Warren County OhArchives Biographies.....Robertson, Sylvester H. & Son George J. September 26, 1830 - February 9, 1896
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Greg Robertson gregory.robertson@verizon.net February 5, 2006, 7:28 pm

Author: Sylvester H. & George J. Robertson

A BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF THE LIFE AND ACTIVITIES OF SYLVESTER H. ROBERTSON, OF HIS 
ANCESTORS AND HIS SON GEORGE J. ROBERTSON
(Sylvester H. Robertson was born in Warren County, Ohio in 1806.)

This biographical sketch relating to S.H. Robertson and ancestors was written by Mr.
Robertson when 
he was nearing the end of his life. Much of the information was gained in his young
manhood from his 
grandmother and his father but was not recorded until near the time of his death,
which occurred in 
1895, and I, George J. Robertson, son of S. H., am rewriting his biography, adding
some things of 
interest that he omitted and in addition will write a sketch of my own life and add
thereto with the hope 
that some of my grandsons will continue this family sketch, taking it up where I lay
it down.

S. H. Robertson, as he was commonly known, was an early settler and educator of
Harrison Township, 
Boone County, Indiana, and was of Puritan descent. His forefathers came to America
in the early history 
of the 17th century with the Pilgrim Fathers and settled in Massachusetts -- later
the family name 
appears in Virginia. His great great grandfather was speaker of the Colonial House
of Representatives of 
that state. His name was Beverley ROBERTSON [ROBINSON]. Ezra ROBERTSON [ROBINSON],
the 
grandfather of S. H. Robertson, was a son of David ROBERTSON [ROBINSON], who was
born in Maryland 
on his father's farm and was married to Elizabeth TROTTER, who with her brother had
recently arrived 
from England. To this union the following children were born: Elizabeth, David, John
T., William, 
Hannah, Benjamin J., and Delilah, all of whom lived to rear families of their own.

Ezra and Elizabeth ROBERTSON [ROBINSON] were members of the Baptist church and moved
to Ohio in 
1794, settling in Warren County where they owned a large, well-improved farm on
which they made 
their home. They also owned a second farm of less dimension. In addition to
operating these farms, 
Ezra also transported merchandise from Cincinnati to the various dealers in his
vicinity. Ezra died 
suddenly while in charge of a sugar camp [he had sugar maples on his farm]. He sent
his sons home on 
an errand, and on their return to camp found him dead sitting at the foot of a tree
with his hand on the 
bucket he had been carrying -- he was thought to have died of apoplexy.

Ezra was a Jeffersonian Democrat, took great interest in school and church work, and
was highly 
esteemed by all who knew him. Elizabeth, the widow of Ezra, survived him by many
years and died at 
the age of eighty-five.

Benjamin J., the sixth child of Ezra and Elizabeth and the father of S. H.
ROBERTSON, was born in 
Warren County, Ohio, December 10, 1806, on his father's farm near Fort Ancient. He
worked on this 
farm until his father's death and after that for his mother Elizabeth. During this
time Benjamin J. 
married Mary MASTERSON (date of marriage unknown to writer). Miss Masterson was a
native of 
Kentucky and was born on December 10, 1808. She was of English parentage (two of her
uncles were 
members of King George's Life Guards). Her parents' names were Moses MASTERSON and
Kysander 
[Cassandra?] (VILLIERS) Masterson. They were planters but not slave holders.

The children born to Benjamin and Mary ROBERTSON [ROBINSON] were as follows:
Sylvester H. born September 26, 1830; John T., December 13, 1832; Elizabeth A.,
December
16, 1834; Delilah F., December 30, 1836; William J., February 2, 1839; Duncan G.,
March
28, 1841; Susan C., July 5, 1843; and Ara F., September 2, 1845.

Sylvester H. was born and reared on his grandfather's (Ezra Robertson) farm in Ohio
until the family 
moved to Bartholomew County, Indiana, March 17, 1840. The family resided on the farm
belonging to 
his uncle. Two years later they bought a farm and moved on to it. In March,1847,
Mary, the mother of 
Sylvester, was called by death, leaving a husband and eight children. 

