What fascinates me most about researching old houses is the people and their stories. Perhaps it is the Psychology major in me, though some say it's the historian in me. Either way, the more I researched, the more I found myself feeling a connection with these people. Long forgotten families who built a life and memories...these are their stories.
As I researched, I spent countless hours searching for deeds. I'd find myself saying "let's find my dear Blanche," or "my friend J. E. Perkinson." While, sadly, they are simply names printed in black and white, I began to feel like I knew them and knew their stories. So, now, I shall present you with the first family of 275 Carolina Avenue: The Robinsons.
On July 17, 1884, W. P. and Blanche Robinson purchased ~11 acres of the former Wimbish property. Their property was bounded by the former Wimbish property line (where the alley is today), the property purchased by E. H. Miller and J. M. Neal (around Westhampton Avenue), the Southern Railroad, and a new road opened where Carolina Avenue is today. The road, however, ended where the alley is and stretched all the way to West Main Street. In fact, if you stand on Carolina Avenue (just in front of 275) at night, you can see the stoplight at West Main and Howeland Circle.
W. P. Robinson was a Civil War Veteran, ran a dry goods store downtown,
and held a pivotal role in the 1883 election in the city of Danville. He
was a magistrate for the coalition, which had formed several years
prior and helped to enable a biracial state government during
reconstruction in the state of Virginia. Following the Danville Riots,
he expressed concerns that blacks would not be voting and that acting as
a magistrate for the election might be pointless.
Immediately following the purchase of their 11 acres, Blanche Robinson purchased an additional 4 acres from E. H. Miller. On the same day, W. P. Robinson transferred all of his possessions to his wife with her brother, Thomas L. Sydnor (a local dentist) as trustee. Blanche became the sole owner of the original 11 acres and the dry goods store he owned on Main Street. Subsequent deeds would list her as the owner, and W. P. as running the store and acting as her agent.
The following year, in 1885, I believe that the Robinsons built their home. Pittsylvania County landbooks indicate a building worth $600 being on the original ~11 acres. Subsequent deeds refer to the land as "Robinson Market Gardens". The deed for the four acres purchased from E. H. Miller referred to it as the "W. P. Robinson Fish Pond."
Many subsquent trust deeds on the property helped me verify that they not only lived on the land, but that the location was correct. At least one deed from Blanche mentions "my home" and they all mention the surrounding property owners: E. H. Miller, J. T. Watson, and E. H. Mitchell (who had purchased the Wimbish home a few years after the subdivision on the land).
Life, however, was not so great for the Robinsons. They took out a handful loans with their home and store as collateral. By 1894, Blanche owed money to a plethora of people for goods in their store, for work, and for loans taken out. That deed, in particular, was hard to read. The deed was about five pages long and listed everyone to whom money was owed and how much. For example, she was indebted to the National Cash Register Company.
In 1894, pursuant to a trust deed from 1890, the ~15 acres owned by Blanche Robinson was auctioned off. By this point, as best I can tell, they had moved from their home and were renting it out as one deed mentions allowing her to "enjoy rents from the use of her property..."
So, in 1894, the land was purchased at auction by F. X. Burton.
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