Parker David Robbins 1834 - 1917 Reconstruction state legislator, Union Army officer (sgt-major), inventor, postmaster, farmer, mechanic, politician, sawmill owner, steamboat builder and operator. Born in Gates County to John Robbins, a Chowanoke, and Mary Robbins, he moved to Colerain, NC in Bertie with his uncle Noah Robbins. In 1860 he was listed as a farmer and mechanic and owner of 102 acres. In 1863, along with his brother Augustus, Robbins joined the 2nd Regiment, Cavalry USCT and held the rank of sgt-major. He was honorably discharged in 1866 having ended his service in Brazos, Texas.
In 1868, Robbins began two terms as Bertie County’s representative to the NC State Legislature. Augustus Robbins filled the seat several terms later. In 1874 he was appointed as postmaster of Harrellsville, only a mile from the capitol of his Chowanoke ancestors three centuries before. While in Harrellsville, Robbins received two patents for a saw-sharpening machine and a x cultivator.
In the 1880’s, he divorced his wife of 25 years, Elizabeth Collins, moved to Duplin County to set up a sawmill, married x, fathered a son. The steamboat he built, the St. Peter, was to provide passenger service without discrimination and freight transport. Because of competition from larger companies on the Cape Fear River, the venture failed. He continued his sawmill business.
Robbins is often cited by North Carolina historians as a leading state figure of the Civil War and Reconstruction. He is buried in the Duplin County village of Magnolia.