WI BIO - Kenosha Co - ROBBINS, Herbert Eugene

History of Kenosha and Kenosha County, Wisconsin. Lyman. Chicago: Clarke 
Publishing, 1916, vol II, pp 342-348; portrait of Harrison ROBBINS p 344; 
portraits of Mr. and Mrs. Harrison ROBBINS (Mary nee SMITH) p 345; portraits 
of Mr. and Mrs. Herbert Eugene ROBBINS pp 350-351

Herbert Eugene ROBERTS [Section 26, Salem Township, Kenosha County, 
Wisconsin], who is engaged in the automobile business in [the city of] 
Kenosha, where he has agency for the Ford car, and who was previously engaged 
in general farming on the fine tract of land on which he still lives, was 
born on 26 March 1859 on that farm on Section 26, Salem Township, Kenosha 
County, Wisconsin, his parents having been Harrison and Mary (SMITH) ROBBINS.

The ancestral line is traced back to William ROBBINS, of English birth, who 
established his home in America at an early period in the colonization of the 
New World. William ROBBINS married Priscilla GOWING, whose parents were 
Scotch. Mention is first made of William ROBBINS in records which indicate 
his enlistment in Major Jere SWAINE's command, 22 February 1675, at Reading, 
in the province of Massachusetts Bay [now Reading, Middlesex County, 
Massachusetts], to engage in the Narraganset war to fight the Nipenucks, a 
subtribe of King Phillip, and for this service the company was granted a 
tract of land in Massachusetts and Connecticut at the junction of Rhode 
Island, the towns of Webster [Worcester County], Massachusetts and Thompson 
[Windham County], Connecticut, being the focusing point. William ROBBINS was 
a blacksmith by trade and settled at Dedham [then in Suffolk County, created 
in 1643, but now in Norfolk County, in the State of Massachusetts], "the 
sawmill divident," which on 10 December 1724 was incorporated as Walpole 
[since 1793 in Norfolk County].

Benjamin ROBBINS, son of William ROBBINS, married Lois CARPENTER, and they 
and they had a son, Benjamin ROBBINS, Jr., who was born at Ashford [Windham 
County], Connecticut in 1790 [Connecticut had become a State in 1788], and 
who became one of the pioneer residents of [what is now the State of] 
Wisconsin. He purchased [p 347] a house and lot in Liberty Corners, Salem 
township, Kenosha County, and there passed away at a ripe old age. [Prior to 
20 April 1836, what became Wisconsin was contained within Michigan Territory, 
and on that date became the Territory of Wisconsin, the State of Wisconsin 
created 29 May 1848. Kenosha County was formed 26 January 1850 from the 
southern portion of Racine County, a territorial county created in 1836.] 
The wife of Benjamin ROBBINS, Jr., who bore the maiden name of Cynthia JONES, 
was also well advanced in years when death called her. They were the parents 
of two sons and three daughters: Dwight, Harrison, Martha, Cynthia, and 
Nancy, all now deceased.

Of the family of Benjamin and Cynthia (JONES) ROBBINS, the son Harrison 
ROBBINS, who was born in Connecticut, devoted his life to farming, became a 
resident of Wisconsin about 1855, and making investment in 112 acres of land 
on Section 26, Salem township, Kenosha County. To this he afterward added a 
tract of 116 acres adjoining his place upon the south. He continued to carry 
on general farming until his [Harrison ROBBINS'] death on 22 July 1867; his 
widow [Mrs. Cynthia (JONES) ROBBINS] survived him until 30 June 1894, passing 
away in the faith of the Congregational church.

He [Harrison ROBBINS] first married a Miss MILLS and they became the parents 
of two children: (1) Charles, deceased, who married Nancy WARD; and (2) 
Nettie, the deceased wife of Oscar E. BISHOP of Blue Springs [since 1855 in 
Gage County], Nebraska [a State since 1867].

Having lost his first wife Harrison ROBBINS wedded [his second wife] Mary 
SMITH, who was born 07 May 1826 in New York, from which state her father, 
Peter SMITH, removed to Wisconsin during the period of early pioneer 
development, becoming owner of a farm in Bristol Township, [which before 26 
January 1850 was in Racine County, but since that date in Kenosha County, 
Wisconsin]. He [Peter SMITH] passed away 17 March 1890 at Sioux Falls 
[Minnehaha County], South Dakota [which became a State in 1889], and his 
wife, Mrs. Electa SMITH, died 05 May 1881 at Wilmot [Randall Township], 
Kenosha County, Wisconsin. By his second marriage [to Mary SMITH] Harrison 
ROBBINS had two children: (1) the elder, Eugene, died in infancy, and (2) 
Herbert Eugene ROBBINS, the younger, spent his youthful days on the old home 
farm in Salem Township [Kenosha County], the property that he now owns, and 
which comprises 170 acres of rich and productive land.

Herbert Eugene ROBBINS had the usual experiences of the farm boy, working in 
the fields through the summer months and attending school in the winter 
seasons. He afterward took up the profession of teaching, which he followed 
through three winter terms, but he gave much of his life to agricultural 
pursuits before embarking in his present line of business. In 1884 he 
[Herbert Eugene ROBBINS] went to Florida, and for three years was engaged in 
horticultural pursuits on the Indian River [which flows in Walton County, 
Florida], but in 1887 he returned to Kenosha County, Wisconsin, and was again 
identified with farming interests until the fall of 1894, when he was elected 
County Clerk of Kenosha County, serving from 1895 until 1898, inclusive. 
During the succeeding two years he was in Chicago [Cook County, Illinois], 
where for part of the time he was employed by the Deering Harvester Company, 
and later conducted a grocery and real estate business. At the end of that 
period, however, he returned to his farm, which he continued to cultivate 
until 1913, when he took the agency for the Ford car in Salem Township, 
Kenosha County. In the fall of 1913 he removed his business to Kenosha, 
although he still owns and occupies the farm.

On 01 December 1880 Mr. [Herbert Eugene] ROBBINS married [his first wife] 
Miss Ida M. KINGMAN, a daughter of Ebinezer and Hannah (FARRAR) KINGMAN. To 
them [to Herbert Eugene and Ida M. (KINGMAN) ROBBINS, on 28 August 1881, was 
born a son, Harry K., who is now living in Mansfield, Douglas County, 
Washington. He [Harry K. ROBBINS] married Orpha PIKE on 31 October 1912, and 
they [Harry K. and Orpha ROBBINS] have a son, Herbert S., who was born on 09 
April 1914. [Mrs.] Ida (KINGMAN) ROBBINS [first wife of Herbert Eugene 
ROBBINS] was born 14 September 1854, and died in Florida on 12 July 1887.

On 16 October 1895 Mr. [Herbert Eugene] ROBBINS wedded [his second wife] Miss 
Maude STEWART, a daughter of David and Mary (McKOY) STEWART. In his 
political views Mr. ROBBINS is an earnest Republican, doing all in his power 
to promote the growth and insure the success of the party. His fellow 
townsmen, appreciating his worth, ability, and public spirit, have several 
times called him to public office. Fraternally Mr. ROBBINS is connected with 
Washburn Lodge, No. 145, Free & Accepted Masons; Kenosha Chapter, No. 3, 
Royal Arch Masons; and Kenosha Lodge, No. 75, Benevolent Protective Order of 
Elks; he is also identified with the Modern Woodmen of America. Those who 
know him esteem him highly, and he has a wide acquaintance throughout the 
county, where he has figured prominently in agricultural, commercial and 
political circles, in every relation of life commanding the confidence and 
goodwill of those who know him.

Submitted by Cathy Kubly