Rufus Robbins, Jr., was born in South Abington, Massachusetts, in 1828. He had three siblings: Henry, Ruth, and Edwin. His father, Rufus Robbins, Sr., was a farmer who supplemented his income by dabbling in shoemaking; his sons followed him into both trades. On June 15, 1861, Rufus Robbins, Jr., became a private in the 7th Massachusetts Infantry Regiment, Company K. He served in Washington, D.C., and Virginia until November 1862, when he fell ill. He spent time at the Carver Hospital in Washington, D.C., and the West Philadelphia Hospital in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where he died on January 7, 1863. Ruth Robbins married Hiram Barrows, who lived in West Sumner, Maine, and who served in the 9th Maine Infantry Regiment, Company F, during the war.
From the guide to the Rufus Robbins family papers, Robbins, Rufus family papers, 1861-1862, 1890, 1861-1862, (William L. Clements Library, University of Michigan)
