6 January 2001
Hi! I'm not sure that I'll ever manage to update the pages that are linked to this one, but you'd think that I could keep this homepage updated.
I'm still hard at work on these Robershotte-Johnson lines though my Grandma Jo (Pimentel) Henley passed away on November 26th, 2000. Her curiousity started this quest and it will be much harder to trudge through without her early memories and infectious enthusiasm for her roots.
The picture posted here is Grandma Jo (left) with her cousin Evelyn (Pimentel) Tate and was taken in Gilroy CA in August 2000. Just weeks after this picture Grandma celebrated her 91st birthday and Evelyn her 92nd.
I am currently involved in tracing the English roots of Matilda West Robershotte. Her father, John West, was a sailor in the royal navy and her mother was Elizabeth Crapp. They lived in various port towns near Plymouth, England and it appears that as their chidren reached their early teen years that they were sent out to work. At least one of the older sons, William Henry West, became a sailor like his dad and through sheer coincidence I have snagged onto one of his descendents. Craig is a graduate student busy working on a disertation in some area of the Anglican Church, but when he has time he digs around for the documents we both need to take the West-Crapp line on back. (He didn't know that William Henry had younger siblings and we still don't see any reason for Matilda's sojourn to Australia.)
Since this website has been posted I have been contacted by many members of our family and complete strangers who have helped provide new treasures and knowledge. A stranger from the bay area contacted me about a report card that she had found in a stuck drawer of an antique bedroom set that she had purchased. She had held onto it for years thinking that someday she might locate the family. On a whim, she typed in "Robershotte" and found me ... since then she has returned Merle Robershotte's report card to his sister Bertha. I hear that Bertha was tickled pink with this treasure and the nice visit she had with this kind stranger.
I've made lots of contacts with Johnson descendents and we've traded photos and family information. I'd like to post those names/connects/and email addresses here on our site but I have neglected to ask permission. Perhaps the most puzzling and frustrating of all the mail the site has generated was from Joe Hiner. Joe is an adoptee whose biological father was the first husband of one of the Johnson girls. So, while not directly related to our family, he is certainly tangled up with us! We had thought that tracing information about Lois Johnson and her marriage to Mr. Leeowen (alias Hayner) might give us information about Leeowen/Hayner's previous wife, Maxine Crance. Instead, we only generated more questions.
You can see why I never get further with my quest to determine how we are related to all those nice Robasciotti descendents living in San Luis Obispo...
There are lots of errors in the information that follows so if you want updated reports, just email me. In fact, just email me -- if nothing else I'll tell you about my grandkids!
Visit the Robershotte Family
Visit Kate Robershotte Johnson's descendents (still rough)
CHECK THIS! Joseph Robershotte's baptism record from Switzerland
