George B. ROBESON

• General Notes
  • b. IN, f/m b. KY/(KY)
    
    biography:
    "George B. Robeson [...] was born in 1863 on the farm in which he still makes his home and on which he has resided all his life.  He first saw the light of day in the old stone house on the paternal farm, which now is occupied by his son.  George B. is the son of John and Catherine Ann (Whitehead) Robeson, the former of whom was born in Kentucky, June 18, 1810, and who came to Franklin county with his parents when he was but one year old, the family locating in the neighborhood in which they spent the remainder of their lives.  Catherine Ann (Whitehead) Robeson was a member of one of the pioneer families of Dearborn county.
    
    "George B. Robeson's paternal grandfather, James Robeson, was for many years one of the most prominent residents of Dearborn county, and it is still recalled by those whose memories go back to the traditions of pioneer days that no gathering of the neighborhood folk in those early days was complete without him.  He was not only famous as a "fiddler," the strains of whose rollicking music were considered necessary to the success of all social meetings of the day, but he was already noted as a skillful Nimrod, whose aim with a rifle when a squirrel ora coon was in sight, was regarding as unerring as that of another Davy Crockett.  James Robeson was a native of Kentucky, in which state he married Elizabeth Stafford.  Shortly after their marriage they came to Indiana, and entered a government tract comprising what is now known as the W. H. Prifogle farm.  Here they put up a cabin in the woods and proceeded to reclaim the soil from the gigantic forest growth with which it was covered.  Both continued to live there until a ripe old age, when they retired and moved to Ripley county, where they spent their last days.
    
    "Mr. Robeson's maternal grandfather, Michael Whitehead, was a native of Pennsylvania.  Following his marriage in the Keystone state he and his bride determined to make a home for themselves farther westwards and came to Indiana, locating in Dearborn county, where they soon became among the most influential farmers of that section.  Upon the death of Mrs. Whitehead, her bereaved husband gave up his home in Dearborn county and his last days were passed pleasantly in the home of his daughter, Mrs. Robeson, in Highland township.
    
    "John Robeson, father of the gentleman whose name appears as the caption of this sketch, received his education in the schools of his district and was a farmer in that same neighborhood all his life.  He owned several farms at various times in his life and died in the old log and stone house on Blue creekwhere George B. was born.  Here he had one hundred and twelve acres in an excellent state of cultivation.  He and all the members of his family were members of the Christian church, faithful adherence to the tenets of which all those surviving have ever since maintained.
    
    "George B. Robeson was given such advantages of education as the district schools of his home township afforded in the days of his youth, and, following the example of his ancestors, stuck to the soil as a means of livelihood.  The wisdom of this determination on his part has amply been demonstrated in ensuing years and Mr. Robeson is now known as one of the most progressive farmers in his neighborhood.  He has always remained on the 'home' place until 1905, continuing to occupy the old stone house in which he was born.  He then remodeled the house in which, until then, his half brother had lived, and this he now makes his home.  He bought this part of his father's old place, one hundred twenty acres, which added to the farm he then owned, brought his farm holdings he then owned up to one hundred and ninety-two acres, all of which he has in a fine state of cultivation, giving particular attention to the culture of small fruit.
    
    "On October 21, 1886, George B. Robeson was united in marriage with Miss Anna Belle Yost, who was born near Peppertown, on Walnut Fork, the daughter of Christopher and Lena (Wessing) Yost, both natives of Germany.  Christopher was first married in Germany, but his wife died on board ship while they were on their way to America, leaving one daughter.  He first made his way to Cincinnati and after a sometime residence there made his was to Peppertown, where he met Lena Wessing, a Civil War widow, and married her.  Mrs. Yost's brother Jacob, who came to America in 1852, also gave up his life for cause of his adopted country, he being among the countless hosts were were killed in the great struggle between the states in the sixties.
    
    "To George B. and Anna Belle (Yost) Robeson two children were born:  Clifford Elmer, who married Maud, daughter of William West of Brookville, and to whom one child, Ruth Anna Belle, has been born, and Ida Margaret May, who makes her home with her parents.  All are devoted members of the Christian church."
    
    source:  Reifel, August J. (August Jacob), 1875-1954., History of Franklin
    County, Indiana; her people, industries and institutions. (1915; B. F. Bowen &
    Company, Inc., Indianapolis, Indiana; 1475 p. illus., maps, ports. 27 cm.)
    
    from half-brother Thomas H.'s bio:
    "The first wife of John Robeson died in 1855, and he later married Ann Catherine Lawrence, to which second union four children were born, James, Mary, George and Michael.  Michael is the only one of the second marriage now living.  The father of these children died in 1888."
    
    source:  Ibid.