The Descendants of William Robblee and Keturah Baker of Lanesborough, MA Compiled by Cindy Walcott <cwalcott141 at gmail.com> Fall 2018 William Robblee and his wife Keturah Baker apparently started their married life in Dutchess Co., NY. William bought land in Lanesborough, MA in 1768. Presumably, the couple moved there – across the line from New York to Massahusetts – about that time. Their younger children were born there. William died at age 60, when several of his children were still minors. Keturah stayed in Lanesborough for some time. However, the majority of her living children joined the northward migration of Lanesborough families to New Haven, VT by the 1790s. Later, she would join them, and marry the Quaker Stephen Haight. Some of Keturah’s family of origin were also Quaker; perhaps she practiced this religion as well. One of her sons, William (although he may have lived briefly in New Haven) stayed in Lanesborough. He used the spelling Rubblee for his surname. However, those in Vermont adopted the spelling Rublee. Her daughters remained in New Haven. However, her sons soon continued their move northward, settling in Berkshire, VT. Some stayed there; others moved to Quebec, New York, Wisconsin and beyond. William Rubblee’s descendants removed to Ellington, NY where many have remained to this day. Most individuals with the surname Rublee belong to this family. But there is an exception. There is a Rublee family on Wisconsin that is descended from Even Knudson Ruble and his wife Birgit Olsdatter Onsgard, both born in Norway. Even was the son of Khud Evensen Hoyme and Seborg Haagensdatter. He took the name Raabolle from a farm he operated before coming to the United States in 1848 with his sister Marit. His future wife, Birgit Olsdatter Onsgard was also on the boat, with her parents Ole Olsen and Barbra Onsfard, and her five siblings. An immigration clerk heard the name as Ruble, and he used that name in this country. Two of their sons decided to use the spelling Rublee. My own Rublee research began in my 20s. It was jumpstarted by the work of Rhoda (Hope) Berger (1923- 2012). Her mother was a Rublee. Rhoda informally published a Rublee genealogy. She was very generous in sharing her source material with me. My mother and my aunt, both Rublees, cheered me on as I gathered more information over the years. Tracing this family, as they wandered, has been very rewarding to me over the years. I would ask that anyone using this report not turn “speculation” into “fact” when using the data for his or her own purposes. I welcome any questions, criticisms, confirmations, rebuttals, etc. My interest is in placing all of the individuals in their own families, locations and historical context. Conventions used: A date with “est” in front of it is, in fact, an estimate. A date with abt in front of it is more likely to be more accurate than an estimated date, as it are based on what is known about the individual or family. A date of birth followed by (cal) is calculated from date and age of death. A location with a question mark after it – a guess based on where people were last known to be living. A location with (prob) after it – a stronger supposition than above. A location with (res) after it – usually the place where the last Social Security benefit was sent. 1 I welcome documentation that would help me to turn that into fact, or establish that my guesses or estimates were wrong! All of my sources are included in the endnotes and in the narrative. I try for primary sources where they are available. I have eliminated identifying information on individuals who are less than 100 years old who do not have death dates. In 2018, a Roblee YDNA study was initiated by Linda McGinnis. The project, called Roblee DNA Project, is housed at FTDNA. It is open to all family members. The more people who participate, the better. We hope that this project will help us to settle some longstanding questions about our family’s origins. Generation One 1. William Robblee, b. bef 21 Jan 1732/33 in Huntington, Suffolk Co., NY (prob),1 (son of William Rublier [1706 - 1770] and Abigail Brush [1708 - ]), d. 26 Mar 1792 in Lanesborough, Berkshire Co., MA,2 buried in Center Cem., Lanesborough, Berkshire Co., MA. William Robblee is the progenitor of the Vermont Rublee family. He was probably the son of William Rublier, and born in Huntington, Long Island. A William Rublier was baptized there on 21 Jan 1732/3 (Scudder, 1899, page 29). William was probably in the southern precinct of Dutchess County by 1753, in the section now part of Putnam County. William