From:   Robbinsfamilysouthjersey@yahoogroups.com on behalf of turkeypt2 [july37@cox.net]
Sent:   Wednesday, August 16, 2006 6:21 PM
To: Robbinsfamilysouthjersey@yahoogroups.com
Subject:    [Robbinsfamilysouthjersey] Richard Robins b. ca 1710 NC

In an attempt to document the descendants of Daniel & Hope & their
suspected descendants, does anyone know what the source or theory is
for the statement on the Robbins Surname DNA Project, "Richard Robbins
born c 1710 (likely earlier) Rowan/Randolph Co., N.C.?" What indicates
he was born before 1710? Is this man thought to be the "unborn child"
that 4-Joseph Robins refers to in his will written 10 May 1709?

                             Sara



From:   Robbinsfamilysouthjersey@yahoogroups.com on behalf of John German [german@jarman.net]
Sent:   Wednesday, August 16, 2006 10:34 PM
To: Robbinsfamilysouthjersey@yahoogroups.com
Subject:    Re: [Robbinsfamilysouthjersey] Richard Robins b. ca 1710 NC

turkeypt2 wrote:
> In an attempt to document the descendants of Daniel & Hope & their
> suspected descendants, does anyone know what the source or theory is
> for the statement on the Robbins Surname DNA Project, "Richard Robbins
> born c 1710 (likely earlier) Rowan/Randolph Co., N.C.?" What indicates
> he was born before 1710? Is this man thought to be the "unborn child"
> that 4-Joseph Robins refers to in his will written 10 May 1709?

   It is indeed so very tempting to conclude that Richard Robins of NC
is the posthumous child of Joseph Robins (d 1709). But not enough is
really known about Richard to make that leap of faith.
   The only record I have of him in Virginia is a 1745 suit against him
by one of the neighbors of Joseph Robins Jr.  The next records I have
found are the 1751 and 1752 tax lists of the Dan River Dist. in what was
then Granville Co., NC (before that county had a western border).
Richard paid poll tax for himself as well as for Isaac and Jacob Robins.
  A similar Rowan Co tax list in 1761 shows Richard paid the poll tax
for Michael Robbins. Since pole tax was assessed on males when they
reached age 16, these records are interpreted as documentation of three
of Richard's sons. A biography of Michael's grandson, Colonel Jephthah
Robins of Itawamba Co., Mississippi, claims that Michael was one of a
family of 8 boys and 4 girls. A Richard Jr seems likely to have been
another son of Richard. The remaining are still unidentified.
   The sons of Joseph Jr viz William, Joseph, and John, appear to have
lived on Caraway Creek in western Randolph Co., NC.  Richard seems to
have lived on the upper end of that stream in the northwest part of the
county. To the east on Polecat Creek are found John Nation (husband of
Joseph Jr's sister Bethia Robins) as well as another William Robins who
married John Nation's daughter Frances Nation - this William Robins
oldest son was born by 1752. John Nation had a daughter also named
Bethia who was married to an unidentified Robins at the writing of John
Nation's will about 1771. In 1759, John Nation obtained land that had
been entered by an Elisha Robbins in 1753.
   So to summarize a bit: For Richard we have two identified sons, Isaac
and Jacob, who were born by 1735; their being sons to a father born in
1710 seems reasonable - presuming they were the oldest sons. However, I
would estimate William and Elisha Robins of Polecat Creek were born in
the mid to late 1720s (although I have no evidence to rule out Elisha as
an older man). 1710 seems late for a birth date to be a paternal
grandfather by 1752. Actually, I have no evidence to show Richard was
the father of any Robbins on Polecat Creek, but if Richard was not their
father, then who was???  Even if Richard could be proven the posthumous
son of Joseph Robins, I'm afraid we still would not have a tidy answer
to the ancestry of the Robins families of Randolph Co.

And Rutherford Co., NC, too!