Wade & Webb Family History

Mary Martha Wilson1801–1878

Southampton · Alabama · Nixburg · Nixburg United Methodist Church Cemetery

Born in Southampton County, Virginia, in 1801, Mary Martha Wilson married Solomon Robbins in Autauga County, Alabama, in 1822 and raised a large family in Coosa County. Four of her sons died in 1862 and 1863, during the Civil War, and her daughter Eliza, the wife of Westley D. Walden, had died in 1853. She died at Nixburg in 1878 and is buried in the Nixburg United Methodist Church Cemetery.

On this page
  1. Family Record
  2. Life
  3. Documents (2)
  4. Places
  5. Timeline
  6. Open questions
  7. Searches made
  8. Notes

Birth

  1. 26 Jul 1801 Southampton, Virginia 1

Marriages

  1. 27 May 1822 Solomon Robbins Sr., at Autauga, Alabama 3

Death and burial

  1. 28 Jun 1878 Death: Nixburg, Coosa, Alabama 20, 21
  2. Nov 1900 Burial: Nixburg United Methodist Church Cemetery, Nixburg, Coosa, Alabama

Family

Parents
Not recorded
Spouse, 27 May 1822
Solomon Robbins Sr. 1791–1879
Children
Sarah Adeline Robbins 1834–1903
John Wells Robbins 1824–1863
Martha Ann Robbins 1823–1853
Mary Jane Robbins 1825–1900
Sellers Robbins 1845–?
Eliza Robbins 1828–1853

Line of descent Webb line

  1. Mary Martha Wilson
  2. Eliza Robbins, daughter
  3. William Walker Walden, son
  4. Lila Walden, daughter
  5. Hilda Webb, daughter
  6. William Albert Webb Wade, son

3rd great-grandmother of Webb Wade, from whom this history is traced. Why Webb Wade?

Life

Mary Martha Wilson was born in Southampton County, Virginia, on 26 July 1801, according to the FamilySearch tree, which gives no source for the date or place and does not name her parents.1 The death record of her daughter Nancy Catherine, who died in Texas in 1929 as Kate Grayson, names her mother as Mary Wilson, which supports the maiden name.2

Marriage and family

The tree records her marriage to Solomon Robbins on 27 May 1822 in Autauga County, Alabama, without an attached source.3 Solomon Robbins, born at Town Creek, Brunswick County, North Carolina, on 14 January 1791, was ten years older than she.4 The tree names eleven children: Martha Ann (born 1823), John Wells (1824), Mary Jane (1825), Eliza (1828), William Peyton (1830), Thomas Clinton (1832), Sarah Adeline (1834), George Washington (1836), Nancy Catherine (1839), Laura Virginia (1842), who died in her first year, and Sellers (1845).5 The tree places the births of the older children in Autauga County and that of George Washington, in 1836, at Nixburg in Coosa County, which marks the family's move to Coosa County.6 The tree gives Sellers's birthplace as South Carolina, without a source.7 Inference A South Carolina birth does not fit the family's Alabama home in those years, so it may be an error.7

Coosa County

The federal census of 1850 lists Mary Robbins as the head of a household (the people living together at one address, as the census-taker recorded them) in Coosa County, with her sons William, Thomas and George in it.8 Inference Solomon Robbins is not indexed in that household; he may have been enumerated elsewhere, but the original page would show whether he was absent or simply missed by the index.8 The census slave schedule of 1850, the separate return that listed enslaved people under the names of those who held them, includes Solomon Robbins, whom the tree places in Coosa County that year.9 The censuses of 1860 and 1870 list Mary Robbins in the household of Sol. or Soloman Robbins, in 1860 in the Southern Division of Coosa County.10

Her daughter Eliza married Westley D. Walden in Coosa County in December 1848 and died on 2 August 1853, aged 24 by the tree's dates, leaving a son, William Walker Walden.11 Her eldest daughter, Martha Ann, also died in 1853.12

