Thursday, September 1, 2011

William Francis Robbins, 1907 Graduation Photo, possibly Concord, Massachusetts High School


Photograph of a high school graduate identified on reverse as William F. Robbins of the Class of '07 at C.H.S.  The photograph was taken by the J. E. Purdy and Company studio of Boston, Massachusetts.

I found a William Francis Robbins who lived at Carlisle, Massachusetts, and who fits the age criteria.  I'm not sure if Carlisle had a high school or if William might have graduated from nearby Concord High School.  

This photograph was found with that of another CHS grad, George William Thompson, who lived in Bedford, Massachusetts, also near Concord.


From online research, hopefully correct, and hopefully for the correct William F. Robbins depicted in the photograph:

William Francis Robbins (1889-1948) was born 25 November 1889 at Carlisle, Massachusetts, the son of Daniel Webster Robbins and wife Elizabeth Luella "Lizzie" (Wilson) Robbins.  Lizzie was born at Billerica, Massachusetts.

On 30 November 1910, William married Eva Frances Winch.  She was born 10 July 1890 in Massachusetts, the daughter of James W. and Martha (Parr) Winch of Massachusetts.  

As shown in the 1920 Census, the family was living at Boston with their three daughters, and William was working as an engineer superintendent. Sadly, Eva died in 1928.  The 1930 Census shows William back in Carlisle with his four children.  He was working as a master mechanic at a rubber plant.  

William's World War II draft registration card showed him working in Worcester, Massachusetts.  The Mrs. Nina H. Robbins listed as his contact was perhaps his second wife.

If you have corrections and/or information to share, please leave a comment for the benefit of other researchers.


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6 comments:

  1. The high school even today is known as Concord-Carlisle HS. I don't know if Bedford students attended there in the past. The government websites always focus on useful present day information like when to show up for class, and never any interesting stuff like when the high school was built.

    The Robbinses have been in the area since the (English) beginning, or close to it. The husband of a friend of ours is a Robbins, but I did her side of the family, not his, so I don't know how closely he is related to the man in the photo. And I don't think he's interested enough to find out.

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  2. That's sad... But you never know, seeing the photo might light a spark!

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  3. I have just recently been getting into my family's roots. My great, great uncle was a William F.Robbins though he was born in 1873. His father was William E. Robbins having been born in Carlisle, MA though in 1823. Perhaps I will come across some tangible connection to this William. You are doing a great job here.

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  4. I think I've got it worked out that the William Francis Robbins pictured here is the first cousin once removed of your William F. Robbins. Thanks for commenting - gave me a chance to use the relationship determiner on Ancestry.com.

    William Francis Robbins (Daniel Webster Robbins, John Dana Robbins, John Robbins (1777-1832)
    William F. Robbins (William Eustis Robbins, John Robbins (1777-1832)

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  5. Thank you Pam! I appreciate your time in looking into this. I am new to ancestry.com but I haven't seen a 'Relationship Determiner'

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  6. On the Ancestry profile page of a person, there's an entry called "View Relationship to Me", to the right of the "Search for Records" entry. You don't have to use yourself as "Me; you'll be given a chance to pick a name from the list of people. Good luck on Ancestry!

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