HEADSTONE gives death date as July 15 1927. Obituary indicates July 14.
OBITUARY Iron County Reporter July 15 1927 "John A. Robinson, Last West Side Civil War Veteran, Dies" with photo
John A. Robinson, 80, the last representative of the Grand Army of the Republic in the west side of Iron county, died at 11:40 yesterday noon in a Chicago hospital following an operation which was performed with the view of correcting a bladder ailment with which he had been suffering for the past year. Mr. Robinson was taken to Chicago about two weeks ago and he submitted to a preliminary operation at that time. Several other operations had been performed on him for the same trouble during the last year.
Mr. Robinson, since his arrival in Iron River about 15 years ago, had come to be a well known figure in this vicinity. He was a veteran of the Civil War, but saw only a few months of service on the western frontier in 1864 near the close of the war.
SOLDIER AT 17 He was only 17 years old when he joined the colors in February 1864, and being too young to be dispatched to the battle field, he participated in the quelling of Indian disturbances in the west.
After his discharge from the army in November, 1864, he became employed as a fireman on the Rock Island railway, became an engineer, and later resigned to become a superintendent of a lumber company at LaPeer, Mich.
Later he was assigned to the upper peninsula, settling at Thompson, where he entered upon a career of railway construction. In 1906 he was made general manager of the Manistique and Northern railway, which now is part of the Ann Arbor railway and ferry lines.
CAME HERE IN 1912 He was associated with the railroad until 1911, after which he came to Iron River in connection with the development of the Peninsular Power company. He retired to private life several years ago.
Decedent is survived by his second wife, Beulah Robinson, one son, Charles A. Robinson, proprietor of the Iron Inn. A daughter died in infancy. Three half brothers and two half sisters also survive. They are: Carleton Mason, Nebraska; Joseph T. Mason, Iron River and Harry Mason, Denver, Colo.; Mrs. Mary Bartlett, Mendota, Ill., and Mrs. Emma Morrison, Dickson, Ill. Mr. Robinson's first wife died many years ago and is buried in the family lot in Manistique.
Funeral services will be held Sunday [July 17] afternoon at 2:30 o'clock at the First Presbyterian church, of Iron River. The Rev. Milo Filipi, pastor, will be in charge. Interment will be at Resthaven.
The Legion posts of Iron River, Stambaugh, and Caspian will combine in forming a military escort and the commanders of each post have requested the members to report at their respective headquarters in uniform.
FUNERAL NOTICE Iron River Reporter July 19 1927 "Military Rites For Robinson: Impressive Last Rites For J.A. Robinson Largely Attended"
Impressive ceremonies marked the military funeral of John A. Robinson, 80, Iron River's beloved veteran of the Civil War, who died last Thursday [July 14] noon in Chicago. Services were held at 2 o'clock Sunday afternoon from the late home and at 2:30 from First Presbyterian church, the Rev. Milo Filipi in charge.
Legion posts of Iron River, Stambaugh, and Caspian were well represented in the funeral cortege, which moved in solemn stateliness from the Robinson home to the church.
The Legion banners and the stars and stripes, escorted by a guard, headed the procession, followed by the Caspian band which played funeral marches almost continually. Next in line was the Legion firing squad, heading a delegation of 50 to 75 Legionnaires, some in uniform, some wearing only the regulation Legion cap.
The hearse, bearing the flag draped casket, was escorted by six pallbearers, five of them members of the Masonic order, which was in charge of the services at the cemetery. Behind the hearse marched a large delegation of Masons who were followed by the cars bearing the mourners.
"Let not your hearts be troubled. In my Father's house there are many mansions and I go to prepare for you a place. If it were not so I would have told you."
From that text the Rev. Mr. Filipi offered a short sermon of hope and comfort.
A quartet composed of Conrad and Guy M. Cox, George Bradfield and Leonard P. Diederichs sang "Lead Kindly Light". Following the reading of the text Guy and Connie Cox sang a duet "I Come To Thee". As the body was being removed from the church "Lead Kindly Light" was softly played by a brass quartet consisting of M.A. Trams, cornet; Pearl Watts and F.P. Hale, baritones and Joy Lace, French horn.
The Masonic funeral ritual was carried out at Resthaven cemetery after which three volleys by the Legion firing squad tendered final homage to a departed comrade.
Pallbearers were William Truran, William Collins, Harry Rogers, Clarence Jaedecke, William Bengry and D.P. LaRoux, the latter of Crystal Falls. Among those from out of the city who attended the services were: Mrs. John T. Rich, LaPeer; Mr. and Mrs. Irving Smith, Miss Pearl Smith, Niagara, Wis.; Mrs. Wesley Gillighan and Mrs. Ernest Shinas, Manistique; Mr. and Mrs. John Tynan, Fond du Lac.
NEWS ARTICLE Iron County Reporter Nov 1 2006 “Civil War Veteran Gets His Headstone” with photo (photo at right)
IRON RIVER – Civil War veteran John Robinson was 80 years old when he died and was buried in Resthaven Cemetery in Iron River Township. It took another 80 years before Robinson received a standard government headstone for his gravesite, thanks to the persistent efforts of three Iron River residents.
With Robinson’s headstone in place at Resthaven, Shirley Rentschler, veterans counselor at the Iron County Department of Veterans Affairs, Al Perlongo, Sons of the American Legion Squadron 17, and Dale Safford, genealogist, paid their respects to a man they never met, but whose determined effort gave this Civil War veteran the recognition for his service to his country. He had served as a private with the 3rd Illinois Cavalry with Co. F.
Robinson’s story began last spring when Dale was visited by a Civil War re-enactor who was new to the area and was looking for Civil War veterans in the local cemeteries.
“He came to me after having talked to Mike Hanmer, sexton at Resthaven Cemetery,” said Dale. “Mike told him that he thought there were two Civil War veterans buried in Resthaven, but he had no idea who they might be or where they were buried.”
Mike referred him to see Dale, as she’s been working on the records at Resthaven Cemetery for several years, planning to put the information on the Internet, she added.
Dale said she was unaware that any Civil War veterans were buried at Resthaven. She knew about Andrew Boyington and John Frank Allen at the Iron River Cemetery.
At the time Dale was researching obituaries in the old Iron River Reporters from 1927 when she came across an article in the July 15th issue “John A. Robinson, Last West Side Civil War Veteran, Dies.”
