The
Nicholas Robbins Family
AUSTIN ROBBINS
AUSTIN ROBBINS (A biographical sketch and obituary notice abstracted from History of the Descendants of John Whitman of Weymouth, Massachusetts, compiled by Charles H. Farnam and published by Tuttle, Morehouse & Taylor, New Haven, Connecticut, 1889) Re: The Nicholas Robbins Family, No. 7.117.3
Rev. Austin Robbins, son of Samuel and Zilpha (Whitman) Robbins, was born February 15, 1812 at Thompson, Connecticut. He married (1) Almira Saunders of Rhode Island on November 1, 1832. Their only child, Julia A. Robbins, born September 12, 1833, married Rufus A. Sampson in February, 1857 at Topsham, Maine. Almira died at Topsham on September 10, 1854. Two years thereafter, Rev. Robbins married (2) Emily P. Work at Topsham on September 20, 1856. They had three children: Myra S. Robbins, born May 16, 1858; W. Austin Robbins, born December 25, 1860; and Rufus S. Robbins, born June 25, 1862. Rev. Robbins died at East Killingly, Connecticut on July 14, 1873. His widow resides in Waterbury, Connecticut. The following obituary was published in the Christian Secretary of Hartford:
"It seems eminently proper that a more extended notice of the life and labors of Rev. Austin Robbins should appear in the Christian Secretary, for although most of his life-work was done in other States, by birth and in death he was one of us.
He was blessed with pious parents, by whom he was trained up in the way he should go. His mother, especially, was recognized by all who knew her as a truly godly woman and to her example, instructions and prayers, under God, the son attributed all that he was as a man and as a Christian. He fondly cherished her memory to the last day of his life.
At the early age of thirteen…he was baptized into the old Thompson Church…and from the day of his espousal to the day of his death his course was steadily onward. He was never turned aside by the wiles of the devil nor
by the cunning craftiness of men whereby they lie in wait to deceive. Being steadfastly minded to serve God, he was beloved of Christians and respected by all capable of appreciating his character. The testimony of one who knew him intimately was that a more sincere, conscientious, devotional man it would be hard to find…yet modest and unassuming, never laying claim to superiority in any respect.
Bro. Robbins was licensed to preach the gospel by the church at Thompson on August 2, 1835…and was ordained as a Baptist minister at Uxbridge, Massachusetts in 1842. He continued as pastor of the church there for six years. The next twelve years he spent in Maine, four years in Sanford, one in Biddleford where he gathered a new church, and about seven years in Topsham. His next pastorate was for seven years in Southborrough, Massachusetts, from whence he removed to East Killingly, where he was pastor for six years…until his final resignation.
He was early married to Miss Almira Saunders of Rhode Island…before his call to the ministry…and while he yet earned the means to support his family…on a shoemaker's bench. The companion of his youth died in Maine and he subsequently married Mrs. Emily Work, an estimable woman who, in this her second widowhood, deeply mourns the loss of one of the kindest of husbands. He has left four children, one by his first wife…and three young children by the last, all of them at an age when they need a father's as well as a mother's care.
Our brother was the subject of many infirmities for years before his death and for some four months his sufferings were very great but they were borne without complaint. His disease was cancer of the stomach and to avoid more agonizing suffering he took little nourishment, though the feeling of hunger was hard to bear…The triumph of grace in his case was wonderful. It was a privilege to spend an hour with him and to witness his resignation, yea, his cheerfulness and to hear him express the full assurance of hope that he enjoyed and the delightful views he experienced of the coming rest and glory. Bless God for the life of dear Bro. Robbins…"
Submitted by Lawrence G. Robbins, January, 2007. Mr. Robbins may be contacted by email at boprobbins@yahoo.com.