Matilda Robinson

Quick Facts

Significance:

Nebraska Homesteader

Place of Birth:

Canada

Date of Birth:

1850

Place of Death:

Scotts Bluff, Nebraska

Date of Death:

June 22, 1948

Place of Burial:

Brownlee Cemetery, Nebraska

Matilda was born in Canada, and by the age of 11, her father had passed. Normally her mother, who was left to raise the family alone, would have endured serious hardship but not in Buxton, Kent, Canada. Buxton was the last stop of the Underground Railroad for runaway slaves from the states before the Civil War, and the settlement took good care of their own. All children went to school, and if there was an adult who wished to learn, they were welcome also. Widowed families were always cared for.

Matilda, married by 1878, was off with her family to pursue homesteading in Nebraska. By 1880, Matilda was living in Dawson County, Nebraska with her husband Richard, age 28, their two children Florence, age 3, and Lawrence, age 2, Matilda’s younger brother, Leroy Gields, and their mother Nancy. By 1883, the relationship between Matilda and her husband had deteriorated to the point that Richard packed his bags and headed back to Canada with their son and did not contribute to the family needs. She was not left without support though. Her brothers and their families also lived nearby, and Matilda was not to be out done. On February 18, 1883, she traveled to the land office in Grand Island and applied for 160 acres of land under the Homestead Act of 1862. Matilda paid $18 in filing fees and received application #17530.

October 10, 1883, Matilda signed a Declaration of Intention to renounce her citizenship to the Queen Victoria of Great Britain and obtained her citizenship of United States. She was able to erect a sod frame house 38x14, frame stable 16x12, frame corncrib 8x17, chicken house 8x10, sod cellar, frame pig pens- hog pasture1/4 acre and stock pasture, 12 acres of 2 wire fence, well 105 feet deep, and 48 acres of cultivated land all totally value of $248. By 1885, Matilda was divorced, and by 1893, Matilda received her citizenship papers. She was then granted her patent #9886 on July 31, 1893, over 10 years later.

Matilda was an active member of the DeWitty settlement and believed in education. She was highly respected in both DeWitty and the white settlement of Brownlee. So much so she was only the second Black person buried in the Brownlee Cemetery.

Matilda’s young daughter Florence married Charles E. Meehan in 1898 with James L. Hatter and Miss Anna Meehan as the witnesses. Florence, as an heir to her mother’s original 160-acre claim, went on to claim an additional 480 acres of grazing land in Cherry County, Nebraska. The Kinkaid Act of 1904 allowed for the extra acres of grazing land to be added in the state of Nebraska. The patent, #02795, was issued on April 4, 1912, under Matilda’s name.

Contributor: Joyceann Gray, SSG USA RET

Joyceanne Gray
Photo Credit: J. Gray

Joyceann is the great grandniece of James L. Hatter. Once retired from the Army, she has devoted much time to family historical researching and writing. She is the author of; Yes We Remember which is devoted to the historical accountings of her ancestors, and DeWitty and Now We Speak which is a historical fiction about the women of DeWitty, Nebraska. Joyceann is a Contributing Writer of many Notable African Americans, and Ambassadors on BlackPast.org. She holds memberships in local genealogical societies and the Charles Town, WV Researchers. Joyceann was an integral part of the Descendants of DeWitty who not only helped raised money but facilitate the erecting of the Historical marker in honor of the Homesteaders of DeWitty along Hwy 83, near Brownlee, Nebraska, April 2015.

1912 Patent Patent Details - BLM GLO Records
1893 Patent Patent Details - BLM GLO Records