Those Robinson Girls: Julia Parkhurst Robinson Ward

Preston M Robinson married Sarah N Edmonston,  1847 in Washington county Missouri.  To them were born five daughters – Elizabeth Jane Robinson, Mary Alice Robinson, Martha Thomas Robinson, Julia Parkhurst Robinson, and Joeannah Robinson.  This Blog Series on “Those Robinson Girls” gives a brief account of each daughter.

Julia Parkhurst Robinson, the fourth daughter of Preston McGready Robinson and Sarah Nugent  Edmonston, was born 17 January 1855 and lived out her childhood in Washington county Missouri.  She is my gg-grandaunt.  In 1876, when she was twenty-one years old she married James Paul Ward.  A few years later they are found in the 1880 census of Poplar Bluff in Butler county Missouri.  They added a little son Ivan Ward to their family.  James P Ward is shown as an engineer.  Shortly after the census was taken another son named Joseph Bartlett Ward is born. 

According to Mamie Edmonston's 1948 letter, "They (James and Julia Ward) had two sons, Edward and Ivan.  Ivan, a very handsome young man, was murdered by a drunken miner while they were visiting once at my aunts."  I have not been able to find any evidence of a son Edward Ward.  He is not with his parents in either the 1880 or 1900 census.  Joseph Bartlett Ward lived to about the age of ten, dying in 1891.  He is buried with his parents in St Louis.  I wonder if he might be the "Edward" Ward of Mamie Edmonston's recollection.  The 1900 census shows Julia Ward with one of two children living, and this would be her son Ivan Ward. In the following year Ivan would also be gone.  I know very little about the murder of Ivan Ward.  I have come up with a newpaper clipping to substantiate Mamie Edmonston's comment. 

Warsaw, Mo. - A man giving the name of L. F. Jackson, alias Charles Hicks, was arrested by authorities Saturday about five miles south at the Branstetier Ferry.  He answers the description of James Fatchett, who is wanted for the murder of Ivan Ward, committed at Irondale, Washington County, Mo., and is still at large and  $800.00 is offered for his capture.
[source]  The St. Louis Republic (St Louis Missouri), April 28, 1901

A followup places a James Fatchett in Washington county Missouri about this time and indicates that he died many years later, 1950 in Jefferson county Missouri. In October of 1901 the St Louis Republic announces changes to the Missouri National Guard, indicating "Ivan R Ward, killed by accident."  I would like to learn more about this "murder", a trial, and verdict.  This must have been a tremendous sadness in the life of our Robinson family. 

During these years around the turn of the century, the Wards moved to St Louis where James P Ward is shown as a railroad contractor.  Sometime before 1920, probably at James P Ward's retirement, they returned to Washington county Missouri and settled into the old Robinson family homestead at Irondale.  Julia Robinson Ward died in 1935 and James P Ward died in 1940.  They are buried with their sons in St Matthew Cemetery in St Louis Missouri. 


For more details on Julia Parkhurst Robinson, visit his page at Family Stories, pamgarrett.com.

Photo:   Street scenes showing railroad ticket broker offices on Market Street in St. Louis; about 1903.  record creator - U.S. District Court for the Eastern (St. Louis) Division; housed – NARA Central Plains Region (Kansas City); available through wikimedia commons.

Those Robinson Girls: Martha Robinson Thompson

Preston M Robinson married Sarah N Edmonston,  1847 in Washington county Missouri.  To them were born five daughters – Elizabeth Jane Robinson, Mary Alice Robinson, Martha Thomas Robinson, Julia Parkhurst Robinson, and Joeannah Robinson.  This Blog Series on “Those Robinson Girls” gives a brief account of each daughter.

Martha Thomas Robinson was born on the 13th of November 1852 in Washington county Missouri.  She was the third daughter of Preston McGready Robinson and Sarah Nugent Edmondston, and my gg-grandaunt.  Just before her 20th birthday, in 1872, she was married to Newton Jasper Thompson, and they settled near their parents in Concord township, Washington county Missouri.  Their farm was probably outside of the town of Irondale, and they appear in Concord township in the 1900, 1910 and 1920 census. 

Newton Thompson and Martha Robinson were the parents of nine children, including a set of twins.  Six or seven of their sons, and one daughter, lived to adulthood.  The children probably attended local schools in Irondale and participated in the family farming operations. 

Newton Thompson and his wife Martha both survived into their seventies, Newton dying in 1921 and Martha in 1929.  They are buried with many extended family members in Hopewell Cemetery in Washington county Missouri.

Identified children of  Newton Thompson and Martha Robinson:
Robert  Preston Thompson;  married Lora Ellen Morehouse; resided in Washington county Missouri; he died young of tuberculosis.
Edwin Thompson (twin); married Bessie Emerson; resided St Louis and Emeryville, Alameda county California.
Richard Albert Thompson (twin); married Maude Martindale; eventually settled in St Louis. 
Joseph G Thompson; married Marie Hoeffner; member of the St Louis Fire Department; died in line of duty 1915. 
Arthur Ivan “Pat” Thompson; married Ella Lowe; Methodist pastor; died 1961 in Breton, Washington county Missouri.   
Sarah Julia Thompson; married William Philip Carlyon and lived in Washington county Missouri.
Grover Cleveland Thompson; married Loretta; resided Berkeley, Alameda county California. 
Henry Thompson; may have lived in St Louis; nothing further known.


For more details on Martha Thomas Robinson, visit her page at Family Stories, pamgarrett.com.