“Aha. He was buried in Resthaven Cemetery. Prior to that, in the May 22, 1928 Iron River Reporter, I had found an article, ‘Meade LaPlante, Last Civil War Veteran, Taken,’ for a veteran buried in the Crystal Falls Evergreen Cemetery,” said Dale. “I have scrutinized all records for Resthaven, and for the five or so others who are men born long enough ago to be possible Civil War veterans, I am pretty sure that none of them are, so if there is a second Civil War veteran buried in Resthaven, it remains a mystery, but at least we have proof of Robinson being one.”
(Recently, Dale confirmed information regarding that the second Civil War veteran at Resthaven is Henry H. Hendricks, who served with the 11th Wisconsin infantry with Co. K. Hendricks’ gravesite bears a headstone marking his service in the Civil War.)
Mike noted that he was informed about the two Civil War veterans at Resthaven from a woman representing a federal agency who was checking all the cemeteries in the U.P. for Civil War veterans.
From that initial inquiry about Civil War veterans at Resthaven, said Dale, she then came upon a photo in the Reporter of Alfred [Perlongo] and his son Derek putting flags at the Iron River Cemetery for Memorial Day. In the photo, the two are placing a marker on the gravesite of Michael Mitchell, a veteran of the Spanish-American War who served with the 34th Michigan Infantry, Co. E.
She contacted Al indicating that Robinson was a veteran who had probably been overlooked for many years, she said.
“From there, Alfred got the ball rolling and contacted Shirley at the Veteran’s Affairs office,” said Dale.
Dale was also interested in getting more information about veterans’ grave markers because her late husband Klint had a great-great-grandfather who was a Civil War veteran who fought in Gettysburg but his gravesite in downstate Fenton had no marker indicating his military service.
For Shirley, getting recognition for veterans is just part of the job, and she was more than eager to help give this particular veteran his due, even after 80 years.
Al contacted Shirley in May.
“We need help,” he told her.
So Shirley began her background search. If she was going to help get a stone for Robinson, she was going to need every bit of information available to prove beyond any doubt that the veteran was entitled to the headstone.
“Every veteran gets a marker, a flag and a presidential memorial certificate,” Shirley said. “That’s just part of the services offered by the local veterans’ office.”
She started her search with the National Personnel Center in St. Louis, Mo., which archives the national veteran records dating back to the Civil War. However, the information she had wasn’t enough for that agency.
“They sent me an e-mail wanting more information,” said Shirley. She had nothing more to go on than what she had sent to the national agency.
With no luck from the national center, Shirley proceeded on information obtained from Robinson’s obituary in The Reporter. She sent inquiries to DuWayne Hammill of the Lapeer County Department of Veterans’ Affairs. Robinson’s obituary had noted, “After his discharge from the army in November, 1864, he became employed as a fireman on the Rock Island railway, became an engineer, and later resigned to become a superintendent of a lumber company at LaPeer, Mich.”
It seemed like a simple task, but as Shirley explained, the name Robinson is more common than you’d think, and that was adding to the difficulty in tracking down the necessary documentation. There were 17 John Robinsons who enlisted from Michigan, and 653 John Robinsons on the national list who enlisted in the Civil War.
In early August, Hammill wrote to Shirley, enclosing information his office was able to locate on Robinson.
“The people who did the research are confident that the information they found is on your veteran,” Hammill wrote Shirley. Some of the dates didn’t quite correspond, he wrote Shirley, “but through census and birth records they feel that John A. Robinson, aka John B. Robinson, is the veteran you are looking for,” wrote Hammill.
According to his obituary, published on July 15, 1927, “the last representative of the Grand Army of the Republic in the west side of Iron County, Robinson died in Chicago on July 14, 1927 following an operation to correct a bladder ailment which he had suffered from for the past year.
“Mr. Robinson, since his arrival in Iron River about 15 years ago, had come to be a well known figure in this vicinity,” read his obituary. “He was a veteran of the Civil War, but saw only a few months of service on the western frontier in 1864 near the close of the war.
“He was only 17 years old when he joined the colors in February, 1864, and being too young to be dispatched to the battle field, he participated in the quelling of Indian disturbances in the west.”
From Lapeer, Robinson was then assigned to the U.P., settling at Thompson, and worked in railway construction. In 1906, Robinson was named general manager of the Manistique and Northern railway, “which now is part of the Ann Arbor railway and ferry lines,” noted his obituary.
“He was associated with the railroad until 1911, after which he came to Iron River in connection with the development of the Peninsular Power company. He retired to private life several years ago.”
The list of survivors in his obituary includes his second wife Beulah Robinson; his first wife had died previously and was buried in the family lot in Manistique, according to the obituary.
Beulah died in 1933, said Dale, and a scholarship at West Iron County High School was given out in her name since 1973.
“And my daughters Sandy in 1999 and Holly in 2002 both received this scholarship,” said Dale. “I am pleased to have had a part in recognizing her husband and learning the story of their family as a way of being thankful for my daughters receiving the scholarship,” she added.
Funeral services for John Robinson were held on a Sunday, July 17, at the First Presbyterian Church of Iron River with Rev. Milo Filipi, pastor, in charge. The Legion posts of Iron River, Stambaugh and Caspian formed a military escort.
Armed with the necessary information, Shirley ordered an upright marble headstone for Robinson. That was this past August. She was notified of the delivery of the 200-pound plus stone on Sept. 22.
“Wow, it only took five weeks,” she said. “I was surprised and pleased.”
All veterans are entitled to a free marker, said Shirley, and her office routinely works to get these markers for veterans’ gravesites. The more information a family can supply about the veterans, the easier it is to verify his or her service record and secure the marker or stone.
One important piece of documentation, especially for World War II or Korean War veterans, is the veteran’s separation papers or the DD214, she said. Families interested in more information on this program can contact Shirley at her office.
“Once it comes in, a lot of times, the family will ask to be notified when it’s received, or when the marker is placed,” said Shirley.
“It’s just respect for the veteran to have a marker. For Memorial Day, all of the posts will put a flag out at every marker.”
Next May, for the Memorial Day observance, John Robinson will be among those to be honored.
NEWS ARTICLE Iron River Reporter Aug 17 1923 (no title)
John A. Robinson left Tuesday evening for Waukesha, Wis., where he expects to take treatments in one of the sanitariums of that city.
OBITUARY for former Michigan Governor 1893-1897 John T. Rich in Iron River Reporter March 30 1926 says John A. Robinson is his cousin. Rich was born in Conneautville, Pennsylvania (age 85 = born 1841).
