The
Nicholas Robbins Family
HEMAN C. ROBBINS
HEMAN C. ROBBINS (Biographical data abstracted from Plymouth, Chelsea, Weymouth and Lynn, Massachusetts vital records and associated census records) Re: The Nicholas Robbins Family, No. 7.52.1
Heman C. Robbins, son of Jesse Robbins and Betsy Churchill, was born on 20 Jul 1808 at Plymouth, Massachusetts. On September 30, 1832, Heman married Mary Ann Spear at Plymouth. Mary Ann was the daughter of Thomas Spear and Clarissa Harlow, born May 7, 1806 at Plymouth. Heman followed his father into the rope-making business in Plymouth. The Robbins Cordage Company was a thriving business in Plymouth until 1843, when fire consumed the warehouse and rope walk. Following this setback, the plant was rebuilt and included a general store, which was managed by one of Heman's cousins, Frederick W. Robbins, while Heman continued the cordage company.
Heman C. Robbins, noted as rope-maker of Plymouth in town records at the time of his passing, died at Plymouth on April 4, 1881 at age 72 years, 8 months, 14 days. Wife Mary Ann followed on February 9, 1890 at age 83 years, 9 months, 2 days. Their children included:
1. Mary Elizabeth Robbins was born March 31, 1833 at Plymouth. She married Charles H. Perkins on June 14, 1856 at Plymouth. At the time of their marriage, Charles was a shoemaker. In later years he worked as a locomotive fireman on the railroad, the job he held at the time of his death in 1887 at age 55. Charles and Mary had one child, son Charles F. Perkins, born in early January, 1860. He died young at age 24, leaving wife Elizabeth L. (Manter) and three children. In the 1900 Census for Plymouth, Elizabeth is noted as a bookkeeper in a furniture store and head of a household consisting of herself and her three children, Mary, John and George Perkins, and her mother-in-law, the widowed Mary E. (Robbins) Perkins.
2. Almira F. Robbins was born May 22, 1834 at Plymouth. She married John T. Oldham on May 8, 1857 at Plymouth. John was a harness-maker. They resided with Almira's parents for a few years, then moved west in the early 1860s, where they settled in Stockton, California and raised their family. The 1900 Census for that place indicates that their children, Walter, age 36, and Mary, age 34, had joined their father in the harness-making business. In that census, John is noted as age 68 and Almira as age 66. Perhaps they passed away or moved elsewhere by 1910 as no record of them was found in Stockton. In that census, son Walter and wife Florence had been married nine years and Walter is noted as the proprietor of a harness shop in Stockton.
3. Jesse L. Robbins was born January 17, 1836 at Plymouth. Jesse went to sea as a young man. He later returned to Plymouth, where he married Mary C. Holmes and went to work in a shoe factory. They resided with his parents. Jesse died on March 25, 1885 at the age of 49 years, 2 months and 8 days. At the time of his death
he was noted as a shoemaker. No children were found in the vital records for this couple.
4. Caroline A. Robbins was born July 8, 1837 at Plymouth. She married Stimpson M. Dunton on May 23, 1865 at Plymouth. Stimpson was a locomotive engineer. This family resided in Plymouth. They had two children: William H. Dunton, born in 1866, who was noted as a cordage factory worker in the 1880 Census and Edwin A. Dunton, born in 1869, who married Lottie F. Bartlett in 1903. Stimpson Dunton died at Plymouth on November 22, 1879. Widow Caroline (Robbins) Dunton was still living in 1910. In the census of that year she was noted as a resident in the home of her son Edwin and wife Lottie in Plymouth.
5. Charles Henry Robbins was born on May 24, 1839 at Plymouth. Charles was still residing with his parents in Plymouth at the time of the 1860 Census, at which time he was noted as a shoemaker, age 21 and single. Thereafter, no further record of him was found.
6. Heman Robbins (Jr) was born in May, 1841 at Plymouth. He married Harriet E. Eddy on February 2, 1861 at Plymouth. Heman followed his father into the family rope-making business at Plymouth, where he was noted as a cordage worker or rope-maker in all the censuses between 1870 and 1900 as well as the 1909 Plymouth City Directory. Heman and Harriet had sixteen children, nine of whom survived to adulthood. They were: (1) Harriet E. Robbins, born July 8, 1861, who married Arthur B. Wall on December 10, 1879 at Plymouth; (2) Herbert C. Robbins, born April 17, 1867, who married Mary H. Webster on June 6, 1891 at Chelsea, Massachusetts. Herbert worked in a paper factory as a reeler. This couple had two children, Myrtle L. Robbins, born in April, 1892 and Francis A. Robbins, born in July, 1897. Herbert and Mary were still living and residing in Chelsea at the time of the 1920 Census; (3) Myra A. Robbins, born November 29, 1872, who married William H. Gallagher on January 3, 1895 at Plymouth; (4) Francis W. Robbins, also known as "Fannie", born February 5, 1876, who married Frank C. Douglas on December 10, 1897 at Plymouth; (5) Clarence I. Robbins, born July 12, 1877. He worked in the cordage business in Plymouth. He married Emma L. Simpson on June 20, 1900. Their children included Gladys Robbins, Irving Robbins, Evaline W. Robbins, Mildred L. Robbins, Edna B. Robbins and Earl A. Robbins; (6) Jesse T. Robbins, born December 5, 1878, who married Bessie M. Simpson on October 28, 1903. This couple resided in Lynn, Massachusetts, where Jesse worked as a mail truck driver and later as a clerk in a shoe factory. This couple had no children; (7) Jennie M. Robbins, born January 21, 1880. Still single and working as a clerk in the Plymouth Court House in 1909; (8) Catherine A. Robbins, born in September, 1882, who married Pierre Houde on July 18, 1901; and (9) Lester H. Robbins, born in January, 1886, who married Elizabeth R. Schneider on September 27, 1905. Their children included Harriet Robbins, Jesse Robbins, Eleanor Robbins and Gilbert Robbins. Lester worked in a Plymouth rope mill as a machinist.
7. Clarissa H. Robbins, in later records shown as "Clara", was born November 26, 1844 at Plymouth. Clara never married. She resided with her parents in Plymouth, where she worked in a cotton mill and later in a shoe factory. She died on December 6, 1885 at age 41.
Submitted by Lawrence G. Robbins, August, 2009. Mr. Robbins may be contacted by email at boprobbins@yahoo.com.