At a later date unknown to the writer, Benjamin J. ROBERTSON [ROBINSON] remarried,
marrying 
Catherine CRITSER, of German descent, daughter of William and Hannah CRITSER, a
wealthy farmer, 
miller, and mill right. To this union two children were born: Mary F. and Emma. In
1866 Benjamin J. 
ROBERTSON [ROBINSON], his wife and two daughters, moved to St. Genevieve County
Missouri. Here 
they bought 270 acres of farm land moderately improved, and here both he and his
wife died at the 
same time, and their daughter Emma was burned to death by her clothing becoming
ignited at an 
outdoor fire. Benjamin J. ROBERTSON [ROBINSON] was first a Jefferson and later a
Douglas Democrat. 
Mr. Robertson was a well-educated man, an intelligent farmer, a good neighbor, and
highly
respected by all who knew him.

Sylvester H. ROBERTSON, son of Benjamin J., was denied the privilege of school until
he was ten years of 
age. Much of his education was obtained at home, studying by the light of a
fireplace, and he worked 
about the neighborhood at $8 per month to obtain funds to attend high school and
later college. At the 
age of 20 he taught his first school and received $40 for a term of sixty-five days.
For the next two 
terms he received one dollar per day. At the expiration of the last term, he engaged
in the milling 
business for two years then resumed teaching and taught thirty-three terms in
succession.

The writer [George J.], when a mere child, visited the village of Liston, Hendricks
County, Indiana, with 
his father, S. H. Robertson, and recalls that he stated in a conversation that he
had travelled over the 
old state highway running through Liston, in his youth, to college and that the
highway was built largely 
of logs and poles. The stage coach was a cumbersome affair with seasoned ash poles
for springs. At a 
later date, the writer recalls hearing his father state that at one of the schools
where he taught in 
Bartholomew County, Indiana, he had but one English-speaking scholar. The remainder
were Germans. 
English was spoken only in recitations. The exception was a boy named Holman. Nearly
50 years later 
the writer was travelling in the north east part of Missouri, frequently stopping at
a hotel in Edina, Knox 
County, and there became acquainted with the district judge whose name was Holman.
In a 
conversation with him, Ilearned that he originally resided in Bartholomew County,
Indiana. I told him of 
my father being a pioneer teacher in that county and that in one of his schools he
had but one English-
speaking scholar. The judge immediately asked my father's name, and when I told him,
he informed me
that he knew my father and that he was the one English-speaking scholar.

Mr. Robertson's [S. H.] first school was taught in Bartholomew County, Indiana, in a
log cabin 16x20', 
with a log cut out on one side and glass instered to give light in the room. When
the glass was broken, 
paper was used instead of glass. For seats, logs were split in halves, the flat
surface smoothed, holes 
bored on the other side, and wooden pins driven for legs. For a writing desk, a
poplar tree was split 
into slabs, smoothed down on the upper surface, and fastened to the wall, the
children standing while 
practicing writing.

Mr. Robertson made hundreds of goose quill pens for his own use and used them until
his death. Mr 
Robertson was first married March 21, 1852, to Elizabeth Robertson, a distant
relative and daughter of 
Ezra and Mary (Yeley) Robertson. The Yeleys were of German descent and came from
Pennsylvania. 
They were substantial farmers of Bartholomew County, Indiana. The children born to
S. H. and Elizabeth 
were as follows: Addison Shepherd, born April 5, 1854; Mary Delilah, March 21, 1859.
Mary D. died 
April 22, 1860. Elizabeth, the mother of these children, died April 24, 1859.
Elizabeth Robertson was a 
member of the Christian Church, a fine musician both vocal and instrumental. She
took a great delight 
in Church and home music, was highly esteemed by all who knew her.

Mr. Robertson's second marriage took place December 17, 1860, to Mary Elizabeth
PIERSON, daughter 
of Wesley P. and Martha (GALLOWAY [death record indicates GALLAY]) PIERSON. W. P.
PIERSON, the 
father of Mary E., was an intelligent and successful farmer. In politics he was an
old-line whig, but 
owing to slavery and things growing out of the Civil War, he transferred his
allegiance to the Republican 
Party. Mr. and Mrs. Pierson were members of old and established families of Kentucky
and were highly 
respected. 

