C. J. ROBINSON DEATH VICTIM WEDNESDAY

Was Farmer, Merchant, Moving Picture Operator, Real Estate Dealer

Chas. J. Robinson, 84 years of age, was called by death Wednesday afternoon at 5:25 at the Blair Hospital after a short illness. He was born in York County, Pennsylvania on January 7, 1861.

Deceased came to Seward County, Nebraska in September of 1882 and worked as a farm hand and whatever he could find to do. In 1886 he came to Blair and then to Herman. Here he worked at farming, and in the Spiker store which at that time, before the automobile came in, was a booming business. Later he ran a store at Vacoma and at Arizona in Burt County.

He was married to Miss Marilla J. Newkirk, and later, about 1904, he moved to Blair where he bought a grocery store which he operated for over two years.

In 1907 he started the Home Theatre which was his work for a number of years. During this time and after retiring from the picture business, he was active in the real estate business. The wife died in August of 1940.

Three sons were born to Mr. and Mrs. Robinson, Raymond Harold and Clifton N. of Blair and Edward James of Wilmington, Delaware. These, with seven grandchildren, are left to mourn his death.

Funeral services will be held on Saturday at 2:30 p.m. with Father Adelbert J. Smith officiating, and interment will be made in the Blair cemetery.

Thus ends the career of another early settler, a man who through his untiring energy made a place for himself. His old friends will find that they will miss him, and he will live in their memory.

#2 Printed in the Thursday, February 8, 1945 Pilot-Tribune, p. 1

Theater Pioneer is Dead

C.J. Robinson Rites will be Saturday

Pioneer in Motion Picture Industry, Retired Businessman was 84; Leaves 3 Sons, Two of Whom Are Living in Blair C. J. Robinson, a pioneer in the motion picture industry and founder of Blair’s Home Theatre, died at Blair hospital late Wednesday afternoon. Ill for more than asea week, he had been a patient at the hospital since Monday. He had celebrated his 84th birthday on Jan. 7, exactly a month before his death.

Mr. Robinson was born in York County, Pennsylvania on Jan. 7, 1861, the son of a Civil War veteran. He was orphaned at the age of four, and his early life was fraught with hardships.

In 1882 he came to Seward County, Nebraska, intending to homestead, but took employment in Ord and Grand Island. Four months later he came to Washington county.

After a brief period of residence in Blair, Mr. Robinson spent a year on a farm near Herman, worked for five years at the Spiker store, and later conducted a store at Arizona, in Burt county.

He returned to Washington county and was married to Marilla J. Newkirk on August 13, 1894. Following his marriage he opened a hotel in Arlington, then famed at Vacoma for eight years. For nearly two years he was proprietor of a Blair grocery.

In 1907, Mr. Robinson established the Home Theatre, which has been in his family ever since. The present theater-restaurant building was erected in 1925, and he and Mrs. Robinson jointly managed the two business concerns.

Mr. Robinson retired from the theater work in 1920. The business was managed for ten years by his son, R.H., and for the past 15 by another son, C.N. He was engaged in real estate business until a few years ago.

Survivors include three sons—Raymond H. “Hi” and Clifton N. “Mudge”, both of Blair; and Edward J. “Base” of Wilmington, Delaware. He also leaves a brother, A.M. Robinson of Arlington; and seven grandchildren, William in the Pacific with the Navy, Robert of Wilmington, Delaware, and Libby, Lila, Clifton Jr, C.J. and Mary Ann Robinson of Blair.

Mrs. Robinson preceded her husband in death more than four years ago, at the age of 69.

Services will take place at 2:30pm Feb. 10 at Campbell’s Mortuary, with Father Adelbert J. Smith officiating. Burial is to take place in the Blair cemetery.

As a measure of respect for Mr. Robinson, no matinee will be held at the Home Theatre next Saturday afternoon, the day on which funeral rites are to be held.

~~~Obituaries courtesy of the Nebraska Washington County Genealogical Society. Newspaper clippings on file in the Blair, Nebraska Public Library~~~

Find a Grave Memorial #118168744