The
Nicholas Robbins Family
ROBERT ARTHUR ROBBINS
ROBERT ARTHUR ROBBINS (A summary of his life and family, compiled from Robbins family records and related public data by Steven B. Kay) Re: The Nicholas Robbins Family, No. 7.38.11
Robert Arthur Robbins, son of John Henry Robbins (1853 - 1926) and Mary Emma McKay (1861 - 1916), was born in Yarmouth, Nova Scotia on 26 Feb 1883. He was raised in Yarmouth, where his father was employed as a carriage maker. In 1902, at the age of 19, he boarded the ship Ventura with a friend, intent on sailing to New Zealand. When he reached Hawaii, he decided to stay. Arthur, as he was often called, went to work for Lewers and Cooke, a large scale lumber and building materials company that had their own ships for transporting lumber from around the world to Hawaii.
During his early years in Hawaii, Arthur lived in a rooming house in Honolulu. Also residing there was Flora Moyer, who had come to Hawaii with her Aunt Carlotta. Aunt Carlotta had come from South Dakota to work at the
YWCA in Honolulu. Apparently a spark developed between Arthur and Flora and they were married in 1910. Flora Ethel Moyer, daughter of Wilber Fisk Moyer (1849 - 1899) and Mary Emma Taylor (1853 - 1932), was born 13 Oct 1880 in Mitchell, South Dakota
By 1911 Arthur's parents, his sister, Muriel Currier, and his brother, Harry Ashton Robbins, had all moved to Vancouver,
British Columbia. Many family visits in Hawaii and Vancouver followed over the succeeding years.
Arthur and Flora lived in a number of houses, including one between Ala Wai and Waikiki, another near Diamond Head, one in the Kahala area and one at Black Point. Two children resulted from this union, Willa Emma Robbins and Harold Moyer Robbins. Both Willa and Harold resettled in California in later years. After Arthur retired from Lewers and Cooke in 1947, they likewise moved to California, settling at Santa Cruz. This put them within twenty-five miles of Willa and her family and forty miles from Harold and his family. One might assume also that they selected Santa Cruz because it is a beach town and thus a tiny bit like Hawaii. Arthur passed away on 1 Mar 1951 at Santa Cruz. Flora followed on 25 Aug 1955 at Redwood City, California.
Submitted by Steven B. Kay, October, 2008. Mr. Kay may be contacted by email at sbkay@comcast.net.