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1900 Federal Census Totaro, Brunswick, Virginia
Name: Irene Hite
Age: 13
Birth Date: Jan 1887
Birthplace: Virginia
Home in 1900: Totaro, Brunswick, Virginia
Sheet Number: 11
Number of Dwelling in Order of Visitation: 205
Family Number: 206
Race: Black
Gender: Female
Relation to Head of House: Daughter
Marital Status: Single
Father's name: Richmond Hite
Father's Birthplace: Virginia
Mother's name: Annie Hite
Mother's Birthplace: Virginia
Attended School: 5
Can Read: Yes
Can Write: Yes
Can Speak English: Yes
Neighbors: View others on page
Household Members:
Name Age
Richmond Hite 44
Annie Hite 30
Fannie A Hite 17
Irene Hite 13
Pattie S Hite 10
Georgia A Hite 8
Annie M Hite 6

We note that irene could neither read not write and was taught both by her daughter, Ruth.

Ruth’s written accounts differ as to when Irene left home. One states it was at the age of 14 and another the age of 18. According to the census it would have been after 1900. Irene would have been 13. According to Ruth, Irene’s mother Annie passed away and Irene was left in charge of the remaining children Georgia, Pattie and Annie M. Within a few years Irene’s father Richmond also passed on. Sometime before 1910 Irene left Virginia, moved to Brooklyn and married.

Irene married Edgar Bustin around 1910 with whom she had 3 daughters, Helen, Irene and Evelyn. Helen was born in 1911. Iren would have been 23 or 24.

New York, State Census, 1915
Name: Edgar Bustin
Birth Year: abt 1889
Birth Place: United States
Age: 26
Gender: Male
Residence Place: New York, Kings
Relationship: Head
Color or Race: White
Number of Years in US: 26
Assembly District: 10
House Number: 834
Line Number: 12
Page Number: 42
Household Members:
Name Age
Edgar Bustin 26
Irene Bustin 27
Evelin Bustin 4
Helen Bustin 1

Edgar Bustin, Military service
Birth Place: Enfield, North Carolina
Birth Date: 24 Oct 1888
Service Start Date: 2 Aug 1918
Service Start Place: Brooklyn, New York
Service Start Age: 29

1920 US Federal Census Brooklyn Assembly District 10, Kings, New York
Edgar Bastian
[Edgar Bustin]
Age: 32
Birth Year: abt 1888
Birthplace: Virginia
Home in 1920: Brooklyn Assembly District 10, Kings, New York
Street: Bergen St
Race: Black
Gender: Female
Relation to Head of House: Wife
Marital Status: Married
Spouse's Name: Irene Bastian
Father's Birthplace: North Carolina
Mother's Birthplace: North Carolina
Able to Speak English: Yes
Occupation: Porter
Household Members:
Name Age
Edgar Bastian 32 North Carolina
Irene Bastian 32 Virginia
Evelyn Bastian 9 New York
Helen Bastian 6 New York
Irene Bastian 3 New York [3 1/12]

According to family oral tradition Edgar Bustin died in WWI, and Irene was left a widow. He is clearly listed above as the head of household in 1920, two years after the war ended. I also have found a death record for an Edgar Bustin dated January 18, 1929. Whether he died or was incapacitated in some other way after the war we don’t know.

Irene was introduced to John Robinson by “Sister Annie”, the sister of their minister. Further research is required to know whether this was the sister of Reverend Timothy White, minister of Bethel Baptist Church on Bergen Street. John Carey Robinson is listed as head of household at 51 St Felix Street in 1925.

New York, State Census, 1925
Irene Robinson
Birth Date: abt 1886
Birth Place: United States
Age: 39
Gender: Female
Residence Place: Brooklyn, Kings
Relationship: Wife
Color or Race: Black
Assembly District: 11
House Number: 51
Line Number: 25
Page Number: 11
Household Members:
Name Age
John Robinson 49
Irene Robinson 39
Eugene Robinson 15
Helen Robinson 11
Macleon Robinson 32
Rudd Oliver 36
Mrtha Oliver 34

The family moved to Corona, Queens to a property owned by John Carey, but according to Ruth, could not afford to maintain the two properties during the Depression and lost the Queens house about 1931 when Ruth was 4.

