(1) Name: Nathan ROBERTSON
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Birth: 1751
Military: Revolutionary War
Father: ROBERTSON

Misc. Notes
The "Robertson Meeting House" or "the Old Bethel Church" [1]

The "Robertson Meeting House" or "the Old Bethel Church" was built in Indiana Territory and was moved to DePauw University - Greencastle, Indiana. This booklet was printed in December 1954. In the front of the booklet is "a brief sketch of its origin, its founder, and its history." There are two pictures of the church on campus. The following appears toward the back of the booklet.

Taken from "1807 Old Bethel Church First Methodist Church Built in Indiana Near Charlestown by Nathan Robertson"

NATHAN ROBERTSON Pioneer Methodist Layman

Although records are incomplete in many cases, there is ample evidence that the two-fisted circuit-riding preachers who brought Methodism into the West owed much of their success to local leaders who were of the same heroic mould as themselves. No better example could be found of a circuit rider's choice for lay leader than Nathan Robertson, builder of Indiana's first Methodist church. A distinct individual, and one who was unique in many respects. Nathan was nevertheless typical of the courageous leaders who maintained and developed the local churches after the circuit riders had organized them. In learning about his background and characteristics, we learn much about the kind of men whose pioneer work included the establishing of religion as well as the clearing of a wilderness. There are some gaps in his story, but from a variety of scattered sources a fairly clear picture of the man emerges.

Born in 1751 of Scottish ancestry, Nathan was descended from a branch of the Robertson clan that had emigrated to Maryland in early colonial days. He served for a time with Washington's army in the Revolutionary War. He was converted to Methodism by Bishop Francis Asbury. At the age of twenty he married Elizabeth Speaks. In 1787, when Nathan and his family left Maryland for the West, they had seven children. The oldest boys, Robert and Middleton, aged fifteen and thirteen, were able to contribute man-sized work on the trek to Kentucky. The two youngest children were babes in arms, but the next three aged three to seven years, were considered old enough to walk part of the way and to help themselves.

After the close of the Revolutionary War the newly opened region called "Kentucky" attracted many settlers from the East. Unlike surrounding territories, Kentucky had not been used by Indian tribes as a place of residence, but only as a hunting ground. Its soil was fabulously rich. To reach this land of promise a journey of nearly seven hundred miles must be made over the old Wilderness Road, by way of Cumberland Gap. It was not a wagon road, but only a trail to be traveled on foot or on horseback. For Nathan's family to reach their destination in what is now Bourbon County, Kentucky, the time required is said to have been two months. Today the same distance can be covered in two hours in a comfortable airplane.

The family of nine started with two pack horses. How heavy was the load of these horses can easily be imagined. There had to be enough blankets and warm clothing for protection at night, since they slept in the open on the ground. There were no motels every few miles. The horses had to carry the work tools, axes, shovels, cooking utensils, kettles and the meager supply of pewter ware. A basic supply of food such as salt, sugar and cornmeal flour must be included. Also, they needed a reserve ration of all foods to last for a few days, even though their chief supply of meat and fruits came from foraging en route. There were a few trading posts. Probably a hammock was slung over the shoulder of a horse in which to carry the two babes. The artillery, such as rifles and shotguns, was carried by the adult males, who were constantly alert for game, wild animals, and marauding Indians. Each night Nathan or one of his older boys had to stand guard while the others slept.

To complicate their situation, one of the horses died after thirty days of travel. How they managed with only one pack horse for a family of nine is beyond imagination. The mother's task of caring for small children while looking after the welfare of the entire family could only have been managed by a woman of heroic qualities. A pampered generation of today can hardly conceive of her difficulties. Recently, while traveling along a four-lane highway in a powerful motor car, that would go as far in one hour as these pioneers could travel in four days, some woman were complaining because none of the motels looked very "inviting." They were told the story of Elizabeth Speaks (Robertson) and her travel problems. After that, any motel seemed the height of luxury.

Arriving at last at their future home in Kentucky, Nathan Robertson's family settled on a farm in Bourbon County for a stay of approximately ten years. Records of their activities while living there are comparatively meager. It is known that Nathan continued his active interest in religious worship throughout this period, and that he formed close friendships with such Methodist leaders as Moses Ashworth, Peter Cartwright, and Benjamin Larkin. One of Nathan's good friends was Daniel Boone, who gave him one of the famous Boone wolf traps. This trap, long prized as an heirloom by the Robertson family, has been seen in an attic by some of Nathan's great-great-grandchildren but which long ago disappeared.

