Robert S. ROBB

                   Robert S. Robb, eldest living son of Ebenezer and Eliza (Wallace) Robb, was born in Washington county, Pennsylvania, August 24, 1841. He received his early education in the public schools of his native township. At the age of seventeen he went to Mansfield, Pennsylvania, where he took a preparatory course at the Carnegie Academy. In 1861 he entered Washington and Jefferson College, from which he was graduated in 1864. Determining on the law as his profession and life work, Mr. Robb went to Pittsburgh, where he entered the law office of Kirkpatrick & Mellow, where he prosecuted his studies with great vigor. He worked, probably overworked, and just at the time he was ready for admission to the bar, his eyes failed him and he was totally blind for three months. This was a severe blow to his cherished ambition of becoming a lawyer, and caused his return to the farm and the choosing of another occupation. Prior to his coming to Pittsburgh, and while yet a college student, he was drafted, and in 1863 was mustered into the Union army, but upon the payment of three hundred dollars for a substitute was discharged and returned to college, where he finished his course and was graduated. He then volunteered for military service, was detailed for detached duty, and with a corporal's guard was stationed at the Liberty street station of the Pennsylvania railroad in Pittsburgh to take charge of the Rebel prisoners passing through the city on their way to Camp Dayton, Ohio. After a service of six months he was honorably discharged at Camp Howe with his regiment. In 1886 Mr. Robb took up his residence in Pittsburgh, following mercantile pursuits until 1892, when he entered the employ of Hostetter & Smith as a clerk, and has been continuously in the employ of this company (now the Hostetter Company) ever since. He is now holding the responsible position of secretary and treasurer of the company. Although never an aspirant to public office, he has always been a supporter of the Republican party. He is a member of the United Presbyterian church and has been from his youth, when he attended the Robinson Church, which necessitated a walk of four miles. In Pittsburgh he united with the Third United Presbyterian Church, then known as the Ridge Avenue Church. Here he was a trustee of the church and superintendent of the Sabbath school for ten years. About 1889 he severed his connection with that church and became a member of the Westminster Presbyterian Church. He was chosen treasurer of the building committee for the erection of their new Buena Vista Street Church. He was also a member of the session, and of the board of trustees. On removing to North Craig street, Pittsburgh, he became connected with the Bellefield Presbyterian Church, where he is now a member of the board of trustees, and interested in the work of the Sabbath school. He is a member of the Sons of the Revolution, being eligible through both his paternal and maternal lines. Mr. Robb's first wife was Emma S. Boyd, born in 1842, died September 2, 1904, daughter of Alexander Boyd. None of the children of this marriage arrived at years of maturity. His second wife was Mrs. Mary Pershon, whose father was master mechanic of the Pennsylvania railroad shops at Steubensville, Ohio. The Pershon family are of old Huguenot stock.