January 19, 2026
Julius E. Day Obit
January 11, 2026
Unknown. Can you identify?
On the back of the post card, From Dorothy Gates 08/17/1968. So this would probably be the Burrill/Day line. Stella (Day) Robbins is in the photo (somewhere), and Grandma Arnold's grandparents according to Dorothy's note. Can you identify anyone? Let me know.
jandowell@hotmail.com
Mildred, you'll know who these relative are! I know your mother is here. So you'll recognize all the rest, lots more than I do! I'm sure who your grandfather and grandmother are, but not the others.
Children of Cynthia (Robbins) Yaw - Emma Josephine Jane
Emma Josephine Jane Yaw, oldest daughter and second child of Henry Yaw and Cynthia Robbins Yaw, and Robert Sterling Perkinson. I colorized the photo on Ancestry. Grandma Arnold has quite a few photos and newspaper clippings for the Perkinson family . . . a lot of information that I will probably update and post on the Perkinson line. So keep checking back if you are researching this line. Robbins/Yaw/Perkinson.
b 9 Dec 1858
m Robert Sterling Perkinson 29 Dec 1880 at the home of the bride's parents in rural Thawville, Illinois.
d 11 Aug 1929 buried Onarga Cemetery, Onarga, Iroquois County, Illinois.
Henry Paige "Paige" Perkinson
Emma died in 1929. After her death, Robert S. Perkinson married Lillian (Robbins) Pacey, daughter of Edwin G. S. Robbins and Alice Ann VanDuzer Robbins.
Below photo, children of Robert Sterling and Emma (Yaw) Perkinson.
Back row left to right: Bessie, Percy, William
Front row left to right: Anna Estella, Ermine, Henry Paige
Interesting tidbit. . .
November 29, 2025
Children of Cynthia (Robbins) Yaw - Dwight Edwin
Cynthia Robbins, daughter of Edwin Dwight Robbins and Louisa Bishop, married Henry Yaw 5 October 1854 in Racine, Wisconsin. Cynthia and Henry had five children before her early death at age 30.
Cynthia and Henry are in Artesia Township, Iroquois Co., Illinois, prior to 3 July 1865 per the Illinois State Census Collection 1825-1865. (And a recent find a deed dated 13 May 1865 for Artesia Township.)
DWIGHT EDWIN YAW, oldest child of Henry Yaw and Cynthia Robbins Yaw:
d 11 April 1930
Deed Henry Yaw Artesia Township 13 May 1865
Are they the first of the family to settle in Artesia Township? More research.
--Image from Family Search.
November 08, 2025
Bishop Letter 02/13/1948
Grandma Arnold corresponded with many family members in her genealogical searches. This letter is from Angelina (Bishop) Gordon. It looks like Angelina sent this letter to Halsey Robbins when he and Stella were living in Watseka. I can't make out some of the wording . . . this will be in bold in the transcription. If you can figure it out, let me know; and I'll update the info.
The Bishop line enters with Edwin Dwight Robbins' marriage to Louisa Bishop, the daughter of Thomas Bishop and Lydia Olin. Grandma did a lot of research on the Bishop/Olin line. A snip from Ancestry page:
Page 1
In Alice Robbins letter she wrote they had been to visit in Greene Co. Ia. & planned to stop & see all of us but sickness presented. Do you ever go to see them? & what place in Greene Co. do they live?
October 05, 2025
Finding Love in Artesia Township Part II
After the death of his wife, Cynthia, Henry Yaw did not have to look far for a new wife and a mother for his five children. Henry married Agnes "Nancy" Isbister on February 11, 1877 in Iroquois County. Nancy lived in Artesia Township with the Isbister family that arrived in America August 17, 1833. She may have been married prior to Henry, but I cannot find definitive information. Nor can I find any children born to Nancy Isbister. Henry and Cynthia Robbins Yaw had five children.
This may be a photo of Agnes "Nancy" Isbister Yaw. It was with Grandma Arnold's collection. It was taken at H. W. Lawhead Photography located in Onarga and Gilman, Illinois. On the back is written in pencil "Aunt Nancy Yaw."
