1st Generation

James and Elisabeth returned to KY from IL about 1840. James and Elisabeth Robertson had 10 children. James died 28 Nov 1875, and Elisabeth d. 26 Jan 1912, at almost 100 years old,in Echols (Ohio) KY and both are buried in Pond Run Cem., Ohio Co., KY. This is a copy of James' will. The Pond Run Baptist Church where they are buried was primarily started by the Fulkerson family. Some accounts give different birth and/or death dates for Elisabeth and say she lived 12 days past 100 years old; these dates are from her gravestone which admittedly looks newer, as if it could have been placed well after her death. Their oldest son, Philip W. Robertson is discussed below.

4th Generation

It seems likely that Philip served in the Civil War, but no record has yet been found. Merle Cobine wrote in a letter to me: �The only thing she [Mary E. Robertson] ever told me was her father [Philip] owned a cotton plantation in Kentucky...He had slaves and she was raised by a black Nanny...After the Civil War ended, her father freed all of his slaves and gave each one a small piece of land.�

After that, the family moved to Cass County, MO where they were living in 1870. Then, in 1880, they are found in Taney County, MO. Nancy d. 29 Feb 1892 in Taney Co., MO and was buried in the defunct Oasis Cem., in Holister (Taney) MO. That stone was moved to the new Cedar Valley Cemetery in Taney Co. Philip married 2nd on 9 Feb 1893 in Cedar Valley (Taney) MO to Clara A. Miller. The marriage was held at the home of Richard Fulkerson, a cousin of his first wife, Nancy. There is no further information about Clara.

Philip and Nancy had the following children:

• Joel H. (1 Sep 1857 MO - 29 May 1938, Portland, Multnomah Co., OR) married about 1881 to Emma Alice Fox (4 Nov 1857 Cass Co., MO - 29 Apr 1914 Washington Co., ID). She was the daughter of John J. Fox and Amanda M. McSpadden.

• James W. (16 Jun 1859 KY - 13 Jun 1863 prob. Ohio Co., KY)

• Mary Emily (27 Feb 1861 Ohio Co., KY - 22 Jan 1935 Compton, LA Co., CA) m. 6 Apr 1879 in Cedar Valley, Taney County, MO to Charles O. Stiles (1 Nov 1857 MI - 24 Oct 1927 Orange Co., CA. They were divorced about 1895. Mary married again 15 May 1897 in Los Angeles to Henry Martin Williams (7 Aug 1865 Ireland - 4 Jul 1943 Compton, LA Co., CA) (pics and more about Mary in the Stiles Family story -- see link below)

• Semantha Hazeltine (16 Apr 1862 Ohio Co., KY - 21 Nov 1932 Reno, Taney Co., MO) m. 9 May 1880 in Taney Co., MO to Frank Emmet Rice (21 Sep 1861, IL - 9 Jan 1943 Springfield, Greene Co., MO). Here is a picture of Samantha and Frank Rice and a story written by their daughter, Goldie, both are courtesy Susan Schrantz

• Olive F. (9 Jun 1863 - 13 Aug 1864)

• Elizabeth C. "Lizzie" (15 Jun 1865 MO - 14 Mar 1901 IL) m. about 1887 possibly in Kansas to Stephen Arnold Douglas Lathom (12 May 1860 IL - 18 Sep 1909 IL). Here are two pictures one of Lizzie Lathom and the other of her husband Stephen Lathom, both by permission from llloyd157 (Ancestry)

• Martha J. "Mattie" (13 Feb 1868 MO - 4 Apr 1952 Joplin, Jasper Co., MO) m. 16 Apr 1892 in Cedar Valley, Taney Co., MO to Wilson L. Randolph (27 Oct 1867 MO - 16 Aug 1915 Joplin, Jasper Co., MO). This is a picture of their lovely 2 children, Vera Olive and Frank Wilson Randolph.

• Philip Luther (16 Jan 1871 Cass Co., MO - 24 Jun 1944 Yakima, WA) m. 30 Mar 1892 in Cedar Valley, Taney Co., MO to Adelia Mae Fox (24 Feb 1868 Cass Co., MO - 14 Jul 1960 Seattle, King Co., WA). She was the daughter of John J. Fox and Amanda M. McSpadden and a sister to Emma Alice Fox. See the Philip Luther Robertson family picture here.

• Samuel Ellmore (12 Jun 1872 MO - 15 Jun 1895 or 1898)

• Edward N. (6 May 1875 KA - 6 Mar 1909 Los Angeles Co., CA)

Moving forward for a moment, Philip and Nancy�s oldest daughter, Mary Emily, married in 1879 in Taney County to Charles Orlando Stiles. Family stories relate that her 2nd child, Frances Ethel died in 1882 of smallpox while traveling West. See these pages from the Stiles Family Bible. Charles and Mary traveled with Charles� family. The Stiles family spent several years (about 1882-1886) in Pratt County KS where they operated a grist mill. They, along with Mary and Charles, arrived in California in 1887.

In researching Pratt County, KS, I discovered land patents for Philip and Joel H. Robertson there also. The issue dates were 1890 and 1891. There were also patents for Jonathan J.(I.?) Lathom (probably a brother of Stephen) and James T. (J.?) Fox (related families)�all of them very close together. So, it is clear that Philip and Nancy, with their family, also traveled to Pratt County with their daughter and the Stiles. They probably had to homestead the land for several years before taking ownership. Something happened to make them return to Taney Co., MO, before February, 1892 when Nancy died. Perhaps Nancy became sick.

On the 1880 Taney Co., MO census, the last child, Edward (b. 1875), is shown as having been born in Kansas. That seems a bit early for them to have been there, but possible. Did they go and return twice? I have not located a marriage record for daughter Elizabeth. One tree on Ancestry shows she and Stephen Lathom were married in Garden City Kansas in 1887. It does seem likely that she would have been in Kansas with her parents.

Sometime after 1893, Philip and some of his family started west again. We know this included sons Joel, Philip Luther, Edward and probably Samuel. Those remaining in MO were the Rice and Randolph families. The Lathoms returned to Illinois where his family lived.

Some researchers have said they went by train to Los Angeles. But, they had to make their way to the train, so they probably went by covered wagon at least that far before catching the train. Once in California, they must have visited with Philip�s daughter Mary Emily Stiles who was living in Riverside, CA. This is where son Luther�s child, Gilbert was born in Jan. 1897. They continued by covered wagon to Grass Valley (probably Sherman County, Oregon).

By 1909, they are near the Dalles, Oregon. Philip is said to have had a horse ranch on land near the John Day River. He received the land patent on March 3, 1909. It is described as spanning parts of Sherman, Gilliam and Wheeler Counties. It is unclear exactly how long they lived in that area. But, Philip died 3 days after the land patent was final, on March 6, 1909 in Webfoot Springs (Sherman) OR. He is buried in Emigrant Springs Cemetery, Sherman Co., OR. (note same death date for Philip and son Edward who died in CA) His other children then continued on to Mann Creek, near Weiser, in Washington County, Idaho.

5th Generation

Mary Emily Robertson and Charles Orlando Stiles

Check out the graves of some of these people on my virtual "Fortune Cemetery" with Fortunes, Stiles, Robertsons, Edwards, others on www.findagrave.com

Go back to the top