This is a finding aid. It is a description of archival material held in the Wilson Library at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Unless otherwise noted, the materials described below are physically available in our reading room, and not digitally available through the World Wide Web. See the Duplication Policy section for more information.
Size | 1 item |
Abstract | Diary, 1913-1914, kept by railroad bridge builder John "Roy" Robinson documenting his travels through Arkansas and Oklahoma performing maintenance and repairs on railroad bridges. |
Creator | Robinson, John Roy |
Curatorial Unit | University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Library. Southern Historical Collection. |
Language | English |
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John Roy Robinson, son of John Wesley Robinson (1844-1928) and Mary Marie Forrester (1849-1941), was born 17 April 1887 at West Fork, Ark. and died 26 September 1973 at Fayetteville, Ark. He married Maude Leona Gilbreath (1888-1914) and they had one child, Gilbert Ervin Robinson (1911-1911), who died at the age of 9 months. Robinson was a railroad bridge builder and later served in World War One.
Back to TopThe collection consists of a diary, dated 20 November 1913 to 11 June 1914, and containing 150 pages written in pencil. Documented in the diary are the author's travels through Arkansas and Oklahoma (occasionally on horseback) looking for work, the murder of two men, a visit to Fort Gibson where Robinson's grandfather (David Elbert Robinson) was stationed during the Second Seminole War, Robinson's grandmother's house burning down, smallpox, and the death of his wife. Routine entries detail bridge work in eastern Oklahoma and Arkansas, where Robinson primarily performed repairs and maintenance of stringer bridges for the railroad.
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