James Robison

	Date	Location	Notes	Sources
Birth	1790-1800	Ireland
Marriage			To Elizabeth Means
Death	after 4 Jan 1844		will signed 4 Jan 1844 in Slippery Rock Twp., Butler Co., PA

Ancestry chart segment

 Generation 5             Generation 6             Generation 7
 
                                               +-- [unknown]
                                               |
                      +-- James Robison -------+
                      |   (<1800->1844)         |
 James Robison, Jr. --+                        +-- [unknown]    
 (~1832-1907)         |                        
                      +-- Elizabeth Means   
                          (>1800-~1844)                                     
Sources: 

Children

Name	Gender	Date of Birth	Birthplace	Spouse	Notes	Sources
John Robison	M
Margaret Robison	F				See source notes
William Robison	M	4 Dec 1836	Butler Co., PA	Catherine Harriet Trembly	migrated to Iowa
Robert Robison	M
James Robison, Jr.	M	~1832		Eleanor Jane Hines	Direct line
Joseph Robison	M

Places of Residence

Location	Dates	Notes	Sources
Slippery Rock Township, Butler County, PA	? - 1844+

Sources

Ref. Num.	Description	Image of original
1	1830 United States Federal Census, Slippery Rock Twp, Butler Co, PA, page 11. Census is not dated. Family headed by James Robinson: 2 males <5,1 male 5-10, 1 male 30-40, 1 female <5, 1 female 20-30. The ages and location are appropriate for James Robison, his wife and their children. The family next door is headed by James Clark (age 40-50) who is cited as a "long time friend" in the will of James Robison
2	1840 United States Federal Census, Slipperyrock Twp, Butler Co, PA, page 11. Census is not dated. Family headed by James Robinson: 2 males <5, 2 males 5-10, 2 males 10-15, 1 male 15-20, 1 male 40-50, 1 female 10-15, 1 female 30-40. The ages and location are appropriate for James Robison, his wife and their children. This would include James Robison, Jr.. The will of James Robison, 1844, list six children but implies that there may be more.
3	1850 United States Federal Census Parker Twp., Butler Co. PA. Date of census 18 Sept 1850. Family of a widow Jane Robison, age 41, $1200 real estate; children Lucinda 21, James 19 farmer, Joseph 12. All born in PA. James & Joseph attended school in 1850. Note: This census is included here based solely on the correct age for the child James, and his having a brother Joseph. We do not believe the widow Jane to have been a wife of James Robison, unless she were a 2nd wife married after 1844. It is possible that James & Joseph, children of the deceased James Robison, were here living with a relative, as they have not yet been located elsewhere in the census. We believe their mother died before 1844, the date of James Robison's will.
4	Will of James Robison, Estate file # R-42, Register of Wills office, Butler County Court House, PA; microfilm at Butler Public Library, Wills Vol. B p. 295. Signed 4 Jan. 1844. Lists son John, "5 youngest children" Margaret, William, Robert, James, Joseph. Guardian Alis Mc(Bride?); friend James Clark, executor. Witnesses ___ W. McBride & Thomas Clark	(Complete transcription)
5	1858 Map of Butler County, as reproduced in book of that name by Violet Covert, 2005, Mechling Bookbindery, Chicora, PA. www.mechlingbooks.com Pg 113, Slippery Rock Twp. A farm labeled " J. Robison" lies on Slippery Rock Creek, one farm above the one in the extreme southwestern corner of the township. This is southwest of present day Slippery Rock borough, in the wedge formed by Rt. 108 and Rt. 173, and accessed from Stoughton Rd. Pg 105, Parker Twp. A farm labeled simply "Robison" lies midway across Parker township (east to west), and in the third tier of farms down from the northern border of the township. It lies at the intersection of two main roads, marked on present-day map as the Annisville Rd and Eldorado Rd. The Robison farm is south of the Annisville Rd., and is bisected by Eldorado Rd. This may be the farm of the widow Jane Robison, 1850 census.
6	Personal correspondence from Elizabeth Wilson Williams.	N/A
7	Personal correspondence from Doris Jean Cochran, great-granddaughter of William Robison	N/A
8	1880 United States Federal Census, Slippery Rock Township, Butler County, PA, Enumeration District 54, Census date: June 12, 1880. Pg. 16, lines 49-50,& pg. 17, lines 1-7 : James Robison, 48, married to Jane Robison, 50. They are listed as living with seven children: son George Robison, 20; daughter Alvira Robison, 16; daughter Margaret Robison, 15; son Thomas Robison, 14; son Richard Robison, 12; daughter Lola Robison, 10; and son William Robison, 7. All born in PA except James Robison's father was born in Ireland.
9	Personal correspondence from Nancy Robison Jackson, great-granddaughter of William Robison. The source for information on Elizabeth Means was John Theodore "Ted" Robison (1904-2005), who is the son of John Trembly Robison, who is the son of William David Robison, who is the son of James and Elizabeth Means. Ted's father, John Trembly Robison, wrote notes on the family in about 1930, including the following: "Elizabeth Means, born in Ireland, married to James Robison and lived with him in Pennsylvania. Their children were William Robison, John Robison, James Robison, Robert Robison, Joseph Robison and Margaret Robison. Date of birth, marriage and death unknown." In at least one census, son William lists his father's birthplace as "Ireland" and his mother's as "Pennsylvania"--so it could be that Elizabeth was actually born in Pennsylvania.
10	Notes of John Trembly Robison, ca. 1930. Contributed by Nancy Robison Jackson. "James Robison, Born in Ireland. Came to United States & settled in Pennsylvania. By occupation a farmer. Date of birth, immigration & death unknown. Elizabeth Means, Born in Ireland. Married to James Robison & lived with him in Pennsylvania. Children were William Robison, John Robison, James Robison, Robert Robison, Joseph Robison, and Margaret Robison. Date of birth, marriage & death unknown."