1930 United States Federal Census, Queens County, New York
Name: John Robinson
Birth Year: abt 1877
Gender: Male
Race: Negro
[Black]
Birthplace: Virginia
Marital Status: Married
Relation to Head of House: Head
Home in 1930: Queens, Queens, New York
Map of Home: View Map
Street address: 98th Street
Ward of City: 3d Assembly District
Block: A
House Number in Cities or Towns: 3211
Dwelling Number: 38
Family Number: 64
Home Owned or Rented: Owned
Home Value: 8000
Radio Set: Yes
Lives on Farm: No
Age at First Marriage: 27
Attended School: No
Able to Read and Write: Yes
Father's Birthplace: Virginia
Mother's Birthplace: Virginia
Able to Speak English: Yes
Occupation: Carpenter
Industry: Own Business
Class of Worker: Employer
Employment: Yes
Neighbors: View others on page
Household Members:
Name Age
John Robinson 53
Irene Robinson 47
Evelyn Robinson 19
Helen Robinson 17
John Ellis 21
Elinor Ellis 0 [2/12]

See John Robinson for 1930 and 1940 US Federal Census Records and 1925 New York State Census Records

1940 US Federal Census for Kings County, New York
Name: Irene Robinson
Age: 51
Estimated Birth Year: abt 1889
Gender: Female
Race: Negro
Birthplace: Virginia
Marital Status: Married
Relation to Head of House: Wife
Home in 1940: New York, Kings, New York
Map of Home in 1940: View Map
Street: Saint Felix Street
House Number: 51
Inferred Residence in 1935: New York, Kings, New York
Residence in 1935: Same House
Sheet Number: 6B
Attended School or College: No
Highest Grade Completed: Elementary school, 8th grade
Weeks Worked in 1939: 0
Income: 0
Income Other Sources: No
Neighbors: View others on page
Household Members:
Name Age
John Robinson 64
Irene Robinson 51
Ruth Robinson 12
Florence Glenn 40
Mary Williamson 80
Florence Goung 30

SS Index:
Irene ROBINSON 
Birth Date: 24 Oct 1888 
Death Date:15 Jan 1967 
Social Security Number: 
080-42-5545 
State or Territory Where Number Was Issued: New York
Death Residence Localities
ZIP Code:11238 
Localities: Brooklyn, Kings, New York

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John and Irene raised their daughter Ruth at 51 Saint Felix Street in the Fort Greene section of Brooklyn, near the Brooklyn Academy of Music. John Henry worked as a janitor and a carpenter. John Henry was a lay minister at Bethel Baptist Church on Bergen Street in Boerum Hill and later had his own small congregation in Long Island City where Ruth played the church organ as a teenager. Ruth remembers that John’s brother lived near them growing up and owned a local restaurant.

Granddaughter Irene notes that grandmother Irene had no accent and was a dedicated Brooklynite. Irene could neither read or write, but according to Ruth learned to speak Italian while working as a nanny for an Italian family. Ruth proudly recorded that her mother learned to read and write when she was 60 so she could go vote with her daughter Ruth. Irene became an avid reader of the New York Post newspaper.

Irene was of predominantly African heritage but had European and Naative American ancestors as well. DNA testing confirms that Ruth had multiple DNA from Ashkenazi Jewish, African American European and Native American sources. It also confirmed that her matrilineal ancestry was African .

Irene’s mother, Anne’s family was an Evans. Irene’s father Richmond Hite was a descendant of the enslaved owned by the family of Julius Hite in Lunenburg, Virginia.

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Granddaughter Irene remembers that food was always cooking at the Robinson house
Pattie BLAND 
Birth Date: 25 Oct 1889, Virginia
Death Date: Jan 1982, Northside, Richmond , Virginia
Social Security Number: 
State or Territory Where Number Was Issued: Virginia

There is a record of Randolph Bland, possibly Pattie’s son:
Birth Date: 29 Mar 1909 
Death Date: 24 Dec 1996 
Social Security Number: 
State or Territory Where Number Was Issued: Indiana

Evergreen Cemetery plot 439894