In 1797, Nathan with his family, now of nine children, made the short trek from Bourbon County, Kentucky, into Clark's Grant, in Indiana Territory, settling at a spot three miles north of what is now Charlestown, Indiana. The distance traveled this time was approximately one hundred miles. A desirable location for a cabin was a site near a spring of running water, preferably coming from a cave. Nathan had such a site in the center of the best tract, 1,000 acres, in this section of the Territory. He built his cabin near the mouth of the cave, from which flowed, as it does today, a large stream of pure cold water. This cave proved useful as a refrigerator for keeping food. It is so used today. A blockhouse, or fort, was built atop the cave by Nathan as protection for his family and his neighbors against Indians. At least seventy-five of the old rails dating from this period are still used for a fence over the brow of the cave.

During the wars of 1811 and 1812, all of Nathan's children with their families and others fled to this blockhouse for safety and remained there for several months. The danger from hostile Indians was very real at this time. It was only thirty miles away that the "Pigeon Roost" Massacre occurred, the most atrocious of all the massacres perpetrated in the Indiana Territory. Subsequent to building his cabin and the blockhouse, Nathan laid out a family cemetery on a choice knoll overlooking a beautiful valley. His building of the meeting house later to be know as "Bethel Church" has already been described.

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A GLIMPSE OF NATHAN THE MAN

What kind of man was Nathan Robertson? Within the framework of the Methodist doctrines which he embraced whole-heartedly, what was the Christian faith that sustained him and supplied the dynamic force for a long life of intense activity? What were his personal beliefs? What was the practical religion that he followed, both as man and as lay leader? In the answers to these questions, those who have visited the church he built will find interest and inspiration. His strenuous life of eighty-six years reflected a perennial youthfulness of zest and outlook that will have a special meaning for young people, to whom the shrine of Old Bethel is primarily dedicated.

As Nathan's grandson Aquilla said, "Grandfather was a deeply religious man. He worked at it, and didn't just profess it." So, from his rugged experiences, it will be equally clear that he was no plaster saint. Neither was he much concerned with theological abstractions. We think of him particularly as a man of action. Quiet as a rule,
and almost shy in manner, he spoke little, but what he said was remembered because his comments were forthright and positive.

Deservedly hero-worshipped by his grandsons and other descendants. Nathan Robertson was the central figure in a series of real-life adventure storied equal to anything in fiction. Quite a few of the remembered incidents pictured him in personal combat. His grandson, Aquilla once remarked, with a chuckle, "I believe grandfather liked to fight," but he added, "in a good cause."

One of Nathan's earliest exploits of this kind dates back to a time when he had hardly grown to manhood. On a dock at a port in the Chesapeake Bay he noticed that a group of sailors were directing remarks toward a young woman. He rebuked them for it and was promptly attacked from all sides. By the time he had thrown two of them into the water the others were quite willing to withdraw from the scene.

In the early days on the frontier there were no peace officers, but there were many drunken brutes, bullies and other violators of the community's primitive code of decent behavior. Restraints had to be imposed by the direct action of hardy souls who were willing to put the offenders in their place. Tall and muscular, and noted for his courage, Nathan was considered a "top sergeant" and was called upon to subdue the tough ones. Drunken Indians, corrupted by the white man's "fire water" were always a problem. Aquilla told of one incident wherein an Indian boy, ten years old, in some melee had his leg broken. His hospital was Nathan's cabin. His buddy in attention and companionship was Aquilla, Nathan's grandson of the same age. When the boy was well enough he was restored to his tribe, with his little pal Aquilla going along.

In after years this Indian boy became chief of the tribe that was located near Aquilla's home. He was a frequent visitor at Aquilla's house, and ever after there were cordial relations between his tribe and the white man who had befriended him when he was just an unknown Indian lad with a broken leg.

It is not inconsistent with Nathan Robertson's rough and ready encounters in the community to say that he was a very religious man. To some, his religious philosophy may have seemed over-simplified and perhaps a bit unorthodox. However, his view represented a practical Christianity that had stood the test of experience. He had no patience, for example, with a kind of "otherworldliness" that was not uncommon among church members in his day. This world, he believed, is not a vale of tears to be merely endured while we wait for paradise. He was always irked by the frustrated Christian whose plaint was, “I’ll get my reward in Heaven." Nathan's rejoinder was, "If it's good deeds you have done, you'll get your reward here; if bad deeds, Heaven ain't the place to look for it."

