I was born in 1817 in Tunkhannock, Pennsylvania (about 50 miles from Harmony, Pa.) At age 22 I married Celina Haywood Chaffee, a school teacher of Gilbert Mills, New York. In that area rumors about Joseph Smith and the Mormons were abundant. Many of my brothers and sisters including myself became impressed with their teachings (often in spite of a desire not to be.) Celina and I were baptized and went west to be with the saints. We settled in Montrose, Iowa, across the river from Nauvoo. We had two daughters born to us in Montrose. Celina and I, several of my siblings and their spouses were all endowed in the Nauvoo Temple on its completion. In 1846 tensions grew in Nauvoo until we were forced to leave. Celina and I with three of my siblings and their spouses gathered with the saints to Winter Quarters. Celina delivered a son who died the following year. In 1848 Our eldest daughter Mayette died at Winter Quarters and Celina delivered another daughter named Cornelia Celina. In 1847, there were 22 wards organized in Winter quarters, a Stake High Council, a Post office and a council house and a store. By the end of 1848 it was nearly abandoned as the saints moved west or scattered to nearby communities. Celina and I and our two daughters emigrated to Utah in the Summer of 1849 with the Silas Richards 3rd Company. Mary Ashley, a convert from Wales, traveled with our company. She had emigrated with her family to the United States on the ship Hope in 1842. In 1850 I married Mary Ashley in the Endowment House in Salt lake City.

In 1851, We were called to settle in Fillmore, Utah with Anson Call and 30 other families including several of my siblings and their families. We immediately commenced building a corral for our cattle. We built a school house and established a school within 15 days of our arrival, made a road into the canyon where we could obtain logs for our dwellings and built a fort in the shape of a triangle. In October of that year Brigham Young selected a site for the State House in Fillmore to be located in the center of the public square. I was made a counselor to Anson Call, the presiding Elder of our branch. Celina delivered a son, the first male born in Fillmore - Joseph Millard Robison. Celina taught school again - tuition was 3 dollars per child for 12 weeks.

On the morning of July 4th 1852 they raised the U.S. Flag on the new pole outside the State House and offered up a gun salute in celebration of Independence Day. Indians camped near by were alarmed and ran the twelve miles to Corn Creek to tell Chief Kanosh. He immediately gathered sixty warriors armed with guns, bows and arrows and rode to the bowery in Fillmore. Anson Call gathered his military together instructing them to stay in the fort with the gates closed unless they heard gunfire. He took me and Thomas King with an interpreter outside the fort. We carried no weapons, but armloads of provisions to put on the tables for the Day's celebration. We paid no attention to Kanosh or his men until all the provisions were laid out. We then greeted Chief Kanosh and said we were glad he had come to celebrate with us. Kanosh said he had come to fight, not to celebrate. When the interpreter explained the nature of the day and the celebration, Kanosh laughed and said, "I thought it was funny that four men would come out to fight with loaves of bread instead of guns." President Call told them to wipe off the war paint and join the celebration which they did.

My sister Matilda became a friend and benefactor to the Indians and many times they would come to her house to sit around the fire and dry their clothes. On one occasion, however, an Indian came at her with a knife. I jumped between them and sustained a wound to my side, but in doing so, saved her life.

In 1854, I PETER Robison along with PETER Boyes settled on Corn Creek, adjacent to Indian lands. We aptly named our settlement PETERsburg. We were located on the stage line from Salt Lake to Pioche and the Old immigrant road to Southern California. We had a stage station and general store. Celina taught school in our home. In 1856 I was called on a mission to England, I served in Sheffield and was appointed president of the Sheffield Conference. I was honorably released in 1858.

On returning from England, I found that my brother-in -law, Richard Hatton had moved to Petersburg and served as postmaster. The town was then called Hatton Rather than Petersburg. Alas, such is vanity.
Celina died in 1861. And I served as Branch President of the Corn Creek branch until 1867, then as counselor to Bishop Culbert King.

Contributed by Gus Pendleton (#47054338)