Hood County Texas Genealogical Society

HEZEKIAH K. & ELIZABETH ROBERSON FAMILY

by Johney Larned of New Braunfels, Texas

Hezekiah K. Roberson and David Robertson were brothers that were born in Tennessee. In 1854, David Robertson and his family moved to Rapps Barrens, Marion County, Arkansas. It is believed that the Hezekiah K. Roberson family moved to Rapps Barrens, Arkansas sometime after January 1855. Both families of David “Robeson” and Hezekiah “Robeson” were listed in the 1860 Census as resident farmers of Rapps Barrens, Marion County, Arkansas.

Hezekiah K. Roberson was a farmer who was born about 1828 in Tennessee and he died about 1899/1900 in Hood County, Texas. He married Elizabeth Stewart who was born about 1821, and the date of her death is unknown. In Tennessee, Hezekiah and Elizabeth had the following four children:

· Andrew J. Roberson - born about 1850

· Lucinda Roberson - born about 1851

· Louisa J. Roberson - born about 1853

· Anne Eliza Roberson - born 31 January 1855.

After their relocation to Marion County Arkansas, Hezekiah K. and Elizabeth then had three additional children:

· John Wesley Roberson - born 15 August 1858

· Thomas M. Roberson - born about 1860

· Henrietta A. Roberson - born about 1861.

The two younger children were not listed in the 1860 Marion County, Arkansas Census. It seems the names Roberson, Robeson, Robertson, and Robinson were all used interchangeably by Hezekiah K. and Elizabeth Roberson.

Sometime after 1861 Hezekiah K. Roberson moved his family to Texas, most likely to the Bald Knob, Nubbin Ridge area of Hood County. The earliest recollection of the little community that lies seven miles south of Granbury was by the name Bald Knob. The name was given because of the small hill on the old Snelson place upon which nothing grew on its uppermost part. At one time there was a schoolhouse northeast of the cemetery. The name of the community was changed after the drought of 1886 and 1887. Those years were so dry the farmers had to go to Johnson County to get corn for their stock. Some people made a few “nubbins” of corn in 1886. Thereafter, Bald Knob was known as “Nubbin Ridge.”

Hezekiah K. Roberson purchased land on the waters of Squaw Creek near Bald Knob and Glen Rose from his son, Andrew J. Roberson on September 21, 1883. Andrew J. Roberson had first purchased the property on March 19, 1883 from Galveston County. A second adjoining tract of property was later deeded from Galveston County to H.K. Roberson on August 10, 1897.

There is a Hood County, Texas marriage listing for "Hesikial Roberson" in the marriage to Mrs. Mary Hoodenpyle on December 3, 1893. Found in Hood County Scholastic Records is a listing for William Hoodenpile/Hoodenpyle born on September 22, 1884 attending District 5 for the school term 1899-1900. His parent is listed as “Mary.”

A second Hood County, Texas marriage listing is found for "H.K. Robinson" marrying Mrs. S.E. Everett on November 14, 1897. In Hood County Scholastic Records, a James Evert/Everett born June 1, 1883 attended Bald Knob for the school term 1899-1900 on the Mary Ford farm. His parent is listed as S.E. Robertson.

Hezekiah’s daughter, Anne Eliza Roberson, called “Annie,” married Walter Franklin Larned in 1874, most likely in the Bald Knob, Nubbin Ridge area of Hood County, Texas. In Hood County records of scholastic attendance for 1897-1898, three students with the last name of Morrison were found attending classes that were held on the “HK Robinson” farm in 1897-1898 at Bald Knob. The students were Allie Morrison, born 14 September 1882; L.D. Morrison, born 28 June 1890; and Virgil Morrison, born 8 December 1887. The parent was listed as “J.W.” The teacher for these classes was not listed, but it is known that Walter Franklin Larned and his father, Frederick Sylvester Larned, both taught school at different times in the area of Bald Knob. The “H.K. Robinson” most certainly refers to Annie Roberson’s father, Hezekiah K. Roberson.

A deed dated November 3, 1900 states that Hezekiah K. and Elizabeth Roberson were both deceased and “they have left four children after their death.” Records of deed transactions indicate that Walter F. Larned and wife, Annie E. Larned, sold an 82 acre tract and a 7 7/10 acre tract of land to George F. Brock dated October 10, 1903 for the sum of $25 and four vendor’s lien notes for four hundred seventy five dollars due December 15, 1903, December 1, 1904, December 1, 1905, and January 1, 19??. The land had been inherited by the four children of H.K. Roberson and Elisabeth Roberson, both deceased, and had earlier been their home farm in Hood County, Texas, situated on the waters of Squaw Creek. Title to the land was left to A.J. Roberson, J.W. Roberson, and Annie E. Larned whose shares were conveyed to Walter F. Larned and L.J. (Louisa J.) Morrison, the other heir still holding her ¼ undivided interest. J.L.C. Long, the Notary Public, also stated that “said Annie E. Larned, wife of the said W.F. Larned having been examined by me privily and apart from her husband and having the same by me full explained to her, she the said Annie E. Larned acknowledged said instrument to be her act and deed and declared she had willingly signed the same for the purposes and consideration therein expressed, and that she did not wish to retract it.”