W. P. and Elizabeth PIERSON made the trip from their home in Kentucky to New
Brunswick, Indiana, on 
horse back in 1840, passing through Indianapolis when it was yet a log cabin
village. Both W. P. and 
Elizabeth were devout members of the Methodist Church. Wesley P. was a class leader
in his church 
over a long period of years and died at his home in Winfield, Kansas, at the age of
85. His wife died 
about 1856, leaving him with a family of seven children.

To the marriage of Sylvester H. and Mary E. ROBERTSON were born nine children in the
following order: 
George Jefferson, born September 4, 1861; Martha Ann, October 31, 1863; Laura A.,
November 1, 
1865; William Gritten, June 24, 1867; Oliver Preston Morton, November 11, 1869; Lucy
Jane, April 22, 
1871; David Albert, June 26, 1873; Ira Huston, March 26, 1878; Arthur Burton, March
19, 1883. Of the 
above, Laura A. died September 12, 1866, and Lucy Jane, September 5, 1878. The
surviving were given 
a good education. 

In 1862 Mr. Robertson purchased 22 1/2 acres, a portion of an estate situated south
of the village of 
New Brunswick, Boone County, Indiana. He later purchased the remainder of the estate
and added 
thereto until, at his death in 1895, he acquired 100 acres of highly improved land,
substantial 
buildings, and other improvements.

In politics Mr. Robertson was a Republican. His neighbors once elected him Justice
of the Peace, very 
much to his displeasure, and before he could get his resignation to take effect, he
had to try a civil case 
and perform a marriage ceremony. He never cared for public office and quit teaching
about 1877 and 
devoted his time thereafter to the development of his farm.

Sylvester H. ROBERTSON began keeping a record of his activities and that of his
immediate family in the 
year 1858. Each evening before retiring, it was his custom to enter in his diary the
doings of the day. 
This record he kept up religiously, the condition of the weather, snow, rain, sleet,
storms, and etc., 
national happenings as well as local, duly recorded. This record was kept up until
his death which 
occurred in 1895. [Death certificate indicates 9 February 1896.]

The widow, Mary E. ROBERTSON, with the help of her son Ira, continued to operate the
farm 
successfully until her death, which occurred in 1918. [Both Sylvester H. and Mary E.
Robertson are 
buried in Poplar Grove Cemetery, Harrison Township, Boone County, IN.] Both Mr. and
Mrs. Robertson 
were earnest members of the Christian Church and commanded the love and esteem of
all who knew 
them.

George J. ROBERTSON, the eldest child of S. H. and Mary E. Robertson, was born near
Lebanon, Indiana, 
September 4, 1861. When one year old, the family moved on their own farm one mile
south of New 
Brunswick, Indiana. 

The subject of this sketch was reared on his father's farm, where he was thoroughly
grounded in 
farming, brick making, and the manufacture of drainage tile. He was given a thorough
and practical 
training in each. On this farm there was a large shop well-stocked with carpenter
tools, and each child, 
as it grew up, was well-trained in the use and care of tools. There was also on the
farm a large and 
well-equipped plant for the manufacturing of brick and drainage tile.

In January, 1882, the subject of this sketch [George J.] purchased a one-third
interest in the 
manufacturing plant, but after operating it for two years was compelled to dispose
of his interest on 
account of ill health and then turned to farming, continuing in this wok until
August, 1886, when ill 
health again overtook him.

George J. ROBERTSON and Phoebe J. ROBBINS were married January 2, 1882 [1883
according to 
marriage certificate]. Miss was a daughter of William T. and Martha (WHITE) ROBBINS
of Forsyth County, 
North Carolina. William Teague ROBBINS was born July 15, 1825. Martha Jane ROBBINS
was born 
December 12, 1836. William T. ROBBINS died April 12, 1900; Martha J. (WHITE) ROBBINS
died June 25, 
1875. To this couple were born seven children as follows: Andrew Jackson, born March
4, 1857; 
Hezekiah Alexander, February 8, 1859; George Washington, July 27, 1862; Phoebe Jane,
January 24, 
1864; Mary Belle, September 10, 1867; Charles Douglas, March 20, 1870; and Sarah
Ellen, August 1,
1872.

