ROBBS, Pope County

     "In our narrative of Robbs we will deal with the oldest citizen and once prominent farmer and business man of this place, in the person of Green Allard. Mr. Allard was born in Flatwoods community, Pope County, Ill., very nearly eighty-five years ago, moved into this community in the year 1878. In 1880 Mr. Allard entered the business of buying and shipping livestock. The first few years of this business his nearest shipping point was Burnside and Catskin ( we know the place now by Carrier Mills ). Mr. Allard relates the old days of the ox wagon. In 1900 he plowed the ground where the business part of the town of Robbs is now located, this being the last work the oxen he did. His school was rather crude as compared with our modern school we have now. He walked something like three miles to school, the school being located just a few hundred feet south of where Sam Jennings now lives. The house was constructed of logs, the cracks being daubed with sticks and mud. Their lighting system consisted of one opening, which was the door, their heating system was also inadequate, it being a fireplace with a chimney built of mud and sticks. The teacher’s program was to teach reading, spelling and ciphering ‘to the rule of three’, he also was to teach the ABC’s.
     We drift back to later years of Mr. Allard’s life, from 1900 to 1903 when he was connected with the mercantile business with his brother, at Allard, Ill. In 1884 he was one of the leading men in the move of building the M.E. Church at Glendale."In the year of 1904 Mr. Allard's health being bad he shipped his last load of livestock and retired from active business, and is now living on the same farm he moved onto when first coming to this community, over a half-century ago. He is enjoying reasonably good health for a man of his age. He joined the Masons and Odd Fellows of County Line, in his younger days, and is a member of the M. E. Church at Glendale.

The next character we shall attempt to deal with is A. L. Robbs. Mr. Robbs was born in Lusk neighborhood, near Sulphur Springs, Pope County, Ill. He moved into this community in 1905. A few years after he located here, it seems a desire to buy all the land that joined him grasped Mr. Robbs. At any rate, he has gotten a large track consisting of several hundred acres.
A few years later he went into the milling business at Simpson, Ill. Being a wide-awake man and luck travelling his way seemingly, his business grew. He entered the lumber and garage business at the same place. His business growing at Simpson, farming on a larger and larger scale at home, buying, ahipping and dealing in livestock here and elsewhere, he has become one of the largest farmer-business men in Southern Illinois.
In 1925 when the Illinois Central began to build their railroad from Edgewood, Ill., to Fulton, Ky., it running through a part of Mr. Robbs' farm, he grasped the idea of building a town. Thus the town of Robbs originated. Mr. Robbs began by building a frame store building near his dwelling, on his farm. The merchandise business in this new location began flourishing from the very start, but building seemed dormant for something like a year and a half or two years when all of a sudden building! Building! Building! It was the leading occupation. The town of Robbs grew fast, and very fast, at that, until it now consists of several business houses and shops and quite a few dwelling houses. While the size and population of Robbs grew, the mercantile and other businesses grew also until the year of 1929 Mr. Robbs decided to erect larger and better business houses. Therefore, he built the modern brick garage and workshop, modernly equipped.
On September 6 of that same year several thousand people celebrated the opening of Mr. Robbs' new brick store, which was a gala day for the town of Robbs.
In 1930, the population growing, more and more children coming to Robbs, the idea was advanced that we needed a school, therefore Mr. Robbs, with several co-workers, went to work and obtained our present school system, which is quite a contrast to the school system mentioned above, where Mr. Allard got his education.
We have a modern three-year high school, modernly equipped. Our grade school is one of the best in the county. This school was completed, ready for our faculty to begin work on the sixth day of September 1931. Our faculty at that time consisted of four, namely: L. B. Elliot, principal, W. Wallace Walter, Carl Hise and Floy F. King, teachers. Those four cooperated nicely and built up a school of very high standard, which is being ably supported and added to by our present faculty, consisting of L. B. Elliott, principal, Carl Hise, Clarence Reames and Alice Mount, teachers. We also have a modern gymnasium, which gives the kiddies amusement, recreation and physical training.
In building up a modern school that ranks high with state school officials as ours does, it takes cooperation of the pupils, teachers, patrons, and the school board, which we are thankful to have, and we certainly appreciate the same.
Another one of our foremost citizens and successful farmers is Mr. Fred Mount. He was born in Johnson County, Ill. He lived just across the county line in Johnson on a farmuntil the year 1919, when he bought a large tract of land and moved into our community. Mr. Mount is a very prosperous farmer. In his younger life, before marriage, he worked at the stave factories in and around Simpson, Ill. After marriage and settling down on a farm, he went into the livestock business _ buying and shipping livestock for several years, but finally retired from that line of business, and is now devoting his time to mixed farming. Mr. Mount has been and is yet a firm believer in the soil improvement project. He has limed several acres of his farm, sowed it to sweet clover and plowed several crops of legume under until he is growing alfalfa very successfully.
Mr. Mount is a great lover of horses, especially the saddle horse.

Copied from Trampe's Pope County Historical Review, page 171.
( At the bottom of the same page is the following short ( partial? )article about Albert Robbs.)

Albert Robbs
When Albert L. Robbs speaks of his hometown, it can be taken literally. Not only does the town bear his name, Robbs, but, he built every house, industry and store. About the only thing that he does not own is the school, though he built it and was one of the principal financiers.
Oh, yes, Robbs no longer owns the electricity in Robbs, because he recently got tired of that business and decided Southeastern Illinois Electric co-op could do the job for him. The co-op supplies the power to Robbs Distribution system.
He still operates the telephone system and serves the town and surrounding rural areas. Then there is the flour mill and lumber yard which also belongs to Robbs, plus a restaurant, a general store, and a Ford agency. The latter is one of the oldest agencies in Southern Illinois having been established by Robbs 27 years ago.
Robbs would have probably gone in the postal business for himself if Uncle Sam hadn't beaten him to it. But the post office was constructed by him and being postmaster is just another one of his many sidelines.
He is mayor of the town as might be expected.
Another major business activity of Robbs is contracting. Besides the town's 30 houses and other buildings, he has constructed many large projects all over the country including a stockyard in St. Louis. Another interest of his is banking as he is president of the Golconda First National Bank.