OBITUARY: James W. Robinson, Jacksonville, Jackson County, Oregon ********************************************************************************* USGENWEB ARCHIVES(tm) NOTICE: ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/or/orfiles.htm *********************************************************************************v Transcribed and formatted for use in USGenWeb Archives by Elizabeth Corethers 24 Jul 2003 *************************************************************************** Medford (Oregon) Mail Tribune, Sunday, 26 Jun 1938, p. 1, c. 5 FINAL RITES FOR DR. J. W. ROBINSON MONDAY AT 2 P.M. Last Of Jackson County Pioneer Physicians Passes Thursday-- Useful Career At End. Funeral services for Dr. James W. Robinson will be held in the Perl chapel at 2 p.m. Monday, the Rev. S. H. Jones of Jacksonville officiating. Interment will take place in the Jacksonville cemetery. Pallbearers will be Emil Britt, T. J. Kenney, Gus Newbury, H. K. Hanna, John Orth and F. H. Luy. Dr. Robinson died in a Medford hospital Thursday night after a year's illness. He is survived by two nieces, Mrs. In addition Wenner and Mrs. F. A. Snow, both of Portland. Dr. Robinson was a pioneer country physician of Jackson county and many a family for miles around depended upon his sympathetic ministrations. His parents, Nathan and Mary Dorland Robinson, and two elder sisters crossed the plains in 1847 and settled near what is now Portland after a long, weary, and hazardous drive of six months. His father located 640 acres and erected a two-story home that was considered the finest residence of the time. In that home James Robinson was born on November 12, 1850. The settlement later adopted the name of Reedville. After about ten years at Reedville, the family moved to Portland, a community then of 2000 inhabitants, so that the children might have the advantages offered by the schools of the larger town. James Robinson attended public schools and the old Portland academy, later going to Willamette university in Salem whence he was graduated in 1875. In April of 1876 young Robinson came to Jacksonville but he left there in the fall to attend the Willamette university medical school, then the only one in the state. He was graduated in 1878 with the highest rating in his class in surgery. In June of 1878 Dr. Robinson settled permanently in Jacksonville. "When I arrived in this beautiful valley, which was on a lovely Sunday evening, I felt I had found my paradise," Dr. Robinson once wrote of his arrival in Jacksonville. "The church bells were ringing as we entered the old mining town of Jacksonville and these musical tones seemed to be a welcome." Jacksonville was then an important mining town and the trading center for all of southern Oregon. From 2000 to 3000 miners were working in gold mining operations or prospecting for the precious metal. Ashland was only a small village and Grant's Pass was merely a stage station. Medford was unheard of. Dr. Robinson opened an office in Jacksonville in the fall of 1878 and in a year had developed the most flourishing practice in the whole county. In 1888 Dr. Robinson went to New York to take post graduate work in medicine and surgery. Later, in 1910, he went with his wife and daughter, Dorland, to Philadelphia where he spent eight months in hospitals and clinics while the daughter attended art school, she having shown much promise as an artist. The family returned to Jacksonville and in 1917 Dr. and Mrs. Robinson suffered a grievous shock when their daughter met a tragic death. Mrs. Robinson never recovered from the tragedy. Dr. Robinson retired from active practice in 1921 to devote all of his time to caring for his grief-stricken wife. She died on June 13, 1931. Dr. Robinson was one of the last of the old country physicians who served humanity capably under almost unbearable hardships and without thought of compensation in cases where families were poor. "My work was hard, the roads were bad and many times I made rides of 50 miles one way, 100 miles round trip, when the rain was pouring and the wind was blowing," Dr. Robinson once wrote of his early experiences. "There were no phones and the families would wait and send the hired men in after the day's work was done. It was no fun but I was young and ambitious and never turned back on the job if I was able to go. "Now I feel that I was faithful and helped to make some homes happy." Recently Dr. Robinson said to a friend: "I have a vision of a future home and hope to meet my dear ones when I pass on."