John Darling Robbins (1865-1946)
Picture of John Darling Robbins
John Robbins, wife Harriet LaRose, daughters Mary and Leota circa 1900
Individual Facts
- Name: John Darling Robbins
- Sex: Male
- Also known as: "Grandpa Robbins"
- Birth: 10 Mar 1865, Townsend Twp, Norfolk County, Ontario, Canada
- Death: 27 Dec 1946, North Tonawanda, Niagara, New York, USA
- Burial: 31 Dec 1946
Birthplace: Townsend Twp, Norfolk County, Ontario, Canada
At John Darling Robbins’s birth on 10 Mar 1865 in Townsend Township, Norfolk County, Ontario, life was mostly rural and farm-based. Families in that part of Ontario often lived on scattered farms or in small hamlets, and daily life centered on seasonal work, livestock, crops, church, and family labor.
It was also a time of change and uncertainty. Canada had not yet become a confederated nation; that would come in 1867. In 1865, people in Ontario still lived in a British colony often called Canada West a few years earlier. Roads were rough, travel was slow, and most people depended on horses, wagons, and local markets.
Homes were modest, heating came from wood, and water had to be carried by hand. News from the American Civil War, which ended in 1865, would have been widely discussed because Norfolk County was close enough to the U.S. border for cross-border trade and awareness of events there.
(Content generated by Positron AI)
Norfolk County, Ontario, Canada
Biography
John Robbins, born March 10, 1865, in Norfolk County, Ontario, Canada, worked as a teamster and farmer in his early life. He left school after the 3rd grade. In 1911, he immigrated to Tonawanda, New York, with his wife Harriet and their four daughters, seeking to escape financial difficulties in Canada. In the United States, he worked in a steel plant and later as a millwright at Spaulding Fibre. He was known for his physical strength: he was able to bend a bottle-cap between his fingers.
Relationships
- Father: James Romela Robbins (1834-1906)
- Mother: Margaret Sevilla Broughtton (1846-1935)
- Spouse: Harriet Eliza LaRose (1869-1934)
- Child: Eva Irene Robins (1898-1993)
- Spouse: Caroline J Dean (1871-1944)
For more information
Additional resources from our family history knowledge base (books, papers, web posts, and records): For more information