OBITUARY Iron County Reporter July 15 1927 "John A. Robinson, Last West Side Civil War Veteran, Dies" with photo
John A. Robinson, 80, the last representative of the Grand Army of the Republic in the west side of Iron county, died at 11:40 yesterday noon in a Chicago hospital following an operation which was performed with the view of correcting a bladder ailment with which he had been suffering for the past year. Mr. Robinson was taken to Chicago about two weeks ago and he submitted to a preliminary operation at that time. Several other operations had been performed on him for the same trouble during the last year.
Mr. Robinson, since his arrival in Iron River about 15 years ago, had come to be a well known figure in this vicinity. He was a veteran of the Civil War, but saw only a few months of service on the western frontier in 1864 near the close of the war.
SOLDIER AT 17 He was only 17 years old when he joined the colors in February 1864, and being too young to be dispatched to the battle field, he participated in the quelling of Indian disturbances in the west.
After his discharge from the army in November, 1864, he became employed as a fireman on the Rock Island railway, became an engineer, and later resigned to become a superintendent of a lumber company at LaPeer, Mich.
Later he was assigned to the upper peninsula, settling at Thompson, where he entered upon a career of railway construction. In 1906 he was made general manager of the Manistique and Northern railway, which now is part of the Ann Arbor railway and ferry lines.
CAME HERE IN 1912 He was associated with the railroad until 1911, after which he came to Iron River in connection with the development of the Peninsular Power company. He retired to private life several years ago.
Decedent is survived by his second wife, Beulah Robinson, one son, Charles A. Robinson, proprietor of the Iron Inn. A daughter died in infancy. Three half brothers and two half sisters also survive. They are: Carleton Mason, Nebraska; Joseph T. Mason, Iron River and Harry Mason, Denver, Colo.; Mrs. Mary Bartlett, Mendota, Ill., and Mrs. Emma Morrison, Dickson, Ill. Mr. Robinson's first wife died many years ago and is buried in the family lot in Manistique.
Funeral services will be held Sunday [July 17] afternoon at 2:30 o'clock at the First Presbyterian church, of Iron River. The Rev. Milo Filipi, pastor, will be in charge. Interment will be at Resthaven.
The Legion posts of Iron River, Stambaugh, and Caspian will combine in forming a military escort and the commanders of each post have requested the members to report at their respective headquarters in uniform.
FUNERAL NOTICE Iron River Reporter July 19 1927 "Military Rites For Robinson: Impressive Last Rites For J.A. Robinson Largely Attended"
Impressive ceremonies marked the military funeral of John A. Robinson, 80, Iron River's beloved veteran of the Civil War, who died last Thursday [July 14] noon in Chicago. Services were held at 2 o'clock Sunday afternoon from the late home and at 2:30 from First Presbyterian church, the Rev. Milo Filipi in charge.
Legion posts of Iron River, Stambaugh, and Caspian were well represented in the funeral cortege, which moved in solemn stateliness from the Robinson home to the church.
The Legion banners and the stars and stripes, escorted by a guard, headed the procession, followed by the Caspian band which played funeral marches almost continually. Next in line was the Legion firing squad, heading a delegation of 50 to 75 Legionnaires, some in uniform, some wearing only the regulation Legion cap.
The hearse, bearing the flag draped casket, was escorted by six pallbearers, five of them members of the Masonic order, which was in charge of the services at the cemetery. Behind the hearse marched a large delegation of Masons who were followed by the cars bearing the mourners.
"Let not your hearts be troubled. In my Father's house there are many mansions and I go to prepare for you a place. If it were not so I would have told you."
From that text the Rev. Mr. Filipi offered a short sermon of hope and comfort.
A quartet composed of Conrad and Guy M. Cox, George Bradfield and Leonard P. Diederichs sang "Lead Kindly Light". Following the reading of the text Guy and Connie Cox sang a duet "I Come To Thee". As the body was being removed from the church "Lead Kindly Light" was softly played by a brass quartet consisting of M.A. Trams, cornet; Pearl Watts and F.P. Hale, baritones and Joy Lace, French horn.
The Masonic funeral ritual was carried out at Resthaven cemetery after which three volleys by the Legion firing squad tendered final homage to a departed comrade.
Pallbearers were William Truran, William Collins, Harry Rogers, Clarence Jaedecke, William Bengry and D.P. LaRoux, the latter of Crystal Falls. Among those from out of the city who attended the services were: Mrs. John T. Rich, LaPeer; Mr. and Mrs. Irving Smith, Miss Pearl Smith, Niagara, Wis.; Mrs. Wesley Gillighan and Mrs. Ernest Shinas, Manistique; Mr. and Mrs. John Tynan, Fond du Lac.
NEWS ARTICLE Iron County Reporter Nov 1 2006 “Civil War Veteran Gets His Headstone” with photo (photo at right)
IRON RIVER – Civil War veteran John Robinson was 80 years old when he died and was buried in Resthaven Cemetery in Iron River Township. It took another 80 years before Robinson received a standard government headstone for his gravesite, thanks to the persistent efforts of three Iron River residents.
With Robinson’s headstone in place at Resthaven, Shirley Rentschler, veterans counselor at the Iron County Department of Veterans Affairs, Al Perlongo, Sons of the American Legion Squadron 17, and Dale Safford, genealogist, paid their respects to a man they never met, but whose determined effort gave this Civil War veteran the recognition for his service to his country. He had served as a private with the 3rd Illinois Cavalry with Co. F.
Robinson’s story began last spring when Dale was visited by a Civil War re-enactor who was new to the area and was looking for Civil War veterans in the local cemeteries.
“He came to me after having talked to Mike Hanmer, sexton at Resthaven Cemetery,” said Dale. “Mike told him that he thought there were two Civil War veterans buried in Resthaven, but he had no idea who they might be or where they were buried.”
Mike referred him to see Dale, as she’s been working on the records at Resthaven Cemetery for several years, planning to put the information on the Internet, she added.
Dale said she was unaware that any Civil War veterans were buried at Resthaven. She knew about Andrew Boyington and John Frank Allen at the Iron River Cemetery.
At the time Dale was researching obituaries in the old Iron River Reporters from 1927 when she came across an article in the July 15th issue “John A. Robinson, Last West Side Civil War Veteran, Dies.”