Nathan believed firmly in the inspiration of an ever-present God as a guide and a sustaining power in our lives. To him, this did not mean that we are to "cast our burdens upon the Lord" and forget about them while He carries the load. On the contrary, he believed that our relationship with God carries with it an obligation for maximum self-reliance and for the strongest possible effort on our part. We should be ashamed to ask God to do for us what we are unable to do for ourselves. Thus he ruled out prayers of petition and concentrated his attention on prayers of thanksgiving.

In applying this philosophy to the training of his children, Nathan qualified as a sound child psychologist. During the regular family worship period he would refer to current activities among members of his family, and in the course of a prayer he might say, "Lord, we thank Thee for helping Middleton to win his contest yesterday." He would not have prayed the morning before, "Lord, help Middleton win his contest today," on the theory that if the child had lost, his skepticism might have been aroused. Nathan considered that many grown-up children among his fellow church members were inclined to feel that the Lord had let them down when they failed to get everything they asked for. To them, as to his children at home he would say, "God gives you the material, the tools, and the specifications with which to work. Now don't go asking Him to do the job for you." That a far-reaching influence was exerted by Nathan's family devotions was shown in many ways. It was no accident that some of his descendants entered the Methodist ministry and that all of them remembered him with the deepest respect and admiration. His first grandchild, Aquilla, who lived nearly a century, exemplified the results of his early training when his last words, spoken on his deathbed, were: "Praise the Lord for His exceeding goodness and loving kindness." Nor has this influence been confined to members of Nathan's family. Others who have learned about his life have been inspired to emulate his good deeds and his steadfast devotion. Youth of the present generation who become acquainted with his example will recognize that this devout Methodist patriarch of pioneer days has a message especially for them.

Stated in its simplest terms, Nathan Robertson's creed, the theme song of his life, can be summed up as SERVICE - - GRATITUDE To God and to mankind
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Source: Yearbook of the Society of Indiana Pioneers, 1982, pp. 22-
Nathan Robertson, Pioneer Methodist
By MARGERY ROBERTSON HALLUM

THE FIRST church in Clark County, Indiana Territory-and also the first Methodist church in Indiana-was erected in 1807 three miles north of presentday Charlestown. This log structure was built on his farm by Nathan Robertson, his sons, and neighbors. It was first known as Robertson's Meeting House. Later it was called Old Bethel Church.

At the 1805 session of the Methodist Western Conference, Peter Cartwright was appointed as Junior Preacher with Benjamin Lakin, on the Salt River and Shelby Circuit in Kentucky. Cartwright's Autobiography notes: "Brother Lakin and myself crossed the Ohio River and preached at Brother Robertson's and Prather's." In his history of Indiana Circuit Riders. William Warren Sweet wrote: "Moses Ashworth closed his first year with a camp-meeting held in the Robertson's neighborhood. a few miles from Charlestown, in the summer of 1807. It was one of the first, if not the first, camp-meeting held in Indiana."

Nathan Robertson was born in 1751 in Maryland. His Scottish Midland ancestors had come to the Colony some years before. In 1771 he was married to Elizabeth Speaks in Frederick County, at the age of 20. The 1776 Census shows that he was living in the Lower Potomac District of Frederick County, age 24. At the beginning of the American Revolution be signed the Oath of Fidelity and Support in Montgomery County. Maryland (which was once a part of Frederick County). In a 1780 list of the 1st Company in the Lower Battalion of Montgomery County the name of Nathan Robertson is included.

In 1787 Nathan Robertson and his older brother Robert emigrated to Kentucky with their families, They walked up the Shenandoah Valley, through the Cumberland Gap, and then by the Wilderness Road to Bourbon County, near Paris, Kentucky. The 700-mile journey required two months. One of their two pack horses died halfway. The Tuckers, from the same Hundred in Maryland, bad preceded them, and the Robertson and Tucker families later intermarried.

On August 1. 1793, Nathan Robertson bought for 50 pounds current Kentucky money a 103-acre tract. It was described as on Townsend Waters and part of John Higgins' pre-emption.

This land was traded by Nathan Robertson on September 9, 1798, to Abraham Keller for "two tracts of land northwest of the Ohio River, part of the Illinois Grant, containing 500 acres each, Lots No. 156 and 173". The "Illinois Grant" was a name used prior to organization of Indiana Territory in 1800. The Keller lots were part of a 150,000-acre area along the north side of the Ohio River which had been awarded in 1781 by the young State of Virginia to Colonel George Rogers Clark and members of his frontier army. In the ensuing -years many of the lots in Clark's Grant were sold or traded by the veterans.

