Robert Daniel Little was the second of four children born to Cebron Melanchthon Little and his wife Louisa Mary Utzman. He was named for his paternal and maternal grandfathers. Around 1879 his family moved to Raleigh, Wake Co., NC where his father and maternal grandfather were partners in a small grocery and general merchandise store. The 1896 Raleigh city directory listed Robert Little as a tinner apprentice, living with his grandfather Robert Utzman, his mother and sisters at 127 N. Dawson St.
Soon after the U.S. declaration of war against Spain, Robert enlisted in the U.S. Army on April 27, 1898. He was assigned as a corporal to Company K, 1st Regiment, N.C. Volunteers. His company was composed of young men from Raleigh and Wake County. (In a studio photo from this time, Robert strikes the swaggering pose of a man of action.) Unfortunately, Robert never saw action: his regiment arrived in Cuba only after the cessation of hostilities . After a few months in Havana, he was discharged from the army on April 26, 1899 and returned to civilian life in Raleigh. In the 1899 and 1901 Raleigh directories Robert was living with his family at 107 W. Jones St. and working as a tinner and salesman with Lumsden Bros.
Robert seems to have been impulsive and quick to offend. In March 1901 he got into a street brawl. A city court found him guilty of assault and battery, and fined him $12.25. The defendant attempted to justify his action in a statement published by a local Raleigh newspaper:
Statement of Mr. Little
Mr. Robert D. Little, who was the defendant in a case in court last week, makes a statement concerning the case, which he was not allowed to bring out during the trial.
Mr. Little said: "In justice to myself I desire that the facts in the case be known. I was charged with an assault with a deadly weapon. The facts are that while accompanying a young lady home language was used on the street, which we could not help hearing, that I considered it my duty as a gentleman to resent. I did not use any deadly weapon, as has been twice proven in court, and I only acted as I thought duty directed. I make this statement in justice to myself and in defense of my action."
[Morning Post (Raleigh, NC), 20 July 1901, 3.]
More trouble followed.
Little's marriage on January 22, 1902 to Lea Louisa Morris caused a brief local scandal. The bride was the 20-year-old daughter of the widowed Ida Doyle Morris of the city. According to newspaper accounts, Ida so strongly opposed her daughter's relationship that the couple feigned attending church services only to be quietly married at the home of Rev. J. L. Foster.
By 1905 the couple was boarding at 213 S. Person St. in Raleigh. Two years later they were living with Little's sister Frances and her husband John W. Coffey at 128 N. Dawson St. Little worked as a clerk at Miller's Billiard Parlor, and later at Robert E. Lewis's pool hall. His reckless marriage and base employment undoubtedly contributed to Little's estrangement from his family. Around 1911 he and his wife left Raleigh, moving to Petersburg, VA where he found work as a sheet metal worker. However, his later years were clouded by a failed marriage--he and Lea separated after 12 1/2 years together and divorced on February 11, 1926--and by tuberculosis which forced him to give up his job and which eventually led to his premature death at age fifty-three. At the time of his death Robert Little was living in Petersburg on a houseboat in the Appomattox River.
__________________________________________________
RETURN FROM FUNERAL OF ROBERT D. LITTLE
Relatives of Robert D. Little, who died in Petersburg, Va., Saturday morning, returned last night after attending his funeral there. Mr. Little was a former resident of Raleigh and was the son of Mrs. C.M. Little, of 602 W. Morgan Street. He was the brother of Miss Addie Little, Mrs. J.W. Coffey, and Mrs. J. R. Sechrest. For the past 15 years he had made his home in Petersburg.
He was a Spanish-American War veteran, having served in Cuba during the war with Spain, and was a member of the Joseph E. Spottswood Post, Camp No. 14, Department of Virginia, at the time of his death, and was given a military funeral by his post, the body being interred in the National Cemetery near Petersburg, following wishes expressed by him.
[News and Observer (Raleigh, NC), October 3, 1929, 14.]
Soon after the U.S. declaration of war against Spain, Robert enlisted in the U.S. Army on April 27, 1898. He was assigned as a corporal to Company K, 1st Regiment, N.C. Volunteers. His company was composed of young men from Raleigh and Wake County. (In a studio photo from this time, Robert strikes the swaggering pose of a man of action.) Unfortunately, Robert never saw action: his regiment arrived in Cuba only after the cessation of hostilities . After a few months in Havana, he was discharged from the army on April 26, 1899 and returned to civilian life in Raleigh. In the 1899 and 1901 Raleigh directories Robert was living with his family at 107 W. Jones St. and working as a tinner and salesman with Lumsden Bros.
Robert seems to have been impulsive and quick to offend. In March 1901 he got into a street brawl. A city court found him guilty of assault and battery, and fined him $12.25. The defendant attempted to justify his action in a statement published by a local Raleigh newspaper:
Statement of Mr. Little
Mr. Robert D. Little, who was the defendant in a case in court last week, makes a statement concerning the case, which he was not allowed to bring out during the trial.
