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History of the
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Oscar Clifton Robbins (1876-1959) Grace Gertrude Foulke (1880-1964) |
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| Oscar and Grace began their married life on 14 September 1910 in
Hamilton County, Indiana. Their wedding was a double wedding with
Grace's sister Sarah and Robert E. Ross getting married on the same
day. Although no records have been found to support it I would
venture a guess and say that the marriages probably took place in
the home of the George Foulke Farm on present day 236th street about
5 miles west of Cicero. The union of Oscar and Grace lasted until
Feb 1959 at the death of Oscar and Sarah was widowed in Aug 1964.
Oscar Clifton Robbins was born 9 Feb 1876 in Hamilton County, Indiana to Isaac and Keziah Tomlinson Robbins. He was the second of three sons and one daughter. His brother Christopher Columbus had been born in 1874. Brother William came along in 1879 and sister Elizabeth May "Lizzie" was born in 1882. All the children were born in Hamilton County. The family mostly lived on rented farms or houses. Isaac always listed his occupation as farmer on the census records. The family also cut wood for income as well and this was probably the source of most of their income. According to my father Oscar and Christopher played their musical instruments at barn dances in Westfield before 1910 sometime. Oscar played his violin and Christopher his guitar. I remember seeing the violin in the upstairs of Grandpa's farm home when I was a youth. Both instruments are in the possession of the youngest daughter of Myron Foulke Robbins. Dad said he never heard his father play but remembers seeing the violin often as a youth. Oscar was always considered a farmer during his lifetime but in his younger years before he was married he had been a woodcutter as was his father and brother. He also worked as a bridge builder. Grandpa was a big man and very strong so he could carry the timbers used in building the bridges and he also manned the wheelbarrows hauling concrete int he building process. Christopher went on to marry Ethel Beatrice Lamb in July 1916 in Hamilton County. The 1920 Census finds them on a farm in Lagrange County, Indiana. In 1931 in the obituary for his mother he was living near Oaklandon, in Marion County, Indiana. Christopher and Ethel had gotten a divorce sometime between 1920 and 1940 because Christopher was shown to be "Divorced" on the 1940 census. Chris died on 12 Oct 1946 and is buried at Crownland Cemetery in Noblesville in an unmarked grave, having been a resident of the county home at the time of his death. Dad had fond memories of Uncle Chris and remembers the family making a trip to northern Indiana to visit with Chris and Ethel. He did not have fond memories of Ethel. Chris was a carpenter and he had a large red wooden toolbox that was given to Dad at some point. I remember the box being full of tools and there were places for each tool and the tools were locked in place inside the box. I don't know what happened to the tool box but I still have some of the tools that were inside. According to Dad, Chris was the caretaker of a park in Noblesville once he returned to Hamilton County after his divorce. I am sure I saw Uncle Chris but I was not yet 2 years old when he passe away. William died in a horrible farm accident on 23 July 1900. I remember grandpa Oscar and I sitting under a tree out in a field and he telling me about the accident and how bad he felt about the whole incident. My father said that grandpa always blamed himself for the accident and not being able to save his younger brother. His obituary stated: " TERRIBLY MANGLED - William Robbins, Living Near Horton, Meets a Horrible Death - William Robbins, a farmer living near Hortonville, was killed in the harvest field on the farm of the Hon. Thomas J. Lindley, by being caught in a binder while cutting oats, Monday afternoon. He was stooping over the binder attempting to make some repairs on the machine, when the horses started, throwing him directly in front of the sickle bar. One leg and one arm were cut off before he was rescued from his awful position. He died while being conveyed to his home". Even after more than 50 years grandpa was heart-sick when he talked about his little brother. He felt like he should have been there holding the horses but he was doing something else at the time. Lizzie married James H. Mollenkoph on 16 Feb 1910, and they lived in northern Hamilton County. Dad always said the kids really enjoyed going to visit with Aunt Lizzie and Uncle Jim. They were both so nice and treated the kids special. They had a player piano which they let the kids play. Uncle Jim was not a very good driver and had a time with them. Dad related the following story about Uncle Jim: "Dad stated that James and Lizzie got a new car and instead of it having 3 pedals it had 2 pedals and a gear shift and James was not able to get it to stop where he wanted it to. He would open the doors on either end of his corn crib and drive his car around in circles through the corn crib trying to get it stopped inside the corn crib but was rarely successful. Usually Lizzie had to park it for him". Lizzie and Jim lived on a big farm that is not under water by one of the resovoirs in Northern Hamilton County. Jim died on 25 Feb 1937 and Lizzie died on 22 Nov 1961. They are both buried in the Oaklandon Cemetery, Marion County, Indiana. They never had any children. I remember our family visiting Aunt Lizzie when she was living in what I thougt was a nursing home in Indianapolis. I remember it being a big house and kind of dark and gloomy. Dad said that she did