THE GREAT YANKEE ROBINSON So within the prison cell We are waiting for the day That shall come to open wide the iron door, And the hollow eye grows bright, And the poor heart almost gay, As we think of seeing home and friends once more. George F. Root Mary Sipes 2 nd Great Grandmother Mary Frances Robinson Great Grandmother Nathaniel Robinson 2 nd Great Grandfather Hiram Steward McKinzie Great Grandfather Mary Gladys McKinzie - Grandmother The tale of the Robinson family, the parents of Grandma Kinzie, is best introduced by oral family history as told by Debbie McConnaha at the McConnaha Clan Gathering, Gatlinburg, Tennessee July 4th, 1994. Great Grandma Mary (was harassed regularly) during the Civil War because Great Great Grandpa was on the wrong side from the neighbors (they lived in Hancock County, Tennessee and Nathaniel fought for the Union Army). So they were down and they didn t have a whole lot to eat. Great Grandma Mary (Frances Robinson) was about your age (around 5 or 6 years old) she was taught to tell the truth always tell the truth right don t lie. Her mama had hidden a sack of cornmeal, which was about the only thing they had left underneath the floorboards in their cabin because she knew there were some soldiers coming and whenever they came through they took whatever there was to eat, cause they were hungry too. (Great Great Grandmother Mary Sipes said) ain t nothing to eat here and (little) Mary said But Mama, what about the cornmeal underneath the floorboards? The one time her Mama wished she had lied, she did not and the soldiers took that cornmeal. The records indicate there is little doubt about this being an authentic tale. Nathaniel Robinson and his wife, Mary Sipes, were married in Smyth County, Virginia on the 10th of October, 1848. Nathaniel was 18 and Mary a year Page 127
younger. Their first two children were born in Virginia; Benjamin (I believe named after Mary s Father) was born in 1852 and Mariah Jane was born in 1853. By 1860, according to census records, they had moved a couple of counties south and west to Hancock County, Tennessee. Great Grandmother, Mary Frances Robinson, was born there in 1858. The files from the National Archives indicate that Nathaniel Robinson was a Private with the 1st East Tennessee Cavalry. This was part of the Union Army. To understand the seeming conflict between being a resident of the Confederate States and serving in the Union Army, it is relevant to look at the people of east Tennessee. These were hard-scrabble folks, proud and independent. They had no sympathy for the slavery cause or its privileged landowners. Throughout the war, east Tennessee was a problem area. The Confederacy attempted to conscript soldiers from the area into the gray uniforms, but the harder they pushed, the more the natives either moved north or joined up with Mr. Lincoln s cause. They would not be pushed into service for anyone s cause nor told what to do by leaders they didn t trust or understand. It was in this framework that the Union was successful in recruiting units throughout the South. In fact, South Carolina was the only Southern state that didn t have organized units in service for the federal forces. Nathaniel entered service in 1862 and saw action throughout Tennessee, north Alabama and on Sherman s campaign to Atlanta. Nathaniel was a blacksmith with the cavalry unit, busy keeping the horses shod and iron wagon tires repaired. Another key function was likely building fires to bend railroad rails. The destruction of enemy railroads was usually accomplished by building a fire, heating the rails until red-hot and bending them so they were not reusable. On one of these expeditions, Nathaniel was captured by Confederate forces in August 1864 and served a month or so at the Andersonville Prison in Sumter County, Georgia. Freed through a prisoner exchange, he re-joined his unit in September, 1864. During that time, the 1st Tennessee was participating in a defensive move against Confederate General, John Bell Hood. Throughout the fall of 1864, Page 128
