Sutter-Yuba County Biographies This file is part of the California Genealogy & History Archives http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~cagha/index.htm DEBORAH STUART ROBSON An admirable example of what a woman may do in the successful management of property, particularly in the operation and development of a ranch estate, is afforded by Mrs. Deborah Robson, nee Stuart, who was born at Anthony House Crossing, on Deer Creek, Nevada County, on May 20, 1856, the daughter of Upton Harrison and Eliza Jane (Millner) Stuart, the former a native of Baltimore, Md., and the latter reared at Lexington, Ky. The Stuart family made their way to California by a slow migration, first to Kentucky; and at Lexington Mr. Stuart and Miss Millner were married. A few days after their marriage they started for California across the plains, traveling by way of the River Platte and the Salt Lake Route, and reaching California as early as 1848. They first came to Sacramento, and for a number of years conducted a trading post there; and later they removed to Gas Flat, on Deer Creek, Nevada County, where they built a two-story log-cabin home. This most interesting relic of the primitive past is owned by Mrs. Robson, and is still one of her homes. Mr. Stuart died in 1871, having gone to the mining country in Arizona, where he already had some claims, to prospect; but Mrs. Stuart remained at Deer Creek, in Nevada County. Mr. Stuart has purchased a squatter�s title to land on what was known as Nigger Creek, and Mrs. Robson and her husband afterward bought additional land there, so that Mrs. Robson at present has 1300 acres in Nevada County. Mrs. Stuart died at the age of seventy-three; both she and her husband were widely mourned at their departure, as they had been esteemed and beloved during their lives. They had six children: Mary, Thomas K., Deborah (of this review), Mark, Eliza Jane, and Upton Harrison, a veterinary at Nevada City. Deborah Stuart attended school at Pleasant Valley and at Notre Dame Convent, at Grass Valley; and on January 7, 1875, she was married to William Robson, born in Durham, England, June 2, 1845, the son of William and Hannah Robson. He came to the United States with his parents, going to Wisconsin, and reached California in 1869. Settling at Howland Flat, in Sierra County, he mined for a while with his uncle, Joseph Robson. Later, Joseph and William Robson settled in Yuba County, where Joseph had bought a large acreage. After their marriage, Mr. and Mrs. William Robson lived on the Yuba County ranch, and Mr. Robson commenced to acquire land. In 1875 he did not own a square foot of soil in Yuba County; but he bought from time to time until he had acquired some 1600 acres of plain land eleven miles east of Marysville, to which the family have since added, so that Mrs. Robson now has about 2500 acres. He also embarked in the business of raising sheep, horses, and cattle, and had as many as 3000 head of sheep. He died on his ranch on March 11, 1892, in a neat little cottage he and his devoted wife had erected in 1878, and where they resided until his death. Mrs. Robson has lived on this ranch ever since; but her son Andrew has erected a new and fine ranch-home, as attractively modern and artistic as one may find anywhere in Yuba County today. Mr. and Mrs. Robson had four children. Andrew Armpstead, also represented in this work, is on the Yuba County ranch; Deborah Jane is a graduate of the San Jose Normal School, and is now Mrs. Gillham, of Nevada County; Hannah is deceased; and William Garfield is now sheriff of Nevada County. William Garfield Robson is a member and Past Master of the Masonic Lodge of Smartville, and also a member of the Knights Templar of Grass Valley, and at the time he joined he was the youngest Knight of that place; and he is also a Shriner. He is a member of Grass Valley Lodge of Elks, the Redmen of Grass Valley, and the Odd Fellows in the same place, in which last-named lodge he is a Past Grand. The California Cattle Growers also number him among their members. He married Miss Frances Wagoner, and has two children, Hope Marjory and William Andrew. William Robson, in his political affiliation, was a Republican. Though he never entered politics with a view to political preferment, he was nevertheless always active in trying to secure the right man for office and the right kind of legislation for the general welfare of the community. Fraternally, he was a Mason and an Odd Fellow. After her husband�s death Mrs. Robson kept her children together at the old home, where she reared and educated them to the best of her ability. She has been well rewarded; for they in turn appreciate her loving care and thoughtfulness and now look after and manage her large affairs, thus relieving her of all unnecessary worry. Mrs. Robson is a Republican, though her people were Democrats of the old stand-pat school. She was reared in the Congregational Church, and believes in and lives a Christian life. She is a member of Aurora Chapter, O.E.S., Grass Valley, and of Wheatland Lodge No. 127, of the Rebekahs. A woman of pleasing personality, she is well-read and a ready talker, and it is interesting to hear her tell of the incidents of the early days and review the stories told by her pioneer parents. History of Yuba and Sutter Counties, Historic Record Company, Los Angeles, 1924 p 1025