William Robe (abt. 1719 - 1803)

Born about 1719 in Scotland [uncertain]

Ancestors

Descendants

Died 13 Feb 1803 at about age 84 in Laurel Run, Monongalia, Virginia, United States

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Biography

In 1775, William Robe recorded his settlement of 1400 acres in Monongalia County, Virginia on Laurel Run, a branch of Booth's Creek.^[1]

"...William and Sarah Robe were of Scotch descent. He was educated for a Presbyterian minister, but in consequence of an impediment in his speech he never preached. He lived many years near Morgantown, Virginia, where he was a ruling elder in the Morgantown church for many years. He lived to be 84 years old. In his old days he was very deaf. I have heard it said, that he would go up into the pulpit and stand close to the preacher so he could hear him. He died about the year 1801 or 2. His wife died one year later. He lived many years at Morgantown, Va., where he raised his family. I believe there were seven children, five boys and two girls." (Sarah Robe, William Robe's great-granddaughter)^[2]

William apparently died of foul play. "I have heard it said that great-grandfather (William Robe) was found dead with a nail drove through his temple. A quote from Judges 4 Chapter & 21st verse: 'Then Jael Heber's wife took a nail of the tent, and took an hammer in her hand, and went softly unto him, and smote the nail into his temples, and fastened it into the ground: for he was fast asleep and weary. So he died.'" ^[2]

"All the old Robe family were buried on the Robe farm about three miles back from Uffington, W. Va. Present owner, J.A. Bucy, Woodland Dairy, Uffington, W. Va."^[3] Margaret Robe Summitt visited this cemetery location 26 Aug 2006 accompanied by Ronald Leon Robe. It is not as far as 3 miles from Uffington. It is located south of Hornbeck Road near the interchange of I-68 and I-79. The Bucy family has sold the 160 acres to a developer and the fate of the cemetery is uncertain. There are about 15 graves in two rows. The only readable stones are those of Sarah Elizabeth Robe (eldest child of Robert) and Ann Robe (youngest child of Robert).

William Robe's will was dated 3 March 1801.^[4]

The ROBB DNA Project includes the yDNA results of Stanley Linn Robe and Robert Carl Robe. These were determined to be I2b (or I-M223 in the most recent nomenclature). This haplotype is unusual for any Brit of Scottish background. According to John B. Robb, their male ancestors came to Britain from what is now northwestern Germany or the Jutland Peninsula (Denmark). It is probable, according to Mr. Robb, that the common progenitor sailed directly to the area where Aberdeen now is and settled there. This would have been between 300 B.C. and the Incarnation of Our Lord. ^[5]

Sources

1. ↑ History of Monongalia County, pg. 87
2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1} "Descendants of Mary Elizabeth Currey Barker and John Baldwin," comp. by Carey Ross Alexander, 94 Grange Hall Road, Dayton, OH 45430 (513) 426-3614. Salt Lake FHLC film #1035723, item 3.
3. ↑ Emma Eliza Laughlin notes from a trip to Monongalia Co. in 1938
4. ↑ "William Robe, Sr. Will" Monongalia Co., VA; proved April 1803. Monongalia County Deed Book, Old Series, Volume 4, page 74 (LDS film #840573); also in Monongalia County Will Book, Volume 1, page 325.
5. ↑ www.johnbrobb.com

• Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/17120524/william-robe : accessed 27 August 2021), memorial page for William Robe Sr. (1719–3 Feb 1803), Find A Grave: Memorial #17120524, citing Old Robe Farm Cemetery, Ringgold, Monongalia County, West Virginia, USA ; Maintained by Ron Robe (contributor 46881070) .