William T. ROBBINS was the son of Daniel ROBBINS, a Baptist minister, and reared in
Forsythe County, 
North Carolina, and by middle age had amassed a considerable fortune. Unfortunately
the Civil War 
broke out at that time and Mr. Robbins, being opposed to both slavery and secession,
was forced to 
work for the Confederate Government for a wage that could not pay for a woman helper
to care for an 
invalid wife. At the end of the war, through no fault of his own, his comfortable
fortune had been 
practically dissipated. At one time he was forced to face a court-martial.
Fortunately Mr. Robbins was a 
Mason and recognized one of the officers. Knowing him to be a Mason, he made himself
known to the 
officer and was released.

Mr. Robbins and his children moved to North Salem, Hendricks County, Indiana, in the
year 1876, 
where he purchased a farm and again acquired a considerable estate before he died.
Mr Robbins was a 
member of the Baptist church, a freelance in politics, and highly [esteemed by those
who knew him. 
(bottom line of copy cut off)]

Of the seven children Mr. Robbins brought to Indiana with him, all lived to
maturity. The youngest child, 
Sarah Ellen, married Samual Lewis Shank, who was twice Mayor of the City of
Indianapolis, Indiana. 
Sarah died February 1, 1936? [illegible in my copy]. Mary Belle died March 11, 1940,
while visiting at 
the home of her sister, Phoebe Robertson, in Altadena, California. At this date [ca
1941] three of the 
seven children are still living: Andrew J., George W., and Phoebe J.

In August, 1886, the subject of this sketch was again in ill health, and, having had
several 
hemorrhages, moved to western Kansas with the hope of finding renewed health. He and
family settled 
in Greely County, Kansas, where they acquired 480 acres of fine land, fertile and
all one could wish for 
except that the rainfall was not sufficient to mature a crop only about one year in
three. We plowed a 
considerable acreage and farmed it three years. The two first crops dried up before
maturity, and the 
third crop was hailed out in June.

When we landed in Western Kansas, we found a full-fledged County Seat fight in the
making, and in 
November, the day before the election, I was selected to guard the voting place in
our precinct. The 
Governor had appointed a temporary set of officers and designated a temporary county
seat. The 
election was to determine a permanent county seat and permanent officers, and a very
determined fight 
for supremacy was on, and the guarding of the polling place was very necessary to
prevent persons not 
appointed by the Governor getting control. I took a neighbor and repaired to the
polling place just after 
dark and locked the door and blinded the windows. It was a raw, chilly night, and,
neither a stove or 
fuel in the house, sleep was out of the question. We were not disturbed until three
the next morning 
when 14 armed men tried the door, found it locked, and demanded admission. 

I advised them there was no stove in the house and that it was guarded by a posse of
Deputy Sheriffs 
with orders from the Governor to prevent anyone from coming in until the regularly
appointed board 
arrived. They made several attempts to gain admission during the early morning, but
we succeeded in 
holding them off until the election board arrived, and when we opened the door for
the Board to enter, 
and they
discovered there were but two of us guarding the building, they were furious and
said it was the
most colossal bluff they ever saw worked. I was one of the candidates up for
election -- our
side won handsomely. I served two years and resigned when I decided to leave the
state.
When I came to Kansas, we stopped in Harper City and outfitted for the remainder of
the trip.
We purchased a new wagon and a fine team of Texas steers and drove three hundred
miles to
Greely County. We averaged twenty-five miles per day and attracted a great deal of
attention
enroute.
We left Greely County, Kansas, in November, 1889, for North East Missouri, drove a
team of
horses and wagon, covering a distance of 700 miles. We were six weeks making the
trip, being
delayed by bad weather. We stopped in Adair County, Missouri. We were more
fortunate
here. We farmed, made and laid brick, built houses and barns, and succeeded in
making more
than a living. My three years in Kansas had completely restored my health. We
remained in
Missouri eleven years when my old enemy again attacked me (hemorrhages).

In November, 1900, I and a neighbor, Albert Kennoyer, drove a team and spring wagon
to central 
Oklahoma, landing there in early December. I immediately took up carpentry, doing
quite well. I 
arranged for the sale of our Missouri home and had my family come to Oklahoma. We
located in 
Edmond, Oklahoma, the home of one of the State Normal Colleges. I placed my two
children in college 
at once. 

