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William Henry Robert, Sr. William
Heny Robert, Sr. was born June 15, 1821 on Cotton Hill Plantation,
Jasper Co., South Carolina, the second son and child of Rev. James John
(Jehu) Robert, Jr. and Phoebe Mosse McKenzie. His first wife was
Georgia Washington Clark (1822 - 1870), whom he married at the age of
19 in Columbia, Richland Co., South Carolina. They had ten
children - three sons, all doctors, and seven daughters.
While living in Georgia, Rev. Robert bcame President of the Southern Female College at LaGrange, Georgia in 1859. During the Civil War Rev. Robert, who had been ordained in 1846, was a missionary in the Army. After the war he moved to Arkansas in 1866 and continued his ministerial work. Georgia died in May 1870 in Arkansas. He then came to Texas, laboring 3 years as a youth evangelist. It is possible that during this time in Texas, Rev. Robert, aged 52 years, married Antoinette Emily Lea Bledsoe Power in Washington Co., Texas in 1874. They lived in Mississippi where he did eveangelical work for two years before returning to Texas. In 1884 Rev. Robert operated a school for boys in Denison, Texas while his younger brother, Alexander John Robert operated Robert Select School for Girls in 1896. The Sunday Gazetteer Sunday, September 7, 1884    W.H. Robert, Jr. ~ Druggist At
the beginning of April 1885 Prof. W.H. Robert had to close his school
for a couple of months due to protracted illness upon the advice of his
physician. However, he planned to re-open the school in June.
(The Sunday Gazetteer, April 5, 1885, pg.4) It appears that W.H. Robert chose a different course of work over the re-opening of his school for boys since about a year later, he is the "City Missionary" for Denison, performing weddings, holding services in different areas of the city and attending burials and held that position at least through 1896. The Sunday Gazetteer Sunday, July 4, 1886 pg.3  Note: Derden is in Hill Co., southern neighbor to Johnson County, where Alvarado is located. The couple traveled approximated 115 miles to Denison. The Sunday Gazetter Sunday, July 25, 1886  While
the evangelist's activities generally earned praise, he raised eyebrows
with his willingness to perform a particular type of wedding. In Texas,
to be legally married, a couple had to secure a marriage license at the
county courthouse and wait a certain period before the ceremony. In
Indian Territory, however, this was not the case; any wedding ceremony
performed by an ordained minister was legal there. This made Denison a
"destination" for eloping couples whose relatives might be in hot
pursuit. They would take a train to Denison, engage a knowledgeable
hack driver who would guide them to the Robert house on Owings Street
and then drive them and the minister to the ferry across Red River.
Once on the other side, the group would proceed a certain distance to
"Gretna Green" (as the Gazetteer called "the section house
north of Red River," alluding to a village in Scotland that was famous
for runaway marriages). There the preacher would perform the ceremony.
Then the group would return. B.C. Murray, editor of the Gazetteer, frowned on Reverend Robert's willingness to perform this service for young couples and often mocked the minister's actions in print, sometimes implying financial motives. On January 3, 1886, the Gazetteer published the minister's response: "I marry only those who promise to be 'one and inseparable, till death parts them,' and I have not sought couples to be married. . . . I scorn everything that is low and dishonorable, and in marrying people only do as I would have others do to me and my children. If the friends of the parties are satisfied, others have no right to complain." On November 6, 1887, the Gazetteer reported a case in which Reverend Roberts refused to perform a ceremony when he learned that the couple involved "were only casual acquaintances when they left Ennis last week for the Dallas fair." He referred them to another cleric in Indian Territory. The Gazetteer puckishly lauded the minister for "forsaking his vices in his old age." Perhaps the newspaper was correct in thinking that Mr. Robert had changed his mind about performing this type of marriage, however. On January 27, 1889, it wrote, "A divorce factory would do well here, but trade in this line has declined somewhat since Rev. W.H. Robert went out of the Gretna Green business.” The Sunday Gazetteer Sunday, August 22, 1886   The Sunday Gazetteer Sunday, January 27, 1889  In
the summer of 1884 Rev. W.H. Henry, wife, and son, W.H. Henry, Jr. and
wife, visited relatives and friends in Centreville, Mississippi.
They returned on October 12 and a notice in the October 21
newspaper stated that "...Rev. W.H. Robert, formerly of this city but
now of Centreville, Mississippi...." (The Sunday Gazetteer, October 21,
1884).
The Sunday Gazetteer Sunday, July 21, 1889 pg 4 The residence of Rev. Dr. W. H. Robert on Owings street was Monday night the scene of a most pleasant event. It had reached the hour of 8 p.m., and the good doctor, seated at a window in the rear part of the house, was deeply engrossed in the enjoyment of the cooling southern breeze when a knock at the front door followed by the sound of many footsteps in the street without, attracted his attention. Perhaps he thought it was a wedding party in quest of his services. Perhaps, he remembered hearing sounds like this before, in the days when he was more active in service and before he became a city missionary. Perhaps, a recollection that that day was the sixty-eighth anniversary of the day on which he first saw the light come to him and something of the truth was communicated through the medium we call apprehension. But be these conjectures true or false he was not long in doubt as to the identity of the invaders, or the nature of their mission. Headed by Rev. W. E. Tynes, pastor of the First Baptist church, they surrounded the reverend doctor and congratulations were showered thick and fast upon him. The the besiegers began to unburden themselves of their more substantial tokens and packages and parcels were heaped around the doctor until they threatened to hide him from view. After the donation exercises were over and the reverend elder had pocketed a purse containing a neat sum in coin of the realm, the party proceeded to take possession of the premises and to enjoy themselves enthusiastically during the balance of the evening. It was a late hour when the company dispersed, all going to their homes with pleasant recollections of the event. William Henry Robert died in 1900 at Centreville, Wilkinson Co., Mississippi. William Henry Robert Jr. is buried in Belton, Texas.   "William Henry Robert." History of the Baptist Denomination in Georgia. Atlanta, GA: Jas. P. Harrison & Co., 1891 French American Roots Schools Biography Index Susan Hawkins © 2024 If you find any of Grayson County TXGenWeb links inoperable, please send me a message. |