SKETCH XCIII

THE ROBINSON FAMILY OF TOWNSEND

Somewhere about the year 1772 a young Englishman named Cuthbert Robinson, and his wife Hannah, left their native parish in old Yorkshire, England, and came to the New World to participate in the marvellous advantages which, at that time, prevailed for the acquisition of homes and the accumulation of wealth. They settled in the Province of New Jersey, and remained loyal to the king during the war of the Revolution which followed so soon after their settlement. William and George, the pioneer heads of the two branches of the Robinson family of Townsend, were born in the New Jersey home—the former in the year the colonies threw off their allegiance to the British crown. These sons inherited their father’s love for the Old flag, and although they remained twenty-two years in their native province after the signing of the treaty of peace which made it a State of the new Republic, their preference for British institutions suffered no change. In 1805 Cuthbert Robinson and his sons, who were married and had families of their own, gave effect to their political preferences by emigrating to Upper Canada. They left New Jersey early in the spring. Going up the Hudson River as far as Albany they entered the Mohawk valley and came by way of Utica, crossing the Niagara river at Black Rock. They came direct to Townsend, where Job Slaght and his brother John had previously settled.[1]

Captain William Robinson, eldest son of Cuthbert, was born in New Jersey in 1776.[2] He married Sarah, daughter of Hendrick Slacht, of New Jersey, and, at the time of his settlement on Lots 4, 5 and 6, 7th concession of Townsend, had three children.[3] Cuthbert Robinson lived with the family of his son William. He died in 1829, in his 86th year.

Captain Wm. Robinson was a sturdy pioneer. He was industrious and persevering, and when the war of 1812 broke out he had effected a large clearing on his land, and was fairly started on the highway to prosperity. He laid aside the implements of peaceful industry and took up arms in defence of his adopted country, serving as Captain in the Norfolk militia. His busy life closed prematurely, in 1829, being only fifty-three years old; and his wife Sarah followed him in 1840, in her 67th year. He had five sons—Richard, William, Thomas, George and John; and four daughters—Hannah, Sarah, Mary and Eliza.

Richard, eldest son of Captain William, was born in New Jersey in 1797, and was eight years old when his father settled in the wilderness on Nanticoke Creek. His boyhood days were spent in the woods of old Townsend during the log cabin era. They were days of incessant toil and few privileges. Although but fifteen years old when the war broke out, he enlisted at Waterford and served until its close. His son Hiram, of Waterford, is in possession of the old musket his father carried during his war service. He visited the old New Jersey home after the war, making the journey both ways on foot. He married Anna, daughter of Henry Yerks, and settled on Lot 3, 7th concession of Windham, where he hewed out a home for himself in the face of many painful difficulties. In 1829 he undertook the task of carving another home out of the forest in the 2nd and 3rd concessions of Townsend. Some of the finest white pine and hard maple timber in the virgin forests of Norfolk grew on these lots, and in the work of clearing, trees were felled and burned which would, if standing to-day, command fabulous prices. Methods of sugar making, thrashing and cleaning grain, and farming operations generally, were crude in those days, but patient industry and unflinching perseverance overcame all difficulties and placed him on the list of Townsend’s solid yeomanry. In 1836 his wife died, and in the following year he married Mrs. Nancy Firman, of Bloomsburg. He died in 1873, in his 76th year, being survived by his second wife nearly twelve years. There was no issue by the second marriage. He had four sons—William, James, Elias and Hiram; and seven daughters—Eliza, Maria, Sarah Ann, Hannah, Getty, Rebecca and Elizabeth.

Of this large family, William, who was born in 1818, married Marilla Murray, of Townsend, and is living at present on the old homestead. He has reached his 80th year, and yet he is the great-grandson of Cuthbert Robinson, the Norfolk grand ancestor of the family. James married Bridget, daughter of the late John O’Donnell, of Delhi, and settled in what is known as Egypt, in Windham. He was one of the pioneers in that section of the township. On one occasion, during his earlier experiences, his Townsend friends asked him to get up a “paring bee,” but “Jimmy” had no apples and he couldn’t see how it would be possible for him to have a “paring bee.” He was ordered to provide the refreshments and the guests would attend to the other matters. The party brought a plentiful supply from the Townsend orchards, and “Jimmy’s paring bee” was long remembered as a leading event in “the land of Egypt.”

On one occasion Jimmy went to Fredericksburg (Delhi) with his ox team for a coffin. He was detained until late in the night, and it was so dark he could not see his hand before him. Seated upon the coffin he shuddered at the blood-curdling howls of the wolves as his faithful cattle wended their way among the stumps that dotted the forest-lined roadway; and in the lonely cabin-home a young wife sat trembling at the horrid echoes that resounded through the forest, and fearful lest the coming of the morrow’s dawn would reveal the awful fact that her husband had met with some terrible mishap.