The Civil War

Four of her sons died in 1862 and 1863, all of them, according to the tree, in Confederate service; none of the military details below has a source attached in the tree.13 William Peyton Robbins, of Company K, 24th Alabama Infantry, died of disease on 7 November 1862 and was buried at Tullahoma, Coffee County, Tennessee.14 Thomas Clinton Robbins, whose service the tree dates from 3 May 1862 in Virginia, died at Knoxville, Tennessee, on 22 March 1863.15 John Wells Robbins, who had settled in Smith County, Texas, by 1850 and is recorded at Tyler in 1860, died at New Iberia, Louisiana, on 20 July 1863, his unit unknown.16 George Washington Robbins, of Company B, 60th Alabama Infantry, which the tree also calls "Hillard's Legion," died at Marietta, Georgia, on 10 July 1863.17 Her son-in-law Westley D. Walden, captain of the same Company B, died at Marietta on 10 October 1863.18 Inference Three of the four sons are recorded as buried at Nixburg, which suggests that the family brought their bodies home or set up memorials there; the cemetery's records or the stones themselves would show which.19

Death

Mary Martha Robbins died at Nixburg, Coosa County, on 28 June 1878, and was buried in the Nixburg United Methodist Church Cemetery, where the Find a Grave index records her as Mary Martha Wilson Robbins.20 The tree dates her burial to November 1900, twenty-two years after her death; that date cannot be the burial and is probably an error.21 Her husband survived her by less than a year and died at Nixburg on 19 May 1879.22

Documents

  1. 1942 History of Coosa County: the Robbins family (Kate Grayson's letter and H. R. Robbins's sketch) George E. Brewer, "History of Coosa County, Alabama," The Alabama Historical Quarterly, vol. 4, no. 2 (Montgomery, Alabama, Summer 1942) · book
  2. 3 February 2008 Find a Grave memorial: Mary Martha Wilson Robbins Find a Grave · memorial

Places

  1. 1801Southampton
  2. 1822Autauga
  3. 1850–1860Coosa
  4. 1878Nixburg
  5. 1900Nixburg United Methodist Church Cemetery

Timeline

  1. 26 Jul 1801BirthSouthampton, Virginia
  2. 27 May 1822Marriage, Solomon Robbins Sr.Autauga, Alabama
  3. 1850ResidenceCoosa county, Coosa, Alabama
  4. 1860ResidenceSouthern Division, Coosa, Alabama
  5. 1870ResidenceAlabama
  6. 28 Jun 1878DeathNixburg, Coosa, Alabama
  7. Nov 1900BurialNixburg United Methodist Church Cemetery, Nixburg, Coosa, Alabama

Open questions

Her parents (raised 2026-11-09)

Kate Grayson's letter (Coosa history, p. 249) names her father as Capt. Benjamin Wilson, born in Isle of Wight County, Va., 3 September 1773, a War of 1812 company commander, son of James Wilson (1747–1830). A marriage bond of Benjamin Wilson and Patsey Lester/Luter, Southampton County, 17 February 1800 (Chapman, Marriage Bonds of Southampton County), may be her parents' (possible). Her sister was the wife of Daniel A. Robbins, Solomon's brother. The tree's burial date "November 1900" cannot be right: she died 28 June 1878.

