Note from Sandy: Read more about Margaret Caldwell's and Joshua Roberson's ancestry in this family history page.

Joshua Rober(t)son's memorial on Findagrave.

Margaret (Caldwell) Rober(t)son's memorial on Findagrave.

The following contributed by Sheldwon Jones on 3 May 2022

The Register-News
Mt Vernon, IL
pg 7-A, Tues. 09 July 1991 issue

LETTER FOUND FROM AREA RIFLEMAN WHO THOUGHT CIVIL WAR WOULD NEVER END

(Caption below photo of Howard ROBERSON reads: "ROBERSON HISTORY - Howard ROBERSON of Ina holds scrapbook of family history as he browses through reams of family genealogy in his home. Joshua ROBERSON, Howard's great-grandfather, was one of early settlers of Spring Garden area. As a Civil War soldier, Joshua's son Jasper wrote a letter from a Georgia battlefield that somehow escaped discarding and was recently found.

Continuing with the article:

Jasper ROBERSON was in a "little hole dug in the ground" 127 years ago when he wrote to his family in Jefferson County to say "the Rebels has got as many men as we have and it takes two to one to whip them."

The letter was written Aug. 25, 1864, by Jasper to his brother John ROBERSON as the Civil War raged about 20 miles from Atlanta, Ga. It was recently found tucked away among family possessions in Whittington.

John ROBERSON was the grandfather of Howard ROBERSON, a well-known resident of Ina, and a dedicated local historian. It has been copied and now occupies a prominent spot in the voluminous stacks of scrapbooks and photo albums in Howard's den where he and wife Thera have lived for many years.

Jasper and his brother Elbert were both with Sherman's Union army in Georgia, the same state that had been the ROBERSON's place of residence until ancestors migrated north from Warren county, Ga., to Tennessee, and later to Southern Illinois.

As Howard put it "they were probably fighting some of their kinfolks and maybe some of the cousins of the HARRIS family, too." He had found the HARRIS name among his family's Georgia history. Although history didn't bear it out, Jasper's words to brother John on the war were more gloomy than encouraging. He said "I thought the war would end sometime but I have got out of all hope." The embattled Union and Confederate forces at that time were, at the closest spots, "about 200 yards apart," near enough "so that every time we poke up our heads the rebels shoot at us and we do the same way by them." Union lines, Jasper explained, were positioned in the shape of a horsehoe (horseshoe?), with both arms bending 18 to 20 miles long.

The letter said:

"John, I hear the Rebel band playing every nite and morning - last nite I believe they played the band all nite long." Being that close was not, from another aspect, sweet music to his ears. "Sometimes," the down-hearted Union rifleman said, "the Rebels shell our camp but our battery soon silences them; Sherman will have to get reenforcements of about 40,000 men to take Atlanta." Jasper expressed hope that he would have the opportunity of voting for Gen. George McCLELLAN for president. "He is my man", Private ROBERSON said of McCLELLAN. In his sign-off, the Union soldier said "there ain't no paper to be got for neather love ner money - no postage stamps - paper is all our wants."

The weary soldier who wrote the letter was one of 10 children fathered by Joshua, the first ROBERSON to reach this area. Joshua, who was Howard's great grandpa, came to Southern Illinois from Tennessee in 1816, staying the first winter at Franks Fort east of West Frankfort in Franklin County.

With the arrival of spring that year, Joshua moved north a bit. He settled in a part of Moore's Prairie Township northeast of the place where the village of Spring Garden later became a thriving town. He was a farmer.

Joshua, born in 1787(sic?), married Margaret CALDWELL. When they reached Moore's Prairie Township, they settled in what had been the John COCKRAN place and raised a family of 10 children. They were:

1. Edward
2. Elizabeth
3. Lucinda
4. Henry Lewis
5. Alexander
6. John J.
7. Delilah
8. Salatha
9. Elbert and
10. Jasper

In historical writings of Adam Clark JOHNSON, Joshua was described as being "an active man, a good trader who held the office of constable of his precinct for 12 years."

His children (mostly farmers) were also well known and respected in the area. John, the brother to whom Jasper had written from the foxhole, operated a blacksmith shop in the southeast part of Jefferson County until selling out and moving to Ewing.

Joshua's grave is in a cemetery near what is known as the Bert Riggs Road northeast of Spring Garden. Photographs of family headstones in the cemetery are in one of Howard's historic photo albums. Joshua's casket cost $10 and that of his wife, who died two years later, was purchased for $2 less. She was a small person, accounting for the difference.

Among Howard's possessions are records of the sale of Joshua's possessions. Two Bibles were sold for $1 and $1.25. A "shooting iron" went for a quarter and a "box of shoe tools" for 50 cents. A "rifle gun" that was among his possessions was purchased for $9.50; a large ox wagon, the most expensive item, went for $45; an iron-toothed harrow for $3; and a prairie plow for $3.50.

Buyers included people by the name of SANDERS, DREW, COOK, ROBERSON, McGINNIS, FLINT, ABNEY, COCKRUM, FITZJERRALD, KIRK, PARRISH, TONEY, WILKEY, LAURR, IRVIN, LYELLS, CONNALLY, ESTES, BARLOW, WELLINGTON, MILLER, RUSSELL, JONES, WYATT, PATRICK, REDMAN, BIRKHEAD and LYELLS.

The ROBERSON home in Ina is chock full of memorabilia that has been passed down from generation. For example, a double-barreled muzzle-loading shotgun, along with powder pouch and loading horn, hangs on the wall of the den.

Howard's father was Elmanson ROBERSON, son of the man who had received the despondent piece of mail from the Union encampment. Elmanson had a log home near the Jefferson and Franklin county line. There was a sturdy hitching post in front of the house, probably a piece of hickory or hedge. One day, Howard and his brothers were standing out there with their dad when he had the long-barreled muzzleloader. When they pleaded with him to shoot something, he cut down on the post with both barrels and "blew the dadgummed thing down."

Howard has books upon books of the ROBERSON family tree and their doings. In what is customary discrepancy among aged records, the name is sometimes spelled differently, ROBERTSONs and ROBINSONS both show up occasionally. In fact, stones marking the graves of Civil War soldiers Jasper and Elbert are misspelled. There is a "T" in the name.

The stones in Abney Cemetery south of Nason identify Jasper as having served with Company B, 60th Infantry. After the war, he returned to Jefferson County to carry on two of the family's traditions - making a living from farming and raising a large family. He farmed in Elk Prairie Twonship, where he is buried, and fathered 15 children. Elbert, the other Civil War veteran, also had a large family. He was with Company B, 31st Infantry.

Howard, who describes himself as "the last limb on the ROBERSON family tree", was a charter member of the Rend Lake Association. He was president of the organization for two years in the early 1970's. The association was organized in 1954 and has been credited with formulating the idea of building the lake. "It took 17 years to get the lake constructed", he commented. He also once served as mayor of Ina.