The Robinson Half Chest
by Louisa St. John Durkin
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The photo below is of the Robinson Half Chest that is on display at the Boston Tea Party Museum in Boston, Massachusetts. This museum is dedicated to preserving and displaying the relics of the Boston Tea Party which is known in American history as one of the flash points that ignited the Revolutionary War in 1775. This chest is one of the two known to exist after the famous tea party where American colonists, dressed as Indians, boarded a ship in the Boston Harbor where they chopped into crates of tea and tossed them in the harbor.
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The chest is called the “Robinson” Half Chest because of a young man, John Robinson, who retrieved it from the water the day after the Boston Tea Party. My family's connection to this chest is through the wives of the two sons of John and Nancy Robinson, John and Ezra Tullar. The two sons married Marsh sisters, John marrying Patience in 1833 and Ezra marrying her sister Mary Ann in 1837. A third Marsh sister, Zilpha Lurana, married Solomon Shaffstall.
My connection to the Marsh sisters is through my great-great grandfather, George Washington Marsh, the son of William Armstrong Marsh and Mary Ann Hines Marsh, who had settled in upper state New York. George emigrated from Governeur, New York, to Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin, with his wife, Mary Catherine, and their children.
Sometime in 1843 Solomon Shaffstall traveled to Gouveneur to assist John and Patience Robinson in their move to Sturgeon Bay. It was there in New York that Solomon was given the chest by John Robinson's mother, now Nancy Robinson Holden, for his kindness in helping her son and his wife move as Patience was quite ill.
My connection to the Marsh sisters is through my great-great grandfather, George Washington Marsh, the son of William Armstrong Marsh and Mary Ann Hines Marsh, who had settled in upper state New York. George emigrated from Governeur, New York, to Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin, with his wife, Mary Catherine, and their children.
Sometime in 1843 Solomon Shaffstall traveled to Gouveneur to assist John and Patience Robinson in their move to Sturgeon Bay. It was there in New York that Solomon was given the chest by John Robinson's mother, now Nancy Robinson Holden, for his kindness in helping her son and his wife move as Patience was quite ill.
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The information regarding the details of the chest are contained in an affidavit signed by Mary Lurana Ford, the granddaughter of Solomon and Zilpha Lurana Shaffstall, shortly before her death in 1949. In the affidavit Mary states that her grandparents, Solomon and Zilpha, gave her the chest when she was about eight years old, and she used it as container for her dolls. She further states that Solomon had told her the history of the chest many times as he was interested in history. She also gives some of the family history, stating that her mother was Anna Amelia Shaffstall born in Ohio in 1845, and her father, William Cade, was born in Lincolnshire, England. Mary Lurana’s father died four months before she was born, and her mother died four months after she was born. She had been cared for by her mother's parents, Solomon and Zilpha Shaffstall, and they had had moved from Wisconsin to Dakota Territory, then to aplace close to Knoxville, Tennessee, where Zilpha died in 1892.
Mary Lurana Cade married Isaiah Ford on March 27, 1896, and they moved to San Antonio, Texas, where Isaiah died in 1819. Mary remained in San Antonio and was eventually joined by her daughter, Helen (Mrs. George) Waring, in establishing a school there known as the School of Childhood. The affidavit also outlines her direct lineage to the Marsh family back to John Marsh of Salem. |
Mary Lurana Cade
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After Mary Lurana Ford’s death, her daughter, Helen Waring, and son, William, shared custody of the chest for many years. With William’s help, Helen researched, compiled documents, stories and photos which traced the chest back to John Robinson, Sr.
As part of America’s Bicentennial celebration, the chest was displayed at the Smithsonian Institution. At the conclusion of the exhibit, the Robinson Half Chest was returned to William, Helen having died in 1961. It was then stored in a family vault and inherited by William's daughter, Bette E. Ford, who married Andre L. Goodman. It was Andre Goodman who realized the chest should be available for public view. He contacted the Boston Tea Party Museum to see if they were interested in the chest; they were, and that is where it is beautifully displayed today.
As part of America’s Bicentennial celebration, the chest was displayed at the Smithsonian Institution. At the conclusion of the exhibit, the Robinson Half Chest was returned to William, Helen having died in 1961. It was then stored in a family vault and inherited by William's daughter, Bette E. Ford, who married Andre L. Goodman. It was Andre Goodman who realized the chest should be available for public view. He contacted the Boston Tea Party Museum to see if they were interested in the chest; they were, and that is where it is beautifully displayed today.
Louisa's Replica
I purchased a replica of the chest from the Boston Tea Party Museum in 2017 and it is displayed on the fireplace mantel in my home in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho. I use it to tell the story to my children and grandchildren and how important it was to history. In addition, I wrote and had the story published by Kootenai County Genealogical Society in February 2011 giving many more details of the John Marsh Family of Salem, Massachusetts.
I was given an actual copy of my cousin, Mary's, affidavit by the Boston Tea Party Museum as long as I did not publish it. I was also given the Family Record of William Armstrong Marsh which gives all the birth and death details of my great-great-grandfather, George Washington Marsh and all his siblings. I am directly descended from George Washington Marsh through his daughter, Cora Lyn Marsh Bailer, her daughter, Edna Bailor Griffith, her daughter, Myrtie Griffith Williams and then me. Therefore, Mary, Patience and Zilpah are my great-great aunts. I am very thankful that their descendants had the interest to keep the chest and share to all.
Isaiah Ford and Mary Lurana Cade Ford, possibly a wedding photo
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Isaiah Ford, Mary Lurana Ford and Helen Ford Waring
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Sources:
“Box Worth Keeping” Boston Tea Party Museum; photos courtesy of the
Boston Tea Party Museum and Mr. George Quinalt, Researcher:
“The Genealogy of John Marsh of Salem and his Descendants” by Col Lucius
Marsh and Dwight W. Marsh, printed 1888.
“The Robinson Tea Party Chest” by Louisa St. John Durkin, Kootenai
County Genealogical Society Newsletter, February 2011.
Published in the KCGS February 2018 newsletter.
“Box Worth Keeping” Boston Tea Party Museum; photos courtesy of the
Boston Tea Party Museum and Mr. George Quinalt, Researcher:
“The Genealogy of John Marsh of Salem and his Descendants” by Col Lucius
Marsh and Dwight W. Marsh, printed 1888.
“The Robinson Tea Party Chest” by Louisa St. John Durkin, Kootenai
County Genealogical Society Newsletter, February 2011.
Published in the KCGS February 2018 newsletter.