not live in a nursing home but was an employee in a nursing facility of some kind. Anyway, we visite her quite often. I was alos a pall bearer at her funeral. Grace Gertrude Foulke was born on 3 Feb 1880 in Hamilton County, Indiana to George and Mary Frances Underwood Foulke. She was the oldest of 4 girls and 1 son born to George and Mary. Also in the household was Grace's older step-brother Jesse Alvin, the son of George and his first wife Narcissa Wilson who had died 30 June 1877 and is buried in Hinkle Creek Cemetery in Hamilton County. Her siblings were Carrie born 30 dec 1881, Alice born 30 Oct 1833, Sarah born 13 March 1886 and Arthur born 19 Jan 1894. Her step-brother, Jesse Alvin, had been born 6 Nov 1876 and was 7 months and 24 days old when his mother died. Grace attended Bakers Corner school and graduated from the 8th grade there in about 1899. She went on to graduate from Boxley High School in 1901. She then attended Ashbury College (Now DePauw University) during the 1901-1902 School year. She was in the college of Liberal Arts and had completed 4 courses by May of 1902. According to Dad she was studying to be a teacher. Also, in 1904, she reportedly attended the St. Louis World's Fair. I have a souvenir sea shell with a St. Louis World's Fair date and photo - it is a sea shell mounted on a metal stand. It was given to me by my parents and they said it had belonged to Grandma Grace. Grace also knew how to play the piano and I remember Aunt Ina telling me that Grandma had taught her how to play. There was always a piano in the house when I was a youth. I remember one time that Grandpa nailed the lid shut on the keys to keep the grandkids from banging on it. In the 1910 Census (April) Oscar and his mother were living with Christopher in Wayne Township, Hamilton County and Oscar was listed as a 34 year old single farm laborer. In that same year Grace was living with her parents and was listed as a 30 year old single daughter. Their first child, Myron Foulke was born on 26 August 1911 in Hamilton County. Ina Marie followed on 21 Dec 1913 and her birth place is shown to be Fishers, Hamilton County. Mary Kathryn was born on 3 Feb 1916 also in Hamilton County. Oscar was described as "white, native born, tall, stout, gray eyes and brown hair" on 12 September 1918 when he filled out the World War 1 Draft registration card in Indianapolis. Oscar never served in the military. He stated his address was Rt 2, Fortville in Hancock County. My father was born on 19 March 1918 and his birth records state he was born in Hamilton County and they were living about 6 miles west of Fortville in Fall Creek Twp, Hamilton Co, at the time. In the Jan 1920 Census the family, consisting of Oscar, Grace, Myron, Ina, Mary and Walter were living in Harrison Township, Henry County on a farm near Cadiz. On 26 July of that year Sarah Esther was born. Somewhere around 1923 the house on the Cadiz farm burned. According to Dad the fire started in the smokehouse when a ham had fallen into the fire. The fire quickly spread to the main house and it was a total loss. Dad remembered that men from Cadiz came to help but could not save the house but they did manage to save some of their clothes and other household furniture by throwing things out the windows. The family then had to move into a building that had once been a Chicken House but had been fixed up for living this was on the Scott Farm. They then moved the the Shirley Farm which they rented from a banker. The family built a silo while living here. At some point the family moved back to the Cadiz Farm. Oscar had purchased an old house, cut it in two pieces and hauled it to the farm. He then put it back together and finished it and prepared it for living. Son Orris Milton was born on 28 Apr 1926 in Harrison Township, Henry County. By 1930 the family was living in Jackson Township, Hamilton County, Indiana on the George Foulke Farm. Due to the Depression Oscar and Grace had lost the Cadiz farm to the bank and had moved to the George Foulke Farm to live and run the farm for Mary Frances. Oscar, Grace and the kids lived in the big house and Mary Frances lived in the smaller house which was east of the main house. The 1930 U.S. Census shows the following members of the household: Oscar, Grace, Myron, Ina, Mary, Walter, Esther, Milton and Frances Foulke. Grandpa: I remember that he had these large metal coffee cans sat around the house where he would be and they had newspapers in the bottom. He would spit into them because he had a chronic cough and would spit the phlegm in the cans. I also remember him using his straight razor and how he would strop it on this long leather belt-like thing that hung on the wall near the bathroom. I have the razor in my possession, my dad had saved it when they cleaned out the house after Grandpa had died. I also remember that he was a grouchy old man most of the time it seemed. By the time I was old enough to know anything my grandparents were quite old - they had not gotten married until they were in their thirties. Grandpa always seemed to like me and when we would be out in a field or something waiting on Dad he would tell me stories. I wish I could remember them all now, how precious they would be. Grace is pictured in the family group photo taken about 1885, she is standing to the left of her father. |
| Further information for Oscar and Grece please see these Web Pages: - RobbHaas Family Page (Contains Timelines, Sources, Photos) - MRM Page (Contains the latest and up-to-date data with Sources but no Photos) - FamilySearch Profile for ??? - FamilySearch Profile for ??? |
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Updated 09 January, 2018
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