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THE BETHIAH VICKERY MARRIAGE CONTROVERSY

THE EVIDENCE - PRO & CON

by Kevin K. Mittge

There has been an ongoing controversy regarding whether Bethiah Vickery (1760-1851) was married once to a William Robbins, or had, in fact, two marriages, the first being to a William Robins who died in or shortly after the American Revolution, and the second to a William Robbins (1761-1834), who also served in the Revolution and later died in Decatur Co., Indiana. This is a brief summary of the evidence for and against Bethiah's two marriages.

The Evidence for One Marriage

The only primary source of evidence in the controversy over Bethiah Vickery's marriage(s) comes from her application for a pension, based on her husband William's service in the American Revolution. In Bethiah's deposition it is clearly written:

"She would in addition state that her maiden name was Bethiah Vickery that she was born in Guilford county, North Carolina on the first day of December (1760) seventeen hundred and sixty. She continued to reside in the said county until about the year when she moved to Randolph county (Randolph county was formed out of Guilford county) where she resided until after the close of the war. She was married to the said William Robins at the house of Edward Miller in said county of Guilford by George Pope a Baptist preacher. Her said marriage with the said William Robins took place as aforesaid on the 27th day of February seventeen hundred and seventy nine (1779)....

....She further declares that she was married to the said William Robins on the said 27th day of February (1779) in the year seventeen hundred and seventy nine, and that her husband the aforesaid William Robins died at his residence in Decatur county, Indiana, on the 11th day of September 1834, and that she had remained a widow ever since that period as will more fully appear by reference to the proof here...."1

Was Bethiah simply misremembering due to her age? Was she deliberately mistating facts to get a pension? William Robbins' war service had already been accepted for his pension and it wouldn't have been necessary for Bethiah to prove she was married at the time that her husband was in military service, just that she had been married to him.

While not discussing his marriage, for the record, William Robbins service in the war is as follows:

"He was drafted the service of the United States as a [word crossed out] in the month of October 1777 and served for one month in Major Dugans company of light horse in Randolph county, North Carolina and served under Genl. Greene, Col. Dugan, Captain Joseph Clark, Lieut. William Gray, Ensign Robert Gray and 1st Sergeant John Clark. He left the service the 22nd or 23rd of September 1779 - after serving faithfully for one year which added to his former tour of one month makes one year and one month. He then in the month of August 1781 volunteered and served a short tour under Genl. Green, Col. Dugan, Maj. Dedford, Capt. Joseph Clark, Lieut. William Gray, and Ensign Robert Gray. He left the service in the months for which he claims a pension. At the time of his entering the service he resided in Randolph county, N. Carolina and continued to reside there until the war was over. The second and third tours he volunteered and the first was drafted. He was in several skirmishes with the Tories - but was in no real battles - During his first tour he marched from the Cross Roads in Randolph county, N.C. to Van Cannons lower down the river from thence through what was called the Scotch settlement in pursuit of the noted Tory Fannon, from thence to the raft swamps from thence to Deep River, there he remained stationed for some time and then marched to Salisbury, N.C. from thence to the Yadkin River to the Island ford from thence to Abbots Creek from thence to Hughesary [?] from thence to William Bells on Deep River who was the commissary of the regiment, from thence back to Cross Roads when he was discharged. Serving his second tour he marched from the Cross Roads into Guilford county, N.C. There he was stationed for three weeks from thence he crossed to Deep River to Mayho Creek where he remained for near a month, from thence he returned to near the Moravian Farms where he remained stationary for some time as Esq. Brook from thence he marched across the south fork of Yadkin River and remained stationary for some time when he went to Salisbury where he was stationed for six months as a guard to the magazine in consequence of the Virginia troops who had formerly guarded the same being nearly all sick. He was then marched across the Yadkin to Grassy Island from thence to Deep River, to commissary William Bells where he remained for some time as a guard when he was marched to the Cross Roads in Randolph county where he was discharged. Serving his third and last tour he marched from the Cross Roads to the head of Little River from thence to the Scotch settlement on the east side of Peedee where he remained for near a month stationed from thence he marched back to Bells on deep River where he also remained a month. He then marched again to the west of Peedee, from thence to the Raft Swamps, from thence to Deep River to Bells where he remained for [blank space] time near a month, when he was marched down the river to Wilcox from unto thence to Peedee then up the Trading Roads to the Cross Roads where he was discharged with strict orders to be ready at a moments warning when he should again be wanted. He recollects of serving with three hundred Regulars for some time at Salisbury."2