Searches made

  1. 2026-11-09Find a Grave search: Mary Wilson, b. 1801 ±3, d. 1878 ±3: 58 results; Mary Robbins, b. 1801 ±3, d. 1878 ±3: 8 resultsbest: [Mary Martha Wilson Robbins (26 Jul 1801 – 28 Jun 1878), Nixburg United Methodist Church Cemetery, Nixburg, Coosa County, Alabama](https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/24367840/mary-martha-robbins); score 17 (high, before review)
  2. 2026-11-09Find a Grave memorial recorded[memorial 24367840](https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/24367840), high confidence: [record](../documents/findagrave/24367840-mary-martha-wilson-robbins.md); 2 headstone photo(s)
  3. 2026-11-09Internet Archive: "Mary Martha Wilson", Alabama26 pages; first: [ERIC ED368530: ESEA Chapter I: Region C Technical Assistance Center. Annual Report: July 1, 1992 through June 30, 1993., 1993, p. ](https://archive.org/details/ERIC_ED368530?q=%22Mary%20Martha%20Wilson%22); [ESEA Chapter I: Region C Technical Assistance Center. Annual Report: July 1, 1992 through June 30, 1993., 1993, p. ](https://archive.org/details/micro_IA41153626_0413?q=%22Mary%20Martha%20Wilson%22); [Adolescent Pregnancy: Federal Prevention Programs (R45183, v11, August 22, 2024), 2024, p. ](https://archive.org/details/crs-r45183.11?q=%22Mary%20Martha%20Wilson%22)
  4. 2026-11-09Internet Archive: "Mary Wilson", Alabama26517 pages; first: [Georgia Softball 2021 Media Guide, n.d., p. ](https://archive.org/details/georgia-softball-2021-media-guide-2021-02-09?q=%22Mary%20Wilson%22); [Georgia Softball 2025 Media Guide, n.d., p. ](https://archive.org/details/georgia-softball-2025-media-guide-2025-02-05?q=%22Mary%20Wilson%22); [Georgia Softball 2020 Media Guide, n.d., p. ](https://archive.org/details/georgia-softball-2020-media-guide-2020-01-31?q=%22Mary%20Wilson%22)
  5. 2026-11-09Internet Archive: "Wilson", inside histcoosacobrew36 pages; first: [History of Coosa County, 1942, p. 497](https://archive.org/details/histcoosacobrew/page/n497/mode/1up?q=Wilson); [History of Coosa County, 1942, p. 505](https://archive.org/details/histcoosacobrew/page/n505/mode/1up?q=Wilson); [History of Coosa County, 1942, p. 515](https://archive.org/details/histcoosacobrew/page/n515/mode/1up?q=Wilson); 3 with the given name (Mary, Martha)
  6. 2026-11-09Internet Archive: "Wilson", inside memorialrecordof00tayl43 pages; first: [Memorial record of Alabama. A concise account of the state's political, military, professional and industrial progress, together with the personal memoirs of many of its people, 1893, p. 402](https://archive.org/details/memorialrecordof00tayl/page/n402/mode/1up?q=Wilson); [Memorial record of Alabama. A concise account of the state's political, military, professional and industrial progress, together with the personal memoirs of many of its people, 1893, p. 481](https://archive.org/details/memorialrecordof00tayl/page/n481/mode/1up?q=Wilson); [Memorial record of Alabama. A concise account of the state's political, military, professional and industrial progress, together with the personal memoirs of many of its people, 1893, p. 487](https://archive.org/details/memorialrecordof00tayl/page/n487/mode/1up?q=Wilson); 13 with the given name (Mary, Martha)
  7. 2026-11-09Internet Archive: "Wilson", inside northernalabamah00birm60 pages; first: [Northern Alabama, historical and biographical.., 1888, p. 123](https://archive.org/details/northernalabamah00birm/page/n123/mode/1up?q=Wilson); [Northern Alabama, historical and biographical.., 1888, p. 123](https://archive.org/details/northernalabamah00birm/page/n123/mode/1up?q=Wilson); [Northern Alabama, historical and biographical.., 1888, p. 125](https://archive.org/details/northernalabamah00birm/page/n125/mode/1up?q=Wilson); 5 with the given name (Mary, Martha)
  8. 2026-11-09Internet Archive: "Wilson", inside historyofalabama01owen68 pages; first: [History of Alabama and dictionary of Alabama biography, 1921, p. 562](https://archive.org/details/historyofalabama01owen/page/n562/mode/1up?q=Wilson); [History of Alabama and dictionary of Alabama biography, 1921, p. 53](https://archive.org/details/historyofalabama01owen/page/n53/mode/1up?q=Wilson); [History of Alabama and dictionary of Alabama biography, 1921, p. 69](https://archive.org/details/historyofalabama01owen/page/n69/mode/1up?q=Wilson); 1 with the given name (Mary, Martha)
