William Robbins
William Robbins (1832 – April 16, 1863) was a Union soldier from Scott County who died during the Civil War.
See Also: Scott Countians killed in war
Biography
Born in Morgan County about 1832, William Robbins was raised on Brimstone Creek (which was part of Morgan County until Scott County was formed in 1849).
When the 1850 census was taken, 18-year-old William Robbins was listed in the home of Michael Robbins (1781-1870) and Mary Lewallen (1802-1880), along with 16-year-old John Robbins and 13-year-old Johnathan Robbins. This is an indication that Michael and Mary Lewallen Robbins were his parents. Michael Robbins was the son of Therman N. Robbins and Ida Robbins. Mary “Polly” Lewallen was the daughter of Anderson Grant Lewallen and Lydia Rice, who moved from North Carolina to near Glenmary in the early 1800s.
In his book, Scott County in the Civil War, Paul Roy recounted a history of the Robbins family compiled by Mildred Troxel, stating: “William’s mother brought him to Michael Robbins and his wife with the agreement that he could live with the family for two years and if the mother had not returned for him at the end of that period, then they could keep him as their own. When the mother returned to claim her child at the end of the two years, Michael and his wife were too attached to him to give him up.”
William married Lucinda Lewallen (1835-1913), the daughter of Joel Lewallen (1803-1892) and Rachel Sue Taylor (1798-1892). Joel Lewallen was Anderson Grant Lewallen’s son, a sister to Mary “Polly” Robbins. That would’ve made William and Lucinda first cousins if Polly was indeed his biological mother; however, if the story told by Mildred Troxel and recounted by Roy in his book is correct, they were not biologically related.
William and Lucinda had four children: Amanda Hughett, Vicie Hughett (1860-1894), Freeman Johnson (who died as a child), and Andrew Johnson Robbins (1862-1923). According to Roy’s book, citing a pension claim, Amanda was born out of wedlock three years before William and Lucinda were married.
Amanda and Vicie married brothers: Jasper Hughett (1855-1937) and Frank Hughett (1851-1910). Jasper was the postmaster at the Hughett post office, located near Slick Rock on Brimstone Creek, and later owned The Jasper Hughett General Store at Robbins and was instrumental in the formation of Robbins Bank & Trust Company. Frank was Scott County’s ninth sheriff. Both Amanda (Mandy) and Vicie died young. Amanda died between 1891 and 1894. Vicie Hughett died in 1894 at age 33 and is buried at Hughett Cemetery on Brimstone — a tiny cemetery in the woods where her maternal grandparents (Joel and Rachel Lewallen) are also buried.
Civil War
William Robbins enlisted in the Union army at Huntsville on July 1, 1862 and was appointed captain of Co. C, 7th Tennessee Infantry by Col. William Clift on Sept. 30, 1862. The 7th Tennessee was an ill-fated Scott County regiment that was routed by Confederate forces at the Battle of Huntsville on Aug. 13, 1862.
Prior to his enlistment in the 7th Tennessee, Robbins was a member of the Scott County Home Guard, which had been organized in Huntsville on Dec. 28, 1861. Confederate forces showed up at his Brimstone Creek home on April 1, 1862 to search for him, due to his allegedly having been the first person to sign the Home Guard oath. A battle ensued between the Confederate soldiers and the Home Guard. During the course of the battle, Ambers Strunk, a member of the Home Guard, became the first man from Scott County to be killed in action during the Civil War.
Read More: A marked man: The Battle of Brimstone
Robbins died of typhoid fever at Lexington, Ky. on April 16, 1863. He was buried at Lexington National Cemetery.
Aftermath
Robbins had made out his last will and testament on Aug. 27, 1862, after enlisting in the Union army but before the regiment left Scott County. It read:
“I have this day started to the army and for fear I never return I leave these few lines in the possession of my wife. If I never return home again I want Manda, my wifes oldest child to have one fourth of my estate.” Lucinda later lived with John Hughett, the father of Jasper Hughett and Frank Hughett. John Hughett served as a justice of the peace in Scott County (now known as county commissioner) for 44 years. His first wife, Christine Lewallen, died in 1875 and was buried at the Hughett Cemetery. Although most sources report that Lucinda and John were married, Mountain Stories by Edward East Barthell, written in April 1933, reported it like this: “After Squire’s first wife died him and Lucinda got married, that is not exactly married because they couldn’t get married because Lucinda’s first husband was a captain in the Army and she was getting a pension of $25 a month which she would lose if she ever married again, so they just couldn’t get married, but they lived together the rest of her life, and me and my brother are Lucinda’s children. That is why we are called Robbins.” Barthell was quoting a man he knew only as “Robbins.” It may have been Joe L. Robbins (1877-1921), one of two children Lucinda had with John (the other being Etta Robbins, 1879-1935).
Lucinda also had a son, Dr. Horace Maynard Robbins, born in 1867, who later served as Scott County Superintendent of Schools. He is usually said to be the son of John Hughett, although Hughett’s wife, Christena, did not die until 1875.
Lucinda died in 1913 and was buried at Robbins Cemetery, where John Hughett was also buried in 1908.