Saturday, November 04, 2017
Wenona, Marshall, Illinois and the Abiathar Smith Robinson Family Who Lived There
Nadene Goldfoot
When the town was laid out in May 1855 it had nine houses and a population of 50. The land was drained and trees were planted and the town began to grow.
By 1856, there were 1,200 people, 300 homes, 2 churches,3 schools, a hotel and a sawmill. The town was incorporated in 1859 by a vote of 28 to 3. The first trustees were Solomon Wise, George Brockway, John B. Newburn, F.H. Bond and Emanuel Weltz.
Coal was discovered in 1865 and for many years a valuable community product. The mine employed an average of 200 men and a nearby zinc smelter employed 50 more.
The first mention of Abiathar Smith Robinson (Abiath) in Wenona, Illinois was on the August 11, 1870 census which said that Abiathar, a 41 year old laborer, lived there with his wife, Julia Ann (Tuller) age 35. Both were born in Vermont. Their son, Edgar, also born there, was 17. The next 3 children were born in Canada and were Nellie 11, Emma 9, and John 7. William was born in Illinois and was 1. They lived next door to Julia Ann's brother and his family, Albert who was 27 and a brick mason.
In 1870, the Chicago and Alton Railroad was completed from Wenona to Lacon. Wenona now had 4 grain elevators, a stockyard, a brickyard, flour mill, wagon manufacturing store, dry goods store, drug store, grocery store, hardware store, furniture store and implement store. One of Wenona’s early showpieces was the Union Township Fair, organized in 1871, which for a decade rivaled the State Fair.
On May 18, 1870, the center block of the business district was destroyed by fire and 45 business establishments were lost.
By 1873, new brick buildings were built to take their place. The Wenona Fire Department was organized in 1884.
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| Frank Hugh and his father, Abiathar |
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| Grandfather Frank Hugh and Unknown |
In 1890, the entire south block of Wenona's business district burned.
It was rebuilt with brick buildings and a fire wall was placed between every 2nd building.
The school burned down around 1896 and a one room school, Phoenix, rose from the ashes. The building was later expanded to a two story building. In 1881 this building was used for seventh and eighth grades and for high school. Another wing was added to it at that time for the lower grades.
In 1891, a three story brick building was built where the Wenona City Park shelter presently stands. The first floor was used for the grammer school, the second floor was used for the high school and the attic provided room for the playing of basketball. The grammar school floor consisted of four rooms, two grades sharing one room. The high school had one large assembly room and three class rooms.
By 1896, Abiathar had married a widow, Mary Jane Defenbaugh Walters. He was 66 and she was 63. Mary Jane had had 11 children, but only 8 were alive.
By the June 7, 1900 census, Abiathar, age 70 was only living with Mary Jane, age 67. He was a teamster, but was listed as being born in New York with parents from there as well instead of Vermont. Abiathar said he could read but not write, and that he owned his own house free and clear, and that it was not a farm.
When Frank Hugh Robinson, his son, had spoken of their life, he spoke about a farm and his horse who was in the pasture one Sunday where the bull had entered, and that his horse was threatened and his father wouldn't let him get his horse out because it was a Sunday. Evidently Abiathar had given up the farm for a home in the town.
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| Franks's son, Kenneth Arthur Robinson
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| His last son, Arthur Roy Robinson. |
Mary Jane Robinson died July 5, 1918 in Streator, LaSalle, Illinois.
The family from Oregon had a reunion at Oregon's Coast and Kenneth's sister, Mildred Elizabeth was there as the head matron. Mildred passed away October 7, 2005.
Labels: Abiathar Smith Robinson, census, family, genealogy, Illinois, Marshall, Wenona
Tuesday, October 10, 2017
Robinson Tree Discovers Missing GGGrandparents Through DNA Testing of Y Haplogroup Match
My male cousin, son of my mother's brother had his DNA tested and his Y haplogroup has tested to 67 alleles and more to the point where it is now tagged as R-L21. It had been called R1b1a2a1a1b4. You can see why it was changed to something easier. The dys of the first allele was a 12-something a little rare. Most other R haplogroup people had a 13. There was one man who matched my cousin but his Robinsons were from Maine. That wasn't on any census. As it turns out, they were from New Hampshire before they went into Maine. I thought from other possible lines of Robinsons that we had been in New Hampshire as well. This was New England and New England was full of Robinsons. This genealogy is like trying to find the needle dropped in the haystack. Everyone was a Robinson! It was Reverend John Robinson who sent the Pilgrims on the Mayflower to America! He never made it himself but his son, Isaac came over and fathered a whole flock of Robinsons.
Because of this one man that we have connected to through Family Tree's Y haplogroup test, I had procured his genealogy tree, and tried blindly to connect Abiathar to it without any knowledge. Since then I undid this with ease, using my Old Family Tree Maker software program one now downloads. I had to have my son put it in my computer for me years ago.
