Mary Elizabeth Robinson
Mary Elizabeth Robinson, daughter of William Leonard Robinson and Matilda Caroline Higginson, was born at Thormanby, Easingwold, Yorkshire, England, 11 March 18691,2,3,4,5,6,7,8 and baptized there, 6 June 1869.9 She died at Los Angeles, California, 8 July 1955,10,2 and was buried at Inglewood Park Cemetery, Inglewood, Los Angeles Co., California, 11 July 1955.10,11
Mary married Edward Warrington Robinson, son of William Stevens Robinson and Harriet Jane Hanson, at Denver, Arapahoe Co., Colorado, 11 November 1893.12,2,13,14
After Warrie died, Mary stayed with her Mother for a while. She made an an attempt to move back to her husband’s family in Massachusetts but was rebuffed. Eventually she began to eke out a living by taking in boarders or caring for children. At one time the family moved to Casper, Wyoming during the oil boom years.
At some point they moved back to Denver. Lucy finished high school, but Harriet was pulled from school to work the boarding house. In 1915, Harriet made her “escape” and went to California to marry Bill Pierce. In 1928-9 and 1932-3 Mary took a couple of trips east for a time to care for her sister-in-law, Harriet Shattuck, in Poughkeepsie, New York, but that did not work out for the long term. She kept a diary during those trips and it is an interesting view of depression-era America and her constant struggles. She called FDR's inauguration a great day, but shortly thereafter the bank holidays were declared and she could not leave New York until Hattie loaned her some money for bus fare.
As a nursemaid she cared for the children of many prominent people, including Walt Disney. Once she was shot and almost killed when she mistook a burglar for the old man she was caring for. This occurred sometime between 1917 and 1928 and she had a nervous breakdown because of it. Probably what would now be called depression, this may actually have been just after Warrie died.
Lucy’s marriages ended in divorce and death so she finally moved in and cared for her mother. Mary had a small house at 352 East 91st Street in Los Angeles, which she almost lost. One of her brother’s in law helped her make the payments, but when she died, the house belonged to him, not Harriet or Lucy.
The 1942 city directory for Los Angeles shows her owning and living at that house on 91st.15
By the time she died, Mary was a very stout woman and the cause of death was given as essential hypertension (10 years), coronary arteriosclerosis (2 years) and myocardial infarction (1 week).16
At some point she took out two life insurance policies with Prudential. Her granddaughter did not recall any insurance claims being filed when Mary died but she did record the policy numbers in her diary. A query to Prudential (a half century later) confirmed the policies had indeed lapsed and were canceled for non-payment of the premium:
Policy # Lapsed Canceled
04 790 163 06 Aug 1924 Nov 1932
58 302 214 19 Sep 1932 Feb 1933.17
Mary married Edward Warrington Robinson, son of William Stevens Robinson and Harriet Jane Hanson, at Denver, Arapahoe Co., Colorado, 11 November 1893.12,2,13,14
After Warrie died, Mary stayed with her Mother for a while. She made an an attempt to move back to her husband’s family in Massachusetts but was rebuffed. Eventually she began to eke out a living by taking in boarders or caring for children. At one time the family moved to Casper, Wyoming during the oil boom years.
At some point they moved back to Denver. Lucy finished high school, but Harriet was pulled from school to work the boarding house. In 1915, Harriet made her “escape” and went to California to marry Bill Pierce. In 1928-9 and 1932-3 Mary took a couple of trips east for a time to care for her sister-in-law, Harriet Shattuck, in Poughkeepsie, New York, but that did not work out for the long term. She kept a diary during those trips and it is an interesting view of depression-era America and her constant struggles. She called FDR's inauguration a great day, but shortly thereafter the bank holidays were declared and she could not leave New York until Hattie loaned her some money for bus fare.
As a nursemaid she cared for the children of many prominent people, including Walt Disney. Once she was shot and almost killed when she mistook a burglar for the old man she was caring for. This occurred sometime between 1917 and 1928 and she had a nervous breakdown because of it. Probably what would now be called depression, this may actually have been just after Warrie died.
Lucy’s marriages ended in divorce and death so she finally moved in and cared for her mother. Mary had a small house at 352 East 91st Street in Los Angeles, which she almost lost. One of her brother’s in law helped her make the payments, but when she died, the house belonged to him, not Harriet or Lucy.
The 1942 city directory for Los Angeles shows her owning and living at that house on 91st.15
By the time she died, Mary was a very stout woman and the cause of death was given as essential hypertension (10 years), coronary arteriosclerosis (2 years) and myocardial infarction (1 week).16
At some point she took out two life insurance policies with Prudential. Her granddaughter did not recall any insurance claims being filed when Mary died but she did record the policy numbers in her diary. A query to Prudential (a half century later) confirmed the policies had indeed lapsed and were canceled for non-payment of the premium:
Policy # Lapsed Canceled
04 790 163 06 Aug 1924 Nov 1932
58 302 214 19 Sep 1932 Feb 1933.17
Family | Edward Warrington Robinson b. 4 May 1859, d. 8 Jan 1904 |
| Children |
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| This person was last edited on | 4 Apr 2022 |
Citations
- [S1351] General Registry Office, Southport, England, birth certificate for Mary Elizabeth Robinson, 1869, 9d/341, Easingwold/Coxwold registration district, further cited as GRO Births.
