This "John Robins" – the first immigrant to America to bestow his patronymic on a long line of stolid farmers and defenders of the Union – is reputed to have been a tailor from the Scottish Lowlands (or the North of England) that arrived at Elizabethtown, New Jersey, in 1664. This, at least as Zina V. Robins remembered his uncle Albert had found.1 He arrived as an indentured servant, and is recalled as being a rather short man with red hair, and as having a lively sense of humor.

If he came under obligation, he would have been expected to work off a probable 5- or 7-year indenture before becoming a freeman, able to move and find employment as he wished. One can't make the assumption that he was required to work off his indenture in Elizabethtown, but it's best to assume he stayed in New Jersey for a while.

Or he arrived in the mid-1700s, one of three brothers that separated after their arrival, one to "New England," John staying in New Jersey, and the third to South Carolina.2 The Editor is very skeptical of this version of the family's legacy because it echoes a common myth found in many families, but bow to the research of Dr. Milton Robins at least as far as including his conjecture here.

Our "John Robins(1)" of lore may, or may not have been the great-great-grandfather of John Robins(2) in our "Tree." In fact, our first American Robins may even be one Daniel Robins, described by Robins researcher, Sharon Moore, as "five feet tall, had bright blue eyes and dark brown curly hair." Sharon went on to describe a legacy very much like our John, above. "He fought against Cromwell and was captured. He was sent to the colonies as an indentured slave and sold on the auction block when he arrived here. He was Scottish, played a harp and sang."

Sharon may have tipped how a couple of family traits entered our shared Moore tree when she observed, "It seems the Robins had a reputation of being story tellers and musicians. They also seem to get into a lot scrapes. I think they were small but feisty."3

We're just starting to look into it for ourselves.

<-- back to "Biographies"

<-- back to "Robins Family Tree"

1. (0177) Robins, Zina V., "Letter," January 1847.
2. Robins, Dr. Milton, "Family History," transcript included in the Bible of Newton D. Robins, brother of Dr. Milton Robins, and written by Dr. Robins, 1 January, 1885, edited by Anne Johnson and forwarded to us by Sharon Moore, August, 2004.
3. Moore, Sharon B., "RE: Somthing for a Starter," email, 27 Aug 2004.