Mr. Little said: "In justice to myself I desire that the facts in the case be known. I was charged with an assault with a deadly weapon. The facts are that while accompanying a young lady home language was used on the street, which we could not help hearing, that I considered it my duty as a gentleman to resent. I did not use any deadly weapon, as has been twice proven in court, and I only acted as I thought duty directed. I make this statement in justice to myself and in defense of my action."
[Morning Post (Raleigh, NC), 20 July 1901, 3.]
More trouble followed.
Little's marriage on January 22, 1902 to Lea Louisa Morris caused a brief local scandal. The bride was the 20-year-old daughter of the widowed Ida Doyle Morris of the city. According to newspaper accounts, Ida so strongly opposed her daughter's relationship that the couple feigned attending church services only to be quietly married at the home of Rev. J. L. Foster.
By 1905 the couple was boarding at 213 S. Person St. in Raleigh. Two years later they were living with Little's sister Frances and her husband John W. Coffey at 128 N. Dawson St. Little worked as a clerk at Miller's Billiard Parlor, and later at Robert E. Lewis's pool hall. His reckless marriage and base employment undoubtedly contributed to Little's estrangement from his family. Around 1911 he and his wife left Raleigh, moving to Petersburg, VA where he found work as a sheet metal worker. However, his later years were clouded by a failed marriage--he and Lea separated after 12 1/2 years together and divorced on February 11, 1926--and by tuberculosis which forced him to give up his job and which eventually led to his premature death at age fifty-three. At the time of his death Robert Little was living in Petersburg on a houseboat in the Appomattox River.
__________________________________________________
RETURN FROM FUNERAL OF ROBERT D. LITTLE
Relatives of Robert D. Little, who died in Petersburg, Va., Saturday morning, returned last night after attending his funeral there. Mr. Little was a former resident of Raleigh and was the son of Mrs. C.M. Little, of 602 W. Morgan Street. He was the brother of Miss Addie Little, Mrs. J.W. Coffey, and Mrs. J. R. Sechrest. For the past 15 years he had made his home in Petersburg.
He was a Spanish-American War veteran, having served in Cuba during the war with Spain, and was a member of the Joseph E. Spottswood Post, Camp No. 14, Department of Virginia, at the time of his death, and was given a military funeral by his post, the body being interred in the National Cemetery near Petersburg, following wishes expressed by him.
[News and Observer (Raleigh, NC), October 3, 1929, 14.]
Robert Daniel Little was the second of four children born to Cebron Melanchthon Little and his wife Louisa Mary Utzman. He was named for his paternal and maternal grandfathers. Around 1879 his family moved to Raleigh, Wake Co., NC where his father and maternal grandfather were partners in a small grocery and general merchandise store. The 1896 Raleigh city directory listed Robert Little as a tinner apprentice, living with his grandfather Robert Utzman, his mother and sisters at 127 N. Dawson St.
Soon after the U.S. declaration of war against Spain, Robert enlisted in the U.S. Army on April 27, 1898. He was assigned as a corporal to Company K, 1st Regiment, N.C. Volunteers. His company was composed of young men from Raleigh and Wake County. (In a studio photo from this time, Robert strikes the swaggering pose of a man of action.) Unfortunately, Robert never saw action: his regiment arrived in Cuba only after the cessation of hostilities . After a few months in Havana, he was discharged from the army on April 26, 1899 and returned to civilian life in Raleigh. In the 1899 and 1901 Raleigh directories Robert was living with his family at 107 W. Jones St. and working as a tinner and salesman with Lumsden Bros.
Robert seems to have been impulsive and quick to offend. In March 1901 he got into a street brawl. A city court found him guilty of assault and battery, and fined him $12.25. The defendant attempted to justify his action in a statement published by a local Raleigh newspaper:
Statement of Mr. Little
Mr. Robert D. Little, who was the defendant in a case in court last week, makes a statement concerning the case, which he was not allowed to bring out during the trial.
Mr. Little said: "In justice to myself I desire that the facts in the case be known. I was charged with an assault with a deadly weapon. The facts are that while accompanying a young lady home language was used on the street, which we could not help hearing, that I considered it my duty as a gentleman to resent. I did not use any deadly weapon, as has been twice proven in court, and I only acted as I thought duty directed. I make this statement in justice to myself and in defense of my action."
[Morning Post (Raleigh, NC), 20 July 1901, 3.]
More trouble followed.
Little's marriage on January 22, 1902 to Lea Louisa Morris caused a brief local scandal. The bride was the 20-year-old daughter of the widowed Ida Doyle Morris of the city. According to newspaper accounts, Ida so strongly opposed her daughter's relationship that the couple feigned attending church services only to be quietly married at the home of Rev. J. L. Foster.
