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Generation Two2. JOHN2 ROBINSON (Joseph1); He was born 25 September 1779 in Virginia,21 and died 10 September 1850,22 Fayette County, Kentucky. John married SARAH BERRY, 21 April 1802,23 Clark County, Kentucky. Sarah Berry was born either in Virginia, or in Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, and died 3 April 1850,24 Fayette County, Kentucky. She was the daughter of Thomas Berry, Jr. (1757–1839), and Mildred Allen (1763–1828).25 A marriage bond for John Robinson to marry Sally Berry was made 19 April 1802,26 with Thomas Berry, bondsman, present and consenting as father of the bride. John and Sarah Berry apparently were married in Clark County, Kentucky, and lived there until about 1827. Sarah Berry’s father, Thomas Berry, Jr., owned 100 acres on Hancock Creek in Clark County.27 Deed records of 1810 for Thomas Berry (Sr) (50 acres), Thomas Berry, Jr. (100 acres) and John Robinson (53-3/4 acres) indicate all lived in the Hancock Creek area.  In a deed, dated 21 April 1814,28 John Gass (?Gess) transferred 52-1/4 acres to John Robinson for $313.50. Tax records suggest the deed was made some years after the actual date of John Robinson’s possession of the tract. The Clark County, Kentucky, tax records for 1810 show John had acquired 53-3/4 acres29 of land (valued as number one) on Hancock Creek (patentee was John Gass), that he owned three horses and no slaves. By 1818, John continued to be assessed for the same land, now noted as 52-3/4 acres; his horses increased to nine. By 1820, he had acquired 4 slaves. In 1821 he was assessed for 59 acres. The 1818 assessment names the waterway as Johnson Creek as does the 1825 record, though the patentee was still John Gass in both years. However, as the waterway was entered as a ditto from the previous entry, it possibly is incorrect. No doubt the land was the same, perhaps suggesting his holding lay on or near both drainage systems. The Clark County tax records for 1825 show John Robinson with 66 acres on Johnson Creek (ditto from previous entry), entered in the name of Gass, and 58 acres in Fayette County on David’s Fork (of Elkhorn Creek), entered in the name of Cragg [Craig]. This record shows John now was being assessed for one male over 21 years of age, eight slaves, and 5 horses, with a total estate value of $5,776. By the 1826 tax-year assessment, John’s land holding in Clark County was down to 10 acres on Hancock Creek. In a deed instituted 17 March 1829, John and Sally Robinson, of Fayette County, sold 72-1/4 acres on Hancock Creek in Clark County to William Whitesides for $1,740.30 The 1827 tax record for Clark County does not show a John Robinson on Hancock Creek, establishing an approximate date for his move from Clark County to Fayette County. This Clark County removal date of circa 1826 or 1827 agrees with the first mention of our John Robinson in Fayette County tax records. John and Dudley Robinson sold 122-1/4 acres of their father’s land on David’s Fork in Fayette County 2 October 182631 to William Wilson. Soon after, John Robinson purchased land of his own in Fayette County. Fayette County tax records for 1828 show John with 152 acres on Hickman Creek, patented in the name of Craig. John Robinson purchased 152 acres on East Hickman Creek, 1 March 1827, from the widow and heirs of William Alexander for the sum of $2,664.59.32 This amount represents roughly half of what John and Dudley received ($5,445) from the 2 October 1826 sale of Joseph’s land on David’s Fork. Five days after purchasing the 152 acres from the Alexanders, on 6 March 1827, John and Sally Robinson sold 3-1/2 acres of land on David’s Fork, which was probably the remainder of Joseph Robinson’s land, to John C. H. Alberti for $100.33 In the next few years, John Robinson added three other tracts to this initial purchase of 152 acres to bring his total holding to about 217 acres. On 20 January 1831, Thomas Hunter sold John Robinson one acre, three rods, and four poles of land for $33.72-1/2 “on the headwaters of Hickman Creek” beginning at “a stone in the road leading to Chilesburg.”34 On 3 December 1831 William Taylor and Nicholas Miller, executors of Jonathan Martin, sold John Robinson 50 acres adjoining land “where said Robinson now lives” for $50 and three notes, the first note made for $233-1/3, payable 1 March 1832, the second note for $283-1/3, payable 1 March 1833, and the third for $283, payable on 1 March 1834.35 John Robinson’s final acquisition of land was made 30 June 1832 from Richard and Sarah M. Martin of Jessamine County, Kentucky, it being for 14 acres, one rod and 12 poles for a purchase price of $257.88.36 While John Robinson benefited from his father’s estate, enabling him, in his early fifties, to finally own a substantial amount of land, these tax records and deeds indicate that he was hard working and