When Jimmy and his bride settled in Egypt they had no clock, and on one occasion this deprivation was the cause of two suppers being eaten in one night. They had resolved to visit the old folks in Townsend, and purposed getting an early start. They arose in the morning, as they supposed, prepared and ate their breakfast and they waited for the break of day. Becoming weary of waiting they again retired to bed, and, after what seemed another night’s sleep, they arose a second time and ate what proved to be a breakfast. Whether the intervening meal was a second supper or a first breakfast they were never able to discover. In 1848 he left Egypt and settled on Lot 1, 2nd concession of Townsend. On this farm was a ridge covered with second-growth timber, and it has always been supposed that some refugee had cleared off the original forest at some time ante-dating the first known settlements in the county. James resides at present on Lot 6, 4th concession, and has reached his 79th year. Elias married Frances Bailey, and settled on part of the homestead. He died in 1867, in his 42nd year. Hiram married Abigail, daughter of Samuel Lundy, and settled in Townsend. He is living at present in Waterford, having reached his 66th year. Eliza married Jacob Cole, and settled, finally, in Walsingham, where Mr. Cole died. She is living in Lynedoch, and has reached her 76th year. Maria married James Coe, settled in Townsend, and died in 1847, in her 25th year. Hannah married Oliver Slaght, and settled in Townsend. Both are dead, she having died in 1851, in her 24th year. Getty married Geo. Kent, of Delhi. Both are dead, she having died in 1856, in her 28th year. Rebecca married Oscar Wilson, and settled in Walsingham. She is a widow in her 67th year. Elizabeth married William Cole, and settled finally in Michigan. She is a widow, and has reached her 63rd year.

William, second son of Captain William, was born in New Jersey in 1799, and was six years old when the family left New Jersey. He married Susan, daughter of Sherman Hyde, and settled, finally, on Lot 11, 7th concession of Townsend, where he died in 1879, in his 81st year. His wife died in 1890, in her 82nd year. He had three sons—John, Sherman and Walter; and six daughters—Sarah, Clarinda, Lucinda, Esther, Louisa and Lizana. Of this family, John, who was born in 1826, married Mary, daughter of William Parney, and settled in Townsend. He was a Justice of the Peace and a deacon in the Baptist church. In 1870 he settled near Delhi. In 1884 his wife died in her 56th year, and, subsequently, he married Mrs. John Shaver. He died in Waterford in 1894, having reached his 68th year. Sherman settled in Walsingham, where he died. Walter married Larinda Smith in 1862, and settled on the homestead. He has in is possession the old flint-lock musket brought from Yorkshire by his great-grandfather a hundred and twenty-seven years ago.

Hannah, eldest daughter of Captain William, was born in New Jersey in 1801, and was four years old when the family came to Canada. She married James Walker, of Woodhouse. Her children are enumerated in the Walker genealogy.

Thomas, third son of Captain William, was born in New Jersey in 1804, and was the baby when the family settled in Townsend. He married Amelia Vasbinder, and settled in Oakland. Subsequently he moved to Goshen, and from there to Tilsonburg, where he died in 1858, in his 54th year. His two sons settled in Michigan, and his only daughter married John Havens, of Otterville.

George, fourth son of Captain William, was the first-born child after the settlement in Townsend. He married Mary Ann Holmes, and succeeded to the old homestead. His wife died in 1848, in her 36th year, and subsequently he married Caroline Holmes. He had several children by each wife. He died in his 54th year, in 1861, and after his death the old Robinson homestead passed into strangers’ hands. His second wife lives with her son Ezra, at Oil Springs, Ontario.

Mary, third daughter of Captain William, was born in 1812, and married William, son of William Smith, of Charlotteville. Her children are enumerated in the Smith genealogy. She died in 1867, in her 56th year.

George Robinson, second son of the original Cuthbert, was born and married in New Jersey. He settled on Lot 16, 5th concession of Townsend, and died in 1858, in his 86th year. He had three sons—Thomas, William and Martin; and three daughters—Martha, Rebecca and Sarah. The two eldest sons settled and died in Windham, and the youngest died in Townsend. Martha married Abram Barber, and Rebecca married John Barber, both of Townsend. Sarah married Barzillia Beal and settled in Townsend.[4]

[1] Cuthbert Robinson apparently also brought a daughter Patience to Norfolk County. She married Job Slaght, a son of this mentioned Job Slaght and was buried beside her husband in Greenwood Cemetery, Waterford.

[2] Owen mentions later in this Sketch that William’s brother George Robinson died in 1858 in this 86th year, making George the older son.

[3] Sarah (Slaght) Robinson, born c. 1774 was not a daughter of Hendrick Slaght who was born in 1704. She was a daughter of Richard Slaght who brought his family from Hardiston, Sussex County, New Jersey to Townsend Township in 1801. Richard was a son of Hendrick Slaght. In the course of this Sketch, Owen actually shows four children born to William and Sarah (Slaght) Robinson in New Jersey, not three.

[4] Sarah M. C. Robinson married Peter Beal, son of Barzillai Beal. She was buried beside her husband in Boston Baptist Church Cemetery. This was Peter’s second marriage, his first being to Elizabeth (Fairchild) Corlis.