Source notes

• The 1850 census for Parker Twp. shows a James Robison of correct age to be James, Jr., living with an apparently widowed mother, and a younger brother Joseph. All these items fit with our known data. The sister Lucinda was not formerly known. The mother's name of Jane conflicts with the name Elizabeth Means, formerly indicated to us by correspondence to be the wife of James Robison. Perhaps her name was Elizabeth Jane Means. However, the wife of James Robison is not mentioned in his will of 1844, and guardians are provided for the children, suggesting that she had died before that date.
• The only evidence we have at present,linking this Robison family to the Iowa Robison family of William David Robison, is that William David Robison was born in PA, his father was born in Ireland, his mother in Ohio. Unless this contributor has additional information, the link is questionable. Many Robison families, from Ireland, lived in PA, even in Butler County, and could have sons William.
• The will of James Robison does not mention his wife and does appoint a guardian for his five youngest children. This would seem to imply that his wife died prior to 1844. She is still be present in the 1840 census. By 1850, James Robison had died, and the Robison widow found in 1850 census is named Jane.
• If Margaret Robison, daughter of James Robison is the Margaret Robison who married William Boston Hines], then she was born in 1825, per the 1860 census of the William Boston Hines household.

Research

• 1790 United States Federal Census, Depriciation Tract, Allegheny Co, page1. Family of Jas. A. Robinson: 1 male >16, 3 males <16, 3 females.
  This family is possibly in the area where our Robison's are found 40 years later. For a description of the depreciation lands and the formation of Butler County, see the History of Butler County-1883, page 24-25, Depreciation Lands. Butler County was created in 1800 from part of Allegheny County.
  
  
  
  
  
  
• 1810 United States Federal Census, Center Twp., Butler Co. PA. J. Robison household contains one male 26-44 and one female 26-44.
  Our James Robison who was born 1790-1800 would be age 10-20 in 1810. This could be James' father, but the lack of male children argues against it. Close inspection of the numbers in the census list reveals that the figure interpreted as zero for males under 10 might be a different value; if our direct line James were born in 1790, he might be be recorded as under age 10 in 1810, depending on birth month. The zeros in the 10-15 and 16-25 categories are pretty clear.
  The probability of this census being a match for our James Robison seems low. Since no evidence for James has been found in the 1820 census, perhaps he moved into the area in the 1820's.

• In the 1820 census for Butler Co. only two families headed by Robinsons have been found. Both Samuel Robinson in Muddy Creek Twp., age 26-45, and John Robinson, in Center Twp., age >45, could possibly be our James' father. Our James Robison would be age 20-30 in 1820. Neither family lists a male in the age range for James.
  There are three Means families in Muddy Creek Twp. but only one, headed by Thomas Means, has a female of the right age for Elizabeth. Thomas Means is age >44; our Elizabeth means would be age 10-20 in 1820. Thomas Means has a daughter age 10-15. We have no primary data beyond census location to support these persons as relatives of our Robinson and Means families.

Conjecture

• From the 1895 History of Butler Co., p. 611, re. churches in Worth Twp.: Notes on the United Presby. Church organized in 1809 as the "Mouth of Wolf Creek Church", lists founding member David Robinson. We would expect this person to have been born by 1790 or earlier. James Robison was apparently born 1790-1800, so was a bit younger than this David, but possibly of the same generation.
• The 1883 History of Butler County, by Waterman, p. 64 has the biography of a Thomas Robinson, son of Thomas Robinson, Sr., was born in Armagh Co. Ireland 4 July 1825. He came to the US with his parents in the spring of 1832 and located in Middlesex (now Penn) Twp., Butler Co. in spring of 1836. He married (20 June 1854) Ann E. DeWolf. He was elected to the Legislature in 1860; for many years was editor of the Butler Eagle.
  Thomas is a generation younger than our James Robison, so is probably not related, or a cousin perhaps.
• In the 1860 census for Parker Twp, Butler Co, PA is a family consisting of J. T. Robison, 22, farmer, $1000 real, $100 personal property and Lucinda Robison, 30. Both are born in PA. This appears to be the children of the Jane Robison from the 1850 census, but they have not been linked to our family.