Submitted
by Steve Robinson
My John Wesley Robinson was born in either 1812 or
1809!
One census shows his age that would place his birth
in 1809. His tombstone shows October 1, 1812, and
his death on March 9, 1884. His wife, Nancy Copeland
Robinson was born September 29, 1822 and died on July
10, 1867. Both of them are buried in the Lebanon Church
Cemetery in Bradley County Tennessee just south of
Cleveland and north east of Chattanooga along with
one other member of the family, Mary A Robinson born
October 16, 1845 and died October 29, 1906.
I believe the census records to support theory that
this is a daughter, though one of the sons, married
a Mary that could be this same one. This is still
an unknown.
There are two, possibly three other graves that separate
John Wesley's grave from his wife's grave that are
unmarked. These could be (and most likely are) other
Robinson children. It is unknown whether these were
stillborn or some of the children that we are looking
for.
We know
that Robert Alexander Robinson (my paternal ggfather)
is buried in Walker County GA, that John Wesley Robinson
(one of the sons, named for his father, and brother
to Robert Alexander) is buried in Chattooga County
GA and that yet a third son Hiram D. is buried in
Box, Oklahoma Just south of Oklahoma City.
The whereabouts of William and James are unknown to
us as are the other daughters, Caroline, Sarah, Emaline,
Eliza, Elizabeth. Of course, the daughters most probably
married and changed their last names (makes them really
difficult to trace.)
An interesting side note is that Nancy, buried in
1867, John Wesley buried in 1884 and Mary A buried
in 1906, all have identical tombstones. It is extremely
likely that all three of the tombstones were placed
at the same time and the odds are quite good that
this happened when Mary was buried in 1906. The stones
match the style and material that was popular during
that time.
I have a copy of a land grant where the elder John
Wesley Robinson received 80 acres of land in 1841
in Bradley County TN, where I also found him in the
1850, 1860 and 1870 census. There is a Robinson in
the 1840 census as well, but because of the way the
1840 census listed household members, it is impossible
to tell if this is the same one, though the sized
of the county and the low number of Robinsons in Bradley
County would indicate that it probably is. The death
certificates of some of the sons that we have found
show that the father (John Wesley) was born in TN.
Looking at his birth date(s), it would probably not
have been in Bradley County, as it was not a part
of the state of TN until 1836 when the Cherokees signed
it over to the US and it officially became a part
of TN. Could he possibly the son of one of the three
Robinson brother buried in the Steekee cemetery in
Loudon TN? Possibly, but so far, we have not been
able to make the link. I have lots more info, but
this will give you a snapshot that might be helpful.
By the way, the son, Hiram that is buried in OK also
showed up at a census somewhere in TX, though I do
not remember where. I believe that my cousin Fred
has this info. Hiram apparently did not stay there
as he was eventually buried in OK along with his wife
and several of his children. The old man could have
gone there with Hiram at some point, and then either
returned to TN or died in OK and his body brought
back to TN, though the latter is doubtful.
