Biographies
For
Muscatine County Iowa
1889



Source: Portrait and Biographical Album, Muscatine County, Iowa, 1889, page 337

REV. ALDEN BURRILL ROBBINS, who for forty-six years has been pastor of the Congregational Church of Muscatine, was born in Salem, Mass., on Feb. 18, 1817. His parents were David and Elizabeth ( Burrill ) Robbins, and his father was a lumber merchant of New York City. He received hs preparatory education in the classical schools of Salem, Mass., and in Brooklyn, N. Y., and when twenty-two years of age, graduated in the same class with Rev. R. S. Storrs, of Brooklyn, N. Y., and Bishop F. D. Huntington, on the same State. After completing his studies he engaged in teaching in the Hopkins Academy, at Hadley, Mass., where he was tutor of Latin for a short time, and Principal of the Pawtucket Academy for one year. For the same length of time he was engaged in business with his father in New York City. In 1840 he entered upon a course of theological studies at the Andover Theological School, where he remained until 1841. In 1842 he became a student of the Union Theological Seminary, and returned to Andover, in which he completed the studies in 1843. On the 20th day of September of that year, in New York City, he was ordained as a minister of the Congregational Church, and shortly afterward entered upon his duties as pastor of the church of Muscatine, Iowa, where he has now remained for over forty-five years. In 1843 he also received his degree of D. D. from Amherst College.

Just a week after his ordination Dr. Robbins was united in marriage, in Canterbury, Conn., with Miss Eliza, a daughter of Samuel L Hough, of that city. She shared with her husband his labors in his new field until 1850, when she became a victim of the cholera, which was then raging so firecely through this country, hundreds dying every day. The following children were born of their union : Dana H., who was born July 2, 1844, was married, Nov. 17. 1874, to Alice E. Owens, daughter of John Owens, one of the early settlers of Cincinnati, Ohio, and on the 14th of July, 1881, his death occurred, leaving a widow and one daughter, who reside in Muscatine; Anna Margarette, born July 21, 1848, at Ashford, Conn., is the wife of Rev. S. De Forest, who was pastor of the Congregational Church at Des Moines, Council Bluffs and Waterloo, Iowa, was President of the Talladega College in Alabama, and still resides in Talladega. On the 20th of September, 1851, Dr. Robbins was again married, his second union being with Miss Mary S. Arnold, a daughter of Ebenezer Arnold, of Bath, Me. Several children were born unto them, but only two are now living : Esther Burrill, born Feb. 20, 1860, in Muscatine, became the wife of Rev. George E. White, June 29, 1887, and resides in Waverly, Iowa; John Alden, born Aug. 24, 1862, resides in Chicago, where he is head manager in one of the departments of the Munger Laundry of that city. Our subject and wife have one of the most beautifully situated homes on the banks of the Mississippi, commanding a view of the river for several miles. Not only is the external appearance delightful to the eye but the interior as well, while the library is one of the best in the State. The labors of Dr. Robbins during his long ministry in this city have been most effective, while no better testimonial could be given than the statement of the many years which this church has retained him as their pastor. He is a deep thinker, a logical reasoner, and his earnest labors cannot fail to bring their reward. In early life he was a stanch Abolitionist, and has ever been an indefatigable worker for the temperance cause. He has been much interested in the cause of Christian education, and has been a Trustee of Iowa College and a Director of the Chicago Theological Seminary ever since their organization. He is also Trustee of the academy at Wilton, Iowa. The attention of the reader is called to the excellent portrait of Dr. Robbins on another page.


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