Our children were both born in Indiana. Carl Roscoe, born September 30, 1883, and
Flo May, May 25 
1885. My daughter, after finishing at the Normal, entered Draughon's Business
College and graduated 
therefrom in 1908 and in July of that year went to Indianapolis, Indiana, as
Stenographer and 
bookkeeper for her uncle and aunt, Samuel L. and Sarah Shank. Shank was shortly
after elected Mayor 
of Indianapolis, serving two terms. 

My daughter was his private stenographer the first term and private secretary the
second term. She was 
married to Harry H. Peckmann, May 28, 1914.  Harry H. Peckmann is a son of Edward
Peckmann. His 
grandfather Peckmann was a Captain in the German Imperial Army. His mother was
Carrie Lederer, also 
of German parentage.

Carl Roscoe ROBERTSON, son of the writer, born September 30, 1883, was married while
we were living 
in Oklahoma City, December 22, 1907, to Jennie Berkstresser, a daughter of Henry and
Martha 
Berkstresser of Edmond, Oklahoma. [IGI records (1988) indicate that Jennie's parents
were William 
Henry and Rosa/Rosie (Marple) Berkstresser.]

In June, 1908, being rather at loose ends and not knowing what to do, we finally
enlisted in the U. S. 
Indian Service and were assigned positions in Arizona--wife as head of Culinary
Department in a 
Boarding school located at Parker, Arizona, and I as head of the Carpenter's
Department at Fort Mojave, 
Arizona. Through an oversight by the Indian Bureau we were assigned work in
different schools and 
was 18 month getting this straightened out and assigned work in the same school.
This school was at 
Tructon Canyon, Arizona. Nine months later we were both transferred to Shiprock, New
Mexico, where 
we remained for four and one-half years.

It was during our stay at Shiprock that we had an uprising among the Indians. It was
reported that a 
certain Indian on one of the Navajo Reservations had three wives. The Indian office
being desirous of 
breaking up plural marriages, had the case investigated. Finding the report to be
true, two of the 
women were ordered brought to the Shiprock Agency and detained there until the
matter could be 
thrashed out. The husband of the women gathered up a number of his friends, watched
for an 
opportunity to get the women away, and, learning that on a certain day the
Superintendent and the 
Police force would all be away from the Agency, decided to make their raid. 

The Chief Clerk and myself intercepted them and attempted to talk them into waiting
for the trial, but 
they were on horseback and heavily armed -- they politely asked us to get out of the
way as they were 
going in. In the meantime, three more employees came to our assistance, whereupon
the Indians, being 
lined up in two columns, the ones in the rear began whipping the front column,
running us down with 
their horses. Fortunately, no one was seriously hurt.

The Indians then decided to come back and shoot up the School and Agency.
Fortunately we had been 
able to contact the Superintendent, who gathered up a posse of U. S. Marshalls and
Deputy Sheriffs, all 
heavily armed, and rushed them to the Agency. The Indians learned that the posse was
on the way and 
hurriedly crossed the river and went out on the top of Round Mountain, where they
stayed for a month, 
threatening us, and we employees had to stand guard day and night for a month,
carrying a 30-30 
caliber rifle and automatic pistols until the Government got around to sending a
company of soldiers to 
settle the Indians.

In June, 1914, we were transferred to the Albuquerque Indian School -- wife as small
boys' matron and 
I as Superintendent of Industries. We remained here for five years and enjoyed the
work very much. We 
were then transferred to the Martinet Indian Agency in the Coachella Valley,
California, in July, 1919. 
This transfer was a promotion for me but necessitated my wife resigning to assist me
in my work. Up to 
this time I had done only school work, but my work in the Valley was that of a
Sub-Agent and had to do 
with the handling of the adult Indians, so many of whom were inclined to be
troublesome. In the spring
of 1920, it became necessary to arrest an Indian for assaulting his sister-in-law.
He had beaten her 
pretty badly. We arrested him and brought him before the local Indian judge for
trial, and while the trial 
was in progress, 25 Indians with a would-be chief raided our court and carried our
prisoner and all the 
witnesses away. It so happened that there was but one policeman at the Agency, and
the Indians got 
away with their raid; however, I sent out a riot call asking for help, and in about
an hour, twenty Deputy 
Sheriffs and others arrived. 

