Courtesy of Jesse Dowe and the North Carolina History Museum
Parker David Robbins was a leading figure of the Winton Triangle community. A tintype of Robbins, previously unavailable to researchers, has been donated to the North Carolina History Museum by Jesse Dowe of Magnolia, NC. Mr. Dowe is the owner of the Robbins home in Magnolia, and he removed items from the house after he purchased it a decade ago. The 2-story house, probably built by Robbins in the 1880 or 1890s has since collapsed.
Earl Ijames, a curator of the Museum and a Chowan Discovery advisor, and Marvin Jones met Mr. Dowe in November. In December, Ijames returned to Magnolia to pick up the tintype. It appears that this portrait was made of Robbins in the 1880′s or ’90′s, twenty or more years after his well-known watercolor portrait. That is portrait on permanent display at the Museum and was donated by Robbins’ daughter-in-law in the 1970′s. It has been published in many books and articles. Mr. Ijames has given the Chowan Discovery Group a digital copy of the new portrait (shown here) for its use.