By 1905 the couple was boarding at 213 S. Person St. in Raleigh. Two years later they were living with Little's sister Frances and her husband John W. Coffey at 128 N. Dawson St. Little worked as a clerk at Miller's Billiard Parlor, and later at Robert E. Lewis's pool hall. His reckless marriage and base employment undoubtedly contributed to Little's estrangement from his family. Around 1911 he and his wife left Raleigh, moving to Petersburg, VA where he found work as a sheet metal worker. However, his later years were clouded by a failed marriage--he and Lea separated after 12 1/2 years together and divorced on February 11, 1926--and by tuberculosis which forced him to give up his job and which eventually led to his premature death at age fifty-three. At the time of his death Robert Little was living in Petersburg on a houseboat in the Appomattox River.
__________________________________________________
RETURN FROM FUNERAL OF ROBERT D. LITTLE
Relatives of Robert D. Little, who died in Petersburg, Va., Saturday morning, returned last night after attending his funeral there. Mr. Little was a former resident of Raleigh and was the son of Mrs. C.M. Little, of 602 W. Morgan Street. He was the brother of Miss Addie Little, Mrs. J.W. Coffey, and Mrs. J. R. Sechrest. For the past 15 years he had made his home in Petersburg.
He was a Spanish-American War veteran, having served in Cuba during the war with Spain, and was a member of the Joseph E. Spottswood Post, Camp No. 14, Department of Virginia, at the time of his death, and was given a military funeral by his post, the body being interred in the National Cemetery near Petersburg, following wishes expressed by him.
[News and Observer (Raleigh, NC), October 3, 1929, 14.]
Soon after the U.S. declaration of war against Spain, Robert enlisted in the U.S. Army on April 27, 1898. He was assigned as a corporal to Company K, 1st Regiment, N.C. Volunteers. His company was composed of young men from Raleigh and Wake County. (In a studio photo from this time, Robert strikes the swaggering pose of a man of action.) Unfortunately, Robert never saw action: his regiment arrived in Cuba only after the cessation of hostilities . After a few months in Havana, he was discharged from the army on April 26, 1899 and returned to civilian life in Raleigh. In the 1899 and 1901 Raleigh directories Robert was living with his family at 107 W. Jones St. and working as a tinner and salesman with Lumsden Bros.
Robert seems to have been impulsive and quick to offend. In March 1901 he got into a street brawl. A city court found him guilty of assault and battery, and fined him $12.25. The defendant attempted to justify his action in a statement published by a local Raleigh newspaper:
Statement of Mr. Little
Mr. Robert D. Little, who was the defendant in a case in court last week, makes a statement concerning the case, which he was not allowed to bring out during the trial.
Mr. Little said: "In justice to myself I desire that the facts in the case be known. I was charged with an assault with a deadly weapon. The facts are that while accompanying a young lady home language was used on the street, which we could not help hearing, that I considered it my duty as a gentleman to resent. I did not use any deadly weapon, as has been twice proven in court, and I only acted as I thought duty directed. I make this statement in justice to myself and in defense of my action."
[Morning Post (Raleigh, NC), 20 July 1901, 3.]
More trouble followed.
Little's marriage on January 22, 1902 to Lea Louisa Morris caused a brief local scandal. The bride was the 20-year-old daughter of the widowed Ida Doyle Morris of the city. According to newspaper accounts, Ida so strongly opposed her daughter's relationship that the couple feigned attending church services only to be quietly married at the home of Rev. J. L. Foster.
By 1905 the couple was boarding at 213 S. Person St. in Raleigh. Two years later they were living with Little's sister Frances and her husband John W. Coffey at 128 N. Dawson St. Little worked as a clerk at Miller's Billiard Parlor, and later at Robert E. Lewis's pool hall. His reckless marriage and base employment undoubtedly contributed to Little's estrangement from his family. Around 1911 he and his wife left Raleigh, moving to Petersburg, VA where he found work as a sheet metal worker. However, his later years were clouded by a failed marriage--he and Lea separated after 12 1/2 years together and divorced on February 11, 1926--and by tuberculosis which forced him to give up his job and which eventually led to his premature death at age fifty-three. At the time of his death Robert Little was living in Petersburg on a houseboat in the Appomattox River.
__________________________________________________
RETURN FROM FUNERAL OF ROBERT D. LITTLE
Relatives of Robert D. Little, who died in Petersburg, Va., Saturday morning, returned last night after attending his funeral there. Mr. Little was a former resident of Raleigh and was the son of Mrs. C.M. Little, of 602 W. Morgan Street. He was the brother of Miss Addie Little, Mrs. J.W. Coffey, and Mrs. J. R. Sechrest. For the past 15 years he had made his home in Petersburg.
He was a Spanish-American War veteran, having served in Cuba during the war with Spain, and was a member of the Joseph E. Spottswood Post, Camp No. 14, Department of Virginia, at the time of his death, and was given a military funeral by his post, the body being interred in the National Cemetery near Petersburg, following wishes expressed by him.
[News and Observer (Raleigh, NC), October 3, 1929, 14.]
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