William Robinson
1870

William Robinson is not the progenitor of this branch of American mountain Robinsons; rather, he's just another Robinson man born into an already long line of Scots-Irish frontiersmen, with the ubiquitous bit of native American Indian blood thrown in for good measure. William was born in 1870 and would grow up and marry a local from the Blue Ridge Mountain area, a Scots-Irish/Irish girl named Arminta McDonald. Together William and Arminta would have seven children. In no particular order, these children were: Henrietta Frances Robinson, Elizabeth Robinson, Alma Robinson, Claire (Clara) Robinson, Shelby Robinson, Burnum Robinson, and another male child, name unknown.

For William Robinson of 1870, life was not always comfortable. One particular story told by his daughter and passed down through the generations recounts a regular occurrence in winter months, when William, the Ice Man, would arrive home after logging. Completely covered in a thick layer of ice, from head to toe, William's wife and children would quickly wrestle off his frozen clothing. The clothes would then be propped vertical against a wall until they melted into a heap on the floor. Each day as the logging went on and the mountain rivers refused to freeze in the Kentucky winters, the Robinson family greedily welcomed home The Ice Man of Appalachia and waited for him to thaw out. On February 12, 1925, William Robinson succumbed to a fatal case of pneumonia and died at the age of 55. He left behind a widow and all seven of his children.

Many facts about William's immediate offspring are known. His children remained extremely close as adults. One son died in an accident which also took his wife's life; their many children were adopted by the remaining siblings who had the space and money to care for them. A few never made it into family homes and were adopted out through orphanages. Daughter Claire (Clara) died young as well, in her mid-twenties. She never married. There is talk that a girl child, Nell, was her illegitimate daughter. Nell would grow up and marry a man named C.S. Doty and move to Florida. Two other Robinson sisters would join her and move to Florida as well: Elizabeth who married Edward Witt and Alma who married Carleton Fetters.

The sons of William and Arminta Robinson would also move out of Kentucky as adults. Burnum Robinson reportedly moved to Indiana. Another son, Shelby who died young as well, moved to places unknown, though records have his widow and daughter Sheila living in both Ohio and Florida.

Henrietta Francis Robinson was the only Robinson offspring to remain in Appalachia where her family had lived for generations. She would eventually marry into another Scots-Irish Kentucky family, the Kinninghams. Widowed early, she would never remarry. Instead, she raised her two young children on her own, operating a small store and farm in DeWitt, Stinking Creek, Kentucky. To this day, her daughter Lonita still reminisces about the gorgeous pickled bologna from her mother's old store. (Yeah, I know. Slightly ew sounding.)

In case you are interested in these particular Robinsons, or the places mentioned, I have inherited many photos passed down through Arminta McDonald-Robinson. Added to that small collection is a rather larger one from Henrietta Francis Robinson. If you would like a photo of someone in particular, including some of the Florida, Ohio, or Kentucky descendants, I'd be more than happy to sort through the ones I have, and see if I can help.