Thus Nathan Robertson and his family left their Kentucky farm in 1799 for the undeveloped land 100 miles to the north in what was to become Indiana Territory the next year. He wanted enough land for his six sons to develop their own farms. But he was very loath to leave his church. He had been converted to Methodism by Francis Asbury, the first Bishop of the Methodist Episcopal Church to be consecrated in America.

In 1845 the Rev. Allen Wiley wrote in the Western Christian Advocate, the official periodical of the church: "When Brother Robertson talked of moving to Indiana, his friends endeavored to dissuade him from doing so; but the Preacher on the Circuit said, 'Go, Brother Robertson, and the Lord will bless you and make you the means of raising up a church in the wilderness.'" We know that some of the preachers on Salt Creek Circuit in Kentucky did cross the river and preached in Nathan's cabin. which was in the center of his farm near a copious spring at the entrance to a small cave.

At the outset of the War of 1812---our Second War for Independence from Great Britain-Nathan Robertson built a blockhouse (small fort) where his married children and neighbors could take refuge from Indian allies of the English. Such refuges were constructed all along the frontier in southern Indiana. Nathan's blockhouse was known as Robertson's Station.

Nathan and Elizabeth Speaks Robertson had nine children, seven of whom were born in Maryland. Robert was born on August 28. 1772, and married Susanna Jones.

Middleton (from whom I am descended) was born on June 17, 1774. He died on February 16, 1848, in Graham Township of Jefferson County, Indiana, near where the village of Deputy now stands. On December 10 of 1801 Middleton had returned from Clark County, Indiana, to Bourbon County, Kentucky, where he married Cassandra Tucker. She was born to Alexander and Mary Day Tucker on July 5. 1783, in the same house in Frederick County, Maryland, where Middleton Robertson was born nine years earlier. She died at the homestead near Deputy on October 10, 1855. Middleton Robertson had bought 200 acres from his father in Clark's Grant in 1802. With his own young family be moved to Jefferson County in 1811.

Middleton Robertson was one of the three earliest settlers in that vicinity. Jacob Trumbo had bought land there on December 27, 1810. Joshua Deputy, for whose son the village was named, bought land on December 27, 1813. He came from Wood County. Virginia (now near Parkersburg, West Virginia). Joshua Deputy's first wife, Grace Beauchamp who died in 1814, was the first person buried in Wiggam Cemetery, now belonging to the Deputy Methodist Church.

On the night of September 4, 1812. Jacob Trumbo brought his family to Middleton Robertson's cabin for safety. The men stood guard with their rifles all night, While the women and children hid in a thicket from Indian raiders reported to be in the vicinity. The next day they hurried to Nathan Robertson's blockhouse in adjoining Clark County. On that day-September 5-the Pigeon Roost settlement, some 30 miles west of Deputy in Scott County, was attacked by a dozen Indian raiders. They killed three men, five women and 16 children. It was the last major Indian atrocity in southern Indiana, as volunteer units of Rangers were organized all the way across the Territory from Vincennes on the Wabash River to the Greenville Treaty Line, which had been established in 1795. The site of the Pigeon Roost Massacre is now an Indiana State Memorial.

Middleton and Cassandra Robertson had four sons and five daughters. They and many of their descendants are buried near Deputy.

Before leaving Maryland, Elizabeth Speaks Robertson bore five children in addition to sons Robert and Middleton. Eli, born January 5, 1776, married Elizabeth Shawman (sic) Zephaniah, born in 1779 or 1780, married Elizabeth Tucker, a sister of Cassandra Tucker (Robertson). Nancy, born in 1781 or 1782, married Andrew Hughes. Hezekiah, born on January 21, 1785, married Sarah Tucker. After Nathan and Elizabeth Robertson moved to Kentucky, James was born in 1793 and married Nancy Tucker. Mary was born in 1795 and married Samuel Harrod.

Nathan Robertson died on March 19. 1827, age 86, at the homestead near Charlestown. Elizabeth Speaks Robertson had died there on December 21, 1821.

From his early youth Nathan Robertson had a rugged Scottish frame. He was outstanding in frontier games, both in Kentucky and Indiana. But most of all he was strong in principle. He was a courageous lay leader in his church, and actively supported law and order when rough situations arose. His longevity attested to his clean living, and that serenity attained by abiding faith in God.

