Hi Bob and list; Bob accidentally sent his message to the request address so I'm including it with my response, which follows below. I don't know the whole history of Robertson's, but it did close its doors in the early 1980's downtown as another fatality to the Grape Rd, Mishawaka boom. Sears left first around 1978, then Robertson's closed, and J. C. Penneys closed a short time later when the city tried to "revitalize" the area by closing off the street. Wyman's went out of business in the early to mid 1970's, and Inwoods held on until the late 1980's. The Robertson's store in Concord Mall, Elkhart remained open until the late 1980's when Meiss took it over. If I remember correctly. Robertson's in its heyday was known for its tea room. Now the old building is an apartment dwelling for Senior Citizens. Robertson's used to have a great bargain basement! :-) I asked my mother about Ellsworth's and she remembers shopping there, and when it switched to Wyman's. She was working downtown at that time at the old Abstract and Title. Rick B ----- Original Message ----- From: [email protected] To: [email protected] ; [email protected] Sent: Tuesday, February 21, 2006 5:36 PM Subject: Re: [INSTJOSE] ROBERTSONS of South Bend Rick-- Actually, not. I have been asked that question before, and my father (who passed away in 2003) said it was another family. My grandfather, Robert Robertson, was b. in Scotland in 1875, and came to America after his father died in a farming accident. He lived with his older brother in Worcester, Massachusetts for a few years, learning the mercantile trade (his brother became a partner of the J.C. MacInnes Department Store, of Worcester). In 1910 he was working for another department store in Buffalo, NY, when he was recruited to work for Ellsworth's. His first wife, whose maiden name was HAPGOOD, died in South Bend around 1908 (I don't have much detail on her), and in 1912 he married one Clara INTEMANN, of New York. Clara (Mrs. Robertson) was well-known in South Bend for charity work for several decades (she died in 1956). She was a founder of the Children's Aid Society of South Bend, an adoption placement organization (does anyone know if it still exists?). However, the Robertsons had only one son, my father Hugh, so "our" Robertson family is extinct now in South Bend. I'd like to hear more about the "other" Robertson store. Does anyone remember Buschbaum's [sp.], on Miami Street? It was a drugstore with a soda fountain. My brother and I used to walk down there often, when we were very young. ---Bob Robertson