“Aha. He was buried in Resthaven Cemetery. Prior to that, in the May 22, 1928 Iron River Reporter, I had found an article, ‘Meade LaPlante, Last Civil War Veteran, Taken,’ for a veteran buried in the Crystal Falls Evergreen Cemetery,” said Dale. “I have scrutinized all records for Resthaven, and for the five or so others who are men born long enough ago to be possible Civil War veterans, I am pretty sure that none of them are, so if there is a second Civil War veteran buried in Resthaven, it remains a mystery, but at least we have proof of Robinson being one.”
(Recently, Dale confirmed information regarding that the second Civil War veteran at Resthaven is Henry H. Hendricks, who served with the 11th Wisconsin infantry with Co. K. Hendricks’ gravesite bears a headstone marking his service in the Civil War.)
Mike noted that he was informed about the two Civil War veterans at Resthaven from a woman representing a federal agency who was checking all the cemeteries in the U.P. for Civil War veterans.
From that initial inquiry about Civil War veterans at Resthaven, said Dale, she then came upon a photo in the Reporter of Alfred [Perlongo] and his son Derek putting flags at the Iron River Cemetery for Memorial Day. In the photo, the two are placing a marker on the gravesite of Michael Mitchell, a veteran of the Spanish-American War who served with the 34th Michigan Infantry, Co. E.
She contacted Al indicating that Robinson was a veteran who had probably been overlooked for many years, she said.
“From there, Alfred got the ball rolling and contacted Shirley at the Veteran’s Affairs office,” said Dale.
Dale was also interested in getting more information about veterans’ grave markers because her late husband Klint had a great-great-grandfather who was a Civil War veteran who fought in Gettysburg but his gravesite in downstate Fenton had no marker indicating his military service.
For Shirley, getting recognition for veterans is just part of the job, and she was more than eager to help give this particular veteran his due, even after 80 years.
Al contacted Shirley in May.
“We need help,” he told her.
So Shirley began her background search. If she was going to help get a stone for Robinson, she was going to need every bit of information available to prove beyond any doubt that the veteran was entitled to the headstone.
“Every veteran gets a marker, a flag and a presidential memorial certificate,” Shirley said. “That’s just part of the services offered by the local veterans’ office.”
She started her search with the National Personnel Center in St. Louis, Mo., which archives the national veteran records dating back to the Civil War. However, the information she had wasn’t enough for that agency.
“They sent me an e-mail wanting more information,” said Shirley. She had nothing more to go on than what she had sent to the national agency.
With no luck from the national center, Shirley proceeded on information obtained from Robinson’s obituary in The Reporter. She sent inquiries to DuWayne Hammill of the Lapeer County Department of Veterans’ Affairs. Robinson’s obituary had noted, “After his discharge from the army in November, 1864, he became employed as a fireman on the Rock Island railway, became an engineer, and later resigned to become a superintendent of a lumber company at LaPeer, Mich.”
It seemed like a simple task, but as Shirley explained, the name Robinson is more common than you’d think, and that was adding to the difficulty in tracking down the necessary documentation. There were 17 John Robinsons who enlisted from Michigan, and 653 John Robinsons on the national list who enlisted in the Civil War.
In early August, Hammill wrote to Shirley, enclosing information his office was able to locate on Robinson.
“The people who did the research are confident that the information they found is on your veteran,” Hammill wrote Shirley. Some of the dates didn’t quite correspond, he wrote Shirley, “but through census and birth records they feel that John A. Robinson, aka John B. Robinson, is the veteran you are looking for,” wrote Hammill.
According to his obituary, published on July 15, 1927, “the last representative of the Grand Army of the Republic in the west side of Iron County, Robinson died in Chicago on July 14, 1927 following an operation to correct a bladder ailment which he had suffered from for the past year.
“Mr. Robinson, since his arrival in Iron River about 15 years ago, had come to be a well known figure in this vicinity,” read his obituary. “He was a veteran of the Civil War, but saw only a few months of service on the western frontier in 1864 near the close of the war.
“He was only 17 years old when he joined the colors in February, 1864, and being too young to be dispatched to the battle field, he participated in the quelling of Indian disturbances in the west.”
From Lapeer, Robinson was then assigned to the U.P., settling at Thompson, and worked in railway construction. In 1906, Robinson was named general manager of the Manistique and Northern railway, “which now is part of the Ann Arbor railway and ferry lines,” noted his obituary.
“He was associated with the railroad until 1911, after which he came to Iron River in connection with the development of the Peninsular Power company. He retired to private life several years ago.”
The list of survivors in his obituary includes his second wife Beulah Robinson; his first wife had died previously and was buried in the family lot in Manistique, according to the obituary.
Beulah died in 1933, said Dale, and a scholarship at West Iron County High School was given out in her name since 1973.
“And my daughters Sandy in 1999 and Holly in 2002 both received this scholarship,” said Dale. “I am pleased to have had a part in recognizing her husband and learning the story of their family as a way of being thankful for my daughters receiving the scholarship,” she added.
Funeral services for John Robinson were held on a Sunday, July 17, at the First Presbyterian Church of Iron River with Rev. Milo Filipi, pastor, in charge. The Legion posts of Iron River, Stambaugh and Caspian formed a military escort.
Armed with the necessary information, Shirley ordered an upright marble headstone for Robinson. That was this past August. She was notified of the delivery of the 200-pound plus stone on Sept. 22.
“Wow, it only took five weeks,” she said. “I was surprised and pleased.”
All veterans are entitled to a free marker, said Shirley, and her office routinely works to get these markers for veterans’ gravesites. The more information a family can supply about the veterans, the easier it is to verify his or her service record and secure the marker or stone.
One important piece of documentation, especially for World War II or Korean War veterans, is the veteran’s separation papers or the DD214, she said. Families interested in more information on this program can contact Shirley at her office.
“Once it comes in, a lot of times, the family will ask to be notified when it’s received, or when the marker is placed,” said Shirley.
“It’s just respect for the veteran to have a marker. For Memorial Day, all of the posts will put a flag out at every marker.”
Next May, for the Memorial Day observance, John Robinson will be among those to be honored.
NEWS ARTICLE Iron River Reporter Aug 17 1923 (no title)
John A. Robinson left Tuesday evening for Waukesha, Wis., where he expects to take treatments in one of the sanitariums of that city.
OBITUARY for former Michigan Governor 1893-1897 John T. Rich in Iron River Reporter March 30 1926 says John A. Robinson is his cousin. Rich was born in Conneautville, Pennsylvania (age 85 = born 1841).
