Welcome to www.RixRobinson.com
Come to the 89th Reunion!
Date: August 12th, 2007
Time: 1:00 p.m. Rain or Shine!
Place: Ada Township Park
Ada, Michigan
* * * * *
Reunion day is almost here
Come with well filled baskets,
And hearts brim full of cheer.
We will be there to meet you,
We will be glad to greet you.
If you don't come we'll miss you
And wish that you were here.
This poem is from the 1932 announcement for the Rix Robinson Reunion.
Uncle Rix Robinson and his second wife Sebequay (Sippy)
This year the reunion will be held the second
Sunday in August which is August 12th. Make your plans now to attend this family
gathering. Don't be concerned if you feel that you may not know any one there. We are all
cousins to some degree and welcome newcomers! We usually draw from 35 to 75 people, but
this year let's try to set a record.
The location is in the same spot at the Ada Township Park where we have had it for the
past several years. The time for the reunion is 1 p.m. although those who would like to
help are welcome to arrive about an hour early to help round up the picnic tables, put up
signs, chat, share stories, pictures or whatever.
For more information about the reunion contact:
Don and Vivian Robinson
2384 E. Columbia Ave
Muskegon, MI 49444-2624
231-773-8530
donandviv57@comcast.net
-or -
Tom Robinson
483 Adams St., PO Box 696
Gwinn, MI 49841-0696
(906) 346-9687
(If you are bringing children to the reunion please let us know so that we can be sure to
have goodies for them.)
Family Fun Auction
Bring something that you have made (A craft item, baked goods, home canned fruits, etc.)
for the family auction. This helps us to raise money to help with the expenses for each
year's reunion. It also gives us a chance to meet and visit with our "cousins."
Be sure to mark the item you bring with your name and address! We want to get acquainted!
The location is in the same spot at the Ada Township park where we have had it for the past several years. The time for the reunion is 1 p.m. although those who would like to help are welcome to arrive about an hour early to help round up the picnic tables, put up signs, chat, share stories, pictures or whatever.
Directions to the Reunion in
Ada Township Park:
Take M-21 north of Grand Rapids, Michigan into Ada. In Ada M-21 becomes Fulton Ave, there
you will turn onto Ada Drive, then take a left onto Thornapple Drive. Cross the river,
follow the curve of Thornapple Drive and you will come to the intersection of Thornapple
and Buttrick Ave. Turn onto Buttrick and take it Grand River Drive. There are two
entrances to the park from Grand River Drive. To get to the reunion take the second
entrance.
We are in the part of the park where the ponds are by the small covered Ramada. This is
the same place as last year. (These directions are for those coming from the north, west
and south. From the east, turn left from Fulton to Ada Drive). Watch for the signs
directing you to the park site.
For more information about the reunion contact:
Don and Vivian Robinson
2384 E. Columbia Ave
Muskegon, MI 49444-2624
231-773-8530
donandviv57@comcast.net
Please share this announcement with any family members. The Robinson clan is very large and we do not know all of you, But come anyway and we will fit you into the family tree. All Robinson descendants and any one interested are welcome and cordially invited.
Museum Has Gravestone Dedication Ceremony
On the morning of the reunion the Ada Historical Society Museum is having a dedication for
the display of the original grave markers of our ancestors the Revolutionary War Veteran
Edward and his wife Eunice Robinson (parents of Rix). In October 2005 our Robinson Family
Association replaced the grave markers of Edward and Eunice Robinson in the Sherwood
Corners Cemetery, Scipio, New York. The original stones (made in 1834 & 1836) were
broken, weathered, and difficult to read. The new stones will last another 200 years, but
we had to answer the question of "what should be done with the old stones?"
Tom Robinson (Gwinn, MI) brought the original broken stones from New York back to Michigan and the Ada Historical Society is going to place them on display in the Museum yard as a memorial and part of their Rix Robinson exhibit. The museum has had the stones repaired and purchased a fence to surround them and will place them on display in the museum year.
All Robinson family members are invited to attend the dedication of the memorial which will take Place at 11:30 in the morning, on Sunday, August 12th, 1½ hours before the family reunion picnic begins at the Ada Township Park. The Museum is at 7144 Headley Street in Ada and will also be open that morning for visitors.
Our Gravestone Project
The new headstones
Last year we replaced the grave markers of our
ancestors Edward and Eunice Robinson (parents of Rix) in the Sherwood corners Cemetery,
Scipio, New York. This couple were the parents of 12 children including the fur trader Rix
Robinson who is considered the first white man to permanently settle in western Michigan.
After the treaty of 1835 was negotiated he encouraged all of his brothers and sisters,
except one, to migrate to western Michigan.