Hood had made a priority of recapturing Tennessee. He made several attempts to cross the Tennessee River from Alabama near Huntsville and Decatur, being repulsed each time and falling back and shifting to the west. Finally, in November, Hood got his troops across the river at Florence, Alabama. As the Union troops maneuvered around his flanks, trying to feel the strength of Hood s army, Nathaniel was wounded in a skirmish near Shoal Creek, just east of Florence. He spent the rest of his service in hospitals at Covington, Kentucky and Knoxville, Tennessee. He was released in late June of 1865 and began to make his way home. Returning to his home in Eastern Tennessee to bitter neighbors on both sides was probably difficult. Family history says that from the time of his enlistment to the end of his life, Nathaniel was known as Yankee Robinson, a nickname likely assigned by Confederate sympathizing neighbors. Shortly after the war, Nathaniel took his family to Indiana. Nathaniel filed his first disability pension request at Clarksville, Indiana. The skirmish which had ended his active service had put a ball through his left foot and right thigh. He moved painfully. Unable to do the heavy work required of a blacksmith or farmer, the trades he knew best, Nathaniel became a peddler. He shows up in the census in McLean County, Illinois in 1870 and also spent some time in Missouri. His ongoing requests for an increase in his pension are filed from Illinois, Missouri, and Indiana. His military pension started at $8.00 per month and after he died, his wife, Mary (Sipes) received a widow's pension. What is more interesting than these facts is the part of the file from the National Archives that I wasn't expecting. In 1901 Mary's daughter, Catherine Florence (this would be the sister to Mary Frances Robinson who married Hiram Steward McKinzie) wrote a letter to the pension agency and accused her Mother of cavorting with a 30 year old "whiskey bum" and demanded that her pension be cut off. An investigation ensued, conducted by Herman Lowe, Special Examiner. The file is full of depositions from all of the parties involved. Robert McKinzie, husband of Mary (Sipes) Robinson's daughter, Elizabeth, told the examiner Page 129
that Mary (Sipes) Robinson had not only been involved with the whiskey bum, but had loaned him money from her pension earnings. Robert was then described by his Mother-in-law, in her deposition, as the biggest liar in the county. The hateful nature of much of this testimony and the contradictions in the facts of the case led the examiner to conclude that none of the witnesses were reliable and the pension remained intact. I haven t proved this, but it is likely that Mary s son-in-law, Robert McKinzie, was related to Great Grandfather, Hiram Steward McKinzie, who was married to another of Mary s daughters. This would put a big strain on any family relationships and may have resulted in a rift. I didn t hear much about the Robinson family connection during my childhood. In looking through all of this information and connecting the dots, I also found that Hiram Steward McKinzie was in Pulaski County Missouri in 1895 - this apparently means that Mammaw was a resident of the "show-me" state for a time. Additionally, the Robinson girls (Mary Frances' sisters) were prolific marriers. Catherine Florence married Nelson Leming, divorced him, married Charley Raatz, divorced him, and re-married Nelson Leming. Sarah, another sister of Elizabeth and Mary Frances, referred to by Mammaw as Aunt Sally, was highly influential in convincing Mammaw to get an education. Sarah first married John Sale, then Albert Leming, then Samuel Rhode (may be related to Seymour Rhode that was married to Bessie McKinzie), then E. S. Hawkins, then Jacob Foreman (who may be related to Aunt Minnie's husband, Bert Foreman). All of Sarah's marriages occurred before her 43rd birthday. As best we know, Nathaniel Robinson s wife, Mary (Sipes) Robinson is the source of the traditional family recipe for milk-noodle soup. Mary was pure Pennsylvania Dutch. Pennsylvania Dutch traditions and people are really German. The confusion results from the German people responding to where are you from? by saying Deutschland which was badly interpreted as Dutchland. In any event, milk noodle soup is a traditional family fare. It Page 130
consists of scalded milk with little lumpy noodles made by blending egg into flour. I learned several years ago that this soup is called Rivvel Soup and is an Amish-Mennonite-German tradition. Rivvel is the word for lump and that is the authentic name for the free-form noodles in the soup. Traditionally served with saltine crackers, butter, salt and pepper, my Uncle Al reported that Burl McKinzie (Uncle Bum) enjoyed it with sugar. However served, coming down to us from the Sipes/Robinson/McKinzie line, it will forever be soul food for our family. Page 131
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