NameAnna Jane McQuillan
Birth7 May 1864, Placerville, El Dorado Co, CA
Census14 Jun 1880, Virginia City, Storey Co, NV
Death22 Feb 1960, Carson City, NV
BurialNew Tonopah Cem, Tonopah, Nye Co, NV
Misc. Notes
Daughter of Bernard McQuillan and Bridget J. Murphy, who lived nearby in 1900.
Annie came to Nevada in 1874 and was a resident of Virginia City at the age of 10. Then listed there in the 1880 census with her parents, as the oldest of 5 children - Bernard (46, IRE), wife Bridget (48, IRE), Annie (16, CA), Mary (12, CA), James (8, CA), Johnie (6, NV), and Nattie (4, NV).
She was 20 and living in Virginia City when she married Daniel J. Robb in 18843 at the old St Mary's in the Mountains Church. At the time of their wedding Mr. Robb was sheriff of Esmeraldo County, and later he became an official at the Carson City mint, working there until the time the mint closed.
Mrs. Robb moved to Tonopah with her husband in 1905 and remained there the remainder of her life.
Preceding Mrs. Robb in death were her husband and two sons, Thurman D. Robb and Raymond F. Robb.
Mrs. Robb died in Carson City at the home of her daughter Miss Blanche Robb.
She is survived by daughters Blanche Robb of Carson City, Mrs. Thomas McCulloch of Tonopah, Mrs. Walter Thatcher of Victoria, British Columbia; grandsons Marshall Robb of Tonopah and Daniel Robb of Santa Barbara, CA; granddaughters, Mrs. William Little of Parry Sound, Ontario, Canada, Mrs. J.W. Phillips and Mrs. Carl Irwin, both of Seattle, WA; nine great grandchildren; seven nieces and nephews including Jack Belmont, Robert Douglas and Mrs. Wesley Staples, all of Reno and Mrs. Charles Riley of Glendale, CA
Spouses
Birth21 Mar 1847, Calais, Washington Co, ME
Death21 Feb 1934, Tonopah, Nye Co, NV
BurialNew Tonopah Cem, Tonopah, Nye Co, NV
MemoCatholic Section
OccupationBlacksmith & Sheriff
Misc. Notes
Born 21 March 1843 according to his death certificate (provided by his son Raymond) and 21 May 1843 on his headstone. But listed as age 3 in the 1850 census and 13 in 1860 with his parents.
(from his obituary) “Robb at the age of 19 left home for California sailing from New York and crossing the Isthmus of Panama. In 1870 he moved to Nevada, living at Aurora and Bodie when those camps were booming.”
He is therefore listed as age 21 when he registered to vote at age 21 in San Jose, CA on 26 Aug 1868, and is a registered voter there thru 1871. Based on those records, I have used 1847 as his birth year.
Listed in 1880 census in a Candaleria NV boarding house, as D. J. Robb (30, ME), tending bar. On November 2nd 1880 he was elected Sheriff of Esmeralda County. Daniel J. Robb was the Esmeralda County Sheriff from 1880 through 1884. When they were married on Christmas 1883, he was living in Hawthorne, Esmeralda Co, NV. The 1 Jan 1884 Walker Lake Bulletin reported -
"Sheriff Dan Robb and Miss Annie McQuilian were married in Virginia on Christmas. The Sheriff took his deputy with him to see that he had fair play, and imposed so many duties on his assistant that for a time Billy was afraid he would be married by accident before he knew it. At the last moment Dan stepped in front of him and answered to the questions in a bold, confident voice, which relieved his friend from anxiety and greatly surprised the spectators, who had all the time been pointing out the wrong man as the blushing groom."
CONFLICT: While one record and the newspaper article list their married on Christmas 1883, another record lists it as 1884.
Daniel is recorded as a “Silver dissolver” in the 1897 Treasury listing of Mint officers; born in Maine, and working in Esmerelda Co, NV.
The 1900 census lists him as Daniel J. Robb, a blacksmith married 17 yrs and born in Maine (but no age). His family consisted of wife Anna (36, CA), and children Raymond (12, NV), Muriel (11, NV), Blanche (9, NV), and Daniel T. (1, NV).
Listed in the 1910 census for Nye Co, NV as a blacksmith (59, ME) with his wife and 5 children.
A July 1910 newspaper article says: Dan J. Robb, one of the oldest residents of the state has been appointed Sheriff of Nye County to fill the vacancy caused by the disappearance of Sheriff Owens.
He was also elected Sheriff in November of 1910, for the term beginning in 1911 to 1912. But the Governor appointed Eugene Grutt as Sheriff of Mineral County in March 1911, when it was formed. If Robb was the sheriff of Esmeralda County in 1911, his term of office would have been unaffected as Esmeralda continued on, albeit with less territory.
1920 lists him as 74, running a blacksmith shop. He is listed with his wife, son and two daughters. A note from his daughter Blanche states that he was in the 1921 Legislature from Nye County.
Listed in 1930 census on Edward St in Tonopah, at age 84 with his wife, son Thurmond, and grandson Marshall.
Writing of the passing of this pioneer the Tonopah Times said:
"Robb was the sort of a man the west needed in the stirring days of the seventies and eighties, and the pioneer path he trod through the hills and cities of the great sundown land is freely monumented with countless acts of kindness, heroism and integrity." He died in his home in Tonopah and is buried in the Catholic Section of the cemetery.
[Obituary] Nevada State Journal - 26 Feb 1934
Veteran of Many Trails Passes On
Danie1 J. Robb sturdy veteran of the west and long-time resident Of Tonopah rounded out a full life and passed peacefully away at his home there last Wednesday night well past 90 (sic) years of age.
Born at Calais, Maine in 1843, Robb at the age of 19 left home for California sailing from New York and crossing the Isthmus of Panama. In 1870 he moved to Nevada, living at Aurora and Bodie when those camps were booming. He was sheriff of Esmeralda County from 1880 to 1884 and then moved to Carson City where he married Annie McQuillan of Virginia City. He worked in the Carson City mint and helped coin gold and silver from the Comstock mines.
In 1904 the Robb family took up their residence at Tonopah, where the family was reared.
[Obituary] Mineral County Independent News - undated
born Calis, Maine; married to Anna J. McQuillan. Died Tonopah 21 Feb 1934 aged 91 (sic) yrs. Survived by wife and two sons, Ray and Thurman, of Tonopah; Three dau: Miss Blanche Robb of Carson City, Mrs. Tom McCullough of Round Mountain, and Mrs. Walter Thatcher of Ontario, Canada and four grand children.
Marriage25 Dec 1883, Virginia City, Storey Co, NV
Marr MemoSt Mary's in the Mountains Church