In the years before the drought many Kansas farmers turned their cattle to graze on that land. Silas must have known where the choicest land was located, and he probably made plans for a quick trip to that particular spot of earch. He did after the run, settle just a few miles within the territory not too far south of Caldwell.
James Robertson settled further south, in the Lamont township, where he built the first house in that city.
So, we know that Charley and Nellie were not neighbors in their new surroundings. Whether they had known each other in Caldwell will remain a mystery. But we know they did meet later on...
ROBERTSON FAMILY REUNION, AMERICAN LEGION PARK, BLACKWELL, OKLAHOMA
This photo was taken in 1936. I am certain of the date although other family members state otherwise.
My mother told me that I was an infant at the time of this reunion, therefore I am not in the picture. The woman on the extreme right is Mary Newland, wife of Uncle Jim. The small boy in front of her is her son, Jim and the toddler in her arms is my cousin, Nancy, who was born in 1935.
The two men in the center with the flowers in their lapels are the twin brothers, John Calvin Asbury Robertson on the left, and James Henry Walker Robertson on the right. The twin daughters of James are Lula Nelvie Robertson Dyas, on the left of John Calvin and Lola Nellie Robertson Newland on the right of James. The tall man with the hat behind Lola Nellie to her right is my grandfather, Charles Arthur Newland. The man on the back row on grandad Charley's left is my Uncle Jim Newland, and next to him, with only the top of his head showing (wearing the hat) is my dad, C. M. Newland. Directly in front of him with her face visible between James Henry Walker and my grandmother, Nellie, is my mother, Bernice Tate Newland.
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The Robertsons
James Henry Walker Robertson was born November 8, 1854 in Newton Co., Missouri along with his twin brother, John Calvin Asbury Robertson. They were born along Indian creek on the "old homeplace" of their grandfather, Berry Robertson, and they grew to adulthood in this same area. The neighbors of the Robertsons were the Cockrells; William Mordecai and Keziah Whitely Bishop Cockrell, and their lovely young daughter, Emma Jane.
The Robertsons descended from a long line of farmers; the Cockrells were from a family of lawyers, judges, and professional men.
Young Jim Robertson and Emma Jane Cockrell had nothing in common as far as their background was concerned; but they fell in love and were married on November 5, 1876. Almost immediately they moved with her parents to Riley, KS. and started their family. They lived for a while in Concordia and Caldwell, and then in Lamont township of Indian Territory where Jim had staked his claim in the landrun of the Cherokee Strip.
Although Jim built the first house in Lamont, a failed business venture later on resulted in the loss of that home. Emma Jane was the business end of this marriage and she kept the family together with income from her newspaper covering the Lamont and Tonkawa areas, which she owned and operated for several years serving as reporter, editor, printer, and distributor.
Jim Robertson was a handsome and charming young man, but he did not possess the ambition that his wife had. You might say that Emma was the "head" of that household; and from my memory of my great-grandfather I do not think this distinction would have bothered him at all.
He was easy-going, and something of a tease. I remember grandpa and his crooked cane. Those of us who were youngsters when he was in his nineties would beg for a chance to play with his cane. He would grin and extend it toward us, and when we reached for it, he would chase us with it. It was always the same old game with the same old outcome...but we loved it...running and screeching while our aged great-grandpa chased us, giggling like a child.
Great-grandpa James Robertson and his crooked cane.
James Henry Walker died April 27, 1949 at Tonkawa, Oklahoma.
Emma Jane Cockrell Robertson died Oct. 5, 1911. They are both buried at Lamont, Grant Co, OK.
Lamont cemetery, Lamont OK. Headstone of James H. and Emma Robertson
The parents of James Henry Walker Robertson were William Thomas Robertson and Sarah Ann Clanton.
William Thomas Robertson was born Oct. 19, 1829 in Robertson, Tennessee.
Sarah Ann Clanton was born Nov. 25, 1830 in Mouse Creek Tennessee. The date of their marriage was December 1, 1850.
