Martin Robinson

Martin Robinson the not so pleasant story of a cool cat, my great- great-grandfather Martin Robinson. Born a part of the domestic slave trade in Maryland, he endured being sold / transferred / 3 times and relocated across state lines during the Second Middle Passage. His maternal line can be traced back to his mother Esther who was enslave by William Robinson and his wife Elizabeth Beaven in Somerset County, Maryland. When their young daughter Hannah married Josiah Hendon she received Esther and her “increase” as part of her dowry. Hannah Hendon took Esther and her “increase” Martin, along with his brothers Ellick and Larkin with them to Wake County, NC. The Hendons were early frontier farmers among a close-knit group of families who were interconnected by blood and marriage, including Hendons, Olives, Scroggins, Henderson, and Hartsfield who migrated from Maryland, to Wake County, NC then on Troupe, County, GA and later to Alabama taking my enslaved family members with them.

Martin is found listed with his mother Esther and siblings , Larkin, Ellick, and Peggy the 5 slaves on the 1832 slave inventory of Robinson Hendon (the grandson of Hannah Robinson). Upon his death wife his Elizabeth Hartsfield Hendon inherited the slaves and transported Esther with her “increase” to Troup County, GA. Upon Elizabeth H. Hendon’s death in 1843, Martin was transported to Lauren, SC with Jessie Garrett his new enslaver . By the time his holder, Jessie Garrett died, Martin was a young man with an enslaved family, wife Matilda and son, Henry. In 1853 as directed by Jessie Garret’s will Martin, Matilda and her young son offered in a public sale. Records indicate Thomas Henderson, Garrett’s father-in-law, paid $1000 for Martin and Green Gray paid $275 for his young son Henry. 

Sold from one enslaver to another one can only imagine what life was like for Grandpa Martin an enslaved frontier man who helped tame America through his forced labored until he escaped or was emancipated after the Civil War. After freedom Martin Robinson lived for over 40 years. Martin Robinson appears on the 1870, 1880, and 1900 US Census of Lafayette County Mississippi. Although he was owned by different enslavers he maintained the surname ROBINSON and left a lasting legacy for all of his descendants.