HEADSTONE gives death date as July 15 1927. Obituary indicates July 14.
OBITUARY Iron County Reporter July 15 1927 "John A. Robinson, Last West Side Civil War Veteran, Dies" with photo
John A. Robinson, 80, the last representative of the Grand Army of the Republic in the west side of Iron county, died at 11:40 yesterday noon in a Chicago hospital following an operation which was performed with the view of correcting a bladder ailment with which he had been suffering for the past year. Mr. Robinson was taken to Chicago about two weeks ago and he submitted to a preliminary operation at that time. Several other operations had been performed on him for the same trouble during the last year.
Mr. Robinson, since his arrival in Iron River about 15 years ago, had come to be a well known figure in this vicinity. He was a veteran of the Civil War, but saw only a few months of service on the western frontier in 1864 near the close of the war.
SOLDIER AT 17 He was only 17 years old when he joined the colors in February 1864, and being too young to be dispatched to the battle field, he participated in the quelling of Indian disturbances in the west.
After his discharge from the army in November, 1864, he became employed as a fireman on the Rock Island railway, became an engineer, and later resigned to become a superintendent of a lumber company at LaPeer, Mich.
Later he was assigned to the upper peninsula, settling at Thompson, where he entered upon a career of railway construction. In 1906 he was made general manager of the Manistique and Northern railway, which now is part of the Ann Arbor railway and ferry lines.
CAME HERE IN 1912 He was associated with the railroad until 1911, after which he came to Iron River in connection with the development of the Peninsular Power company. He retired to private life several years ago.
Decedent is survived by his second wife, Beulah Robinson, one son, Charles A. Robinson, proprietor of the Iron Inn. A daughter died in infancy. Three half brothers and two half sisters also survive. They are: Carleton Mason, Nebraska; Joseph T. Mason, Iron River and Harry Mason, Denver, Colo.; Mrs. Mary Bartlett, Mendota, Ill., and Mrs. Emma Morrison, Dickson, Ill. Mr. Robinson's first wife died many years ago and is buried in the family lot in Manistique.
Funeral services will be held Sunday [July 17] afternoon at 2:30 o'clock at the First Presbyterian church, of Iron River. The Rev. Milo Filipi, pastor, will be in charge. Interment will be at Resthaven.
The Legion posts of Iron River, Stambaugh, and Caspian will combine in forming a military escort and the commanders of each post have requested the members to report at their respective headquarters in uniform.
FUNERAL NOTICE Iron River Reporter July 19 1927 "Military Rites For Robinson: Impressive Last Rites For J.A. Robinson Largely Attended"
Impressive ceremonies marked the military funeral of John A. Robinson, 80, Iron River's beloved veteran of the Civil War, who died last Thursday [July 14] noon in Chicago. Services were held at 2 o'clock Sunday afternoon from the late home and at 2:30 from First Presbyterian church, the Rev. Milo Filipi in charge.
Legion posts of Iron River, Stambaugh, and Caspian were well represented in the funeral cortege, which moved in solemn stateliness from the Robinson home to the church.
The Legion banners and the stars and stripes, escorted by a guard, headed the procession, followed by the Caspian band which played funeral marches almost continually. Next in line was the Legion firing squad, heading a delegation of 50 to 75 Legionnaires, some in uniform, some wearing only the regulation Legion cap.
The hearse, bearing the flag draped casket, was escorted by six pallbearers, five of them members of the Masonic order, which was in charge of the services at the cemetery. Behind the hearse marched a large delegation of Masons who were followed by the cars bearing the mourners.
"Let not your hearts be troubled. In my Father's house there are many mansions and I go to prepare for you a place. If it were not so I would have told you."
From that text the Rev. Mr. Filipi offered a short sermon of hope and comfort.
A quartet composed of Conrad and Guy M. Cox, George Bradfield and Leonard P. Diederichs sang "Lead Kindly Light". Following the reading of the text Guy and Connie Cox sang a duet "I Come To Thee". As the body was being removed from the church "Lead Kindly Light" was softly played by a brass quartet consisting of M.A. Trams, cornet; Pearl Watts and F.P. Hale, baritones and Joy Lace, French horn.
The Masonic funeral ritual was carried out at Resthaven cemetery after which three volleys by the Legion firing squad tendered final homage to a departed comrade.
Pallbearers were William Truran, William Collins, Harry Rogers, Clarence Jaedecke, William Bengry and D.P. LaRoux, the latter of Crystal Falls. Among those from out of the city who attended the services were: Mrs. John T. Rich, LaPeer; Mr. and Mrs. Irving Smith, Miss Pearl Smith, Niagara, Wis.; Mrs. Wesley Gillighan and Mrs. Ernest Shinas, Manistique; Mr. and Mrs. John Tynan, Fond du Lac.
NEWS ARTICLE Iron County Reporter Nov 1 2006 “Civil War Veteran Gets His Headstone” with photo (photo at right)
IRON RIVER – Civil War veteran John Robinson was 80 years old when he died and was buried in Resthaven Cemetery in Iron River Township. It took another 80 years before Robinson received a standard government headstone for his gravesite, thanks to the persistent efforts of three Iron River residents.
With Robinson’s headstone in place at Resthaven, Shirley Rentschler, veterans counselor at the Iron County Department of Veterans Affairs, Al Perlongo, Sons of the American Legion Squadron 17, and Dale Safford, genealogist, paid their respects to a man they never met, but whose determined effort gave this Civil War veteran the recognition for his service to his country. He had served as a private with the 3rd Illinois Cavalry with Co. F.
Robinson’s story began last spring when Dale was visited by a Civil War re-enactor who was new to the area and was looking for Civil War veterans in the local cemeteries.
“He came to me after having talked to Mike Hanmer, sexton at Resthaven Cemetery,” said Dale. “Mike told him that he thought there were two Civil War veterans buried in Resthaven, but he had no idea who they might be or where they were buried.”
Mike referred him to see Dale, as she’s been working on the records at Resthaven Cemetery for several years, planning to put the information on the Internet, she added.
Dale said she was unaware that any Civil War veterans were buried at Resthaven. She knew about Andrew Boyington and John Frank Allen at the Iron River Cemetery.
At the time Dale was researching obituaries in the old Iron River Reporters from 1927 when she came across an article in the July 15th issue “John A. Robinson, Last West Side Civil War Veteran, Dies.”
