Cynthia Jane (Robbins) Yaw

I like to research all the siblings of my direct lines.  Not sure why, I just find some interesting information along the way.  I like to find their graves and read the obituaries, sometimes this "side" research can provide more clues, photos, documents, and relatives.  

Cynthia Jane Robbins is the oldest child of Edwin Dwight Robbins and Louisa (Bishop) Robbins.  She was born April 17, 1836, in Salem, Kenosha County, Wisconsin.  Cynthia is a sister to my great, great, great grandfather, Edwin Dwight Robbins. 

Cynthia married Henry Yaw October 5, 1854 in Racine, Wisconsin. Henry Yaw was born in Rowe, Franklin County, Massachusetts, to Pardon Yaw and Sylvia (Bliss) Yaw.  He was one of 18 children born to Pardon and Sylvia. 

In the 1860 Census Henry and Cynthia are located in Berrien County Michigan.  Henry is 36 and Cynthia 24.  They have two children at this time. They will have a total of five children prior to Cynthia's death May 26, 1866.  She was 30 years old. Their children:

Dwight Edwin Yaw m. Emma Jane Caylor

Emma Josephine Jane Yaw m. Robert Sterling Perkinson

Milton Henry Yaw m. Mary Lucina Hallett

Benjamin Pardon Yaw m. Elizabeth Harbaugh

Sylvia L. Yaw m. John W. Wykoff

1860 Census, Township of Galien, Berrien County, Michigan (Below)

Henry Yaw, Cynthia Jane Robbins, Edwin Dwight Yaw, Emma Jane Yaw.

I did find this great photo of Henry Yaw on Ancestry.  I have not found a photo of Cynthia.

Cynthia died May 26, 1866, at 30 years of age.  She is buried at the Onarga Cemetery, Onarga, Iroquois County, Illinois. Cynthia (Robbine) Yaw and Henry Yaw may have been the first to arrive in Iroquois County, as they obviously were here before her death in May of 1866.  More research needed.  I am curious who in the family was first to settle in Iroquois County.

I have visited Cynthia's grave in Onarga. Also buried at this site withe their names all on one stone: Agnes Nancy (Isbister) Yaw, Sylvia (Yaw) Wykoff, and Henry Yaw.  Agnes is the second wife of Henry Yaw, and Sylvia is Henry and Cynthia's youngest child.  She died at age 37 and was married to John Wykoff, but her husband is not buried here.  Henry Yaw and Agnes Nancy Isbister were married in Iroquois County February 6, 1877, eleven years after the death of Cynthia.  I believe Henry raised his five children, with the youngest being just two years of age when their mother, died until his marriage to Agnes Isbister in 1877.  

The 1870 Federal Census shows an unmarried Henry living with his five children in Artesia Township, Iroquois County, Illinois.  It does list a housekeeper and farm hand. 

Cynthia Robbins Yaw and Henry Yaw settled in Iroquois County sometime after July 16, 1860, (1860 Michigan Federal Census) and prior to the death of Cynthia on May 26, 1866.