Hezekiah K. and Elizabeth Roberson had the following children:

1. Andrew J. Roberson was born about 1850 in Tennessee and married Gertrude L.D. “Genevieve” Larned who was born about 1855/60 in Missouri. The 1860 Federal Census lists Gertrude as 5 years old living in St. Louis, Missouri. In 1870 and after the death of her mother, Gertrude moved with her father Frederick Sylvester Larned and her brother Walter Franklin Larned from possibly New York to McLennan County, Texas. It is also believed that she first married Ferdernand Richards on March 2, 1875 in McLennan County, Texas. About six months later, when Frederick S. Larned relocated his family to the Bald Knob area in Hood County, Texas, Gertrude then married Andrew J. Roberson on September 2, 1875, in Hood County, Texas. The 1880 Census lists A.J. “Robinson”-30 and wife, Gertrude L.-20 born in Missouri. It also lists their daughter, Dora S. Robinson-1 year old and born in Texas and indicates the family is living in Hood County, Texas. Hood County marriage records list that Dora Roberson later married H.C. Billingsly on April 15, 1896. From a deed dated November 3, 1900, A.J. Roberson is described “of Ellis County Texas.”

2. Lucinda Roberson was born about 1851 in Tennessee. She died sometime before November 3, 1900.

3. Louisa J. Roberson was born about 1853 in Tennessee. Deeds indicate that she married a Mr. Morrison. Louisa was known as “Aunt Lou” by the children of her sister, Anne Eliza Roberson. She had bright red hair and lived somewhere away from the state of Texas. Louisa attended the funeral of her sister, Anne Eliza, on March 17, 1919 at Rock Church in Hood County, Texas.

4. Anne Eliza Roberson Larned was born January 31, 1856 and may have been named after her aunt, Anna Eliza Harwood Robertson, the spouse of David Robertson. Annie Larned died on March 17, 1919 in Douglas, Arizona during the devestating flu epidemic of 1918-1919. On a certificate of death for Annie E. Larned the disease causing death is listed as “bronchial pneumonia complicating influenza” and the doctor had attended her from March 13 to March 17, 1919. The certificate completed by Burton Larned listed her father’s name as “Hesekiah Roberson.” Annie is believed to have been “part Indian” by several family members. Annie is a sister of A.J. Roberson who married Gertrude Larned, a sister of Walter F. Larned. On Annie’s tombsone is the following: “Annie, wife of W.F. Larned; She was a kind and affectionate wife; A fond mother and friend to all.” Walter F. and Anne Eliza Roberson Larned had the following children in Hood County, Texas:

· Gertrude Elizabeth Larned - born Jan. 1, 1876/77

· Arthur Frederick Larned - born Aug. 2, 1878

· Oscar Hezekiah Larned - born Aug. 26, 1880

· John William Larned - born Dec. 9, 1882

· Grover Cleveland Larned - born June 26, 1885

· William Edmund Larned - born Dec. 24, 1886

· Walter Andrew Larned - born Dec. 28, 1887

· Robert Burton Larned - born Oct. 21, 1890

· Thomas Albert Larned - born Sept. 3, 1892

· Norval Gordon Larned - born April 19, 1896

· Joe Larned - born May 28, 1897

· Ina M. Larned - adopted daughter born about 1909. Annie used several of her Roberson sibling’s names to name her children.

5. John Wesley Roberson was born August 15, 1858 in Arkansas and died January 19, 1915 in Hood County, Texas. John W. married Elizabeth Telitha Poe on January 10, 1879 in Hood County, Texas. Elizabeth Poe Roberson was born June 3, 1853 and died July 21, 1946 in Hood County, Texas. The children of John W. and Elizabeth Telitha Poe Roberson were:

· Oscar Hezekiah Roberson - born March 4, 1890/91 in Hood County, Texas and died October 16, 1963

· Mary Viola Roberson - born April 8, 1883 in Texas and died October 11, 1964 in Dallas, Texas

· Willie Belle Roberson - born September 17, 1887 in Texas

· Laura Beatrice Roberson - born May 4, 1880 in Hood County and died December 24, 1899 in Hood County, Texas.

Scholastic records indicate that John W. Robertson’s children, Mollie, Oscar H., and Willie B. attended Elm Flat School during the 1899-1900 school year. The 1900 Census lists John Roberson and his family living in Hood County, Texas along with a "boarder," Bert Robertson, who was born January 1881. Laura Beatrice Roberson and her parents, John Wesley and Elizabeth Telitha Poe Roberson, were buried in the Nubbin Ridge Cemetery in Hood County between Granbury and Glen Rose, Texas.

6. Thomas M. Roberson was born about 1860 in Arkansas. He died sometime before November 3, 1900.

7. Henrietta A. Roberson was born about 1861 in Arkansas. She died sometime before November 3, 1900.

2005 HOOD COUNTY TEXAS GENEALOGICAL SOCIETY