Willard Robinson, (of Andover, MA) took the leadership of that project and arranged for
the new stones to be made and for them to have the appearance of the original stones.
The inscription on the back of Edward's new stone
The old Robinson Gravestones before replacement
Interested in Joining the DAR?
All descendants of Edward and Eunice Robinson are eligible to join either the Daughters of
the American Revolution (DAR) or the Sons of the American Revolution (SAR). To learn the
basics on how to apply you can check the membership link on the DAR website
http://www.dar.org/natsociety or the SAR website http://www.sar.org/ or write to them at:
 |
DAR 1776 D. Street NW Washington, DC 20006 (202) 628-1776 |
SAR 1000 S. 4th Street Louisville, KY 40203 (502) 589-1776 |
If you need help with your lineage back to Edward and
Eunice please contact Robinson descendant:
Mark von Destinon
8022 E. Mi Casita
Tucson, AZ 85715-5114
vondesti@cochise.edu
Children and Volunteers Needed!
Don't let the reunion die! The Robinson Family has been gathering in August since 1910! To
keep the tradition alive we need the interest of the young people. Not only are we all
related to the first white man to permanently settle in Western Michigan, but we also are
the oldest, continuous family reunion that the Michigan State Historical Society knows of.
Volunteers are needed to help organize and set it up for next year. If you are interested
in getting involved, please contact any of the officers by phone, letter or e-mail at the
address on the other side of this announcement. Or just show up at the reunion and join in
the fun!
At the 2006 reunion our Family organization elected officers:
President: Tom Robinson
483 Adams St., P.O. Box 696
Gwinn, MI 49841-0696
(906) 346-9687
Vice President: Joe Robinson
144 Abbie S.E.
Wyoming, MI 49548
(616) 534-6505
Secretary: Barb Robinson,
2413 Westbury Rd.
Lansing, MI 48906
robinhood_11@sbcgobal.net
Treasurer: Bonnie Bergeron
1385 Hunters Run Drive
Bourbonnais, IL 60914
bonfaye@comcast.net
This is the first time since the 1960s that the Robinson Family Organization has had
elected officers. The Robinson Family has been having reunions since 1910, although that
is a span of 97 years we are only having our 89th reunion this year. Detailed records have
not been kept for all those years but it is known that during World War II (1942-1945) no
reunions were held.
Our "Family Fun" Auction
Every year at the reunion we ask family members to bring items for the family auction. It
can be something they made (a craft item, baked goods, home canned fruits, etc.) or
something of historical interest to family members (a book or a photograph), or even a
classic antique!
Everyone is asked to mark their auction donation with their name and address so the buyer can not only know the source of the treasure but can drop a note to the donor! We want to get acquainted and this gives us a chance to connect with our "cousins" after the reunion. This also helps us to raise some money for the expenses for each year's reunion.
The reunions and mailings cost us over $300 a year and this year the price of postage has gone up again!
Old Robinson Family Bibles in the Grand Rapids
Library
Many of the family have made the trek to the Grand Rapids Library over the years to see
the Rix Robinson Family Bible. The Library has 2 Robinson family Bibles, both are in their
rare books collection and they do not willingly grant access to them because of their age
and condition.
The first Bible they have is the Bible of the sister of Rix Robinson, Ruby Robinson who
married David Sherman. The Bible was published in 1843. In it Ruby meticulously recorded
the birthdates of her parents and all her siblings, as well as those of her husband's
family.
Ruby and David had no children, and we do not know who inherited the Bible from Ruby. However, in the mid 1960s the Bible was in possession of Howard Phillips, son of Ida Phillips who was the great-granddaughter of Ruby and Rix' brother Rodney. He was elderly and had no children and lived outside of New York City. So he decided to gift the Bible to the Grand Rapids Public Library and they received it about 1968.
The importance of the Bible is in the recorded births of Ruby's parents and all her brothers and sisters. Birth records for many of them do not exist other than the dates recorded in the Bible.
The second Robinson Bible at the Library is that of Lucas Robinson, brother of Rix Robinson. Lucas came with the family to Grand Haven on the schooner St. Joseph and his Bible states, "The Robinson family Landed in Grand Haven June 8th 1836."
Lucas married Delilah Shaw and the Bible records the births and marriages and deaths of their children and grandchildren. It is not known at this time who donated the Bible to the Grand Rapids Library or when it was donated.
If you visit the Grand Rapids Library today they may not allow you to see or handle either of these Bibles. But they do have a vertical file of history on the Robinson family and copies of the inscribed birth, marriage and death records from both Bibles are in that file for photocopying.
