Washington Co. > Homes and Buildings > Robinson homes

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The land on which the Ebenezer Alexander Robinson home sits was part of a large tract surveyed for Francis Kincannon in Jan. 1774 when what is now Washington Co. was still part of Fincastle County. Francis received two grants that encompassed the original survey including 328 acres awarded in right of his settlement in 1769. Francis willed this parcel to his son Mathew who sold it to John Robinson and John Edmiston in 1805. A few years later the land was divided and sold, with John Robinson retaining title to the northern 180 acres. The Great Rd. ran from east to west across the northern part of the tract.

E.A. Robinson home c 1937; courtesy of the Library of Virginia

The land along this part of the Great Road then fell into the care of John Robinson and his descendants, some of whom live on the land today. Fulfilling an obligation made by Francis Kincannon almost 30 years earlier, John Robinson deeded two acres of land to the Glade Spring Presbyterian Church on Feb. 15, 1814. The church itself had been constructed years earlier and the adjacent land had been in use as a burial ground for some time.

John Robinson married Elizabeth Edmiston, daughter of Moses and Rachel Edmiston, probably in 1788 or 89. They were the parents of 9 children who spent at least part of their lives in a log cabin on the north side of the Great Rd. not far from Glade Spring Church. Both the Robinson home and Old Glade Spring Church were identified on the 1821 John Wood map. John Robinson Senior died in 1826 leaving the bulk of the land to his son Moses. Moses, who did not marry, died in 1857 leaving his brother Ebenezer Alexander owning the large tract of land encircling Old Glade Spring Church as well as the family home.

photo courtesy VA Dept. Historic Resources
photo courtesy VA Dept. Historic Resources

Ebenezer Alexander Robinson married Rebecca Fulton in 1854. He was 48 years old and she was 32. Ebenezer Alexander, or E.A. as he was known, set about building a new home for his family which quickly included sons John R. (b. 1858) and Moses Walter [M.W.] (b. 1864). In 1937, when the home was surveyed as part of the Virginia Historical Inventory Project, Moses still lived in the home. He and his brother John participated in the survey of the house from which the following description was drawn.

photo courtesy John Copenhaver

The large 2 story brick home has 4 chimneys, 1 at each end of the main building and 2 in the kitchen-dining room area. There are 32 windows. The house itself has 10 rooms with 12 foot high ceilings. The stairway runs from the first floor to the attic and is made of walnut. The floor is hard oak with 5 inch wide planks. The front of the house is graced by a double portico with 4 tall columns extending to the top of the building. Huge maple trees once graced the lawn in front of the home; family tradition is that Union soldiers camped in their shade.

photo courtesy Martha Keys

Ebenezer Alexander died in 1879 leaving his sons to care for their mother Rebecca who died in 1899. Moses Walter Robinson married Susie McGinnis in 1893. They raised their family in the brick home. Brother John R. Robinson married Minerva Jane Susong in 1882. She died in 1898 leaving John with a son Mahlon. John R, Robinson married second, Sarah Burkhart. They lived in a white wood house on the north side of the Great Rd. a short distance east of John's childhood home. The rear of John's home incorporated (and concealed) an old log cabin whose history is not known. John's son Mahlon Robinson and his wife Bess eventually built a home on Robinson land across the road.

In April 2011 a tornado struck Washington County, moving along the Great Rd. and severely damaging the Ebenezer Alexander Robinson brick house and the John R. Robinson white wood home. The brick house has been saved and repaired although the graceful trees that once surrounded it are gone. Sadly the John R. Robinson house was damaged beyond repair.

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Related Maps

Washington Co. Homes (location identified on current map)

Glade Spring area - 1821 and 1890 (homes identified by owner/family)

Francis Kincannnon Grants on the Old Stage Road

General Sources Used on this Page

  1. [S1438] Virginia Land Office Grants Q: 395; 5 Jul 1785, granted to Francis Kincannon, 328 acres on the waters of the Middle Fork of the Holston River surveyed 27 Dec. 1783...by virtue of a certificate in right of settlement... entitled to 400 acres of land which was surveyed for him 19 Jan. 1774... actual settlement 1869, Library of Virginia Online.
  2. [S1438] Virginia Land Office Grants Q: 407; 5 Jul 1785, granted to Francis Kincannon 390 acres by virtue of Virginia Land Office preemption warrant 1,997 dated 22 Dec. 1781...surveyed 28 Oct. 1782, Library of Virginia Online.
  3. [S616] Francis Kincannon will (1795), Washington Co., Virginia Will Bk 2: 65. The will was written 3 March 1795 and recorded 15 Sept. 1795. Witnesses were David Snodgrass, Daniel Perkins and William Beattie. James Kincannon and John Stewart were named executors.
  4. [S1707] Washington Co., Virginia Deed Book 3: 424. Mathew Kincannon and Leah, his wife to John Robinson & John Edmiston, for £1,000, 328 acres on the waters of the Middle Fork of the Holston River adj George Kincannon, [John] Orr, Henry Jones [James] Dysart.
  5. [S1047] Washington Co., Virginia Deed Book 5: 139-140, 16 Oct. 1812, John Edmiston to John Robinson for $1,586.67, one undivided moiety of a certain tract containing 180 ac, it being part of a tract of land purchased by the said John Edmiston and the said John Robinson from Mathew Kincannon and lying on the waters of the Middle Fork of the Holston River.
  6. [S719] Washington Co., Virginia Deed Book 5: 364: Indenture of 15 Feb 1814, John Robinson to ... [named] members of the Presbyterian congregation of Gladespring... [description of Francis Kincannon gift of land and obligation of subsequent owners to transfer title], 2 acres on waters of the Middle Fork of the Holston River, part of tract sd. John Robinson now lives on...
  7. [S618] John Robinson will (1826), Washington Co., Virginia, Will Book 5: 324. The will was dated 20 May 1826 and exhibited at court 19 Dec. 1826.
  8. [S2146] Jack Hockett, Washington Co. VA Will Book 14 1856-1859, abstracted, citing Will Bk 14:184.
  9. [S6] Thomas Colley, Washington Co. VA Marriages 1853-1880, p. 304. Ebenezer Alexr Robinson, 47, sgl, b. WCV, farmer, s/o John & Elizabeth Robinson marr Rebecca Fulton, 33, sgl, b. WCV d/o Robert R. & Sarah Fulton; 27 Jul 1854.
  10. [S1199] Victoria Gilliam, "M.W. Robinson house", 1937, digital image, Works Progress Administration of Virginia Historical Inventory, Library of Virginia Online, <<http://www.lva.virginia.gov>>: accessed Feb. 2013. Ms Gilliam's primary sources were Mr. M.W. Robinson and Mr. John Robinson [sons of Ebenezer Alexander Robinson (1806-1879) and grandsons of John Robinson].
  11. [S3203] "Virginia Division of Historic Landmarks Survey Form", (1992), Ebenezer Alexander Robinson home, file: 095-238, Department of Historic Resources, Richmond, Virginia. The survey form was completed by Ms Vivian Coletti from interviews with Mrs. Mahlon Robinson, Julia (Mrs. Alex) Robinson, and June (Mrs. Walter) Robinson.
  12. [S3065] "Virginia Division of Historic Landmarks Survey Form", (1992), John Robinson home, file: 095-237, Department of Historic Resources, Richmond, Virginia. Survey completed by Vivian Coletti and Nancy King; interviews conducted with Mrs. Mahlon (Bess) Robinson and Ernest Clark.