Robert L. Newlin
Robert L. Newlin was born November 29, 1845, in West Fallowfield, Chester County, Pennsylvania, the son of Elisha and Ruth Ann Frame Newlin. He moved to Colerain, Belmont County, Ohio sometime after the 1850 census (when they appeared on the Chester County census) and 1857, when his youngest brother was born in Ohio. His mother was a widow by 1860, and she never remarried, raising her children alone. She received money from the 1878 will of her father-in-law, James Newlin, but nothing else is know of the family in Ohio. Robert L. and his first wife Martha are buried in Union Cemetery in a plot containing his mother, several sisters and a brother. Sarah Jane and her second husband, John Riley, are buried elsewhere in the same cemetery.
Robert L. married Sarah Jane Lake, on March 22, 1877, and Sarah Jane divorced Robert in October of 1881. Robert was also married to Martha Edwards, who died in 1875, and they had at least one child, a daughter, who married Robert Hardesty and was dead before her father's death in 1935. Strangely, Martha is listed in Robert's obituary as his wife, and they are buried together in Union Cemetery, St. Clairsville....there is no mention in the obituary of his marriage to Sarah Jane, although their son, "Fred", is included .
There are also court papers, dated May 30, 1878 in which Robert L. Newlin is declared guardian of Sarah C. Newlin, minor. I have never been able to discover who this child is, and all that remains of the records is the abstract listed in the Belmont Chronicle. There is also a marriage listed on March 16, 1893, between a Robert L. Newlin and Mrs. Emma E. Shallcross, both residents of Belmont co. Was there another Robert L. Newlin? If so, who was he?
Robert L's obituary appeared in the St.Clairsville newspaper:
"Robert L. Newlin, 90 year old prominent resident of St. Clairsville, passed away at the home of his son-in-law, Robert Hardesty, on West Main Street, at 9:40 o'clock, Monday evening, following a lingering illness of 5 years. He was born in Chester county, Penna, a son of the late Elijah and Ruth Frome Newlin.. In his early boyhood he came to St. Clairsville and was engaged in the farming business until the time of his retirement. He was a devout member of the Presbyterian Church of St. Clairsville. He is bereaved by his son, Fred Newlin, Wheeling, W.Va; one brother, William Newlin, near St. Clairsville, his son-in-law, Robert Hardesty, also of this place, and the following grandchildren; Mrs. Daryle Starkey, Akron; Mrs W. J. Jeffries, Paul Hardesty, St. Clairsville, and Willis Hardesty, California; also, nine great grandchildren and several neices and nephews. His wife, Martha Newlin proceeded him in death........." I include this obituary as an example of how incorrect they may well be. Robert L's parents were Elisha and Ruth Ann Frame, not Elijah and Ruth Frome.....and, none of the children of his son, "Fred" Newlin, are listed as descendants!
This background is of the page is of an old coaching inn that was located in St. Clairsville, Belmont County, Ohio. It was torn down many years ago.
Robert
L. Newlin's headstone..Union Cemetery in St. Clairsville, Belmont co, ohio
