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James T. Robeson

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Evidence assessment

Supplemental early settler; original-census anchored in Lowndes County by 1850 and strongly located in future Brooks County by public office and residence evidence. The original 1850 schedule names James T. Robeson, age 36, a Georgia-born farmer, in Division 53 of Lowndes County. Huxford’s office tables place him on the Lowndes Inferior Court from 1857 to 1859 and among the justices continued into newly created Brooks County for 1859–61. A county-road abstract locates his dwelling north of Bethel Church and calls him “late” by February 20, 1865.

The traditional 1834 arrival year remains a retrospective county-history claim, not a proved date.

Original census household

The retained original 1850 image clearly shows James T. Robeson, age 36, farmer, born in Georgia, heading household 63. Sarah, age 40, and several younger people follow him. The schedule predates relationship columns; it does not label Sarah as his wife or any younger resident as his child. Huxford later identifies Sarah Gibson as James’s wife and Delilah Robinson/Robeson as their daughter. Those links are coherent with the household and later Wilson records, but remain secondary-supported until a marriage, estate, Bible, deed, or other relationship-naming original is found.

Public office and residence

Huxford’s Lowndes officer table gives James a January 12, 1857 commission and a 1857–59 term on the Inferior Court. Its Brooks County narrative says James T. Robeson, John J. Pike, and James O. Morton were serving Lowndes when Brooks was created and were authorized to continue in the new county. The Brooks officer table dates James’s new commission to December 11, 1858 and his term to 1859–61. Huxford also quotes an 1873 historical account praising the first Brooks Inferior Court and names James among its five members.

A county-road abstract dated February 20, 1865 begins at an old road north of “the late James T. Robeson’s dwelling,” then runs by or near Bethel Church toward Pleasant Hill Church. This supplies the clearest future-Brooks residence description and establishes that James had died by that date. It does not establish his exact death date.

Family claims

Huxford’s Wilson genealogy says Delilah Robinson, born September 26, 1829, was a daughter of James T. and Sarah (Gibson) Robinson or Robeson, and married Jeremiah Wilson Jr. on April 6, 1848. The spelling variation is explicit in the source. Later census work independently establishes Delilah as Jeremiah’s wife and the mother in their continuing household, but no inspected original names James and Sarah as her parents.

Accordingly:

  • Sarah Gibson as James’s wife — secondary-supported; Sarah’s 1850 co-residence is original, but the census states no relationship.
  • Delilah as their daughter — secondary-supported; explicit compiled parentage, coherent with place and chronology, but no parent-naming original inspected.
  • Jeremiah Wilson Jr. as Delilah’s husband — secondary-supported here from the compiled marriage statement and later household continuity; the original marriage return was not inspected in this lane.

An automated Brooks deed-index extraction has an 1871 entry involving “heirs of James T. Robinson,” District 13, Lot 173. The OCR is flagged for human verification and the spelling/identity bridge is incomplete, so it is retained only as a probate/deed lead.

Identity and spelling controls

James appears as Robeson in the original 1850 census and official-history tables, while Huxford’s Wilson genealogy says Robinson “or Robeson.” The two spellings may refer to the same family in these specific records, but unrelated Robinsons and later James T. Robinsons are not merged. The 1871 heirs entry cannot control identity without inspection of both index images and the underlying deed.

Place and Barney relevance

James’s residence near Bethel and his service in the first Brooks County government make him an important future-Brooks and early Brooks County figure. No record inspected here places his home at the later Barney townsite, shows ownership in Barney’s land lot, or proves a generation-by-generation descendant link to a Barney household. His profile should therefore describe regional public service, not direct Barney founding.

Conflicts and reproducible gaps

  1. Arrival: 1834 is Huxford’s later statement only.
  2. Birth: the 1850 age implies about 1814; no birth or baptismal record was found.
  3. Marriage and children: explicit only in compiled genealogy; the census itself states no relationships.
  4. Death: “late” by February 20, 1865 is supported; an exact date, cemetery inscription, probate opening, and estate distribution were not found.
  5. Office records: exact commission dates are preserved in Huxford’s transcription; underlying gubernatorial commissions and complete court minutes were not inspected in this lane.
  6. Web coverage: the live web/browser research endpoint was unavailable. Negative findings are limited to the accessible local census, deed, court, county-history, marriage, probate, cemetery, and newspaper corpus.

Public-ready profile copy

James T. Robeson

The original 1850 census places James T. Robeson in Lowndes County as a 36-year-old Georgia-born farmer. Later county records and histories place his home north of Bethel Church, in territory that became Brooks County in 1858. A road entry dated February 20, 1865 referred to the “late James T. Robeson,” showing that he had died by then.

James also helped govern the new county. A county officer compilation places him on the Lowndes Inferior Court from 1857 to 1859 and records his continuation as one of Brooks County’s first Inferior Court justices for 1859–61. The exact 1834 arrival date repeated in the county history has not been independently verified.

A later Wilson family account identifies Sarah Gibson as James’s wife and Delilah Robinson or Robeson as their daughter. Delilah married Jeremiah Wilson Jr. The 1850 census supports the household setting, but it did not record relationships, and no inspected marriage, estate, Bible, or deed names Sarah as James’s wife or Delilah as his daughter. Those family links therefore remain secondary-supported.

James’s residence and public service make him a documented figure in the future-Brooks region. No direct connection to the later Barney townsite has yet been proved.

Sources and reproducible gaps

  1. 1850 U.S. census, Division 53, Lowndes County, Georgia, household 63, James T. Robeson; Ancestry collection 8054, record 18779040, image 4193244-00463; original schedule inspected.
  2. Folks Huxford, The History of Brooks County, Georgia, 1858–1948 (Quitman, 1948), arrival and census lists, Lowndes and Brooks Inferior Court tables, first-court narrative, road abstracts, and Wilson genealogy, especially printed pp. 29–33, 63, 71, and 574–575.
  3. Brooks County deed universal-index extraction, 1871, “heirs of James T. Robinson,” Book C, p. 597, District 13, Lot 173; automated paired OCR flagged for human verification. Original index rows and deed not inspected.
  4. Priority targets are the underlying gubernatorial commissions and court minutes, the 1871 heirs deed, a probate/estate distribution, a marriage or Bible record, and an original Delilah–Jeremiah marriage record.