Charles Edwin Robinson, the son of
a tobacco plantation owner, William H. Robinson, was born October 19, 1872 at
Sandy Mush, North Carolina. He spent his early childhood in an area still
known as Robinson Cove. While a small
boy, he came to Texas
with his parents. The trip was made by
train. The first home was near Ladonia.
When Charles Edwin grew to manhood,
he decided to become a pharmacist. In
preparation for this vocation, he took his training in Galveston
at the medical branch of the University
of Texas. His first drugstore was at Direct, a small
village near Red River in the north west
corner of Lamar County.
He was married at Ladonia to Anna
Margaret Wells, born December 5, 1873 in Leicester,
North Carolina. She was the daughter of Charles and Hester
Wells.
The first two of their five
children were born at Direct; a son Jerome (Cracker) born in 1899 and a
daughter, Willie Louise (Bill), born July 24, 1902. While these children were small, the family
moved to Roanoke,
where Mr. Robinson operated a drugstore for eight years. During this residence, two little girls died
in infancy and another daughter Maxwell (Snooks) was born August 26, 1912.
In 1912, the Robinsons moved to
Keller, living first in a house located on Price Street and later in a two story
house which stood across the street from the Methodist Church. In addition to being the village druggist,
Mr. Robinson was an elder in the Methodist
Church and for several
years was superintendent of the Sunday School.
At the age of nineteen, Jerome
became a victim of the 1918 influenza epidemic that took a heavy toll of life
in the Keller community. He was buried
in Bourland Cemetery.
Willie Louise was graduated with
honors from the Keller
High School in 1919. She attended Texas Women’s College in Fort Worth and returned
to Keller where she taught in the elementary school. She became the wife of Clifford Richmond
(Polk) Pearson and made her home in Fort
Worth.
The parents and daughter, Maxwell,
moved to Fort Worth in 1920, where Mr. Robinson
operated a drug store at the corner of Race Street and Sylvania.
He passed away March 25, 1930 and the mother April 19, 1944. Both are buried in Mt. Olivet.
Maxwell finished her schooling in Fort Worth. She became Mrs. Ira Atkins and lives currently
in Fort Worth.