  9. 2026-11-09Internet Archive: "Wilson", inside marriagebondsofs00chap7 pages; first: [Marriage bonds of Southampton County, Virginia, 1750-1800, 1948, p. 181](https://archive.org/details/marriagebondsofs00chap/page/n181/mode/1up?q=Wilson); [Marriage bonds of Southampton County, Virginia, 1750-1800, 1948, p. 183](https://archive.org/details/marriagebondsofs00chap/page/n183/mode/1up?q=Wilson); [Marriage bonds of Southampton County, Virginia, 1750-1800, 1948, p. 199](https://archive.org/details/marriagebondsofs00chap/page/n199/mode/1up?q=Wilson); 3 with the given name (Mary, Martha)
  10. 2026-11-09Internet Archive: "Wilson", inside southamptoncount00rick39 pages; first: [Southampton County, Virginia, marriage bonds, 1751-1853, n.d., p. 121](https://archive.org/details/southamptoncount00rick/page/n121/mode/1up?q=Wilson); [Southampton County, Virginia, marriage bonds, 1751-1853, n.d., p. 121](https://archive.org/details/southamptoncount00rick/page/n121/mode/1up?q=Wilson); [Southampton County, Virginia, marriage bonds, 1751-1853, n.d., p. 285](https://archive.org/details/southamptoncount00rick/page/n285/mode/1up?q=Wilson); 3 with the given name (Mary, Martha)
  11. 2026-11-09Internet Archive: "Wilson", inside alabamaherhistor00brew61 pages; first: [Alabama, her history, resources, war record, and public men : from 1540 to 1872, 1872, p. 72](https://archive.org/details/alabamaherhistor00brew/page/n72/mode/1up?q=Wilson); [Alabama, her history, resources, war record, and public men : from 1540 to 1872, 1872, p. 75](https://archive.org/details/alabamaherhistor00brew/page/n75/mode/1up?q=Wilson); [Alabama, her history, resources, war record, and public men : from 1540 to 1872, 1872, p. 90](https://archive.org/details/alabamaherhistor00brew/page/n90/mode/1up?q=Wilson); 0 with the given name (Mary, Martha)
  12. 2026-11-09Internet Archive assessment: "Mary Martha Wilson", "Mary Wilson", AlabamaNot her: modern authors and officials, a DAR lineage (Mary Martha Wilson born 1861), the singer Mary Wilson, Georgia softball guides.
  13. 2026-11-09Internet Archive assessment: "Wilson" inside *History of Coosa County* (36 pages; Robbins section pp. 245–254 read)Match (high): Kate Grayson's letter: Solomon Robbins "married Mary Wilson, daughter of an old Virginia gentleman, Capt. Benjamin Wilson, who commanded a Company of Virginia troops during the War of 1812. Captain Wilson was born in Isle of Wight County, Va., September 3rd, 1773. His father, James Wilson, was born February 14th, 1747 … and died April 12th, 1830." Married 27 May 1822; "Mary Robbins, his wife, died June 28th, 1878" (agrees). H. R. Robbins calls her "Miss May Wilson, a daughter of Benjamin Wilson who moved from the State of Virginia to Alabama." [Robbins family record](../documents/1942-coosa-history-robbins-family.md).
  14. 2026-11-09Internet Archive assessment: "Wilson" inside *Marriage Bonds of Southampton County* (Chapman; 7 pages)Possible: "Wilson, Benjamin & Patscy Lester (on face of bond: Patscy Luter …) 17 February 1800" (scan n139). A Benjamin Wilson marrying in Southampton seventeen months before her birth there (tree: 26 July 1801) could be her father; not proved (Capt. Benjamin Wilson was born in neighbouring Isle of Wight).
  15. 2026-11-09Internet Archive assessment: "Wilson" inside *Southampton County* (39), *Memorial Record*, *Northern Alabama*, Owen vol. 1, Brewer 1872Not her: other Wilsons (Benjamin Wilson of Montevallo, Benjamin W. Wilson of Fayette County, Craven Wilson of Calhoun). The Southampton list hits are index names without context ("Wilson, Mary Ann," "Wilson, Polly"), not examined.
  16. 2026-11-09Internet Archive hits assessed: 9 searchesOne match (Coosa history Robbins family; record written); one possible (1800 Southampton marriage bond).
  17. 2026-11-09DPLA: "Mary Martha Wilson"no matches
  18. 2026-11-09DPLA: "Mary Wilson", Alabama2 pages; first: [Clarion 1977-04-22 Vol 52 No 21; The Bethel Clarion (Bethel University), 1977-04-22, p. ](http://cdm17518.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/ref/collection/clarion_news/id/4463); [Universitas - Issue 28.1 (Fall 2001) (Saint Louis University), 2001, p. ](http://cdm17321.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/ref/collection/alumni/id/101)
  19. 2026-11-09DPLA assessment: "Mary Wilson", Alabama (2 items)Not her: full-text matches in a 1977 Bethel University student newspaper and a 2001 Saint Louis University magazine.
  20. 2026-11-09DPLA hits assessed: 2 searchesNo match.

