In my previous post, I shared why I believe that Thomas Robinson and Jane King are not the parents of the Robinson siblings who are connected to the Gibson family in New Brunswick. This leaves the question just who is the parents of:
Perhaps the first question we should ask is are these 4 Robinsons really siblings? I believe they are for many reasons however the only documents I have that link these families together specifically are their obituaries.
Christopher Robinson was the first of this known group to die in 1895. There are 2 obituaries found for him on the New Brunswick Archives in their vital records from newspapers database.
Daniel F. Johnson : Volume 96 Number 1156
Date September 25 1895
County York
Place Fredericton
Newspaper New Brunswick Reporter and Fredericton Advertiser
Christopher ROBINSON died Monday morn. at the residence of his son-in-law, Henry BLAIR, Brunswick Street, Fredericton. Mrs. Alex. GIBSON of Marysville is a sister of the deceased and Thos. ROBINSON of Blackville (North. Co.) is a brother.
Daniel F. Johnson : Volume 96 Number 2234
Date September 23 1895
County York
Place Fredericton
Newspaper The Gleaner
Christopher ROBINSON, an old and respected resident of this city, died this morn. at the residence of his son-in-law, Henry BLAIR, who lives on Brunswick Street. He had been ailing for some time, but had been confined to bed for a week only. Mrs. Alexander GIBSON of Marysville is a sister of the deceased. Thomas ROBINSON, manager of the Blackville mill is a brother. A daughter and one son survive him. The former is Mrs. Henry Blair of this city and the latter is named Howard ROBINSON and lives at Marysville. The funeral will take place at 2 o'clock tomorrow afternoon from his daughter's residence on Brunswick Street to the Marysville Cemetery. Rev. W.W. Lodge of Marysville and Rev. G.B. Payson of this city will conduct the services. The arrangements will be in charge of undertaker John G. Adams.
Both of these obituaries state that Thomas Robinson who was the manager of Blackville mill was his brother and that Mrs. Alexander Gibson (Mary Ann Robinson) was his sister.
I haven't yet received the obituary for Thomas Robinson and Mary Ann Gibson nee Robinson so I can't comment on that yet. I do have the obituary for John Robinson.
Death at Marysville
The death occurred last night at the home of Mr. A. G. Robinson, of John Robinson. 80 years of age. The deceased was the brother of the late Mrs. Alex Gibson and has been a resident of Marysville for a great many years where he is well and favorably known.
19 Oct. 1910 The Daily Gleaner pg. 12
John's obituary clearly lists him as the brother of the late Mrs. Alex Gibson who is Mary Ann Robinson. So with the obituaries we can tell that Christopher, Thomas, John and Mary Ann are siblings. The A. G. Robinson mentioned in John Robinson’s obit. is Alexander Gibson Robinson, John’s son named after his brother in law.
So when I started looking over all of the records I've been able to gather on this Robinson family group, this time knowing that Thomas Robinson and Jane King are not their parents I noticed something interesting.
In the 1851 census Christopher Robinson and his wife Caroline are living close to Alexander Gibson and his wife Mary Ann Robinson. Staying with Christopher's family are 3 children with a different last name. I do wish that the census at that time listed the relationship between people in the home!
These children are:
I've wondered for a long time who these children are and I think they are the key to solving the Robinson group. Why? Well because that surname Whisker was stuck in my head. Some years ago I had found another burial that listed Robinson's and Whiskers together.
Looking in the cemetery database on the New Brunswick Archives we find a Thomas Robinson who died 2 March 1851 age 66.
It lists him as the husband of Jane and a native of Ireland.
Jane's record:
Jane Robinson died 1 August 1841 age 54 years wife of Thomas.
In the same grave is a James Robinson died 14 February 1833 age 13. Also a Elizabeth Robinson Whiaker died 6 April 1846 age 40, wife of Hambleton Whiaker.
They are listed as buried in the Old Loyalist Burial Ground in St. Stephens, Charlotte County, NB. I looked up the St. Stephen, Charlotte County GenWeb page and found a transcript of the cemetery. It's lists that Elizabeth Robinson Whiaker was buried in plot 11a along with young James Robinson. Thomas Robinson and wife Jane were in plot 11b and there was a photo of that gravestone.