1 Samuel Sherbourne Robinson b: January 15, 1810 in Mt. Vernon, Kennebec, Maine d: October 21, 1892 in Mt. Vernon, Kennebec, Maine
1 [1] James ROBINSON b: January 24, 1777 in Deerfield, Rockingham, New Hampshire d: March 26, 1857 in Mt Vernon, Kennebec, Maine
.. +Phebe Sherbourne b: Abt. 1777 in Wakefield, New Hampshire d: in prob. Mt Vernon, Kennebec, Maine
As I look at my evidence in the light of the next 5am morning, I am depending on Abiathar's present sibling, Samuel Sherbourne Robinson, to be an actual sibling. It's a most logical connection, unverified still. Yet we do have this matching DNA on the Y haplogroup that is a rare match and the tree. I still wonder why Abiathar didn't go into Maine or even New Hampshire, and why he went into Canada in those 10 some years in the 60's. Was he ostracized from the family? Did they have a bru-ha-ha like Abiathar had with my grandfather, Frank Hugh Robinson? Did they just lose touch with each other? Questions still remain. How do fathers get separated from their sons?
As it turns out, our Robinsons are not one of Reverend John Robinson who sent the Pilgrims from Holland onto the Mayflower. In this case, their DNA's Y haplogroup is unknown, though an R. Now, my next challenge will be to connect my three female dna matches that I have found through 23&;Me, Family Tree DNA and GedMatch.com. Maybe it will now be easier. I'll be checking out the Meppershall Tree. Whatever, with Abiathar's oral history of his ancestor coming to America not on the Mayflower but the next ship, we know we originated in Massachusetts, and wandered through Connecticut, New Hampshire, Vermont, and now can add Maine to our New England Robinson family. Like grandfather Frank had said, he was A BLUE BLOODED YANKEE!
Notable people from this part of Maine are:
- Joseph W. Allen, state legislator
- Joseph Payne, musician
- John H. Rice, U.S. congressman
- Moses Sherburne, politician and Minnesota Supreme Court Justice Moses G. Sherburne (January 25, 1808 – March 23, 1868) was an American politician and jurist.(Isn't this a derivative of Sherbourne?)Born in Mount Vernon, Kennebec County, Maine, Sherburne studied at the academy in China, Maine. He then studied law and was admitted to the Maine bar in 1831. He practiced law in Phillips, Maine, where he served as postmaster and in the Maine Legislature, and later lived in Franklin County, Maine. Sherburne served in the Maine House of Representatives, in 1842, and then in the Maine State Senate, in 1845, as a Democrat. Sherburne also served as justice of the peace and then as probate judge for Franklin County, Maine. He was also major general for the Maine militia. In 1850, Sherburne served as Maine Bank Commissioner. He then ran for the United States House of Representatives as a Democrat in 1852. He finished in Minnesota.
- John L. Stevens, U.S. diplomat and Republican Party founder
It would help to have several or more claimants of belonging to Reverend John Robinson's line to have the same Y haplogroup as my male cousin. Otherwise, my connecting to people of the same haplogroup looks like the better choice. Y haplogroup has very small mutations over a period of time. It's a way of telling who is on the same branch. Genealogy is showing one thing, yet science is showing another with science's DNA evidence in both. This is one big conundrum for me!
Post Script:
Another look at Peter Robinson on the Reverend John Robinson tree showed an amazing fact! Peter Robinson, son of Peter Robinson, Sr. was born October 25, 1717 in Rehoboth, Bristol, Massachusetts in 1717 but died in Londonderry, Rockingham, New Hampshire!
That's where my searching on this line stopped. I think I've found the connection to both trees, if that's possible. Oh my. Maybe it has helped to write all this out. Halleluhah! I need to find more Robinsons now.
Peter Robinson's brother, already on the tree, is Ebenezer Robinson, Major in the Revolutionary war who had moved from Rehoboth, Bristol, Massachusetts to Roxbury, Delaware, New York. He is the father of Daniel Robinson, Reverend b: 1771 in Carmel, Putnam, New York who died in Kattellville, Broome, Schoharie, New York in 1866. He was the father of Israel Robinson b: 1800 in Roxbury and died in Kattellville in 1867 who was the father of Ebenezer Ganong and most likely, ABIATHAR SMITH ROBINSON (1829).
Peter Robinson 1695-1785 and wife Elizabeth Sabin's 2 sons fathered the 2 different branches. He was born in Rehoboth, Bristol, Massachusetts and died in Barnstable, Massachusetts.
Major Ebenezer was born in 1735 in Rehoboth and he died in Roxbury, Delaware, New York. His wife was Anna Stone.
John was born in 1742 in Rehoboth and he died in Otsego, New York. His wife was Phoebe Clapp. It was his son, Jacob H Robinson born in 1790 in Vermont and died in Bakersfield, Franklin, Vermont that leads to a chromosomal match.
Thus we have the connection between the two trees. Rockingham, New Hampshire shows up in both trees. This is it. Who Abiathar's parents are doesn't really matter. He must be on both lines. DNA has proved that through the Y haplogroup of being R-L21 and also by finding actual chromosome matches of segments from people connected to the John Robinson-Pilgrim line. Whew! Think I'll keep him on the latter line with Ebenezer Ganong as a brother and Israel Robinson as his father. My Jewish bloodline and being a defender of Israel draws me with a smile to this ggggrandfather of mine. My father, Maurice Goldfoot, was a buyer of cattle. He would smile thinking that Israel lived in Kattellville.