Notes

  1. FamilySearch Family Tree, profile KT3X-27L: birth 26 Jul 1801, Southampton, Virginia, no source attached; no parents in the tree back to the text
  2. "Texas, Deaths, 1890-1977", FamilySearch, Mary Wilson in entry for Kate Grayson, 16 Feb 1929. Record: Mary Wilson in entry for Kate Grayson, 16 Feb 1929 FamilySearch Family Tree, profile LH37-H6V (their page): Nancy Catherine Robbins, died 16 Feb 1929, Tyler, Smith, Texas back to the text
  3. FamilySearch Family Tree, profile KT3X-27L: marriage 27 May 1822, Autauga, Alabama, no source attached back to the text
  4. FamilySearch Family Tree, profile KT3X-L4D (their page): born 14 Jan 1791, Town Creek, Brunswick County, North Carolina back to the text
  5. FamilySearch Family Tree, profile KT3X-27L: children Martha Ann (1823–1853), John Wells (1824–1863), Mary Jane (1825–1900), Eliza (1828–1853), William Peyton (1830–1862), Thomas Clinton (1832–1863), Sarah Adeline (1834–1903), George Washington (1836–1863), Nancy Catherine (1839–1929), Laura Virginia (1842–1842), Sellers (1845–?) back to the text
  6. FamilySearch Family Tree, profile L4KK-6HV (their page): born 2 Jul 1824, Autauga, Alabama FamilySearch Family Tree, profile KZXX-BGX (their page): born 18 Apr 1830, Autauga FamilySearch Family Tree, profile 94HZ-8HR (their page): born 30 Jan 1832, Autauga FamilySearch Family Tree, profile LH3C-641 (their page): born 6 May 1836, Nixburg, Coosa, Alabama back to the text
  7. FamilySearch Family Tree, profile 9HC4-7H1 (their page): birth 1845, South Carolina, no source attached back to the text
  8. "United States, Census, 1850", FamilySearch, Mary Robbins, 1850. Record: Mary Robbins, 1850 "United States, Census, 1850", FamilySearch, William Robbins in entry for Mary Robbins, 1850. Record: William Robbins in entry for Mary Robbins, 1850 "United States, Census, 1850", FamilySearch, Thomas Robbins in entry for Mary Robbins, 1850. Record: Thomas Robbins in entry for Mary Robbins, 1850 "United States, Census, 1850", FamilySearch, George Robbins in entry for Mary Robbins, 1850. Record: George Robbins in entry for Mary Robbins, 1850 FamilySearch Family Tree, profile KT3X-27L: residence 1850, Coosa county, Coosa, Alabama back to the text
  9. "United States, Census (Slave Schedule), 1850 ", FamilySearch, Solomon Robbins in entry for <Unknown>, 1850. Record: Solomon Robbins, United States Census (Slave Schedule), 1850 FamilySearch Family Tree, profile KT3X-L4D (their page): residence 1850, Coosa, Alabama back to the text
  10. "United States, Census, 1860", FamilySearch, Mary Robbins in entry for Sol Robbins, 1860. Record: Mary Robbins in entry for Sol Robbins, 1860 "United States, Census, 1870", FamilySearch, Mary Robbins in entry for Soloman Robbins, 1870. Record: Mary Robbins in entry for Soloman Robbins, 1870 FamilySearch Family Tree, profile KT3X-27L: residence 1860, Southern Division, Coosa, Alabama; 1870, Alabama back to the text