determined. Estate records of his father-in-law show John also had received $300 on a note due 7 January 1839,37 but remaining unpaid at Thomas Berry’s death circa October of 1839. However, John Robinson received $340 as his share of Thomas Berry’s estate, the settlement record being filed in November of 1843.38 After moving to their new home in the area of the headwaters of East Hickman Creek near the Athens community in Fayette County, the John Robinson family became members of Boone’s Creek Baptist Church at Athens. Seven of John Robinson’s children, all except William, Thomas, and Nancy, are mentioned in the Church records. John Robinson is mentioned in several instances in connection with church business as are two of his sons, Joseph and Elijah. John appears in the records as church Moderator for a number of years. In October of 1830, he is noted as bringing a charge against the unfortunate Elizabeth Cary for the act of having a bastard child, resulting in her exclusion from church fellowship. The Boone’s Creek Church at Athens records have several lists of members, apparently incomplete and casually updated at times. One of these lists names John Robinson and after his name, entered in a different hand, is the notation: “Died 10th day of Sept. 1850.” Another list of female members lists Sarah Robinson with the notation, also entered in a different hand: “died the third day of Apl 1850.”39  View of area and cemetery on former John Robinson farm, which contains the gravestones of John Robinson, Sarah Robinson, their granddaughter Nancy M. Bryant, and possibly graves of others unknown. UTM coordinates: Zone 16; Easting 727514; Northing 4207429; Coordinate Datum NAD 27. Located East of Lexington, Kentucky, on the headwaters of East Hickman Creek, west of I-75 and Athens, Kentucky; see US Geological Survey Topographical map for Kentucky, Coleville Quadrangle. Photo courtesy of Alexandra D. Bybee; 10 May 2007. John Robinson wrote his will 11 June 1850, and it was probated 14 October 1850,40 Fayette County, Kentucky. Witnesses to his will were Henry Foster and James C. Berry. 41 John named two of his sons, Joseph and Elijah, both of whom were still living at home, as executors. They took an oath as executors in October of 1850 and posted $36,000 bond with Robert Marshall, Henry Foster, John Prather, and J. C. Berry providing security. Thomas Carr, A. F. Eastin, Richard Spurr and A. E. Prewitt were appointed by the Court to appraise the personal estate and slaves. 42 In his will, John Robinson expressed the desire that his farm be sold to one of his children “if they can make it suit them,” but if not then it was to be sold at a public sale, reserving 12 square yards “including the grave of my wife and some others” as a family burying ground.  
John Robinson’s heirs sold his farm to Robert Marshall for the sum of $10,766, the deed instituted 21 November 1850,43 partly secured by a lien on the property. The deed mentions the family burying ground “now enclosed with a post en raling fence in which John Robinson etc are now buried.” By this date several of the heirs were living out of Fayette County and the deed so states. William Robinson was living in Henry County; Boswell and Helena, his wife, were living in Daviess County; Mary Ann and her husband, William Garnett were living in Lincoln County; Elizabeth and her husband, Reuben Bryant, were in Jessamine County; while Joseph, Elijah, Mildred, Catherine, and Thomas and his wife, Rutha, were still living in Fayette County. One child, Nancy, was deceased at the time of John Robinson’s death and her children, Sarah Money and John Williams, did not inherit Nancy’s full share of the estate having been left $500 each in their grandfather’s will. All of the remaining heirs and their husbands and wives were signatories to the deed. Note: This deed does not plat as transcribed. The metes and bounds of the four deeds in which John Robinson acquired the land, when taken together, give what is probably the correct boundary. With the questioned measurements changed and underlined, probably the metes and bounds should read as follows. South 43˚ West 13.39 poles to B North 45˚ West 78.60 poles to C North 29˚ East 91 10/100 poles to D North 39˚ 23” East 77.14 poles to E North 86 ½˚ East 34.50 poles to F South 12 ¼˚ East 103.28 poles to G South 64˚ East 119.32 poles to H South 45 ½˚ West 62 poles of I North 88 1/?˚ East 59.60 poles to J South ?4˚ East 118.60 poles to K North 50 ¾˚ West 36.52 poles to L North 52 ½˚ West 47.67 poles to M North 53 ½˚ West 38.64 poles to N North 45 ½˚ West 99 poles to O South 66 ½˚ West 43.60 poles to the beginning John Robinson heirs’ deed was recorded in Fayette County, Kentucky, Deed Book 27, pages 417–419. Deed was written 21 November 1850. [Transcribed from FHL (Mormon) microfilm #0008705.]  