Rappelyea and Reuben Rappelyea owned Lot #6 of the Phillipse Patent in 1754, and Lot # 6 in 1762. Also there were Bethuel Baker and other Bakers, but not Francis. By 1768, William is not listed in the survey. A William Rapalyea (or Rapeleje) Jr., paid taxes in the southern precinct from February 1758 through 1767 (Buck, 1990, page 276). An Andrew Rapalyea paid taxes in the same precinct around the same time. Two interesting documents are contained in the Ancient Documents of Dutchess County, New York. The first is dated 24 Jun 1765. It concerns Catherine Rubeley, spinster and Rubin Rubeley, farmer, both of South "Presink". The two came before a justice of the peace and acknowledged themselves to be indebted to the King, Catherine in the amount of forty pounds and Ruben in the sum of twenty-four pounds. The debt seems to have arisen from a complaint by Simeon Bundy that Catherine had disturbed the peace. In a second document, dated 4 Jul 1765, William Rubeley and Eleasor Baker of South Presink are found to be in debt to the King. The complaint, also by Simeon Bundy, was of breaking of the peace. In both cases, the defendants were ordered to appear at the next general session of the court, to be held in Poughkeepsie. Tentatively, the defendants are William Robblee, his brother Reuben, his wife Katurah (also known as Catherine) and Keturah's brother Eleasor Baker. When William Robblee bought land in Lanesborough, MA on 6 July 1768, he is described as "of Philips Patent in Dutchess County, New York". By 15 October of the same year, when he bought a second parcel of land, he was "of Lanesborough". Dates of birth for William and Keturah Robblee's eight older children are recorded on page 60 of the Lanesborough town records. However, presumably at least six of his children were born before the Robblees located in Lanesborough. 2 William Robblee was a soldier in the Revolution, serving six days in Captain David Wheeler's company. They marched from Lanesborough to Mellomsacutak on alarm on 14 Aug 1777. William Robblee was admitted to the Congregational Church in Lanesborough on 18 July 1779. His nine oldest children were baptized there on 6 Aug 1779 (Lanesborough Congregational Church Records, Cooke Collection, Volume 19, Berkshire Athenaeum). William was counted in the 1790 census in Lanesborough, MA. In the family were 2 males 16 and over; 3 males under 16 and 3 females. Presumably, this was William Sr. and Andrew (18); Francis (est 16); Erastus (est 12) and John B. (10); Keturah, Mary (20) and Sarah (13). After William's death in 1792, several of his children were still minors. He left a will recorded at the Berkshire County, Massachusetts Probate Court. He left one-third of his estate to his wife Katura. His sons William, Hiram, Andrew, Francis, John Brush and Erastus are mentioned, as well as daughters Lucy, Katura, Rebekah, Susannah, Mary and Sarah. Mary and Lucy are referred to as unmarried. Katura, along with his "brothers-in-law" Bethuel and Francis Baker, are named executors. William Robblee's signature appears on the instrument. His estate included 75 acres with buildings. The text follows: "In the name of God, Amen. I William Robblee of Lanesborough, in the County of Berkshire and Common- wealth of Massachusetts, being of sound mind and memory, believing in the immortality of the soul and the mortality of the body, do now in the most solemn manner, desire to give up my soul to God who gave it and my body to be buried in a decent manner at the discretion of my executors hereafter named-- It is my also my will and pleasure that the worldly goods which a kind providence hath bestowed upon me, be disposed of in the following manner, agreeable to those presents, which I do now make, and constitute my last will and Testament: - that is to say, I give to my wife Ketura the use of one third part of all my real estate, except the farm in the west part of Lanesborough, known by the name of the Lamkin farm, during her natural life and after my just debts are paid, one third of my stock and cattle, and household furniture, to be disposed of at her pleasure. Also the use of my Bay mare, over and above one third part of my Stock of Cattle, as aforesaid, and if said mare has any increase, that my sons, Andrew, Francis, John Brush and Erastus shall equally share in the profits of the same. To my sons William and Hiram, and to my Daughters Lucy, Ketura, Rebeccah and Susannah, I give twenty acres of Land in the west part of Lanesborough, to be Divided Equally Between them, said twenty acres is known by the name of the Lamkin farm.