“Aha. He was buried in Resthaven Cemetery. Prior to that, in the May 22, 1928 Iron River Reporter, I had found an article, ‘Meade LaPlante, Last Civil War Veteran, Taken,’ for a veteran buried in the Crystal Falls Evergreen Cemetery,” said Dale. “I have scrutinized all records for Resthaven, and for the five or so others who are men born long enough ago to be possible Civil War veterans, I am pretty sure that none of them are, so if there is a second Civil War veteran buried in Resthaven, it remains a mystery, but at least we have proof of Robinson being one.”
(Recently, Dale confirmed information regarding that the second Civil War veteran at Resthaven is Henry H. Hendricks, who served with the 11th Wisconsin infantry with Co. K. Hendricks’ gravesite bears a headstone marking his service in the Civil War.)
Mike noted that he was informed about the two Civil War veterans at Resthaven from a woman representing a federal agency who was checking all the cemeteries in the U.P. for Civil War veterans.
From that initial inquiry about Civil War veterans at Resthaven, said Dale, she then came upon a photo in the Reporter of Alfred [Perlongo] and his son Derek putting flags at the Iron River Cemetery for Memorial Day. In the photo, the two are placing a marker on the gravesite of Michael Mitchell, a veteran of the Spanish-American War who served with the 34th Michigan Infantry, Co. E.
She contacted Al indicating that Robinson was a veteran who had probably been overlooked for many years, she said.
“From there, Alfred got the ball rolling and contacted Shirley at the Veteran’s Affairs office,” said Dale.
Dale was also interested in getting more information about veterans’ grave markers because her late husband Klint had a great-great-grandfather who was a Civil War veteran who fought in Gettysburg but his gravesite in downstate Fenton had no marker indicating his military service.
For Shirley, getting recognition for veterans is just part of the job, and she was more than eager to help give this particular veteran his due, even after 80 years.
Al contacted Shirley in May.
“We need help,” he told her.
So Shirley began her background search. If she was going to help get a stone for Robinson, she was going to need every bit of information available to prove beyond any doubt that the veteran was entitled to the headstone.
“Every veteran gets a marker, a flag and a presidential memorial certificate,” Shirley said. “That’s just part of the services offered by the local veterans’ office.”
She started her search with the National Personnel Center in St. Louis, Mo., which archives the national veteran records dating back to the Civil War. However, the information she had wasn’t enough for that agency.
“They sent me an e-mail wanting more information,” said Shirley. She had nothing more to go on than what she had sent to the national agency.
With no luck from the national center, Shirley proceeded on information obtained from Robinson’s obituary in The Reporter. She sent inquiries to DuWayne Hammill of the Lapeer County Department of Veterans’ Affairs. Robinson’s obituary had noted, “After his discharge from the army in November, 1864, he became employed as a fireman on the Rock Island railway, became an engineer, and later resigned to become a superintendent of a lumber company at LaPeer, Mich.”
It seemed like a simple task, but as Shirley explained, the name Robinson is more common than you’d think, and that was adding to the difficulty in tracking down the necessary documentation. There were 17 John Robinsons who enlisted from Michigan, and 653 John Robinsons on the national list who enlisted in the Civil War.
In early August, Hammill wrote to Shirley, enclosing information his office was able to locate on Robinson.
“The people who did the research are confident that the information they found is on your veteran,” Hammill wrote Shirley. Some of the dates didn’t quite correspond, he wrote Shirley, “but through census and birth records they feel that John A. Robinson, aka John B. Robinson, is the veteran you are looking for,” wrote Hammill.
According to his obituary, published on July 15, 1927, “the last representative of the Grand Army of the Republic in the west side of Iron County, Robinson died in Chicago on July 14, 1927 following an operation to correct a bladder ailment which he had suffered from for the past year.
“Mr. Robinson, since his arrival in Iron River about 15 years ago, had come to be a well known figure in this vicinity,” read his obituary. “He was a veteran of the Civil War, but saw only a few months of service on the western frontier in 1864 near the close of the war.
“He was only 17 years old when he joined the colors in February, 1864, and being too young to be dispatched to the battle field, he participated in the quelling of Indian disturbances in the west.”
From Lapeer, Robinson was then assigned to the U.P., settling at Thompson, and worked in railway construction. In 1906, Robinson was named general manager of the Manistique and Northern railway, “which now is part of the Ann Arbor railway and ferry lines,” noted his obituary.
“He was associated with the railroad until 1911, after which he came to Iron River in connection with the development of the Peninsular Power company. He retired to private life several years ago.”
The list of survivors in his obituary includes his second wife Beulah Robinson; his first wife had died previously and was buried in the family lot in Manistique, according to the obituary.
Beulah died in 1933, said Dale, and a scholarship at West Iron County High School was given out in her name since 1973.
“And my daughters Sandy in 1999 and Holly in 2002 both received this scholarship,” said Dale. “I am pleased to have had a part in recognizing her husband and learning the story of their family as a way of being thankful for my daughters receiving the scholarship,” she added.
Funeral services for John Robinson were held on a Sunday, July 17, at the First Presbyterian Church of Iron River with Rev. Milo Filipi, pastor, in charge. The Legion posts of Iron River, Stambaugh and Caspian formed a military escort.
Armed with the necessary information, Shirley ordered an upright marble headstone for Robinson. That was this past August. She was notified of the delivery of the 200-pound plus stone on Sept. 22.
“Wow, it only took five weeks,” she said. “I was surprised and pleased.”
All veterans are entitled to a free marker, said Shirley, and her office routinely works to get these markers for veterans’ gravesites. The more information a family can supply about the veterans, the easier it is to verify his or her service record and secure the marker or stone.
One important piece of documentation, especially for World War II or Korean War veterans, is the veteran’s separation papers or the DD214, she said. Families interested in more information on this program can contact Shirley at her office.
“Once it comes in, a lot of times, the family will ask to be notified when it’s received, or when the marker is placed,” said Shirley.
“It’s just respect for the veteran to have a marker. For Memorial Day, all of the posts will put a flag out at every marker.”
Next May, for the Memorial Day observance, John Robinson will be among those to be honored.
NEWS ARTICLE Iron River Reporter Aug 17 1923 (no title)
John A. Robinson left Tuesday evening for Waukesha, Wis., where he expects to take treatments in one of the sanitariums of that city.
OBITUARY for former Michigan Governor 1893-1897 John T. Rich in Iron River Reporter March 30 1926 says John A. Robinson is his cousin. Rich was born in Conneautville, Pennsylvania (age 85 = born 1841).