Still since there wasn't one for Elizabeth's grave I tried looking at Find A Grave and I'm glad that I did. You can clearly see on Elizabeth's gravestone that her married name was WHISKER not Whiaker. Also although they are in 2 plots all are recorded on the same gravestone.
Transcriptions are a wonderful help but it's always best to try and find an original source!
My next clue is when Mary Ann Robinson married Alexander Gibson on the 21 December 1843 one of the marriage witnesses was a Hamilton Whisker.
Marriage Record
Alexander Gibson of the parish of St. David yeoman & Mary Ann Robinson of St. James parish were married in this parish by licence with consent of parents this thirty first day of December 1843. By me Shiffton Thomas L LD Rector. This marriage was solemnized between us Alexandor Gibson, Mary Ann Robinson In presence of us John Gummer, Hamilton Whisker.
I believe that this Hamilton Whisker is the same Hambleton Whisker listed as the husband of Elizabeth Robinson who died in 1846.
I've been working at trying to trace the Whisker children and so far only had some luck with the son James Whisker who often used the surname spelling Wisker but that's for another post.
Right now it looks to me that the parents of this Robinson group is this Thomas Robinson and Jane (surname unknown). If this is correct then the family looks like this.
Thomas Robinson born about 1789 in Ireland married Jane. Thomas died 2 March 1851 in Charlotte County, NB. Jane was born about 1787 in Ireland and died 1 August 1841 in Charlotte County, NB.
Their children:
There are still questions to be figured out on this family group.
Is Elizabeth a daughter of Thomas and Jane or a younger sibling of Thomas? If her age on the gravestone is correct she was born in 1806 and it'still very possible that she is their daughter. However there is a large gap in dates between her birth year for 1806 and the next child James in 1820. So if she is their older daughter then we are likley missing some children in between these years. Did they die in Ireland? Perhaps they are some of the many Robinson's in Charlotte County I haven't been able to fit together yet.
I've been trying to find a marriage for Elizabeth Robinson and Hamilton Whisker without luck so far. Also after her death, I can find no record of him anywhere. It's possible that he died also but it's not recorded in a NB cemetery. Some of the records for the son James Whisker/Wisker say that he was born in the USA. It's possible more information could be in Calais, Maine since it's right beside St. Stephen, NB many people went back and forth often. I've had a hard time finding records for that town.
I would like to see if there was a will made by Thomas Robinson that might give more clues for this family group as well.
Are you related to this family or have information about them? I'd love to hear from you!
Sources:
FamilySearch, "New Brunswick Provincial Marriages 1789-1950," database, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/search/collection/1824707: downloaded 20 December 2015), Alexander Gibson & Mary Ann Robinson, 31 Dec. 1843, St. James, Charlotte County; citing Provincial Archives of New Brunswick, Fredericton; FHL microfilm 845,795.
Ancestry.com, 1851 Census of Canada East, Canada West, New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia (Online publication - Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2006.Original data - Census of 1851 (Canada East, Canada West, New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia). Library and Archives Canada, Ottawa, Canada.Census of Nova Scotia, 1851. Halifax, Nova Scotia,), Christopher Robinson, household, Image 12, St Stephen, Charlotte County, New Brunswick. Schedule: I, roll C_995, Page 22, Line: 20.
"Daniel F Johnson's New Brunswick Newspaper Vital Statistics," database, New Brunswick Archives, The Provincial Archives of New Brunswick (http://archives.gnb.ca: accessed 23 September 2011), Christopher Robinson, death notice, 25 Sep 1895; citing Daniel F Johnson.
"Daniel F Johnson's New Brunswick Newspaper Vital Statistics," database, New Brunswick Archives, The Provincial Archives of New Brunswick (http://archives.gnb.ca: accessed 23 September 2011), Christopher Robinson, obit, 23 Sep 1895; citing Daniel F Johnson.
John Robinson, death certificate no. 3288 (19 October 1910), Vital Statistics from Government Records, New Brunswick Archives, 23 Dineen Drive, Fredericton, New Brunswick E3B 5H1 Canada.
New Brunswick Archives, "New Brunswick Cemeteries," database, Provincial Archives of New Brunswick (http://archives.gnb.ca : accessed 20 December 2015), Thomas Robinson, died 1851-Mar-02, Old Loyalist Burial Ground St Stephen, Charlotte County.
Labels: genealogy, Gibson, New Brunswick, Robinson