The Search Begins

This summer, my oldest son, Brandon, will be attending our stake's pioneer trek.  As part of their experience, the youth have been encouraged to research an ancestor and "trek" for that person.  I thought it would be a good idea to research Frederick Charles Robinson, my great-great grandfather.  I knew he had crossed the plains with infamous The Martin Handcart Company, and I felt that learning more about his life would help make the trek experience more meaningful to Brandon.

I knew that my grandma (Geneve) and uncle (Richard) had done quite a bit of research on him many years ago.  However, when Grandma died in 2010, we lost the family history expert, and I wasn't even sure any research still existed.  I hoped all had not been lost with her.  There were a few things I hoped still existed somewhere, and so I contacted my uncle who agreed to help me as much as possible, though he was busy with some other endeavors.

One Saturday, to expedite things, my sister (Lisa) and I made a visit to "398" - my affectionate term for Grandma's house in Murray - to look for any remaining evidence of Robinson research and/or memorabilia.  Side note:  The house is still in the family's possession, and while a tad disheveled and dust-covered, it still remains primarily as she left it.  In fact, it is like a living museum, a rare treat.  It smells the same, and I fully expect to see her sitting in her "nook" room whenever I enter the house.

Sometime in my childhood, my Grandma acquired a book belonging to FC.  The story goes that a cousin (Steve), a son of a great-uncle (Ray), came across a box of Robinson memorabilia.  Before discarding it, however, he contacted Uncle Richard and Grandma and asked if they were interested in it.  Of course, they were, and thus was discovered FC's little book.

I'd heard about this book for many years, but never saw it.  I didn't know what it contained exactly,  or what it looked like, but I knew it had been the pivotal piece in all FC research.  Because of this  notebook, they had uncovered many facts about his life.  Consequently, they obtained copies of other related artifacts from state libraries and put together a basic sketch of Frederick Charles' life.  Uncle Richard wrote a paper for the Sons of the Utah Pioneers about Frederick Charles Robinson and submitted it to them for the State Centennial Celebration.  They obtained copies of The Manti Herald (the handwritten newspaper of said city created by FC) and copies of The Horizon's ship manifest.  It was questionable, however, whether any of these things remained as it certainly seemed that no one knew where any of these artifacts were hiding.  Not only was FC a mystery, but proof of his life seemed to be very mysterious, as well.

So, that Saturday at "398," I expected to find nothing.  I needed to verify that, however, and so we began our investigation of the house.

The Beginning

It isn't really the beginning, of course.  But it is my beginning - the beginning of my relationship with Frederick Charles and Elizabeth Gambles Robinson, my great-great grandparents.

And what a ride it has been so far!

Let's get to it!