To date, no one has discovered any military record of another William Robbins from Guilford or Randolph Co., North Carolina.

The Evidence for Two Marriages

There is no primary source providing evidence of two marriages. Secondary and tertiary sources state that Bethiah Vickery was married twice.

The will of a William Robins (dated 8 October 1786)3 mentions a grandson "Able Robins". By not listing the father of Abel it lends credence to the idea that the father was dead by 1786. He could not have been killed in the American Revolution as Bethiah's first three children were born during and after that war (1779, 1781, and 1783). I am not in possession of this will but as only the "Able" relationship is used as evidence of two marriages, I can only conclude that it does not mention Bethiah (Vickery) Robbins.

Tertiary evidence comes from a church history which states:

"Abel Robbins was born in North Carolina, Dec. 27, 1779. His father was killed in the Revolutionary War, leaving his son an orphan at four years of age."4

This history was written several years after the deaths of the subject and his wife in Henry Co., Kentucky, and contains one clear error. The war ended in 1781 when Abel was two years old. His younger brother Benjamin was born in 1783 - perhaps Abel's father didn't die in the war, but from wounds received in the war?

A descendant of the "second" William's brother Absalom, William Franklin Robbins (1850-1923), states in a brief history he compiled that there were two marriages and two sets of children.

"...Our maternal ancestor is said to have been married twice, and both times to a William Robbins."

"However that may be, it is undisputed that there were in the family children both of full blood and half blood. The children of the first marriage were Able, Aaron, and perhaps Phillip. Those of the second marriage were William, Absolem, Jacob and perhaps James."

"Of the death of the first husband of this woman nothing is truthfully known, but it is believed the second husband was our ancestor. He lost his life while fighting in the Revolutionary War in defense of the colonies, having entered the army at a very early age (16). This perhaps explains why tracing the records of William Robbins two or more enlistments are found under the same name. It is also possible that Able and Aaron were also in the army, for there were few able bodied men who escaped service during those years."5

W. F. Robbins, however, while doing a good job beginning the collection of Robbins genealogical data, is not the most reliable of historians. On family lines closer and contemporary with him he is incorrect and incomplete information. In the above passage, he states that Abel (as well as an unknown Aaron) also served in the Revolution - unlikely as Abel was only two when it was over. In terms of two enlistments found under the same name, William Robbins's pension application is quite straightforward and clearly is referring to a single individual.

Conclusion

While family tradition, set forth in family stories and later published in county histories, are fairly consistent that Bethiah Vickery had two marriages, the only primary source (Bethiah herself) states she had one marriage. Until such time as further documentation is found to outweigh the actual statement of the subject, I must remain skeptical of the two marriages.

References

  1. William Robins Pension No. W9266, application of widow [copy in possession of author].
  2. William Robins Pension No. W9266, application of veteran [copy in possession of author].
  3. Will of William Robins, 10 October 1786, Randolph Co., North Carolina.
  4. Redford, Rev. A. H. The History of Methodism in Kentucky. Vol. III: From the Conference of 1820 to the Conference of 1832. Nashville, Tenn., 1870 [copy in possession of author].
  5. Robbins, William F. "A history of the Robbins family," appearing in Greensburg Daily News, Greensburg, Indiana, June 1922, as well as various typed copies [copy in possession of author]

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This page was last updated on 3-11-2006.

© 2006 Kevin K. Mittge