it be stretching the imagination to suspect that Hugh may have worked on those wires? We also know that by 1883, trains were running from Brooklyn to NYC over the bridge.
It must be remembered that during the late 1800s, in lower east Manhattan, NY, living conditions were terrible. Opportunists had constructed many multi-story tenement buildings. These buildings had no electricity, no heat, no air conditioning, no rear windows, and virtually no ventilation. In fact, in many of them, the only ventilation in the back rooms was what they got from the front door, up the stairs, down the hallway, through the door into the apartment, through the living room and into the bedrooms, which had no windows at all. If they were very lucky, they got air from the front rooms, which had windows. Interesting reading on this subject is a book which can be found on the internet by Jacob A. Riis, entitled “HOW THE OTHER HALF LIVES – Studies among the tenements of New York”.
See William’s birth certificate at Attachment A013. There was no name for this child on this certificate, but the parents match and William’s birth date matches. Therefore, I digitally added William’s name to the document.
In 1890 Hugh was living at 385 Madison per the New York City Directory. He was still listed as a galvanizer. This address was one block closer to the East River than was 238 Henry Street.
By 1900, Hugh was living alone with his new wife, Josephine, at 925 Metropolitan Ave.in BrooklynNew York. See 1900 NY census record at Attachment A008.
The 1910 New York census for Brooklyn, New York has Hugh and Joseph Robinson living together. They lived at 184 Jackson Street, Brooklyn. Both were galvanizers. See Attachment A017. I believe there is a clerical error on this entry. It shows Hugh age 55, a galvanizer as head of household. It shows Joseph, age 54, a galvanizer. I think that the recorder skipped part of a line, starting to record Joseph, used Josephine’s age, and Joseph’s occupation. Josephine would have been 54 and Joseph would have been 40. We never see Joseph again. See 1910 Census at Attachment A102.
The 1920 New York census for Brooklyn, New York has Hugh and Josephine Robinson living on Graham Avenue. The copy is very light and hard to read, but they are listed at lines 43 and 44. See New York census for Brooklyn at Attachment A038. Note that his death address listed on Attachment A003 was 434 Graham Avenue.
Josephine lived with Hugh until his death in 1927. See Hugh’s death certificate, Attachment A003, and Josephine’s death certificate, Attachment A005. Josephine died 10 April 1927. Hugh Robinson died 8 Feb. 1927 at the BrooklynStateHospital, of Myocarditis and General Arteriosclerosis, (Heart Attack) in NYC, Kings Co. (Brooklyn) death certificate 2911 on LDS Microfilm # 2048711. Hugh’s newspaper obituary is at Attachment A027. When Hugh died, his son William had been dead for only one year. His grandson, James Sr., (my father), was alive and 17 years old. They could have met during the 17 years, but never did. Additional Hugh Robinson attachments are:
- Attachment A028 – Petition for Naturalization.
- Attachment A029–Naturalization Papers – backside.
- Attachment A030 – Naturalization Papers – front.
d. Attachments A096 and A097 – Hugh Robinson Cremation Papers
I will now discuss the children of Hugh and Elizabeth. They apparently had four children, only 2 of whom survived. I knew that William and Charlotte came to Missouri on the orphan trains. There were lots of family legends saying such things as the children came from an orphanage in New York, and the orphanage burned down so there are not any records. Others were even wilder, so I will not repeat them. I will stick to facts as I know them.
I had read in various internet files about the orphan trains and the sources for the children. So I wrote to several of these sources in New York.
In April 2004, I received a letter from a Mr. Victor Remer, Archivist for the Children’s Aid Society (CAS), in New York City. He said the following:
“William, d/o/b 26 September 1878, and Charlotte, April 18, 1880 were brought to the Protestant Half Orphan Asylum, by their father Hugh Robinson, on March 28, 1884. He was a galvanizer and lived at 238 Henry Street, New York.”
These were important facts, because I have Lottie’s bible, and in it, she said that she was born on Henry Street, in New York. The fact that Hugh was a galvanizer plays favorably with many documents that I will find later.
Victor further said that Hugh’s wife was dead, and that Hugh visited the children for several months, but then all trace of him was lost.
The children were referred to the CAS by the Half Orphan Asylum in May 1886. They were placed with families in Missouri, William with W. H. Hardwick in Wakenda, MO, and Charlotte with W. V. Rogers in Carrollton, MO.
Lottie as she was called, did not get along with the Rogers children and she was replaced with the Jamerson family in Bosworth.
