Jeremiah Robey Jr.  KWJX-HYC a Midway Fort Resident. Jeremiah Robey Jr was born on 14 April 1809, in Shinnston, Harrison, Virginia, United States, his father, Jeremiah Albert Robey, was 41 and his mother, Mary Ruth Ogden, was 37. He married Ruth Tucker on 7 November 1833, in Shinnston, Harrison, Virginia, United States. They were the parents of at least 4 sons and 5 daughters. He died on 22 November 1903, in Midway, Wasatch, Utah, United States, at the age of 94, and was buried in Midway, Wasatch, Utah, United States.  

Ruth Tucker was born on 26 June 1816, in Shinnston, Harrison, Virginia, United States, her father, Harrison Jeremiah Tucker, was 33 and her mother, Ruth Ashcraft, was 27. She married Jeremiah Robey Jr on 7 November 1833, in Shinnston, Harrison, Virginia, United States. They were the parents of at least 4 sons and 5 daughters. She died on 17 January 1892, in Midway, Wasatch, Utah, United States, at the age of 75, and was buried in Midway, Wasatch, Utah, United States.

“Robey Family Background

Jeremiah Robey had come to this wilderness as one of the first pioneers in 1859. He had been born in Harrison County, West Virginia, on April 14, 1809. Robey had been properly reared in a large, prominent and wealthy family. He was not one to rush into things. At age twenty-four he married Ruth Tucker, age seventeen, also of West Virginia. Five years and three children later, in 1838, Ruth Tucker Robey joined the Church and moved, with the children, to Nauvoo. Jeremiah was in Indiana on a construction job and decided to wait a bit.

In 1842, (Four years after Ruth moved to Nauvoo) Ruth wrote to Jeremiah that burgeoning Nauvoo needed skilled craftsmen, and cabinetmaker Robey decided it was time to join his family., Jeremiah’s talents and abilities were immediately recognized and utilized by the leadership of the Church. He was converted and baptized by the Prophet Joseph Smith in May 1841 and ordained an elder by Wilford Woodruff in October 1842. From that day forth, Jeremiah and Ruth Tucker Robey pioneered for more than half a century.

Jeremiah Robey was a Bishop in Honey Creek Iowa before coming out west to Utah. Note that Matilda Robey Springer was born in Honey Creek.  See their children listed below.

“On a sparkling spring day in 1859, the Robey family prodded their oxen into the Provo Valley, now Heber Valley. An equally sparkling and vivacious nine-year-old daughter named Matilda, walking beside the wagon explored and inspected every blossom and colored stone by the wayside as the wagon creaked slowly along the dusty, rutted road. Upon arrival, the family promptly established a crude, temporary shelter of cottonwood logs, and went to work. Jeremiah’s skills and energy were again noticed by others, and he was soon busy building for others as well as for himself.” The information above was taken from a memory in Family Search entitled Elegant Midway Home Woven into Three Pioneer Families A Story of Pioneer colonizers: Home and Heritage Builders of Fort Midway, Provo (Heber) Valley. By D.P. Bartschi.  A review of this article indicates that the John Watkins home now famous in Midway was one of the building projects associated Jeremiah Robey.  “John (Watkins) watched with intense interest as one of the workmen resolutely moved forward to the next task in the construction of the home. Jeremiah Robey was his name, and John liked what he saw in the skilled craftsmen. Robey said he was fifty-eight years old, but he moved about the construction site with catlike agility. John made a mental note – this was the man he must hire to do the finish work on the home. The exterior trim and fine interior cabinetry must be the best. One wonders if Robey, in his intense devotion to perfection, foresaw some of his own future heritage in the home. “

This is the home at Five East Main Street. Midway, Utah.  The Home has been owned by John Watkins, Henry T. and Emily Coleman, and more recently Lethe Coleman Tatge.

The following is from the Wasatch Wave 1903-12-11 (copied as is from article)

Jeremiah Robey is Dead

Passes Away at the Home of His Daughter at Midway

Jeremiah Robey, passed away in his 95 year at the home of his daughter, Mrs. Matilda Springer in Midway. He was the son of Jeremiah Robey and Mary Older and was born in Shinstone, Harrison County, West Virginia on April 14, 1809.

On Nov. 7, 1833, he was married to Ruth Tucker, who bore him 10 children, 4 of whom survive him, who for 59 years stood faithfully by his side amid the persecutions and privations of the early days of the church, and the happiness and the comforts of later life, preceding him to the great beyond 12 years. He removed from his native state of Ohio in 1838. He was baptized by the Prophet Joseph Smith a Nauvoo, Ill., May 1841, whom he pronounced a prophet of God when he first saw him, in which testimony he never faltered nor tired, but at every opportunity testified of his Divinity and greatness. At the October conference in 1842, he was ordained an Elder under the hands of Wilford Woodruff and was ordained a seventy under the hands of Joseph Young, Sept. 22, 1884, and received the High Priesthood Sept. 1891.

He moved to Utah in 1852 and located at Provo where in connection with David Bunnell, worked at his trade, cabinet maker, until 1885, when he moved to Provo valley locating at Midway where he has lived a potent factor in the development of this commonwealth from a sterile waste to one of the most prosperous counties in the state.

Brother Robey acted as one of the school trustees for a long term of years and did a great deal to advance the efficiency of our schools in which he was very much interested, being conservative and scrupulously honest in the affairs of office.