Resource: http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~mecreadf/mtvernon.htm
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moses_Sherburne
https://www.wikitree.com/treewidget/Sherburne-22/890
https://www.familysearch.org/search/collection/1877095
http://history.rays-place.com/nh/deerfield-nh.htm
Labels: Abiathar Smith Robinson, Canada, Deerfield, dna, England, genealogy, Illinois, Kennebeck, Maine, Marshall, Meppershall, Mt. Vernon, New Hampshire, Rockingham, Vermont, Wenona
Sunday, April 16, 2017
Civil War Era and Where Was Abiathar Smith Robinson? Found in Wenona, Marshall, Illinois
Nadene Goldfoot
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| GGrandfather Abiathar Smith Robinson with son Frank Hugh Robinson. Frank is sitting on a haystack. |
To be a man of 23 in 1852 was to be an American under our 13th president, Millard Fillmore of New York, a Whig.
We know that Abiathar lived in Tunbridge, Orange, Vermont in 1852 when he married Julia Ann Tuller February 29th there. She was from Royalton Windsor, Vermont next door about 5 miles away. She was on the 1850 census at age 15 in Royalton living with her Tuller family. Not Abiathar. I couldn't find him listed.
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| A grand home in little Wenona, Marshall, Illinois. |
In 1853, after the railroad was completed to LaSalle, the passenger station and freight house were built on the site. The home of G.W. Goodell, the station agent and first postmaster was also built in 1853. The post office was also established the same year. In June of 1854, the first church in the future Wenona, the Presbyterian church was organized. The winter of 1854, William Brown opend the first store.
Wenona was laid off on the 15th of May 1855, by the Illinois Central Railroad company, on one of the altenate sections granted by congress for the construction of the road. The site was on low, wet ground. When the town was laid out in May 1855 it had nine houses and a population of 50. The land was drained and trees were planted and the town began to grow.
By 1856, there were twelve hundred people, three hundred homes, two churches, three schools, a hotel and a sawmill.
The town was incorporated in 1859 by a vote of 28 to 3. The first trustees were Solomon Wise, George Brockway, John B. Newburn, F.H. Bond and Emanuel Weltz.
Coal was discovered in 1865 and for many years a valuable community product. The mine employed an average of 200 men and a nearby zinc smelter employed 50 more.
In 1870, the Chicago and Alton Railroad was completed from Wenona to Lacon. Wenona now had four grain elevators, a stockyard, a brickyard, flour mill, wagon manufacturing store, drygoods store, drug store, grocery store, hardware store, furniture store and implement store. One of Wenona’s early showpieces was the Union Township Fair, organized in 1871, which for a decade rivaled the State Fair.
Joseph Smith, founder of the Mormon Church, was born in Royalton, Windsor, Vermont on December 23, 1805. Abiathar Smith Robinson was religious, but I believe his descendants have been Methodists. I will say he was a severe follower, as nothing was allowed to be done on the Sabbath, causing my grandfather to leave home. Was this the man he was named for as a middle name? I don't think so as Smith was as common as Robinson. It should be on his mother's side of the family.
In Vermont, Westward migration continued in the 1850s. The economy soared during the Civil War with people working in factories and farm girls working in the mills. Women's suffrage grew during the Civil War. Dairies were replacing sheep farming. The first butter creamery was established in 1871. The railroad had been expanding Vermont. Woolens, munitions, machine tools and mining industry expanded with growing knowledge in the industrial revolution.
When my brother and I met our 2nd cousin in Wenona about 8 years ago in 2009, we found one restaurant open on a Sunday and it had the best food I had had, more like home-made. We had hamburgers and soup.
| Abiathar's great grandsons, one from son Frank Hugh on the left, and one from Arthur Roy on the right. Tom showed us around as we drove from Wisconsin. |
Wenona's cemetery was the prettiest spot I've ever seen. They
had a lovely view up there.
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| Frank Hugh Robinson, our grandfather, born in Wenona on June 21, 1870 as the 8th child with unknown, possibly his younger brother, Arthur Roy, number 10 and the last. they were 9 years apart. With that mustache, he looks like he's in his 20s at least. |
| Wenona's men liked to hunt. This was near the Canadian border in the 1880s. Seated left to right: Bayard Washington Wright, Mr Clark?, unknown, Edwin Wright
Great grandmother Julia Ann Robinson nee Tuller was born December 18, 1834. Her 1st child, Edward Rix, was born in about November 1852 when she was 18. Her 10th child was born May 1879, and then she died in 1887 when Arthur was only 8 years old. Frank was 17. He had run away from home at about age 16 or a little younger over an argument with his father over moving his horse out of a field where the bull had entered. It was the Sabbath and his father wouldn't let him do it. You see, teens had their problems in those days, too. We're always butting heads with our elders.
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https://vermonthistory.org/images/stories/articles/timelineera5.pdf
Labels: Civil War, Illinois, Marshall, Robinson, Royalton, Tunbridge, Vermont, Wenona























