A One-Name Study for the BARNUM/BARNHAM Surname
Memoirs of Lenawee County, Michigan: from the Earliest Historical Times Down to the Present, Including a Genealogical and Biographical Record of Representative Families in Lenawee County (Illustrated), Richard Illenden Bonner, Editor, Madison, Wisconsin: Western Historical Association, 1900
Col. Richard B. Robbins was a native of the state of New Jersey, and was born April 27, 1832. From the time he was old enough to hold the plow until sixteen years of age, he worked on a farm, and at that age was apprenticed to a blacksmith and learned his trade. Believing that the West was the place for a young man, he then strapped his worldly effects on his back and started on foot and alone for the then distant state of Ohio. Having been deprived of the advantages of an education, being at that time unable to read or write, and keenly appreciating his need, he entered the school of the Rev. Samuel Bissell, at Twinsburg. Ohio, at which place he spent about five years, paying his way by his own manual labor. In the fall of 1854 he landed in the village of Palmyra, where he spent the winter in teaching, writing and reading Blackstone. The spring following he went to Tecumseh and entered the office of Stacy & Wood, making his home with Dr. Hamilton and doing chores to pay for his board. Subsequently he moved to Adrian and for some time wrote in the probate office of the Hon. C. A. Stacy, then judge. The Hon. F. C. Beaman succeeding Mr. Stacy as Judge of Probate, Mr. Robbins remained in the office as clerk, devoting all his spare time to his legal studies, and he was finally admitted to the bar as attorney, May 2, 1859. In 1860 he was elected justice of the peace in Adrian, and was engaged in the discharge of his duties when the Civil war broke out. Believing that the country needed his services, he obtained a second lieutenant's commission from Governor Blair, with authority to raise a company for the Fourth Michigan cavalry then organizing. He raised his company and was mustered into the United States service as captain August 13, 1862, going at once with the regiment to the front. He participated in over sixty engagements and skirmishes, including the hard-fought battles of Stone's River, Chickamauga, and Missionary Ridge. At Shelbyville, while leading a charge, he had his horse shot under him, and was complimented in general orders for gallant conduct. He was promoted to major August 23, 1863, and continued on duty with his regiment until May 18, 1864, when, at the head of his battalion, in an engagement near Kingston, Ga., his left arm was shattered and rendered useless by a minie-ball. After spending some time in the hospital, and being permanently disabled from active duty, he was detailed as member of the general court-martial, then sitting at Jackson, in this state, and was subsequently made commander of the camp in that city, where he remained on duty until the war was over. On March 13, 1865, he was made lieutenant-colonel by brevet for gallant and meritorious services in the action near Kingston, Ga. While at Jackson he was elected justice of the peace in Adrian, serving two terms, his last term expiring July 4, 1873. In 1873 he was elected mayor by a fair majority, in one of the hottest campaigns ever experienced in the city. He was elected to the house of representatives in the state legislature for 1875 and reelected in 1876. In 1878 he was elected state senator, and in 1881 he received the appointment of United States consul at Ottawa, Canada, where he remained until relieved by the Cleveland administration. He was also, in the spring of 1886, again elected justice of the peace of the city of Adrian. While a member of the house of representatives he was a member of the Committee on State Affairs and chairman of the Committee on the Liquor Traffic, and as such he advocated the tax and restraining law as the best system that could be obtained in the cause of temperance. Besides discharging the duties of the office of justice of the peace, Colonel Robbins was engaged as a solicitor of patents and pension attorney.
Died at his home on Broad Street, In Adrian.
A Research Guide to the Genealogy of the Barnum/Barnam/Barnham Family Worldwide
AncientFaces - Family History Photos
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