On Nov. 7, 1876, he left on a visit to his old home and was set apart as a missionary before his departure. He delivered the Gospel message to all with who he came in contact, taking special pains to peach o his kindred. He went to the temple and performed the ordinances for his dead ancestors as far as he was able to get their genealogy.

Grandpa Robey, as he was familiar known, came of revolutionary stock, sturdy and long lived. He was painstaking and consistent, and had the courage of his convictions, true to every trust imposed on him. Indulgent as a husband and parent almost adored by his posterity which numbered 133, consisting of 4 children, 17 grandchildren, 91 great-grandchildren, and 17 great-great grandchildren.

Since the death of his wife, 1892, he has made his home with his daughter, Mrs. Matilda Springer, who with her family and relatives have surrounded him with every comfort, nursing him with as much fidelity as a mother would her babe. Rest in peace Grandpa.

The above obituary shows mention 10 children.  Only 9 were listed in family search. 

Children of Jeremiah and Ruth

Theophilus Katen Robey was born on 3 August 1834, in Shinnston, Harrison, Virginia, United States, his father, Jeremiah Robey Jr, was 25 and his mother, Ruth Tucker, was 18. He married Sarah Jane Mathews on 11 September 1858, in El Monte, Los Angeles, California, United States. They were the parents of at least 2 sons and 3 daughters. He lived in Park City, Summit, Utah, United States in 1880. He died on 21 February 1923, in Arcadia, Los Angeles, California, United States, at the age of 88, and was buried in Live Oak Memorial Park, Monrovia, Los Angeles, California, United States.

Mary Jane Robey was born on 28 April 1836, in Shinnston, Harrison, Virginia, United States, her father, Jeremiah Robey Jr, was 27 and her mother, Ruth Tucker, was 19. She married Sidney Harmon Epperson on 7 November 1853, in Provo Utah Temple, Provo, Utah, Utah, United States. They were the parents of at least 10 sons and 3 daughters. She lived in Nauvoo, Hancock, Illinois, United States in 1839 and Provo, Utah, Utah, United States in 1860. She died on 13 May 1915, in Midway, Wasatch, Utah, United States, at the age of 79, and was buried in Midway City Cemetery, Midway, Wasatch, Utah, United States.

Susan Levernia Robey was born on 15 April 1838, in Shinnston, Harrison, Virginia, United States, her father, Jeremiah Robey Jr, was 29 and her mother, Ruth Tucker, was 21. She married James Jackson Ross on 16 February 1857, in Salt Lake City, Salt Lake, Utah, United States. They were the parents of at least 4 daughters. She lived in Provo, Utah, Utah, United States in 1860. She died on 23 April 1862, in Heber City, Wasatch, Utah, United States, at the age of 24.

James Allison Robey was born on 22 December 1839, in Shinnston, Harrison, Virginia, United States, his father, Jeremiah Robey Jr, was 30 and his mother, Ruth Tucker, was 23. He died on 28 August 1841, in Nauvoo, Hancock, Illinois, United States, at the age of 1, and was buried in Nauvoo City Cemetery, Sonora Township, Hancock, Illinois, United States.

Maria Robey was born on 12 January 1842, in Nauvoo, Hancock, Illinois, United States, her father, Jeremiah Robey Jr, was 32 and her mother, Ruth Tucker, was 25. She died on 2 October 1843, in her hometown, at the age of 1, and was buried in Nauvoo, Hancock, Illinois, United States.

Sophia Robey was born on 26 January 1842, in Harrison, West Virginia, United States, her father, Jeremiah Robey Jr, was 32 and her mother, Ruth Tucker, was 25. She lived in Nauvoo, Hancock, Illinois, United States in 1839. She died on 27 January 1842, at the age of 0, and was buried in Nauvoo, Hancock, Illinois, United States.

Jeremiah Albert Robey was born on 12 March 1846, in Nauvoo, Hancock, Illinois, United States, his father, Jeremiah Robey Jr, was 36 and his mother, Ruth Tucker, was 29. He married Martha Jane Dowdle on 22 November 1865, in Salt Lake City, Salt Lake, Utah, United States. They were the parents of at least 2 sons and 6 daughters. He lived in Clinton, Davis, Utah, United States in 1900 and Arlington, Wasco, Oregon, United States in 1910. He died on 20 November 1921, in Ogden, Weber, Utah, United States, at the age of 75, and was buried in Salt Lake City Cemetery, Salt Lake City, Salt Lake, Utah, United States.

Matilda Robey was born on 13 December 1849, in Honey Creek, Pottawattamie, Iowa, United States, her father, Jeremiah Robey Jr, was 40 and her mother, Ruth Tucker, was 33. She married Nathan Chatmond Springer on 2 November 1867, in Salt Lake City, Salt Lake, Utah, United States. They were the parents of at least 3 sons and 5 daughters. She lived in Pottawattamie, Iowa, United States in 1850 and Provo, Utah, Utah, United States in 1860. She died on 30 April 1944, in Midway, Wasatch, Utah, United States, at the age of 94, and was buried in Midway City Cemetery, Midway, Wasatch, Utah, United States.

Theodore Robey was born in 1857, in Provo, Utah, Utah, United States, his father, Jeremiah Robey Jr, was 48 and his mother, Ruth Tucker, was 41. He died in 1857, in his hometown, at the age of 0.

Heber Valley Heritage Foundation