OBITUARY Iron County Reporter July 15 1927 "John A. Robinson, Last West Side Civil War Veteran, Dies" with photo
John A. Robinson, 80, the last representative of the Grand Army of the Republic in the west side of Iron county, died at 11:40 yesterday noon in a Chicago hospital following an operation which was performed with the view of correcting a bladder ailment with which he had been suffering for the past year. Mr. Robinson was taken to Chicago about two weeks ago and he submitted to a preliminary operation at that time. Several other operations had been performed on him for the same trouble during the last year.
Mr. Robinson, since his arrival in Iron River about 15 years ago, had come to be a well known figure in this vicinity. He was a veteran of the Civil War, but saw only a few months of service on the western frontier in 1864 near the close of the war.
SOLDIER AT 17 He was only 17 years old when he joined the colors in February 1864, and being too young to be dispatched to the battle field, he participated in the quelling of Indian disturbances in the west.
After his discharge from the army in November, 1864, he became employed as a fireman on the Rock Island railway, became an engineer, and later resigned to become a superintendent of a lumber company at LaPeer, Mich.
Later he was assigned to the upper peninsula, settling at Thompson, where he entered upon a career of railway construction. In 1906 he was made general manager of the Manistique and Northern railway, which now is part of the Ann Arbor railway and ferry lines.
CAME HERE IN 1912 He was associated with the railroad until 1911, after which he came to Iron River in connection with the development of the Peninsular Power company. He retired to private life several years ago.
Decedent is survived by his second wife, Beulah Robinson, one son, Charles A. Robinson, proprietor of the Iron Inn. A daughter died in infancy. Three half brothers and two half sisters also survive. They are: Carleton Mason, Nebraska; Joseph T. Mason, Iron River and Harry Mason, Denver, Colo.; Mrs. Mary Bartlett, Mendota, Ill., and Mrs. Emma Morrison, Dickson, Ill. Mr. Robinson's first wife died many years ago and is buried in the family lot in Manistique.
Funeral services will be held Sunday [July 17] afternoon at 2:30 o'clock at the First Presbyterian church, of Iron River. The Rev. Milo Filipi, pastor, will be in charge. Interment will be at Resthaven.
The Legion posts of Iron River, Stambaugh, and Caspian will combine in forming a military escort and the commanders of each post have requested the members to report at their respective headquarters in uniform.
FUNERAL NOTICE Iron River Reporter July 19 1927 "Military Rites For Robinson: Impressive Last Rites For J.A. Robinson Largely Attended"
Impressive ceremonies marked the military funeral of John A. Robinson, 80, Iron River's beloved veteran of the Civil War, who died last Thursday [July 14] noon in Chicago. Services were held at 2 o'clock Sunday afternoon from the late home and at 2:30 from First Presbyterian church, the Rev. Milo Filipi in charge.
Legion posts of Iron River, Stambaugh, and Caspian were well represented in the funeral cortege, which moved in solemn stateliness from the Robinson home to the church.
The Legion banners and the stars and stripes, escorted by a guard, headed the procession, followed by the Caspian band which played funeral marches almost continually. Next in line was the Legion firing squad, heading a delegation of 50 to 75 Legionnaires, some in uniform, some wearing only the regulation Legion cap.
The hearse, bearing the flag draped casket, was escorted by six pallbearers, five of them members of the Masonic order, which was in charge of the services at the cemetery. Behind the hearse marched a large delegation of Masons who were followed by the cars bearing the mourners.
"Let not your hearts be troubled. In my Father's house there are many mansions and I go to prepare for you a place. If it were not so I would have told you."
From that text the Rev. Mr. Filipi offered a short sermon of hope and comfort.
A quartet composed of Conrad and Guy M. Cox, George Bradfield and Leonard P. Diederichs sang "Lead Kindly Light". Following the reading of the text Guy and Connie Cox sang a duet "I Come To Thee". As the body was being removed from the church "Lead Kindly Light" was softly played by a brass quartet consisting of M.A. Trams, cornet; Pearl Watts and F.P. Hale, baritones and Joy Lace, French horn.
The Masonic funeral ritual was carried out at Resthaven cemetery after which three volleys by the Legion firing squad tendered final homage to a departed comrade.
Pallbearers were William Truran, William Collins, Harry Rogers, Clarence Jaedecke, William Bengry and D.P. LaRoux, the latter of Crystal Falls. Among those from out of the city who attended the services were: Mrs. John T. Rich, LaPeer; Mr. and Mrs. Irving Smith, Miss Pearl Smith, Niagara, Wis.; Mrs. Wesley Gillighan and Mrs. Ernest Shinas, Manistique; Mr. and Mrs. John Tynan, Fond du Lac.
NEWS ARTICLE Iron County Reporter Nov 1 2006 “Civil War Veteran Gets His Headstone” with photo (photo at right)
IRON RIVER – Civil War veteran John Robinson was 80 years old when he died and was buried in Resthaven Cemetery in Iron River Township. It took another 80 years before Robinson received a standard government headstone for his gravesite, thanks to the persistent efforts of three Iron River residents.
With Robinson’s headstone in place at Resthaven, Shirley Rentschler, veterans counselor at the Iron County Department of Veterans Affairs, Al Perlongo, Sons of the American Legion Squadron 17, and Dale Safford, genealogist, paid their respects to a man they never met, but whose determined effort gave this Civil War veteran the recognition for his service to his country. He had served as a private with the 3rd Illinois Cavalry with Co. F.
Robinson’s story began last spring when Dale was visited by a Civil War re-enactor who was new to the area and was looking for Civil War veterans in the local cemeteries.
“He came to me after having talked to Mike Hanmer, sexton at Resthaven Cemetery,” said Dale. “Mike told him that he thought there were two Civil War veterans buried in Resthaven, but he had no idea who they might be or where they were buried.”
Mike referred him to see Dale, as she’s been working on the records at Resthaven Cemetery for several years, planning to put the information on the Internet, she added.
Dale said she was unaware that any Civil War veterans were buried at Resthaven. She knew about Andrew Boyington and John Frank Allen at the Iron River Cemetery.
At the time Dale was researching obituaries in the old Iron River Reporters from 1927 when she came across an article in the July 15th issue “John A. Robinson, Last West Side Civil War Veteran, Dies.”