The estate appraisal and inventory of John Robinson’s estate was made 21 October 1850.44 His personal estate was valued at $6,692.19, and included 11 slaves.45 Another nine slaves are accounted for in his will as bequests to individual heirs.46 The record of the division of John Robinson’s personal estate was recorded 2 February 1854.47 William Robinson received $1,294.55; Joseph Robinson (executor) received $1,802.41; Thomas Robinson received 1,802.37; John Prather, husband of Mildred, received $1,802.41; Boswell Robinson received $1,601.57; William Garnett, husband of Mary Ann, received $1,055.65; Reuben Bryant, husband of Elizabeth, received $1,802.41 (Reuben Bryant was deceased by this date); and Elijah Robinson received $1,802.41. There is no explanation for the lesser amounts paid to some of the heirs, though at the end of the accounting, each heir would have no doubt received equal amounts. These distributions to the heirs, plus other distributions and expenses, amounted to $18,805.98, with $135.40 on hand and $5,060.33 due the estate. This must have been a substantial sum for 1850; John Robinson had not done too badly. There are few mentions of John Robinson in the Fayette County, Kentucky, records other than deeds and the records pertaining to his will and estate. He, along with James Beresford, made bond of $500 for Buford C. Allen, minister of United Church of Christ (Boone’s Creek Baptist Church at Athens) to be licensed to solemnize marriages.48 Another possible mention of our John Robinson is found in a Clark County, Kentucky, record of July, 1823, of his appointment as overseer of the road from the Bourbon County line to James McDaniel’s in place of Jacob Brenegin. 49 It is difficult to identity the remaining John Robinsons mentioned in various records.
3. DUDLEY2 ROBINSON (Joseph1), He was born between 1780 and 1790 according to census records,50 and died prior to 15 June, 1849, Logan County, Kentucky.51 Dudley’s Bourbon County, Kentucky, marriage bond to ELIZABETH CUSENBERRY was dated 5 September 1809. Elizabeth’s birth date has been stated as 1798, but that is questionable considering the marriage bond date of 1809. She is reported to have died of consumption on 1 July 1856, at age 56.52 Elizabeth Cusenberry was the daughter of Vincent Cusenberry and Mary Davis, daughter of William Davis who lived in the David’s Fork community of Fayette County, Kentucky. Vincent Cusenberry and Mary Davis were married 31 May 1791.53 The Vincent Cusenberrys moved to Logan County, Kentucky, and Dudley and Elizabeth also moved there about 1826.  Dudley Robinson was assessed in the tax records of Fayette County, Kentucky, in 1819 with one white male, one black over the age of 16, one black in total; three horses; the total of his estate valued at $690. I did not find him in the 1817 or 1818 tax records for Fayette County and did not look at tax years prior to that. The tax records for 1822 include the number of children between the age of six and sixteen, and Dudley Robinson was listed with two children. The 1820 federal census of Fayette County, Kentucky, also lists Dudley, age 26 to 45 years, with a female, presumably his wife, whose age also was listed as 26 to 45, and two children, a male and a female, both under the age of 10 years. Census records for 1830 and 1840 and other records put Elizabeth (Cusenberry) Robinson’s birth date around 1798 or 1800. A male, age 16 and under 26—the right age category for Dudley—is listed in the household of Joseph Robinson, in the 1810 Fayette County census. In addition to Joseph, and the one younger male, there was only one female, listed as 45 years of age or over, this being undoubtedly Molly Robinson. These few records suggest the marriage date of 1809 might be in error. However, Dudley and Elizabeth’s Bourbon County, Kentucky marriage bond was dated 5 September 1809. That Elizabeth and Dudley’s daughter, Mary Ann, was born 24 October 1810, also supports an earlier birth date than 1798–1800 for Elizabeth. The reasonable conclusion is that Elizabeth’s age was probably under stated on some censuses and other records. The 1840 federal census for Logan County, Kentucky lists Dudley Robinson, age 50 to 60, with a female, age 40 to 50 and one female, age 80 to 90. Also in the household were two males, age 5 to 10 and 15 to 20. These young males were probably Elizabeth’s nephews, Vincent Wickware (born 25 July 1830) and Alphonse Wickware (born 12 September 1822), the children of Elisha Wickware and Sally (Cusenberry) Wickware, both deceased by 1840.54 In a record of 15 May 1841, in Logan County Will Book G, page 213, Dudley Robinson is mentioned in a settlement of accounts as the guardian of these children. The older female in Dudley’s household could be Molly Robinson, widow of Joseph. I do not know where or when Molly died or of any record mentioning her at a date later than Joseph’s will, written in 1819. Dudley Robinson was