  11. "Alabama County Marriages, 1711-1992", FamilySearch, West D. Walden and Eliza Robbins, 17 Dec 1848. Record: West D. Walden and Eliza Robbins, 17 Dec 1848 FamilySearch Family Tree, profile LH37-HSX (their page): born 30 Sep 1828, Autauga; died 2 Aug 1853, Coosa FamilySearch Family Tree, profile KCR9-YLT (their page): child William Walker Walden back to the text
  12. FamilySearch Family Tree, profile L4NY-ZM3 (their page): Martha Ann Robbins (1823–1853) back to the text
  13. FamilySearch Family Tree, profile KZXX-BGX (their page): military service, no source FamilySearch Family Tree, profile 94HZ-8HR (their page): Civil War service, no source FamilySearch Family Tree, profile L4KK-6HV (their page): military service: Confederate Soldier, unit? FamilySearch Family Tree, profile LH3C-641 (their page): military service, no source back to the text
  14. FamilySearch Family Tree, profile KZXX-BGX (their page): death 7 Nov 1862; burial Maplewood Cemetery, Tullahoma, Coffee, Tennessee; military service Company K 24th Alabama Infantry CSA, died of disease back to the text
  15. FamilySearch Family Tree, profile 94HZ-8HR (their page): Civil War service 3 May 1862, Virginia; death 22 Mar 1863, Knoxville, Knox, Tennessee back to the text
  16. FamilySearch Family Tree, profile L4KK-6HV (their page): residence 1850 Smith county, Texas; 1860 Tyler, Smith, Texas; death 20 Jul 1863, New Iberia, Iberia, Louisiana; Confederate Soldier, unit? back to the text
  17. FamilySearch Family Tree, profile LH3C-641 (their page): military service 3 May 1862, Virginia, Company B 60th Alabama Infantry CSA, AKA Company C 3rd Battalion Hillard's Legion; death 10 Jul 1863, Marietta, Cobb, Georgia back to the text
  18. FamilySearch Family Tree, profile KCR9-YLT (their page): Captain Company B 60th Alabama Infantry CSA, death 10 Oct 1863, Marietta, Cobb, Georgia back to the text
  19. FamilySearch Family Tree, profile 94HZ-8HR (their page): burial 1863, Nixburg United Methodist Church Cemetery FamilySearch Family Tree, profile LH3C-641 (their page): burial 1863, Nixburg United Methodist Church Cemetery FamilySearch Family Tree, profile L4KK-6HV (their page): burial Nixburg United Methodist Church Cemetery back to the text
  20. FamilySearch Family Tree, profile KT3X-27L: death 28 Jun 1878, Nixburg, Coosa, Alabama; burial Nixburg United Methodist Church Cemetery "Find a Grave Index", FamilySearch, Mary Martha Wilson Robbins. Record: Mary Martha Wilson Robbins, Find a Grave Index back to the text
  21. FamilySearch Family Tree, profile KT3X-27L: burial Nov 1900; death 28 Jun 1878 back to the text
  22. FamilySearch Family Tree, profile KT3X-L4D (their page): death 19 May 1879, Nixburg, Coosa, Alabama back to the text
Every FamilySearch record attached to Mary Martha Wilson (5)
  1. 1850Mary Robbins, "United States, Census, 1850"
  2. 1860Mary Robbins, "United States, Census, 1860"
  3. 1870Mary Robbins, "United States, Census, 1870"
  4. 16 Feb 1929Mary Wilson, "Texas, Deaths, 1890-1977"
  5. Mary Martha Wilson Robbins, "Find a Grave Index"