Parker David Robbins

Parker David Robbins (1834–November 1, 1917) was a Union Army soldier during the American Civil War, among the first Black representatives to the North Carolina House of Representatives in 1868–1869, and inventor from Bertie County, North Carolina.[1][2]

Biography

Parker David Robbins was Mulatto with Chowan Native American ancestry. He was born in 1834 in either Colerain Township, Bertie County, North Carolina or the Choanoac Indian community of Gates County, North Carolina.[3] His father was John A. Robbins and his mother is unknown. Records list him as a free Black. He worked as a carpenter and mechanic and obtained a 102 acre farm in North Carolina before the Civil War. After the Civil War broke out, he went to Norfolk, Virginia in 1863 and enlisted in the Union Army and was assigned to the 2nd U.S. Colored Cavalry, where he attained the rank of Sergeant-Major. His service came to an end in 1866, due to illness. There upon, he returned home.[1][4]

Robbins was one of fifteen Blacks to be elected in August 1868 to the North Carolina General Assembly of 1868-1869 as a representative from Bertie County to the House of Representatives. He was subsequently elected to the same position in the 1870-1872 legislature. He was also a representative to the North Carolina Constitutional Convention in January through March 1868.[1][5][2]

He was selected as postmaster of the town of Harrellsville, North Carolina. He obtained a patent for a cotton cultivator and a saw sharpener.[1]

References
  1. Powell, William S. (1994). "Parker David Robbins". NCPEDIA. Retrieved November 23, 2019.
  2. Cheney, John L. Jr. (1974). North Carolina Government, 1585–1974. pp. 447-448.
  3. "Winton Triangle's Parker David Robbins Honored with Marker". Chowan Discovery. Retrieved November 23, 2019.
  4. Ijams, Earl (2008). "Constitutional Convention, 1868, Black Caucus". NCPEDIA. Retrieved November 23, 2019.
  5. Lewis, J.D. "North Carolina 1870-1872 House of Representatives". carolana.com. Retrieved November 23, 2019.
  • Hamilton, J. G. de Roulhac (1914). Reconstruction in North Carolina.
  • Parramore, Thomas C. (1983). North Carolina: The History of an American State.
  • Justesen, Benjamin R. "Parker David Robbins 1834-1917". North Carolina History Project. Retrieved November 23, 2019.
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