“Here come the in-laws,” is a phrase that can be heard throughout all summer resorts as house guests come and go. The same applied to the Quaker Tom Robinson House on Washington Street when Benjamin R. Smith hosted numerous family members visiting from Philadelphia. The matriarch of the family was Deborah Fisher Wharton (1795- 1888), who had 10 children and 34 grandchildren, many of whom lived in Newport and built summer cottages in Jamestown. This photograph was taken ca. 1884 at the porch of the Robinson House showing Deborah Wharton, seated on the Edward Wanton family chair, surrounded by family. She died at the Robinson House 125 years ago this week on 16 August 1888.