We proceeded at once to the home of the Chief where they had retired to after the
raid. Their home 
being in the brush, they did not observe our approach until they were surrounded.
The Chief put up a 
fight and called to his men to assist him, but they were completely surrounded and
refused to act. We 
recaptured the prisoner and took the Chief along, reconvened court, tried both the
prisoner and Chief. 
The prisoner was convicted of assault and fined ten dollars. The Chief was sentenced
to serve forty
days in jail for contempt of Court.

In the spring of 1921, I was detailed to go to the Morongo Reservation to market a
large crop for the 
Indians, and while there I was transferred to the Pala Agency in San Diego County,
twenty-five miles 
east of Oceanside. Here I had charge of thirteen reservations and 1500 Indians. The
transfer carried a 
promotion and a substantial increase in salary, but with increased responsibility
and much heavier 
work, traveling almost constantly over mountain unpaved roads. I had not been there
but a short time 
until the Washington Office withdrew all of the Prohibition Enforcement Agents and
put it up to me to 
handle that work, also increasing my work very materially. I was on the road or in
the office from early 
morning until late at night and many times out all night policing Fiestas and
chasing bootleggers.

In July, 1927, I was asked to take a posse of police and to go to the Campo
Reservation in San Diego 
County and check up on a number of bootleggers who operated on both sides of the
National 
boundary. Many of the band were Mexicans or breeds. They are ugly actors. 

On the annual occasion of their Fiesta was pointed out as being a good time to
strike. I took four Indian 
police and three Deputy Sheriffs, arriving on the Fiesta grounds about nine p.m. and
in a few minutes 
picked up a man for questioning, when about forty men jumped us, beat us up with
clubs, got two of 
my policemen down and stomped them then tied one of them to the flag pole,
threatening to kill him. 
In the meantime I had rallied my forces and went in and cut my policeman loose and
started out with 
him when the Indians began shooting. One policeman was shot four times, but none of
the shots fatal. I 
was shot once, one through the body two inches below the right nipple and once
through the shoulder 
at the base of the neck. At this point, my officers began shooting. The man shooting
at me was killed in 
his tracks. One other Indian was killed who was attempting to kill Captain Powell
from the Sheriffs 
office, one seriously wounded, and several had minor wounds.

In five minutes after the shooting started, the grounds were deserted with the
exception of the dead 
and wounded and my officers. I was sent to a county hotel nine miles away and there
received first aid 
then sent on to a hospital in San Diego sixty miles away, where I was later operated
on for the removal 
of the bullet which had lodged near the spinal column just above the right kidney.

I was sixty-six years of age when the shooting occurred. It was evident that I would
never recover my 
former vigor; however, the Indian Office advised that I stay on the job until my
Civil Service retirement 
could be brought about. In 1930 I asked for and received my retirement which carried
a Civil Service 
annuity.

In May, 1920, our son Carl Roscoe came to us while we were located at the Martinet
Agency. He arrived 
unexpectedly one night with his wife and four children, coming from Colorado in a
car. They shortly 
took up residence in Coachella, California, and there reared a large family. On
September 19, 1933, 
while returning from a Riverside Hospital where he had been to visit his wife and
baby daughter, born 
that morning, night having overtaken him on the desert, he collided with a truck
that had been left on 
the highway with no lights on it. He was so severely injured that he died on
November 19. He left a wife 
and nine children ranging in age from 24 down to the baby daughter born that morning
of the day he 
was injured.

The children's births came as follows: Glen O. [Orville], born December 8, 1909;
Wendel Gaylon, 
October 6, 1913; Harry [Harrison] Holmes; October 28, 1915, George Henry, November
7, 1919; Carl 
Jr., June 12, 1920; Ewing L., November 25, 1923; Lola Mae, June 28, 1925; Jaqueline
[Janice], January 
12, 1931; Phoebe Rose, September 19, 1933. At this date, May 20, 1941, all of the
above children are 
living and enjoying good health.

In the year 1885, George J. ROBERTSON, the subject of this sketch was initiated into
the order of Free 
Masonry and given the Masters Degree on the 25th day of March by the North Salem
Lodge #142, North 
Salem, Indiana, and for many years an active member. When I transferred to the
Albuquerque Indian 
School, I immediately placed my application with the Rio Grande Chapter of Ancient
Free and Accepted 
Masons and received the Royal Arch Degree in July, [1914. (? Bottom line cut off
again.) I then] applied 
for membership in Pilgrim Commandery and received the Templar degrees in September
and followed 
up with an application to the Ballut Abayed Shrine, receiving the degree in October
of the same year. I 
still hold membership in the North Salem Lodge, and while visiting in Indiana in
July and August of 
1939, I attended Lodge and learned that I was the oldest living Mason in the Lodge
-- I also observed 
that there wasn't a single member of the Lodge living that I knew.