Robinsons on the Internet
A lot of information on the family can be found on the
Internet with just a little bit of searching. The following sites have interesting stories
and pictures on Uncle Rix and the family:
This site has pictures of Uncle Rix and his second wife Se-be-quay "Sippy" as
well as a biography:
http://skywalker.cochise.edu/vondesti/Robinson.htm
This is a site for Rix Robinson family researchers to ask questions and keep in touch.
http://rixrobinson.blogspot.com/
Biography of John Rix Robinson, son of Rix Robinson by his first Indian wife.
http://www.mcquivey.org/biographies/pqr/robinson_john_1826.html
Biography of Uncle Rix Robinson. This is a transcription of a speech about Rix given at
the Loutit Library in Grand Haven, Michigan: http://www.loutitlibrary.org/images/Digitization/transcripts/rykert-wilbur.pdf
The Re-dedication of Edward and Eunice's graves in Cayuga County, New York. This site
contains photographs of the re-dedication ceremony fo the graves of Edward Robinson
(Revolutionary War Veteran) and his wife Eunice. The ceremony took place in October of
2005 when the new gravestones were installed by the family association: http://www.co.cayuga.ny.us/history/memories/index.html
The treaty of 1836. Rix Robinson escorted a group of Ottawa and Chippewa Tribal elders to
Washington, D.C. to negotiate the terms of this treaty which opened all the land north of
the Grand River to settlers. http://www.tribalresourcecenter.org/ccfolder/grandtraverse_treaties.htm
This is a copy of a letter written by Rix Robinson to his
brother Dennis encouraging him to sell his home in New York and move to western Michigan.
The museum in Lowell, Michigan has a copy of the letter, but the whereabouts of the actual
original letter is unknown. Dennis was the only one of the Robinson brothers who did not
move from New York State to Michigan.
Ada, Mich, Sept. 5, 1841
Dear Brother:
I have just rec'd a line from A.D. Rathburn dated at Auburn in which he informs me that he has recently been at your house and that 3 of your children had been sick with the Scarlet fever but were then regaining their health.
I have recently been to Kalamazoo to hold a consultation with Mr. Moore and the Hon. Lucius Lyon concerning the Harvesting Machine invented by Mr. Moore. It has been completely tested last harvest and several hundred acres harvested with the two machines already constructed. It is ascertained that the machines will yield from 50 to 100 percent profit on their cost annually. We are therefore preparing and intend to construct as many more machines as possible the ensuing winter and summer so as to have them ready next harvest.
We are not visionary men nor are we mistaken in our calculations as to the profits. A machine constructed under the present situation for want of a machine shop will not cost over $600 Moore says $500. It will harvest on an average and thresh and clean 15 acres per day and all the expenses in operating it will not exceed $15.00 per day, consequently at $3.00 per acre would have a profit of $30.00 per day. Nobody however can harvest their wheat, thresh and clean it for less than $5.00 to $7.00 per acre but we ask but $3.00 per acre. A good machine will harvest on an average 300 acres during wheat which would be worth $900. and the outgoes and expenses will not exceed in all cases over $300. as by comparison of the operation of the machines this year.
I have not time or room to describe the machines. They are however operated by 12 horses and do all the work at once to lirt[sic], cut the grain, thresh and clean it at the same time. The operation is a splendid one and all the farmers on Prairie Road where they were working now acknowledge their utility and are anxious to have their wheat harvested with them next year. Let me say to you again that I am not whimsical nor are either of the other men named. We have now tested them and thoroughly estimated all costs and expenses making great allowances and the result is correctly stated above.
Now, Dennis, sell your farm as soon as possible no matter if you make a sacrifice of $2,000. in actual value. If you get prompt payment and come out immediately to me and if I do not satisfy you, then you will say you were deceived by a brother in whom you confided. Rent a comfortable place for your family and them there [sic] for the present.
A good deal has been done in closing up
the affairs of the firm of Robinson, White and Williams but there remains yet much to be
done.
Edward has been sick all the year with chill fever which is something
prevalent here. His son Nelson also sick. Both now are on the gain. My health has been
very good all summer and still continues so. The other brothers are all well and their
families.
Crops except wheat are generally very light in this country during the drought. Wheat is about average and the berries very fine. I have on the farm about 30 acres of corn and 20 acres of oats. Very fine, good for any season. Barley, potatoes and other crops, light, as good as any on the country however.
Let me hear from you soon. I should be 10 years younger immediately on hearing you had sold your farm and were coming out soon.
Yours affectionately,
Rix Robinson
New York graves dedication - October 1, 2005 -
enjoy a photo album from Barb Robinson and Willard Robinson
Read an account of the dedication from auburnpub.com [pdf]
Remarks made by Sandra Stoker Gilliand, Scipio Historian, at the Edward Robinson Dedication Ceremony
D.A.R.
Rededication Of The Edward Robinson Gravesite - photos from Cayuga Co.
website
More Rix Robinson family archives