Welcome to the home page for Roblee genealogy
research. This site is for those developing the family histories of the Roblee surname (sometimes
spelled as Robblee or Rublee and including other variations such as Robley, Rublier,
Rublyer, and Rubleyer). If you want to keep up with our
family history research, you can use a web browser to see info as it is
posted to Doug Detling's Greencity
web log (look for the category on the Roblee family). You can subscribe directly
to the Roblee category family history channel by right clicking on this icon
and adding it to the feeds in your RSS reader.
The site contains
prepared pages listing spelling variations, downloadable
bibliographic resources, photo albums, and other research materials (you'll need Acrobat Reader). We invite you to explore, join our automated
mailing list, submit comments, and ask questions that will further aid us in researching
the history of the Roblee surname and its family members. For example, one of
our researchers (Gloria Waldron Hukle) forwarded a news release regarding this year's 350th
anniversary recognition of the Flushing Remonstrance--a plea for religious
freedom sent to Peter Stuyvesant, director general of the Dutch Colony of
New Netherland. The Bowne House Historical Society is looking for
descendants of the signers, as well as Stuyvesant and his sheriff, Resolved
Waldron. The news release is available
here. Why would the Roblees care about this? Because one of
Resolved Waldron's descendants--William Waldron--married Judah Brodt (Bradt) in l804
and produced 14 Waldrons, four of whom married Roblees. Gloria has
written a brief article on the connections, which is available
here.
This web site is a collaborative
effort, managed by Douglas Detling, a Roblee descendent, and supported by a
small band of dedicated family historians, one of whom, Cindy Walcott, whose
family link is a spelling variation, has prepared this brief overview to aid first time visitors
to the site:
The names Robblee, Roblee and Rublee (at least)
are all variations of the same surname. We have been able to trace our origins with some
certainty back to Huntington, Long Island, New York.
Huntington, Long Island, New York, USA
The Huntington records, circa 1730, use the
spelling variation Rublier, Rublear, Rublere and Rubleer. Rublear is the variation used in
church records; other variations appear in land and other records at fair frequency.
Andrew appears in the land records as early as 1730 and William in 1732. The most helpful
information we have from Huntington is from the Records of the First Church in
Huntington, Long Island. 1723-1779. Printed for Moses Scudder, Huntington, New York,
1899, as follows:
Marriages
21 December, 1727
William Rublear and
Abigail Brush, both of Huntington
20 July, 1730
Andrew Rublear and
Hannah Brush, both of Huntington
30 July,
1733
Andrew Rublear,
widower, and Abigail Hawkins, both of Huntington
Baptisms
13 April, 1729
Abigail Rublear
21 January, 1732/3
William Rublear
10 May, 1734
Hannah Rublear
18 May, 1735
Thomas Rublear
11 April, 1736
Andrew Rublear
26 March, 1739
Reuben Rublear
9 March, 1739/40
John Rublear
The church records do not
list the parents of children baptized, so we cannot organize these children into families
with any certainty. This family disappears from the Huntington records by 1742 at the
latest.
Dutchess County, New York, USA
The next sign we have of this family is in
Dutchess County, New York. Here we see more name variations in the written record. This
quote by Helen Wilkinson Reynolds in her article "A Dutchess County Before 1830"
in The Quarterly Journal of the New York State Historical Association (Vol. 20, pp.
278-9) may explain of what we are up against:
"The first group of arrivals in Dutchess
Co. was in the first quarter of the 18th century were largely of Dutch and
Palentine German extraction, but included a few Walloons, French and English. The second,
larger group were mostly English, from New England and Long Island, with a strong minority
of Dutch from Long Island and New Jersey.From the first, Dutch and English
languages competed for supremacy. Dutch began to give way to English in the 1760s. 18th
century records are full of puzzling items produced by the phonetic spelling of Dutch
words by English speaking people and vice versa."
During the period 1740 – 1790, we see many
name variations of Robblee, Rublee, etc. for men by the names of William, Rubin, Thomas,
John, Andrew and Nathaniel in living in Southern Precinct, Nine Partners Patent, Rombout
Precinct, Charlotte and Fredericksburg.
Lanesborough, Massachusetts, USA
For some of the family, the next stop was
Lanesborough, MA. William and Reuben Robblee (as the name is spelled in the Lanesborough
records) were in Lanesborough in 1768 when they both appear on a list of ratable estates.
In the spring of that year, a deed for William refers to him as being "of Philips
Patent, Dutchess Co., NY", thus confirming where he came from. Church records reflect
baptisms for children of both men.
Loyalists to Nova Scotia
It appears that, like so many families, the
American Revolution split this family. A branch of this family supported the King. John
and Thomas Robblee went to Nova Scotia at the end of the war. Their descendants live in
Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island (and other places) to this day.
To New York and Vermont
Four of the sons of William Robblee of
Lanesborough–and several of his daughters–settled in Vermont. For reasons
unknown, this family chose the name variation Rublee. They first settled in New Haven, VT.
There were so many Lanesborough families in New Haven, that one of the main roads in town
is still called Lanesborough St. By about 1800, the four brothers–Hiram, Andrew,
Francis and John Brush–had moved on to Berkshire, Franklin Co., VT. The daughters
remained in New Haven with their husbands and families.
Reuben’s descendants removed to Granville,
Washington Co., NY, along with the descendants of one or more Thomas Robblees, all using
the spelling Robblee. In just one or two generations, however, the more common spelling
was Roblee. By that time, many of the family had ventured west to Orleans Co. and Warren
Co., NY and beyond to the territories "west".
Other Names Possibly Connected
The names Raplee and Roblyer may also be name
variations. A history of Yates County, NY tells us that a member of the Roblyer family
decided to change the family name to Raplee about 1800.
The name Roblin seems not to be connected.
Recently, we have been in touch with a descendant of Christopher Robley of England, who
went to Australia. The name Robley has also been mentioned as appearing in Paris, France
by our researchers. That connection has not yet been explored.
What about Rapalje and Robilliard?
At least two theories about family origins are
currently being explored. The theory that has been around the longest is that the family
is descended from Joris Rapalje (sometimes called Joris Jansen de Rapalje and/or
anglicized to George), a French/Belgian Huguenot who was among the very earliest of the
Dutch settlers of New Amsterdam. Joris Rapalje lived in Brooklyn, NY and vicinity. Much
has been written about Joris and his family. This connection has not been proven.
A newly emerged theory is that the name is a
derivation of Robilliard and that the family came from the Channel Islands. Again, this
has not been proven.
How Will We Find Out?
Our best hope at this point seems to be to link
with other researchers, share our knowledge, look for commonalities and new possibilities.
If you're interested in sharing information, please join us.
Or if you need to contact us:
