by Jessica Hoehn, Local History & Genealogy Specialist
Many soldiers of the Revolution left their hometowns after the war for new areas to lay down roots. Some of these soldiers eventually found their way to Ohio, often bringing their families with them to settle in the (at the time) new state. This year, we’ll take a look at the soldiers who settled in Seneca County and learn more about them.
Sudbury, Massachusetts Revolutionary War memorial.
For March, we’ll be learning about Oliver Robinson. He was born July 30, 1766 in Stow, Middlesex County, Massachusetts to Jonathan and Eunice (Jewel/Jewell) Robinson/Robison. Early in his life the family moved to the nearby town of Sudbury, where they settled and farmed on or near land that today is home to the historic Rev. Hurlbut Parsonage. Based on later enlistment records for Oliver, we know that in his teen years he stood at about 5 foot 3 inches and sported light colored hair and blue eyes.
During the Revolution, Sudbury would see hundreds of its men sent to battle the British, including several members of the Robinson family. At the young age of 15, Oliver did similarly to fill the town quota for Sudbury. To incentivize men for their service, the town offered soldiers a combination of money and cattle - the latter would be delivered after they were discharged from service.
According to multiple sources, Oliver entered into service on April 15, 1781 for a term of three years as a private alongside his brother Zacheus. His pension file lists a different enlistment date of March 12, 1781, though this discrepancy is probably due to his memory mixing up dates as the decades passed.
Oliver was under the command of Captain Luther Bailey during his service in Colonel Sprout’s 2nd Massachusetts Regiment, and he makes no mention of any battles fought during that time. His enlistment saw him through the end of the war, where the 2nd Massachusetts was formally disbanded at West Point and Oliver was honorably discharged by Major-General Knox on December 24, 1783.
After the war, Oliver stayed close to his family for several years in the nearby town of Southborough, Massachusetts. There, he married Elizabeth “Betsey” Johnson, also of Southborough, on April 11, 1790. Notably, her ancestors had been early settlers of the Massachusetts Bay Colony with the first, William Johnson, having arrived in the Charlestown neighborhood of Boston in 1634.
Oliver Robinson’s discharge paperwork, sourced from his veteran’s pension file.
Later, in 1795, the couple and their young children would move westward to Plainfield, Massachusetts. Here they would stay for around twenty years as their family grew, with at least ten children being born to the couple in total. They would stay in Massachusetts for a few decades more until 1816 or 1817, when much of the family moved to Madison township in Ohio, which was then in Geauga County This later became a part of Lake County. Many of their children were still young, and like many in Ohio, Oliver worked as a farmer to provide for his family.
It was while living in Madison township that Oliver would file for his pension, with his name first being inscribed in the pension pay rolls on July 8, 1819. He would retain his pension until around 1820, when Congress amended the pension laws due to the high number of veterans applying for aid. This allowed the Secretary of War to remove veterans from pension rolls if they determined that said person was not in need of financial assistance. Many veterans were stricken from the rolls that year, including Oliver.
This, was sadly just the start of Oliver’s troubles. Prior to his pension filing, he cosigned on a land agreement that fell through when the borrower was unable to make payments. This resulted in a lawsuit against Oliver, as the borrower had left the state. He was ordered to pay $225, and unable to do so, had his property seized on December 17, 1821. Oliver would try to have his pension reinstated, but was only allowed a its restoration on July 24, 1827 due to a combination of property loss, his feeble health, and the death of several farm animals.
It was sometime after this that Oliver and Betsey moved to Seneca County. They most likely ended up living with one of their children, as several of them, notably Gain, Lowell, and Oliver L., had settled and began farming in Bloom township in the 1820s.
Oliver Robinson’s original grave. Rock Creek Cemetery, Seneca County, Ohio.
Oliver died on July 26, 1830, and was buried in Rock Creek Cemetery in Eden township. He has two gravestones, the original being a large stone, and the second being made to match his family’s plots. However, this isn’t the end of the story of his service. Due to an act of Congress in 1832, Betsey was able to apply for a widow’s pension. This pension was set to last only 5 years, though after many years of deliberation, Congress finally allowed for the widows of veterans to receive pensions for the rest of their lives in 1848.
Unfortunately, trouble arose for the Robinsons once again. While reviewing her pension claim, the government had a difficult time finding proof of her marriage to Oliver. This was despite the multiple testimonies of those who knew the couple, and their many children. After much back and forth, Betsey was finally accepted for a pension on July 14, 1848. She would later die on April 29, 1852, and was buried next to her husband in Rock Creek Cemetery along with several other family members.
Thank you so much to the Sudbury Historical Society over in Sudbury, Massachusetts who helped us in researching Oliver’s hometown and discovering the property which he grew up on. Without them, we wouldn’t know nearly as much about the early life of this brave veteran!
You can find their website here: https://www.sudbury01776.org/index.htm