The Robeson family first came to North America from Scotland in about 1676. Thomas Robeson was the first Robeson in North Carolina. He was granted land on the Cape Fear River by King George II in 1735. The land was located in Tar Heel, N.C., part of Robeson County since its separation from Bladen County in 1787. Robeson County was named for Colonel Thomas Robeson, Jr., and his brother Captain Peter Robeson in honor of their service in the Revolutionary War. Walnut Grove, the original homestead, and the 1855 homestead were still in family hands in 2003.
James Salter Robeson was born on 14 July 1910 to James Robeson, Jr., and Minnie A. Willis Robeson. He was raised primarily by his father's sister, Emily Salter Robeson Love (1849-ca. 1929), and his mother's sister, Annie S. Willis, after the deaths of his parents. Known as Jim, Salter (or Salty ) Robeson attended the Oak Ridge Military Academy, ca. 1926-1928. Robeson and his wife, Jemima Charles Robeson (known as Jackie or Charlie), had five children during the 1930s and 1940s: Emily Love Robeson (1934- ), Sallie Salter Robeson (1936- ), James Robeson III (1938- ), Charles Jefferson Robeson (1942-1986), and Martha Eliza Robeson (1946- ). The couple separated in the 1960s.
James Salter Robeson worked for the North Carolina Shipbuilding Company in Wilmington, N.C., during the 1940s. In 1945, he was with the merchant marine in voyages to France, Italy, the Philippines, and Japan. He spent the bulk of his career as a marine engineer, sailing to numerous foreign ports. He also spent several years as an engineer with the Department of the Army in Virginia. This traveling complemented Robeson's life-long interest in performing and listening to music. However, Robeson's career and domestic life were often disrupted by his struggles with alcoholism.
In 1972, Robeson retired and moved to Florence, S.C. He died in 1989 at age 78 and is buried at the Beth Car Church's cemetery in Tar Heel, N.C.
From the guide to the Robeson Family Papers, 1756-2002, (Southern Historical Collection)
