Looking for Fannie Robinson and Ralph Johns

Transcribed from an original letter to Aniease Lanier Dunnington, Hammond, Louisiana from her older sister, Fannie Lanier Robinson, Fairmont, West Virginia. Written 1911 Sep 17,
FANNIE will be married Oct the fourth two weeks from next Wednesday She will be married to RALPH Johns at 6 o'clock in the morning take the 7 o'clock train to Ohio and be gone 2 weeks. They will go to house keeping at the Owing Mine as soon as they come back. Ralph is pay roll clerk for the Consoladated Coal Co, he is a nice young man. He has been going with Fannie for 4 years.

Their children were:
Mary Ellen Johns, b. 15 Feb 1913
Robert Robinson Johns, b. 16 Dec 1914

Transcribed from an original letters to Aniease Lanier Dunnington, Hammond, Louisiana from her niece, Laura Robinson, Fairmont, West Virginia
**Fannie calls her baby Mary Ellen, Her eyes are so black they look like coal.
**Fannie has another baby that was born Dec 16th. It is a boy and they call it Robert Robinson. It is a nice fat baby and so good

From the Census
1900 Union Twp, Marion, West Virginia
Line 49. Fannie Gdau, Apr 1889, 11, WV, school, Gparents Joseph D and Fannie Robinson
1910 Fairmont, Marion, West Virginia
Line 62. Robinson, Fannie, Gdau, 20, teacher, music. Gparents Joseph D and Fannie Robinson
1920 Morgantown, Monongalia, West Virginia
Line 93Mary, Dau, 6 2/12, Line 97. Robert, son, 5
1930 Wheeling, Ohio, West Virginia
Line 42. Frances M, wife, 40, M, 22, WV, LA, WV. Husband, Ralph Johns, Mary E, dau, 17,Robert T, son, 15,



Who were Fannie Robinson's parents? What happened to the family after 1930? Any information greatly desired.

As you indicated, Fannie Robinson (born Apr 1889) appears with her grandparents (Joseph and Fannie Robinson) in the 1900 census. The elder Fannie indicated that she had 4 children, 3 of whom were still living at the time. In all likelihood one of those 4 (Preston, Henry, Laura and Joe Lee) is young Fannie’s parent.

Joe Lee (b. May 5 1878) is too young to be Fannie’s father.

Laura never married or indicated she had children. I don’t think she’s Fannie’s mother.

Henry died at age 24 in 1891, two years after Fannie was born (1889). He could be the father, although I find no record of a marriage for Henry.

Preston is a possibility. He married a Lucy A. Fleming in Marion County on October 28, 1883. By the 1900 census he had been married 6 years to a May H. Margaret in 1910).
It’s possible that Preston and Lucy are Fannie’s parents. Lucy may have died before 1894, although I find no record of her death. Preston married Maude Wolfe in 1924.

Here’s what’s listed in Marion County Cemeteries
Maple Grove Cemetery

Joseph Berry Robinson 07-17-1834/02-01-1916) (v. Civil War)
Frances M. Robinson (05-19-1838/12-15-1902)

Preston B. Robinson (1860/1945)
Margaret Robinson (08-16-1867/12-02-1916)
Maude M. Robinson (1877/1964)
Robert L. Robinson (03-31-1905/08-07-1905) (child of Preston and Margaret?)

Laura J. Robinson (03-21-1868/03-17-1952)

Henry H. Robinson (09-01-1866/02-15-1891)

The WV Cultural Center has on-line death records for Preston, Laura and Joe Lee.
(http://www.wvculture.org/vrr/va_select.aspx)

Sorry I don’t live in WV. There may be a birth record at the courthouse.

Thanks, for your thoughts, and the Maple Grove Cemetery burials

I think that Fannie Robinson Johns is, probably, Henry's daughter. I've used guestimates and conjecture based on his mom's letters.
Henry may have married and died in Mineral County. I did find a marriage record for Preston in Mineral County but not Henry.

1887 Apr 30 Original letter written to Aniease Dunnington, LA, by her sister Fannie Robinson in WV
Henry is at Elk Garden working in the mines. He is doing well up there he was home two weeks ago yesterday and staid 4 days he is fat and harty he ways 175.
*There is an Elk Garden is in Mineral County.
**Henry would have been 21

Unfortunately, I have no letters which mention Henry's marriage, Fannies's birth, or Henry's death. I've not found him in any other WV listings or census records. And I haven't found Fannie's death date, either.

The cemetery listing is the first real piece of data I've seen connected to him. Where did you find it? The listing had some other information new to me. Death dates and the middle name Berry,
Frances M Robinson was Miss Frances M Lanier
Preston (Berry) was Fannie's uncle
Margaret Robinson was Miss Margaret H Johnson
Robert L, was a son of Joe Lee Robinson and his wife, Emma

The cemetery info is from listings published by the Marion County Genealogy Society. Some were recorded during the pre-WWII WPA Project and others have been updated in recent years.

