Epaphroditus Hobson Clarke
and
Mary Ann Robinson
Born: 2 Jan 1815, Cumberland County VA
Died: 12 Aug 1892, Halifax County VA
Buried:
Born: 1820, Campbell County VA
Died: 8 Nov 1889, Halifax County VA
Buried:
Married: 16 Sep 1841, Halifax County VA
Children: Francis J, William H, Samuel A, Giles E, Epharoditus H, Nannie, Jennie R (Tyree),
Mollie, Melinda S ,Anna H, Robert Lee, Nannie A
Eppa (poor man!) was named after his uncle, Epaphroditus1 Hobson. He became a prosperous plantation owner in Halifax County, but little is known about his and his wife’s lives, other than the names (and some history) of their children. Their son Samuel Armistead Clarke was probably named after the Rev. Samuel Armistead, who was minister of the Hat Creek Presbyterian Church in Southeast Campbell County, not far from the Clarke’s home in Halifax County. At the marriage of her daughter, Mary Ann is described as “of Campbell County”. There was a James Robinson in the Hat Creek congregation and a number of Robinsons lived nearby along the Big Falling River. The Robinsons are probably part of the Hat Creek Scotch-Irish, who came into Pennsylvania in the late 18th century, then moved down the Shenandoah Valley into Virginia,2 However, we do not know how Epa and Mary Ann met (they grew up at least 50 miles apart), nor how they came to be married in, and make their home in, Halifax County.
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1 a New Testament figure, from the Letter of Paul to the Phillipians
2
a family history of descendants of William Clarke in the Library of Virginia asserts that Mary Ann is the daughter of Samuel G. and Judith R. Hunt Robinson. Records show that these two were married in Halifax County 1 May 1819.