Photo:   Hopewell Cemetery,  Washington county Missouri; Wikimedia commons, submitted by Txnerd.

Preston McGready Robinson, Washington County Missouri

Preston McGready Robinson, son of Archibald Robinson and Jane VanLear, was born on a farm near Caledonia, Washington county Missouri on 8 July 1820.  His older siblings were John Robinson and Sarah Robinson who came with their parents to Caledonia the very year Preston Robinson was born.  Later three more daughters, Mary Robinson, Jane Robinson and Elizabeth Robinson, were born to Archibald Robinson and Jane VanLear. 

The Robinson’s migration followed a few years after a group of mostly Scots – Irish families left Kentucky to settle the Bellevue Valley of Missouri and establish the little town of Caledonia.  The first lots were auctioned in Caledonia in 1819.  It isn’t clear whether the Robinsons set up housekeeping in the new town, or on a farm outside of town.  But, they must have played a role in the growth of a brand new community.  Today Caledonia is a small village in Washington county Missouri, but it is noted for its Nineteenth century charm, with thirty-three homes and buildings on the National Historic Register. 

Preston McGready Robinson, was married on 2 November 1847 in Washington county Missouri to Sarah Nugent Edmonston, daughter of William Edmonston and Elizabeth Royse of adjoining Reynolds county Missouri.  She was born 12 November 1831 in McComb, Illinois.  Preston was twenty-six years old and Sarah sixteen!  They were married by John Thomas, preacher of the Methodist Episcopal Church.  The witnesses to their marriage included Sarah’s brother, John Edmons(t)on, and Preston’s sister, Elizabeth Robinson. 

The 1850 Census of Washington county Missouri, Belleview township, page 109, consecutively lists three young families – Richard and Elizabeth (Robinson) Terrill, Preston and Sarah Robinson, and Samuel and Jane (Robinson) Reyburn.  The father of these siblings, Archibald Robinson, is also in Belleview township, on page 117.  It would be interesting to know the location of this "family" homestead. 

Minimal record searching does not yet tell us much about what Preston Robinson did for a living, but in census records he is shown as farmer and planter.  The few deeds I have read show him selling parcels of land, probably inherited from his father Archibald Robinson, though there are some buying and selling transactions he may have initiated himself. 

Preston Robinson and Sarah Edmondston were the parents of five daughters.  Birthdates and marriage information were found on a hand-written record in some Robinson – Edmonston family papers: 
Elizabeth Jane Robinson;  born  11 Jan 1848; married Richard Albert Clarkson on 3 Sept 1868
Mary A Robinson; born  11 Dec 1850; married Robert Beebe on 24 Feb 1874
Martha Thomas Robinson; born 13 Nov 1852; married Newton Jasper Thompson on 3 Sep 1872
Julia Parkhurst Robinson; born 17 Jan  1855; married James P Ward on 12 July 1876
Joanna Robinson; born 24 Oct 1862; married Ezra Elmo Mason on 8 Jan  1878

Probably Sarah Edmondston Robinson was responsible for the education received by these five daughters.  Eldest daughter Elizabeth Jane Robinson was obviously intelligent, and a good business-woman in her later years. 

Southeast Missouri was not a major player in the action of the Civil War, but it did see both Union and Confederate troops moving through.  There was probably more fear stirred, and more property damaged by the Northern Jayhawkers and Southern Bushwhackers, local outlaws with personal grudges.  In 1864, Confederate General Sterling Price drove his men across Missouri in an event known as Price’s Raid.  The Battle of Pilot Knob occurred on 27 September 1864, when Price’s 12,000 troops faced a small garrison at Fort Davidson.  If our Robinson family was “at home”, they may have been aroused by this battle in the neighborhood. 

One final postscript to the seemingly admirable life of Preston McGready Robinson is a 1902 letter written by Richard Albert Clarkson, Preston Robinson's son-in-law, to his cousin Richard Mundie, which says:

Mr. Robinson, my wife's father has a tumor on his hand which they fear is a cancer.  The poor man cannot live much longer and the unfortunate part of it all is he is unprepared as we fear, for death.  The drink habit fastened itself upon him years ago and it has sapped his manhood.  Poor fellow, how I pity him.   

Preston Robinson died on 1 July 1903, at the age of eighty-three, and is buried in Hopewell Cemetery at Irondale in Washington county Missouri.  His obituary tell us, “About two months ago, he accepted Christ as his Saviour, and gave every evidence of being ready and waiting, simply trusting and with patience he calmly awaited the summons 'come up higher’. “ It credits him with twenty-six grandchildren and eight great-grandchildren.

For more details on Preston McGready Robinson, visit his page at Family Stories, pamgarrett.com.


More Reading:
There is an article available on the internet, written by Thomas Flanders, published in the Spring 1992 issue of Ozarks Watch, and titled Kith and Kin of Caledonia.  It doesn’t include any mention of our Robinson family, but it gives a nice flavor to the community in which they lived. 

History of Caledonia Missouri, by Muriel Akers   

History of Irondale [Missouri], by Joy Scott

Photo:  Tombstone of Preston McGready Robinson and his wife Sarah Nugent Edmonston Robinson in Hopewell Cemetery, Irondale, Washington county Missouri.  Photo courtesy of Esther Ziock Carroll, at carrollscorner.net.  This is a fabulous website for learning more about Washington county Missouri!

Moving back in time:  Albert Luther Clarkson 1901 > Samuel Edwin Clarkson 1875 > Elizabeth Jane Robinson 1848 > Preston McGready Robinson  1820.