I also have their birth records, but only up thru 1880. There may be a birth record for Fanny in Marion County. Sorry I don't live in WV, or I'd check that for you.

Thanks for taking time to respond to and the insightful help with my search for Fannie Robinson and Ralph Johns.

I am reluctant to request a search of county records for Fannie's birth without more specific date and/or location.

Now, another request, would you know name of the Fairmont newspaper published around then, 1890 to 1940?

Fairmont free press was the first paper.
Times west virginiaf you need a lookup email.me

Chicago Tribune (IL) - November 16, 1962
Johns
Deceased Name: Frances Johns
Frances Johns, dear wife of Ralph W.; mother of Mary Ellen Mulford and Robert R. Johns; grandmother of five. Resting at Lauer Funeral Home, 1722 Shermer Avenue, Northbrook, Friday after 10 a.m. until noon . Funeral Friday, 2 p.m. at North Village church. Cremation private.

Chicago Tribune, Friday, April 23, 1965 Sect, 2, p. 22
JOHNS, Ralph W. of Blackthorn Lane, Northbrook, April 21, husband of the Late Frances M.; father of Mrs. Emerson Mulford of Northbrook, and Robert R Johns of Lake Forest; five grandchildren and three great grandchildren; brother of Helen Toothman oF Coral Gables, Fla. Services Saturday 1 p.m. at Wm H Scott Funeral Home, 1104 Waukegan Road, Glenview. Interment private. In lieu of flowers, contributions may br made to the Hadley School for the Blind, 700 Elm Street, Winnetka.
Found and sent to me by L. Hanley,

The Clarksburg Exponent, Clarksberg, West Virginia, Friday, September 7, 1945
Joe L Robinson, 67, died at his home in Bridgeport at 2:20 p.m. yesterday of a heart condition. He had been employed by the West Penn since 1924 and at the time of his death was operator in the power plant. He was born March 5, 1878, a son of the late Mr. and Mrs.Joseph B. Robinson.
Surviving is his wife, Dora F Raybuck Barnett Robinson and six children of a former marriage: Joe, Jr., and Allen, both with the Army; Ray, California; Mrs. Junior Warfield and Mrs. Lyle Barnes, both of Washington D. C.; and Mrs. James Swiger of Shinnston; Also surviving is one sister, Miss Laura J Robinson of Fairmont; three step-children: Mrs. R. E. Collard of California; Mrs. Roscoe Bland of Bridgeport; and Dallas N. Barnett with the Navy.

Received from the West Virginia AND REGIONAL HISTORY COLLECTION

The Clarksberg Telegram, Clarksberg, West Virginia, Thursday, May 19, 1945
Preston B Robinson, 84, of Mount Clair, long prominent in the mining industry of this area , died at his home, Wednesday at 11 a.m. of complications after being ill for ( the sentence ends)
He came to West Virginia with his parents at the age of 14 after the close of the Civil War. They made the trip by steamboat and settled in Fairmont. He grew up with the development of coal business in the Fairmont region and the upper Monongahala Valley.
At an early age he went to work in the mines and worked his way up to a superintendency and was superentendent at Meadow Brook when the mine opened.
He worked for a number of years for the Consolidated Coal Company, Elk Horn Coal Company of Marion and Harrison counties and the Delmar Coal Company of Monongalia county, before his retirement several years ago.
For a number of years Mr. Robinson served as a trustee of schools, a member of the board of education and took an active interest in young people and affairs of the community in which he lived.
Mr. Robinson was a 32nd Degree Mason, a member of St. John's Lodge No. 24, Shinnston; of the Knight's of Pythias, Marion Lodge No. 27 of Fairmont; and a member of the Mount Clare Methodist Church.
Born Dec 10, 1860, the son of the late Joseph B and Frances Mary Lanier Robinson of Tangipahoa Parish, La., he is survived by his widow, Maude Wolfe Robinson; one sister, Miss Laura J Robinson of Fairmont; one brother, J L Robinson of Bridgeport, and numerous nieces and nephews.

Recieved from the West Virginia AND REGIONAL HISTORY COLLECTION

The Clarksburg Exponent, Clarksberg, West Virginia, Friday, September 7, 1945
Joe L Robinson, 67, died at his home in Bridgeport at 2:20 p.m. yesterday of a heart condition. He had been employed by the West Penn since 1924 and at the time of his death was operator in the power plant. He was born March 5, 1878, a son of the late Mr. and Mrs.Joseph B. Robinson.
Surviving is his wife, Dora F Raybuck Barnett Robinson and six children of a former marriage: Joe, Jr., and Allen, both with the Army; Ray, California; Mrs. Junior Warfield and Mrs. Lyle Barnes, both of Washington D. C.; and Mrs. James Swiger of Shinnston; Also surviving is one sister, Miss Laura J Robinson of Fairmont; three step-children: Mrs. R. E. Collard of California; Mrs. Roscoe Bland of Bridgeport; and Dallas N. Barnett with the Navy.

Received from the West Virginia AND REGIONAL HISTORY COLLECTION