Robert was the youngest of John’s 13 children and had the misfortune to lose his mother at the age of 11. He moved to Michigan and married there in 1900 but they spend most of their married lives in Minnesota. After his wife’s death Robert moved back to Indiana and lived with his widowed childless sister Melvina Pittenger. These two photos of Robert – as a toddler and as a young man are the two photos easiest to date among all the family photos. The photo on the lap of his father is that of a very young child but not an infant. Given Robert’s birth date in Feb 1866 we can safely say this photos was taken before 1870, quite probably between mid 1868 and early 1869. The second photo of Robert as a young man, is dated by the name and location of the photographer. J. T. Harvey was active in Greenfield for only 4 years between 1890 and 1894 and the end years of that range are not full years. So Robert is about 25 in this photo Thomas Asher does not appear to have maintained contact with his youngest brother for long. There are no photos of Robert’s wife Alice nor of his two sons Lyle and Jack.