I recently made an application to the Grand Lodge of Indiana for the gold button
awarded to Masons 
having fifty years or more to their credit. The Grand Lodge of Indiana granted the
petition and sent the 
button to the Grand Lodge of California, who in turn arranged with the Altadena
Lodge to make the 
presentation. A special meeting was called, and Marion Klusmann, a Past Master of
Broad Ripple Lodge, 
Indianapolis, was asked to make the presentation, which he did beautifully and
impressively. It was all 
very gratifying to me as I had long wanted the button, not for Its intrinsic value,
but rather for ihe 
distinction of having been a member of the Masonic institution for fifty years.

In March, 1886, I received the degree in the Independent Order of Oddfellows in
North Salem Lodge 
#152 and retained membership in that lodge for some years. When I settled in
Missouri, I found there 
was no lodge in any of the nearby towns, so proceeded to organize a lodge in
Hurdland, MO, Knox 
County, in the year 1893, and served the new lodge as Noble Grand the first two
terms. In 1898 I 
reorganized an Oddfellows Lodge in Edina, county seat of Knox County, Missouri. In
1901, I was 
located in Cashion, Oklahoma. the nearest lodge was eighteen miles distant. I
succeeded in organizing 
a new lodge in this town and served the new lodge as Noble Grand the first term.

In 1919 I was transferred to the Martinet Indian Agency near Coachella, California.
I observed
there was no Oddfellows lodge in this town and proceeded to have one organized and
on
September 4, 1920 (my 59th birthday) I served the new lodge and Noble Grand during
its first
term.

In the Independent Order of Oddfellows I am four times a Past Grand, a past
Representative, a past 
District Deputy Grand Master, and Past Chief Patriarch in the Encampment branch of
the order. I now 
hold membership in the Coachella Lodge.
 
I united with the Christian Church in June, 1891, in the town of Brashear, Missouri,
later transferred to 
Hurdland, MO, served this church for some time as Deacon, later transferring back to
the Brashear 
church where I served as an Elder until November, 1900.

At the present time I am living at 55 W. Foothill Boulevard, Altadena, California,
and attend church and 
Sunday school in Pasadena, am a member of the Loyal Men's Class, whose membership is
composed of 
the old men of the congregation whose ages range from 70 to 93, the youngest member
of the class 
being the teacher. This is an extremely interesting class. The average age of its
membership is in 
excess of eighty years.

Of the seven sons of Sylvester H. Robertson, but two are now living: Addison S. and
Oliver P. died 
several years ago. William G. died last year, Ira died April 6, 1941, and David A.
April 24, 1941. The 
remaining two are Arthur B. and myself. We had but one sister who is living at this
time at the age of 
seventy-eight.

I am now approaching my eightieth birthday [this means this portion was written
between April 24 and 
September 4, 1941], am enjoying a measure of good health. I visited my old home in
Indiana in June 
and July of 1939, and nothing preventing will make another visit this year. I
realize to the fullest extent 
that I have already entered the twilight of life and that my feet are set in the
pathway that leads to the 
dark and silent tomb, and when I have reached my Journey's end, it is my fond
anticipation and earnest 
hope that some of the many friends I have enjoyed in passing through life may be at
the shores of the 
silent River of Death to assist me in the crossing and bid me welcome to our
Father's house not made 
with hands eternally in the Heavens.


Additional Comments:
The above manuscript was retyped from a poor-quality copy of a previously typed
manuscript
by Jeannette Lynn Robertson Schleigh, daughter of Harrison Holmes Robertson, and 
greatgranddaughter of George Jefferson Robertson, one of the subjects of the
biography.  Some 
corrections in punctuation were made to improve readability, and comments were added
in these 
brackets [ ].)  This biography was submitted to OHArchives by the great-great
grandson of Oliver 
Preston Morton Robertson, son of Sylvester H. and brother to George Jefferson
Robertson.



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