Robbins - Mary Holton
Source: Crawfordsville Journal, June 7, 1917
Mrs. Mary Robbins, widow of the late Thomas Robbins, prominent residents of this city forty years ago, died at the home of her relatives in Chicago, Tuesday afternoon following a long illness. Her sickness was due to a general breaking down of the system due to her age. The body was taken to Danville, Ill., for burial this afternoon. Mrs. Robbins had been making her home in Chicago for more that a decade. She was a member of the Holton family, one of the most prominent in Illinois during the civil war and the years following that. Nicholas Holton was the head of the family and was the father of Mrs. Robbins. For years he conducted the McCormick House at Danville. The Robbins family resided for a number of years in Danville, where Mr. Robbins conducted a livery stable for years in the rear of the Arlington hotel. The family occupied a very prominent place in the social life of this city. Thomas Robbins afterwards removed in the latter part of the "seventies" to Crawfordsville, where he established the big hostelry called the Robbins House, one of the most prominent hostelry's in central Indiana at that time. They conducted the house successfully for more than twenty years, the Robbins family not relinquishing the place until after the death of Mr. Robbins. Fire finally destroyed the building which was situated just west of where the Ben-Hur building now stands. Later the place was converted into an out-door theatre and only a few weeks ago the frame-work and stage were torn down. The Supreme Tribe of Ben-Hur, owner of the old hotel site, is now making preparation to convert the ground into a down-town park, with lawn and flowers.
Thanks to Ginny A. for this one :) KZ