My Genealogy Hound

JAMES F. ROBINSON. Among the many men in the Buckeye State engaged in wool-growing, the gentleman above-named is numbered as one who has won success in that enterprise his stock being of the Merino breed. He also carries on general farming, owning a valuable piece of property two and a half miles east of Jamestown, Greene County, it being a portion of the Alexander Bell survey No. 1092. The estate comprises two hundred and six acres, is marked with a full line of first class improvements, and well stocked. Mr. Robinson came to Silver Creek Township in 1873 and has since made this farm his home.

The ancestors of our subject were Scotch-Irish, his grandparents, William and Hannah (Horney) Robinson, having been natives of South Carolina, where they grew to maturity and were probably married. For some years they made their home in Virginia, where several children were born to them, among them being Singleton, the father of our subject. He opened his eyes to the light in 1811, being but a little lad when the family came to Ohio, settling on the present site of Dayton, when that city was a small hamlet. Grandfather Robinson hauled the first load of stone which was used for a foundation there. A few years afterward he sold out his interest there, not expecting the place to become a city, removing to what is now Jeffersonville, Fayette County, where he was one of the first settlers. That section was then heavily timbered and he began in the woods to clear and cultivate a farm. There was neither market nor mill within thirty-five miles and the way to their home was marked by blazed trees. Here a start was made and by severe exertions a fine farm was built up, William Robinson living to see the country well improved, cultivated fields and flourishing towns taking the place of the unbroken wilderness to which he had come. He was a famous hunter in his day having more than local repute, particularly as a fox hunter, although he killed a great deal of game of various kinds. He always kept a number of hounds. He lived to be ninety-four years of age, dying in 1878 and being in apparently perfect health until the moment when the breath left his body. His wife also lived to an advanced age, passing her eighty-eighth birthday but dying a few years before her husband. They were noble specimens of humanity, useful and respected in their day and generation, and left behind them a memory which will be lovingly cherished by their descendants. Both were members of the Christian Church, and Mr. Robinson was a Democrat.

Singleton Robinson was the eldest of his father’s large family, and coming to Ohio when quite small grew to manhood in Fayette County amid the surroundings of pioneer life in which he developed the habits which made of him one of the most substantial citizens of that county. He married Miss Anna James, who was born in Fayette County, being the daughter of old settlers who died near Jeffersonville before they had become aged. The young couple settled on a farm a few miles from the village and there Mr. Robinson is yet living, active and intelligent, although he is now seventy-nine years old. He has been very successful as a sheep-grower and farmer. He is a member of the Christian Church, to which his wife also belonged. She died in 1854, while still in the prime of life. Their family comprises four sons and two daughters, the subject of this sketch being the second born.

The natal day of J. F. Robinson was April 16, 1838, and his birthplace the homestead in Fayette County upon which his father is yet living. His early life was passed there and while young in years he became acquainted with the details of farm life which he adopted as his calling. Up to the time he became a resident of Greene County he had lived near his birthplace, not being one of those who can be likened to a “rolling stone,” but rather manifesting an attachment to the location which prevented his making a change except under very favorable auspices.

In Miss Anna Moorman, who was born in Silver Creek Township, Greene County. May 5, 1843, Mr. Robinson found the qualities which he thought most desirable in a life companion and with her he was united in marriage. She is a daughter of Reuben and Susan (Sharp) Moorman, natives of this State, her father having been born in Greene and her mother in Brown County. The Moorman family were from Virginia and the Sharp family from New Jersey and Pennsylvania and are numbered among the early settlers of this State to which they came soon after the present century began, becoming well known, particularly in this county. Mr. Moorman died in 1871 in middle age, having been born in 1818. His widow passed away in 1884 at the age of sixty-three years. Both were in their last days members of the Friends’ Church.

Their family consisted of two sons and two daughters, one of them being now deceased. Mrs. Robinson is the eldest and was reared in the township which has ever been her home. She is the mother of eight children, two of whom, Anna L. and Blanche, died young. The living members of the family are Frank O., Della M., Charles A., Reuben W., Bertha S., and Mary E., all of whom are yet at home.

Mr. Robinson concurs in the principles of the Democratic party, which he therefore supports on all occasions. He is now serving as Trustee of his Township. Both he and his wife belong to the Friends’ Church of Jamestown, and possess the traits of character which win the respect of their fellow-citizens and make their lives useful.