I am mostly Scottish, French, and American Indian (Cherokee and Osage.)

My surname is Robertson.

The first Robertson I have record of in the New World is the Reverend George Robertson. Born in Scotland, he served as a chaplain aboard a man o'war in 1692, then came to Virginia and served as Rector of Bristol Parish from 1693 until his death in 1739.

When I lived on the East Coast I visited his church several times. Old Blandford church was built a few years before his death. The area was also the site of the Battle of Petersburg in 1781...according to one source "Lord Cornwallis and British Generals O'hara and Phillips met in Petersburg and decided on the strategy that led the British Army to Yorktown and defeat. General Phillips became ill while in Petersburg and passed away. He was secretly buried somewhere in the churchyard."

Each June 8 a service is held honoring the old men and boys who fought bravely aganst an overwhelming Federal force in 1964.

In 1901 the church and ground were declared a Confederate shrine; former members of the Confederacy commissioned a set of windows from Louis Tiffany to grace the church.

Rev. George had lots of decendants, mostly in Louisiana and Tennessee, then on to Arkansas and Oklahome. My grandmother's middle name was "Tennessee," a nod to the roots and migration.


I have often wondered what led the Reverend George to leave Scotland...I have read bits and pieces of the religious unrest in Scotland at the time but still cannot piece it together. Does anyone have a good source for this?

Thanks for starting this thread, it has been fun to see others' roots!

Moosedog