The CAS received several letters from the children over the years. See the CAS letter at Attachments A014 and A015.
Further research shows that Hugh’s wife Elizabeth, died at29 Scammel Street, a street that no longer exists, in NY, of Phthisis Pulmonalis (Tuberculosis), complicated by childbirth, on 10 August 1883. She was 24 years of age. Apparently, she had been pregnant again, but died before or shortly after the childbirth. The child apparently did not make it either, but was not mentioned. See Elizabeth’s death certificate at Attachment A016.
This document tells us several important things. She had been in the United States for 22 years. She had lived in New York for 22 years. Since she was 24 when she died, we should look for her immigrating in about 1860 being about 2 years old. I have found a couple documents close, but nothing conclusive. It also tells us that she was buried at Green-Wood cemetery in Brooklyn. I checked this out, and found that she was buried on 12 August 1883, at Green-WoodCemetery, Brooklyn, NY in Lot 17931, section 127. I called them and found that she has no headstone. Lottie, my great aunt grew up with the Jamersons in Bosworth, Missouri and eventually inherited property from Mr. Jamerson when he passed away. She married a Mr. Jim Cross and they lived a full life. They had one daughter, Rebecca Bell Cross, who was born December 27, 1899. According to my aunt Mary Nettie Robinson, Rebecca died during a childbirth in which the child also died.
Mary also said that she thought that Rebecca lived in Roswell, New Mexico.
The other surviving child of Hugh and Elizabeth Robinson was my grandfather, William Robinson. He grew up in Bosworth, Missouri. He first lived in Wakenda, Missouri with the Hardwick family. He was later replaced with Squire Lee in Bosworth. See the CAS letter mentioned above.
In 1900 William is found living with a friend James Hanavanand Mr. Hanavan’s family, in Bosworth, Combs Twp, Carroll County, Missouri. See census record at Attachment A019.
On April 16, 1905, William married Margaret Laura Belle Troutman, in the city of Houston, Texas County, Missouri. She was the daughter of John Allen Troutman of that county. See the license at Attachment A021.
She was born Feb 14, 1886, in Texas County, Mo. and grew up as a young girl near Licking and HoustonMo.
In 1905, she was working as a kitchen helper at a hotel in Houston, Mo. There she met Bill Robinson. He was a painter looking for work.
They had a little girl, Lottie, in about 1907. Her obituary says she died after being sick for 47 days with typhoid fever. The obit said she was two and a half years old. See Attachment A031.
In the 1910TexasCounty census, William is found with his wife, Laura and their son, James William Robinson, (my father). They live in Houston, Texas County, Missouri. See census record at Attachment A020.
In 1920, the census shows William and Laura with children James, Mary, and Forrest in Greensboro, Knott County, Missouri. See the census record at Attachment A023.
In 1926, William died while the family lived in Baring, Knott County, Missouri. He died in the Santa Fe Railroad hospital at Ft. Madison, Iowa. He was a signal maintainer for the railroad. In February 1926, they experienced a terrible ice storm. The signals were frozen with ice and would not operate. William was sent out with a coworker named “Jap” Green (who was not of Japanese descent) to fix the problem. They went out on a hand car. Aunt Mary did not know if it was motorized or the old hand pump kind of car. Using blow torches, they tried to melt the ice, freeing the signals. It continued to rain and freeze. When he got home that night, his clothes were frozen to his body according to my aunt Mary. They used hot water to unfreeze the clothing. He caught pneumonia and it got so bad that they sent him to Ft.Madison, where he died anyway. By then, they had two more children, a son, Clarence, and a daughter, Geraldine. Aunt Mary watched them take her father out to the train from her vantage point behind the stove at school. She never saw him again.
William Robinson is buried at the Linville cemetery, in Edina, Knox County, Missouri.
His obituary from the Edina Sentinel, Thursday, March 4, 1926 is at Attachments A032 and A033. His headstone is at Attachment A042 and the LinvilleCemetery entrance is at A043. See William’s Draft Registration at Attachment A058. Also see William’s Death Certificate at Attachment A091.
Shortly after, Aunt Lottie wanted to take Jim and raise him. Laura said no, but that she could take the younger children. Lottie refused. Both women were mad at each other.
Laura’s health was not good. Her doctor advised her to move west to get away from the moist climate of Missouri. She moved with the children to Larned, Kansas where her brother John Troutman lived. The Santa Fe Railroad Company took all their household goods etc, by rail to Larned, Kansas for free.