January 13, 1997
Provenance:
The letter that is translated below was written in Spanish by Juan Alfredo Robinson to his daughter Francisca Robinson in 1882. The copy used for the translation was a copy of a retyping of the original. The date of the first retyping is unknown. This letter is of importance to the descendants of Juan Alfredo Robinson and other related surname descendants as it is a first person account and establishes some of what Juan Alfredo knew of his immediate ancestors, inlaws and descendants.
This transalation of the "Francisquita" letter was performed by Julia Felix de Dumas on January 3, 1997. Juan Alfredo Robinson was one of Julia's husband Juan Dumas's maternal great grandfathers. Annotations to this translation are by John Dumas, Jr., Julia's son.
This letter was given to Julia by a great-granddaughter of Juan Alfredo Robinson when Julia visited her at her home in Guaymas, Sonora, Mexico sometime between 1956 and 1959. Included with the letter received from this lady was a picture of Julia's mother-in-law, Virginia Robinson de Dumas (a large pastel) and a picture of Virginia's mother, Maria Eloisa Oca~na (O'Conner) de Robinson and a picture of Juan Alfredo Robinson. The donor of these items (whose name is only known as Chacha Robinson) was the daughter of Maria Eloisa Tomasa Robinson sister of Virginia who was the daughter of Gabriel Robinson son of Juan Alfredo Robinson.
Beginning of Letter:
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San Francisco, California, January 10, 1882
My Dear Francisquita:
As it might happen that someone might ask you who your grandparents were so that you can answer with certainty and propriety I give you the following details.
Your paternal grandfather was the Captain of a frigate of the national armada of the United States of America, Thomas Robinson, who was born in the state of York on the 10th of December of 1757.
Your maternal[1] grandmother was Miss Debora Warne, born in Middletown, State of Conecticut in the year 1771, your grandparents were married on the 10th of September of the year 1789, your grandfather, being at that time 32 years of age and your grandmother 18 years of age. They had six sons and three daughters. The eldest son was named Thomas Warne Robinson. He was born on July 1, 1790, he was a mariner and he was an officer of the frigate "Hornet" of the United States, which ship was off of Tampico in the year 1828 when all aboard perished so your uncle Thomas was 38 years old when he died. Another four sons died when they were small and the sixth on was your father[2].
The eldest of the daughters was named Mary Walker Robinson. She was married to W. Peter Bours father of your cousins Thomas Robinson Bours, Benjamin Walker Bours, Allen Lee Bours and your girl cousins Carolina and Mary. The second daughter was named Rachel (Harson?)[3] Robinson. She was married to Mr. Jhon Warren and was the mother of your cousins Thomas Robinson Warren, James K. Warren and the girl cousin Mary Louise Warren.
The last daughter was named Almy Warne Robinson, she was married to Captain Wiliam T. Rodgers of the Armada of the United States father of your cousin Juanito Jhon Warren Rodgers, your cousin Juanito has five sisters all of them are married and live in the state of New York, on the paternal side your grandparents and all your uncles are now deceased.
Your maternal grandfather was named Don Juan Antonio Ybarra and your maternal grandmother was named Do~na Jesus Acu~na.[6] They had six sons and six daughters, your mother was the eldest, of the sons only one lives, and he is your uncle Policarpio who lives in the port of Guaymas, Sonora and is married to a lady from San Miguel de Orcasitas, Sonora , Gertrudis second daughter was married to Mr. Esquer who is now dead, Carmelita was married to your cousin Thomas Bours['8] also having died in Stocton. Geronima married Don Paulino Esquer who lives in Minas Nuevas [4]; Guadalupe is also married with another Esquer and she also lives in the Mineral de Aduana [4]. Your maternal grandparents have died and are buried in Alamos, Sonora, Mexico. Incidently, with this memorandum I am giving you a sacred bible that has been in possession of your affectionate father who loves you very much.[7]
Juan Alfredo Robinson
The original of this letter is in the possession of Do~na Francisca Robinson de Ricaud [5]
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End of letter
Translation notes:
[1] Should be "paternal". Error may have occurred when original was retyped, or maybe Juan Alfredo made the error himself.
[2] Meaning Juan Alfredo Robinson the writer of the letter.
[3] Probably "Hartshorne" after the grandmother Rachael Hartshorne.
[4] In Sonora, Mexico not far from Guaymas or Alamos.
[5] Meaning at the time of the first retyping.
[6] The tilde "~" is used in front of the letter "n" to denote the Spanish letter "enye" pronounced as "ny" as in canyon. Available fonts did not provide an "n" with the tilde above as the letter is normally written.
[7] It should be noted that all attempts were made to keep the punctuation as it was when originally retyped.
[8] Juan Alfredo may here be saying that Carmelita died in Stocton. It is not clear, but John Dumas saw the grave ot Tomas Robinson Bours at St. Mary's cemetary in Oakland, California on January 17,1997. The dates on Tomas's monument appear to be consistent with his parents dates. In the cemetary records was a letter listing Manuele G. de Bours as Tomas's wife. If this is the same Thomas, then he probably had a second wife and he may have died in Stocton but is buried in Oakland.