Old Bethel Church was used by its congregation, for many years. In 1953 the structure was removed from its original site to the campus of DePauw University, at Greencastle. Indiana. This famous Methodist coeducational school was founded in 1837 as Indiana Asbury University. It was thus called until 1884. Old Bethel was restored to its original condition by the Methodist Conferences of Indiana, by DePauw University, and by Charles M. Robertson, a great great-grandson of Nathan Robertson.

The new site is on the grounds of the Gobin Memorial facing the University's Administration Building and the Central Campus of DePauw's historic East College. A bronze tablet on the exterior describes the church as "a Shrine of heroic Indiana Methodism." The dedication brochure written in December, 1954, by Worth Tippy, DePauw Archivist, said that it is "a precious relic saved from the past a house of prayer, a blessed shrine."

A second tablet at this restored church explains that two of the descendants-David A. Robertson and Edward A Robertson-were both ordained Methodist ministers. The tablet also lists these ministers who had relationships wit Old Bethel Congregation: Moses Ashworth, Peter Canwright, John Cord, Josiah Crawford, Charles Harrison, Frederick Hood, Joseph Kincaid, Benjamin Lakin, Isaac Lindsay, Ralph Lotspiech, William McMehon, Thomas Nelson, Sela Pain, Joseph Pownal, Shadrack Ruark, Calvin Ruter, David Sharpe, Asa Shinn, Joseph Tarkington, Allen Wiley, Enoch G. Wood and David Young.

The church was restored with a kneeling bench facing the altar. It is a sanctuary for prayer by students, faculty and visitors. Also at times it is the scene of a campus wedding. A Sunday School meets there every Sabbath morning.

The old custom of seating men on one side and women on other is still observed.

Margery Robertson Hallum (Mrs. Augustus Felton Hallum) is a great -great- great-granddaughter of Nathan Robertson. She and several other of his descendants are members of the Society of Indiana Pioneers.
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Spouses
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1: Elizabeth SPEAKS
Father: Hezekiah SPEAKES
Mother: Elizabeth WOOD
Marriage: 1771
Children: Robert
Middleton
Eli (1776-1844)


Sources
1. Submitted by Sondra Robertson Scholz, October 29, 2000--e-mail: amymergens@uswest.net

(2) Name: Susan R. ROBERTSON
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Birth: August 6, 1835 Harrison County, Kentucky
Death: before February 18, 1898 Cynthiana, Harrison County, Kentucky Age: 62
Father: James ROBERTSON

Misc. Notes
The Log Cabin, 18 Feb 1898: Deaths--Mrs. Susan Ashbrook, wife of S.J. Ashbrook, died at the residence in Cynthiana last Monday morning after a very short illness from a blood clot of the brain. She was formerly Miss Sue Robertson, youngest child of Mr. and Mrs. James Robertson of Jessamine county and was born Aug. 6, 1835. She married Mr. Ashbrook in 1857 and left three children, A.A. Ashbrook, George Ashbrook, and Mrs. Lev. Benton. Her surviving sisters are Mrs. AN McMurtry and Mrs. S.J. Carle; her brothers, Messrs. George and Frank Robertson. Funeral by Rev. Haley Tuesday; burial in Battle Grove.


Spouses
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1: Samuel Jackson ASHBROOK
Birth: January 31, 1831 Harrison County, Kentucky
Father: Aaron ASHBROOK (1794-1855)
Mother: Sara Steward VEACH (1796-1851)

Misc. Notes
History of Bourbon, Scott, Harrison and Nicholas Counties, Kentucky, ed. by William Henry Perrin, O. L. Baskin & Co., Chicago, 1882. p. 717. [Harrison County] [Unity Precinct]

SAMUEL J. ASHBROOK, farmer and distiller, P. O. Cynthiana, was born in Harrison County, Ky., Jan. 13, 1831, son of Aaron Ashbrook, who had seven children. Our subject received what education the pioneer log school houses afforded in the early times, and, being raised a farmer, has followed that occupation in addition to distilling. He began life in moderate circumstances, and by economy and industry has acquired a competency, he owning at the present time 400 acres of land and a half interest in a distillery. Mr. Ashbrook has been a director of the Harrison County Agricultural and Mechanical Association for twenty years; a director of Farmers' National Bank since its organization; President and Treasurer of Ashbrook Mills Road; also Treasurer Trickum Road, and School Trustee in District No. 7, for several years. May 8, 1856, he married, in this county, Susan R. Robertson, born near Cynthiana, in August 1835, daughter of James Robertson, and from that union have been born three children: Aaron, George and Minnie. Self and family are members of the Christian Church and he is a Democrat.

Marriage: May 8, 1856
Children: Aaron
George
Minnie