deceased by 1850. The Logan County, Kentucky, federal census for 1850 lists Elizabeth Robertson, age 51, with Isaac Smith, age 45, farmer, born Virginia, Cinthia Smith, age 35, born Virginia, and Sarah A. Smith, age 7, born Kentucky. This Elizabeth was enumerated at dwelling 718, family 729, which was next to the listing for Dudley and Elizabeth Robinson’s son, Henry C. Robertson, who was listed as age 37, with Atitia Robertson, age 24, and six children, in dwelling 717, family 728. These listings were in District one, stamped page 49. It is no surprise that the name Robinson was listed as Robertson as this happened frequently in census and other records. I have no additional information on Isaac, Cinthia, and Sarah Smith; it is unlikely that Cinthia was a daughter of Dudley and Elizabeth Robinson. Records of the David’s Fork Baptist Church in Fayette County show Dudley Robinson was received for baptism in August of 1810, but I did not see a mention of a later dismissal. A photocopy of extracts taken from “Kentucky Pioneers & Court Records,” by McAdams, and found in the files of the History Center in Frankfort, Kentucky, states Dudley Robinson was dismissed from the David’s Fork Baptist Church, together with his wife, Betsy, in December of 1814. Dudley and Elizabeth were founding members of the New Friendship Baptist Church in Logan County, Kentucky, established 23 May 1834. The first meeting was held in the Captain Proctor Schoolhouse. Dudley Robinson was the first minister to this new church; the minutes of this meeting stating that “it is agreed that Brother Dudley Robinson exercise his public gift in the same way that the church at Bethany gave him liberty.” The minutes of this first meeting name the charter members as Benoni Swearingen; Nancy Swearingen; Polly Ann Davis; Frances Gilliam; Sally Wickware; Sally Davis; Mary Davis; James Bothic; Arena Bothic; Daniel H. Hughes; Samuel Colbert; Henry C. Robinson; Polly O. Robinson; Vincent Cusenbary; Malinda Cusenbary; Elijah Cusenbary; Dudley Robinson; and Elizabeth Robinson.55 A deed given “in love to the Redeemer,” dated 24 July 1834, from Mark Hardin to James Bothic, Benoni Swearingen, and Dudley Robinson, in trust, for one acre of land to be used for the erection a church, describes it for the use of the “Baptist Denomination of Christians called the old Regular Baptists.” This deed apparently was not recorded until 15 June of 1849, when it became necessary to appoint new trustees as Dudley Robinson had died and James Bothic had moved out of the state.56 Dudley Robinson’s time in Fayette County, Kentucky, was not without tribulation. In June of 1820, he entered into an agreement with Francis Long and Thomas Grace to provide security in the sum of $291.92 in a replevin bond of Samuel Wickware against Dudley. A slave named Nelson was mortgaged to Long and Grace to protect them from possible loss.57 In another case, Milly, “a free woman of color,” made complaint, filed 23 June 1825, against Dudley Robinson for assault, stating he “then and there beat, bruised, wounded, and evil ?extreece—and other enormities to the plaintiff, the said Defendant, & then did, against, the peace of the Commonwealth & to the damage of the plaintiff $500 and therefore she brings her suit.” Witnesses for the plaintiff were Anthony Pool, James Weldon, and Isham Davis. The cover of this record notes that the case was dismissed in June of 1825 with a cost of $5.57 charged to the defendant.58 There was more trouble with Milly. Another suit initiated on the same date, perhaps explains something of what precipitated the assault on Milly. In this second complaint, Milly, “a free woman of color,” asked that Dudley Robinson render to Milly a certain bay horse, valued at $100, which horse Milly had put in Dudley’s care to be returned when Milly so wished. But when Milly requested the return of her horse, Dudley refused. Milly’s complaint further stated that she had a certain bay horse of blaze face out of her possession and which horse was in the possession of Dudley Robinson, yet “the said Dudley Robinson well knowing the said last mentioned horse to be the property of said Milley” refused to deliver the horse to her and “doth detain the same from said Milley. . . . To the damage of the said Milley of $200, and therefore she brings suit etc” (filed 23 June 1825). Witnesses were John Robinson, Richard Mitchell, and James Wilson. The cover of this record shows the case was dismissed in June of 1825 with costs of $5.51 assessed to the defendant. Milly had proper attorneys for these suits, P. Q. Combs and Leslie Combs, the latter being a well known lawyer of those times with a reputation for helping the disadvantaged.59 The record does not so state, but it would seem Milly got her horse back, if probably not the compensation for which she asked.60
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