Charles
Wesley Robertson, Sr
=====================
Charles Wesley
ROBERTSON, Sr. (1832-1916)
Charles Wesley Robertson, Sr., was the son of William Robertson
(or Robinson) of Morgan County, Kentucky. William's first marriage
was to Nancy Tutt (Charlie's mother), and his second was to Nancy's
sister Matilda (Tutt) Stamper. William's family had at least
two Stamper connections: His daughter Anna, born of the first
wife Nancy, married George Stamper, son of James B. Stamper and
Polly Robinson; his second wife Matilda was married previously
to Jackson Stamper, son of Thomas Stamper and Margaret Stitt.
In various records,
the name Robertson is given as Roberson or Robinson, or even
Roberts. For example, his marriage bond to Harriet Atchison (Grange
City, Fleming Co., KY, 4 Sept. 1864) lists him as Charles W.
Roberts, and he served as a private in Co. D, 5th Independent
Battalion, Ohio Cavalry under then name Wesley Roberts. He had
a brother John, who apparently went by Roberson.
Charlie and
Harriett Robertson lived just north of the Ohio River after the
Civil War, and are found with their family in Scioto Co., OH
in the 1870 census (close to Charlie's presumed sister, Mahala,
wife of Sam Osborn). His son, Charlie Jr. was born in Ohio in
1865, and recalled that his father had worked on a river boat
on the Ohio. By 1880 they were back in Fleming Co., KY, and Charlie
is listed as the town blacksmith and wagon maker in the 1884
Grange City directory.
Around this
time, Charlie Robertson, Sr. was apparently involved in the Tolliver-Martin
feud (1884-1887) which occurred in Rowan County, Kentucky, in
and around the town of Morehead. His exact role in the feud,
sometimes called the Rowan County War, is unclear, but whatever
it was, Charlie Robertson, Sr. felt it prudent to move his family
out of Kentucky in the late 1880s.
Heading west,
the Robertsons are said to have lived for a time in Florence,
Kansas. Later they went to Arkansas City and, perhaps, Dodge
City before arriving in Tulsa, Indian Territory around 1887 (the
"13th white family" to several Robertson obituaries).
They lived on a hill in the north side of the tent village initially
known as "Tulsey Town" and remained in Tulsa as the
city and the family grew. His son Charlie Robertson, Jr. (1865-1948)
attained some notoriety in early Tulsa around the turn of the
century, serving two terms as Town Marshal. Charlie Robertson,
Sr.'s other children included Adelaide (1867-died young), Samuel
(1869-died young), Rose Lee RIGGS (1871-1901), Lillian M. CLAY
(1873-1905), Minnie Alice PHILLIPS (1876-1928), Mayme Henry MOWBRAY
(1879-1938), Victoria Guelph PRICE (1882-1957), and James William
(1884-1953).
Sources: Morgan
Co., KY census records (1840-1860); Morgan Co., KY marriage index;
Morgan Co., KY cemetery index. TUTT connection and info comes
from Tutt LAMBERT; 1870 Scioto Co., OH census; 1880 Fleming Co.,
KY census; various obituaries of the Robertson children and grandchildren
describing the westward movement of the family. |
