Allen James Robertson
Married January 3, 1892
John Robertson was born in South Carolina about 1785. (I use ROBERTSON as opposed to ROBERSON/ROBINSON, etc., because this spelling is correct and also to be consistent.) His parents were immigrants from Ireland who arrived in Charleston, South Carolina from Belfast in 1767.
John is our direct ancestor. He married first to Nancy Collins in 1808, Putnam Co., Georgia. Second John married Selah Pike. John and Nancy had 6 children and one was Eunice Robertson born about 1810-1812. Thomas J. married Rebecca Cleckler also in 1808, Putnam Co., Georgia and they had 11 children. One son was Mordecai who was born about 1809, Talladega Co., Alabama. Mordecai and Eunice were first cousins and they married in 1826. They raised a family of 12 children. When Eunice died, Mordecai married second to Caroline Bullock. Mordecai was appointed the first and only Probate Judge of Baker Co., Alabama by Governor William H. Smith early in 1869. Mordecai served for six years.
John's second wife, Selah Pike, was born in 1805, Edgefield Co., SC. Selah's father was John Pike who served in the War of 1812. Her grandfather was Joseph Pike and he served in the Revolutionary War from SC. John Robertson and Selah Pike were married on June 4, 1821, Walton Co., Georgia. We know that John and Selah lived in Fayette Co., Georgia in 1830 but moved to Alabama about 1837. The United States census of 1840 showed them in Coosa Co., Alabama.
John and Selah had 13 children: David, b-1822; Elisha L., b-1825; Daniel, b-1827; Martha A., b-1829; Jane, b-1831; Sarah, b-1832; Polly, b-1835; Minerva, b-1837; Martin VanBuren, b-1838; Pryor N., b-1840; George W., b-1842; Newton, b-1844, and James F., b-1848. My great-grandfather was Martin VanBuren Robertson born June 13, 1838. Gratefully for this writer, his name was shortened to Van!
Van married Mary Jane Smith on October 18, 1858 in Talladega Co., Alabama. Mary was born August 2, 1837 and was the daughter of Anderson and Levicy (Laripa) Smith. Mary Jane Smith was one-half Cherokee Indian. Her mother, Levicy, b-1806, was full blood Cherokee Indian from Georgia. Levicy married Anderson Smith, b-1804, in Georgia. They were married about 1828. We knew little about Levicy but in the year 2007 received very interesting data regarding Levicy and her family. See The Smith Family story for the research and data we finally found. We had been told Anderson's wife's name was Laripa but that name was corrected. Her given name was actually Levicy.)
On November 17, 1863 Van enlisted in the Confederate Army and was assigned to the 61st Alabama Infantry Company F. On July 18, 1864 Van was wounded at the battle of Snickers Gap in Virginia. While recovering from his wounds he contacted measles which resulted in his loss of hearing and other problems that affected him for the rest of his life. Van was paroled from active duty on May 18, 1865 in Montogomery, Alabama. The 1880 census showed that the family still lived in Coosa Co. Van and Mary Jane had 6 daughters and 5 sons: Louisa Samantha, b-1857; Minerva Ellen, b-1860; Susan Savannah, b-1863; Martha Jane, b-1867; Mary E., b-1868; George W., b-1870; Prior Nabors, b-1872; Allen James, b-1873; William Sanford, b-1876; Sarah Priscilla, b-1877 and Ezekiel Porter, b-1880. Most of these children go by or changed their surname to Robinson/Robison/Robeson.
My grandfather was Allen James Robertson born March 2, 1873. Sometime around 1888 or 1889, the Robertson family moved to Faulkner Co., Arkansas and it was in this area that Van and Mary Jane spent their last days. On December 27, 1915, Van died.
Allen James married Margaret Elizabeth Polk on January 3, 1892 in Mt. Vernon, Arkansas where he died January 26, 1940 from adult diabetes. My grandmother, Lizzy, was born June 26, 1874 in Dover, Arkansas and died December 23, 1955 in Cairo, Illinois. Margaret Elizabeth was the daughter of John O. Polk whose ancestors have been traced back to Robert Bruce Pollock from about 1625 in Donagal, Ireland. John O. Polk was born June 26, 1851 and married Rebecca Jane McKinney in Pope City, Arkansas on September 25, 1873.
Allen and Lizzy produced eleven children: John, b-1893, d-1918; Warren, b-1894, d-1970; Bertha, b-1898, d-1978; James "Doc", b-1900, d-1969; Wilson, b-1903, d-1994; Etta, b-1905, d-1985; Frances, b-1907, d-1987; Virginia, b-1909, d-1998; Leona, b-1911, d-1968; Ozcella, b-1913, d-1974; Jesse, b-1915, d-1985. My mother was Leona born November 23, 1911. She married my father, John Cecil McCulley in 1930.
During a holiday to South Carolina we were able to find more facts about the Robertson family. Of note, William and his brother John who left Ireland and arrived in South Carolina in 1767. After their arrival, they went to Edgefield, SC where each were given land and each, in time, became very wealthy. Their Wills detail land holdings, respective wives and children. William and his wife, Nancy, had several children one of whom was William who married Elizabeth Boggs. William and Elizabeth had at least 5 children among whom were Thomas J. and John. I mention these because they were the only two we are directly related.
(Two daughters of Allen James and Margaret Elizabeth - sisters of Ida Leona Robinson.)
George W. left Arkansas soon after Van died in 1915 moving to Commerce, Texas. He took Mamie Mae with him. Mamie went to Arkansas for a visit in the early 1920s and received word while there that Uncle George died of stomach cancer.
Clare Elizabeth, daughter of Prior and Maggie, married Victor Brewer, grandson of Minerva Robinson who was the daughter of Van and Mary. Clara and her husband came down with TB at the same time and died in about 1948. Their daughter, Hazel who had recently married, took all her 6 siblings raising them until they went off on their own.
Soon after the death of her parents, Prior and Maggie, Mary Pearl married Bob Beene so that she could raise her baby sister, Opal. Opal stayed with Pearl but moved to Texas when she was 21 and lived there with her sister Mamie until she married in 1941 to James Herman.