Nancy is also a sister to William Isbister. William was married to Mary Burrill, my great, great grandmother also from Artesia Township, Iroquois County, Illinois. He died young and Mary Burrill Isbister married next Julius Day.
Nancy arrived in New York on August 17, 1833, from Scotland at the age of five weeks. Her parents are Caleb Isbister and Elizabeth Newton Isbister. Caleb is buried at the Lisk Cemetery not far from Thawville, Iroquois County, Illinois.
William Isbister, Mary Burrill's first husband was not born until 1840 in Pennsylvania.
Lisk Cemetery Photo Below. Caleb Isbister. I have seen this stone many times and photographed it myself; but I can't remember the inscription, if Elizabeth is buried here also. I assume, but I will have to find my photos to confirm. Caleb died September 23, 1877.
So Nancy Isbister was married to Henry Yaw, being his second wife after the death of Cynthia Robbins Yaw; and Nancy's brother, William, was married to Mary Burrill. Mary later married Julius Day. They are the parents of Stella Day, Grandma Arnold's mother. There is more information on this page on Mary Burrill. Nancy is connected on both the Robbins and Day side of my family but with no DNA connection.
Nancy Isbister Yaw is buried at the Onarga Cemetery, Iroquois County, Illinois along with Henry and Cynthia Robbins.
September 28, 2025
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.
September 14, 2025
Robbins Family Arrives in Illinois
Edwin Dwight Robbins and Louisa (Bishop) Robbins arrived in the Town of Onarga, Iroquois County, Illinois, sometime prior to June of 1870. The family appears in the 1850 and 1860 Federal Census in Salem, Kenosha County, Wisconsin, and in the Census of 1870 at Onarga, Iroquois County, Illinois. They have five children total:
Cynthia Jane Robbins m. Henry Yaw
Edwin Gustave Sheltusky Robbins m. Alice Ann VanDuzer
Anna Louise Robbins m. Augustus Theobold Drom
Emma E. Robbins never married
Helen Patience Robbins m. Walter B. Hanson
1850 Census Salem, Kenosha County, Wisconsin (Below)
Edwin, Louisa, Cynthia J., Edwin G., and Ann L. Their two youngest children are not born yet. Emma and Helen.
August 10, 2025
Louise D. Bishop Robbins
Artesia Township, Iroquois County, Illinois. 1865
The 1865 State Census of Artesia Township in Iroquois County lists five families from our lineage. I cannot find any of these families in the 1860 Federal Census.
July 27, 2025
Finding Love in Artesia Township
My sister, Jackie, told me "Neighbors married neighbors." That was your little world in rural America . . . your dating pool. Hopefully your neighbors were good looking or at least somewhat interesting.
I am going to attempt to explain Artesia Township, Iroquois County, Illinois, and the Robbins, Day, Burrill, Isbister, Yaw, Perkinson, Mitchell, Sprague, Pacey family connections.
I located an Iroquois County atlas on Family Search. This book on Family Search was a reprint of plats from 1884, 1904 and 1921. Unfortunately, there were some errors in the reprinting process. But I knew exactly where my family was located in Artesia Township (sections 7,8,9) and found the correct maps.
The cover:
July 20, 2025
July 13, 2025
Emily Bridge Burrill
Death certificate for Emily Burrill. A sister to my great, great grandmother, Mary (Burrill) Isbester Day. Emily never married and was a teacher in the Boston area. Why her middle name is "Bridge" is a mystery.
My Grandma Arnold was also researching this line many years ago. She does have some confusing notes on Emily Bridge Burrill and not many details. Grandma's notes list an "Emily Bridge, daughter of Herman and Nancy C. Bridge born July 24th, 1838. Herman Bridge, born in Dorchester Mass June 16, 1875. Herman Bridge died Nov 3, 1863 aged 52 years. Sophia Bridge died Dec. 15, 1863 age 56. Emily died Aug 26, 1849, 11 years." No clue who the Bridges are.
Anyone have any thoughts on this? A family friend that John and Mary Ann named their daughter after, maybe? A family name?

















