“Aha. He was buried in Resthaven Cemetery. Prior to that, in the May 22, 1928 Iron River Reporter, I had found an article, ‘Meade LaPlante, Last Civil War Veteran, Taken,’ for a veteran buried in the Crystal Falls Evergreen Cemetery,” said Dale. “I have scrutinized all records for Resthaven, and for the five or so others who are men born long enough ago to be possible Civil War veterans, I am pretty sure that none of them are, so if there is a second Civil War veteran buried in Resthaven, it remains a mystery, but at least we have proof of Robinson being one.”
(Recently, Dale confirmed information regarding that the second Civil War veteran at Resthaven is Henry H. Hendricks, who served with the 11th Wisconsin infantry with Co. K. Hendricks’ gravesite bears a headstone marking his service in the Civil War.)
Mike noted that he was informed about the two Civil War veterans at Resthaven from a woman representing a federal agency who was checking all the cemeteries in the U.P. for Civil War veterans.
From that initial inquiry about Civil War veterans at Resthaven, said Dale, she then came upon a photo in the Reporter of Alfred [Perlongo] and his son Derek putting flags at the Iron River Cemetery for Memorial Day. In the photo, the two are placing a marker on the gravesite of Michael Mitchell, a veteran of the Spanish-American War who served with the 34th Michigan Infantry, Co. E.
She contacted Al indicating that Robinson was a veteran who had probably been overlooked for many years, she said.
“From there, Alfred got the ball rolling and contacted Shirley at the Veteran’s Affairs office,” said Dale.
Dale was also interested in getting more information about veterans’ grave markers because her late husband Klint had a great-great-grandfather who was a Civil War veteran who fought in Gettysburg but his gravesite in downstate Fenton had no marker indicating his military service.
For Shirley, getting recognition for veterans is just part of the job, and she was more than eager to help give this particular veteran his due, even after 80 years.
Al contacted Shirley in May.
“We need help,” he told her.
So Shirley began her background search. If she was going to help get a stone for Robinson, she was going to need every bit of information available to prove beyond any doubt that the veteran was entitled to the headstone.
“Every veteran gets a marker, a flag and a presidential memorial certificate,” Shirley said. “That’s just part of the services offered by the local veterans’ office.”
She started her search with the National Personnel Center in St. Louis, Mo., which archives the national veteran records dating back to the Civil War. However, the information she had wasn’t enough for that agency.
“They sent me an e-mail wanting more information,” said Shirley. She had nothing more to go on than what she had sent to the national agency.
With no luck from the national center, Shirley proceeded on information obtained from Robinson’s obituary in The Reporter. She sent inquiries to DuWayne Hammill of the Lapeer County Department of Veterans’ Affairs. Robinson’s obituary had noted, “After his discharge from the army in November, 1864, he became employed as a fireman on the Rock Island railway, became an engineer, and later resigned to become a superintendent of a lumber company at LaPeer, Mich.”
It seemed like a simple task, but as Shirley explained, the name Robinson is more common than you’d think, and that was adding to the difficulty in tracking down the necessary documentation. There were 17 John Robinsons who enlisted from Michigan, and 653 John Robinsons on the national list who enlisted in the Civil War.
In early August, Hammill wrote to Shirley, enclosing information his office was able to locate on Robinson.
“The people who did the research are confident that the information they found is on your veteran,” Hammill wrote Shirley. Some of the dates didn’t quite correspond, he wrote Shirley, “but through census and birth records they feel that John A. Robinson, aka John B. Robinson, is the veteran you are looking for,” wrote Hammill.
According to his obituary, published on July 15, 1927, “the last representative of the Grand Army of the Republic in the west side of Iron County, Robinson died in Chicago on July 14, 1927 following an operation to correct a bladder ailment which he had suffered from for the past year.
“Mr. Robinson, since his arrival in Iron River about 15 years ago, had come to be a well known figure in this vicinity,” read his obituary. “He was a veteran of the Civil War, but saw only a few months of service on the western frontier in 1864 near the close of the war.
“He was only 17 years old when he joined the colors in February, 1864, and being too young to be dispatched to the battle field, he participated in the quelling of Indian disturbances in the west.”
From Lapeer, Robinson was then assigned to the U.P., settling at Thompson, and worked in railway construction. In 1906, Robinson was named general manager of the Manistique and Northern railway, “which now is part of the Ann Arbor railway and ferry lines,” noted his obituary.
“He was associated with the railroad until 1911, after which he came to Iron River in connection with the development of the Peninsular Power company. He retired to private life several years ago.”
The list of survivors in his obituary includes his second wife Beulah Robinson; his first wife had died previously and was buried in the family lot in Manistique, according to the obituary.
Beulah died in 1933, said Dale, and a scholarship at West Iron County High School was given out in her name since 1973.
“And my daughters Sandy in 1999 and Holly in 2002 both received this scholarship,” said Dale. “I am pleased to have had a part in recognizing her husband and learning the story of their family as a way of being thankful for my daughters receiving the scholarship,” she added.
Funeral services for John Robinson were held on a Sunday, July 17, at the First Presbyterian Church of Iron River with Rev. Milo Filipi, pastor, in charge. The Legion posts of Iron River, Stambaugh and Caspian formed a military escort.
Armed with the necessary information, Shirley ordered an upright marble headstone for Robinson. That was this past August. She was notified of the delivery of the 200-pound plus stone on Sept. 22.
“Wow, it only took five weeks,” she said. “I was surprised and pleased.”
All veterans are entitled to a free marker, said Shirley, and her office routinely works to get these markers for veterans’ gravesites. The more information a family can supply about the veterans, the easier it is to verify his or her service record and secure the marker or stone.
One important piece of documentation, especially for World War II or Korean War veterans, is the veteran’s separation papers or the DD214, she said. Families interested in more information on this program can contact Shirley at her office.
“Once it comes in, a lot of times, the family will ask to be notified when it’s received, or when the marker is placed,” said Shirley.
“It’s just respect for the veteran to have a marker. For Memorial Day, all of the posts will put a flag out at every marker.”
Next May, for the Memorial Day observance, John Robinson will be among those to be honored.
NEWS ARTICLE Iron River Reporter Aug 17 1923 (no title)
John A. Robinson left Tuesday evening for Waukesha, Wis., where he expects to take treatments in one of the sanitariums of that city.
OBITUARY for former Michigan Governor 1893-1897 John T. Rich in Iron River Reporter March 30 1926 says John A. Robinson is his cousin. Rich was born in Conneautville, Pennsylvania (age 85 = born 1841).
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