Jim Robbins,
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Your "Wiley Robbins" is mentioned in a rather long letter found in THE BOURLAND PAPERS. ..I admit that I have repeatedly retrieved my original handwritten letter to make sure I had transcribed it correctly. ..My tunnel vision led me to look for a local resident, esp. since he was called a "captain", but I have several TST captains from beyond the 24 counties that I address. ..I think I would have found it if "Robbins" had been spelled correctly. Who knew that "Spillers was a misspelling of Robbins" in the 1860 Walker Co TX census?
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Below is from my 200-page Name Index.
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ROBBINS, Wiley Robbins (1836 TX-1886) m-M.J. Childers; CSA pension #15227; 1860 Walker Co TX cen p258; Bagby's 7th Cav, Co G, Lt (Jack Co, TST)
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The subject April 1864 letter states:
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"... Wiley Robbins, a captain in Jack County, controls all [militias] in the county but three" is in a letter dictated by TST Capt. J.W. Hale of Wise County, who is speaking off the cuff. ..The main character in this letter is "TST Capt. J.M. Luckey" who was a ringleader of a Union-sympathizing "conspiracy group" headquartered in Jacksboro.
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Thank you for your "Wiley Robbins" info. ..I'm striving to identify everyone mentioned in Bourland's Regt and THE BOURLAND PAPERS. ..I try to think outside the box, since most of the hard-to-identify have come from beyond Texas, but it is so time consuming.
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I would appreciate any help in identifying this "Van Robbins" who may be from your Robbins family. Of course, his name may be "Martin Van Buren Robbins". You'll recall that Martin Van Buren was presidnt 1837–1841, which is probably when this "Van Robbins" was born.
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ROBBINS, Van Robbins (d-Dec 23, 1863 Montague Co TX in a Comanche Raid when scouting for Capt F.M. Totty, Co E, Bourland's Regt)
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I look forward to your response.
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Patti, prochette@Juno.com
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