- [S1962] William Leonard Robinson Family Bible RecordsCassell's Illustrated Family Bible (London and New York: Cassell, Petter and Galpin, unknown publish date); held by Gregory Cooke, 2023.
- [S270] Family Record of the Robinson Family of Thormanby England, Family register hand copied from a Bible, Gregory Cooke, Clarkdale, Arizona.
- [S461] Ancestry.com, 1900 United States Census [on-line database and images] (http://www.ancestry.com), Telluride, 8th precinct, San Miguel Co., Colorado, population schedule, enumeration district (ED) 120, sheet #198/6B, dwelling #133, family #135, Warrington Robinson household, age 31, born Mar 1869 in England. Immigrated in 1885 and had been in the country 15 years. Not naturalized; original data: NARA micropublication T623, Twelfth Census of the United States, 1854 rolls, roll #129.
- [S462] Ancestry.com, 1910 United States Census [on-line database and images] (http://www.ancestry.com), Denver City, 8th precinct, 9th ward, Denver Co., Colorado, population schedule, enumeration district (ED) 113, sheet #12B, dwelling #125, family #251, Mary E. Robinson household, age 40, born in England, and rented her home at 1005 E Colfax. She immigrated in 1882, was naturalized, and was a landlady of a boarding house; original data: NARA micropublication T624, Thirteenth Census of the United States, 1784 rolls, roll #116.
- [S464] Ancestry.com, 1930 United States Census [on-line database and images] (http://www.ancestry.com), Assembly District 57, Los Angeles Co., California, population schedule, enumeration district (ED) 557, sheet #20B, dwelling #440, family #440, Mary E. Robinson household, age 61, born in England, owned a radio and her own home worth $2500 at 352 91st Street. She immigrated in 1883, was naturalized, and was a practical nurse with private families; original data: NARA micropublication T626, Fifteenth Census of the United States, 2668 rolls, roll #153.
- [S465] Ancestry.com, 1940 United States Census [on-line database and images] (http://www.ancestry.com), Los Angeles Ward 15, Los Angeles Co., California, population schedule, enumeration district (ED) 60-1215, sheet #61A, dwelling #352 91st, Mary E Robinson household, age 71, born in England; original data: NARA micropublication T627, Sixteenth Census of the United States, 4643 rolls.
- [S2463] Ancestry.com, 1950 United States Census [on-line database and images] (http://www.ancestry.com), Los Angeles, Los Angeles Co., California, population schedule, enumeration district (e.d.) 66-2438, sheet 12, line 29, residing at 352 E. 91st St., Mary E. Robinson household, age 81, a widow born in England, naturalized; original data: NARA micropublication T628, Sixteenth Census of the United States, , 6373 rolls.
- [S756] Thormanby, Yorkshire, England, Parish Registers of Thormanby, 1658-1993, Baptisms & Burials, 1813-1991:32, FHL microfilm 2103950, items 8 & 9, further cited as Thormanby Parish Registers.
- [S1014] Mary Elizabeth Robinson, Death Certificates, File No. 55-056720 (1955), California Department of Health Services, Sacramento, California.
- [S2323] Find A Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com : accessed Aug 2020), memorial page for Mary Elizabeth Robinson Robinson, Find a Grave memorial #182774847, maintained by Cookie, further cited as Find A Grave.
- [S1292] Warrington Robinson & Mary E. Robinson, Marriage Certificate, 8 Nov1893, Colorado State Archives, Colorado, Arapahoe County Marriages, 15979.
- [S275] Arapahoe County Marriage Committee, compiler, Marriages of Arapahoe County, Colorado, 1859-1901: including territory that became Adams, Denver, and other counties (Denver, Colorado: Colorado Genealogical Society, Computer Interest Group, 1986), 261, citing Vol 900:554 in the original record books, further cited as Arapahoe Marriages.
- [S1673] Gregory Don Cooke, "Historic Ancestors: Major Stede Bonnet, Pirate of the Caribbean," The Genealogist 25 (Spring 2011): 31-33, at 33, further cited as Cooke, "Major Stede Bonnet."
- [S1821] Los Angeles Directory Co., Los Angeles City Directory (Los Angeles, California: Los Angeles Directory Co., 1942), 2037, further cited as Los Angeles Directory Co., Los Angeles City Directory.
- [S78] Claudia L. Bushman, "A Good Poor Man's Wife": Being a Chronicle of Harriet Hanson Robinson and Her Family in Nineteenth Century New England (Hanover and London: University Press of New England, 1981), 207, 217, further cited as Bushman, A Good Poor Man's Wife.
- [S960] Letter from Marie G. Lowe (Prudential Insurance Company) to Greg Cooke, 26 October 2007; Gregory Cooke Clarkdale, Arizona.
- [S187] Harriet Hanson Robinson, Birth Certificate, File No. 44048 (1896), Pueblo Vital Statistics Office, Pueblo, Colorado.
- [S276] Lucy Wynard Robinson, Birth Certificates, File No. 63:214:118 (1899), San Miguel County Registrar of Vital Statistics, Telluride, Colorado.
- [S1028] Lucy Wynard Kirwin, Death Certificates (1987), Los Angeles County Department of Health Services, Los Angeles, California.