Robison, Milton Porter (1882–1953)

Milton Robison was an American missionary educator, administrator, and evangelist who dedicated much of his career to establishing and developing the education ministry in Africa. He served as the inaugural principal of Helderberg College in South Africa, and later held key positions such as secretary, education secretary, and eventually field secretary for the Southern African Division. During his tenure in the Education department, many of the early Adventist schools in sub-Saharan Africa, which are still operational today, were founded.

Early Life

Milton Robison born in Nebraska, U.S.A., on September 18, 1882.¹ He was the eldest of the six children of James I. Robison (1854-1901) and Jennie Agnes Robison née Bollman (1863-1957). When he was nine, his parents moved to Southern California where he lived until he left home to attend the Healdsburg Academy, located in Healdsburg, northern Sonoma County, California. The institution was one of the earliest Adventist institutions established in 1882 through the effort of Ellen G. White and other church leaders. The academy officially opened on April 11, 1882, and Robison was one of the early students there. The institution is today known as Pacific Union College.²

Employment

In September 1902, Robison completed his education at Healdsburg and sat for the finals for Grade School teaching, which he passed.³ He then entered denominational employment as a church school teacher at Centralia Academy in Southern California.⁴ The next twenty-five years were spent in educational work in the U.S.A. He taught at various schools, among them were Fernando Academy, Pacific Union College, Union College, and Atlantic Union College.⁵

Spion Kop and Helderberg

In 1927, Robison accepted the call to join the staff at Spion Kop College in Ladysmith, Natal, South Africa. A year later, in 1928, Spion Kop College relocated to Helderberg, Somerset West in the Cape. He was the first principal of the new Helderberg College. He came with his family, and his daughter Doris was part of the Class of 1928.⁶

He served at Helderberg for five years, building up the institution literally from scratch. He left in 1933 and was succeeded by G. E. Shankel.

At the Southern Africa Division

In 1933, he moved to the Southern Africa Division as the departmental secretary for Education.⁷ He was also placed in charge of the Young People’s Missionary Volunteers for the Division. His brother James I. Robison also worked at the Division and was in charge of Religious Liberty.⁸ In 1934, he was elevated to the position of secretary for the Division. He now joined the executive leadership of the Southern Africa Division under president J. F. Wright.⁹ The Division at that time was based at Clairmont just outside Cape Town.

In 1936, his brother, J. I. Robison, became the secretary of the Northern European Division. This meant that two brothers were holding the same positions, but in two different Divisions.¹⁰ Interestingly, they were also in charge of the Education dockets in their respective divisions. Robison worked to deepen the work of the Missionary Volunteers program, promoting it in many churches and schools across the Division. He also conducted numerous investiture ceremonies after the MVs had completed their training. In December 1937, he was appointed the assistant editor for the Southern Africa Division Outlook, producing this bi-monthly magazine. Mrs. F. Visser Jr. became the editor. Their first issue was released on December 15, 1937. He would remain in that position until 1946.

Later that month, on December 28, Elder Robison accompanied Elder G. A. Ellingworth to the Congo Union in the northern reaches of the Southern Africa Division.¹¹ He remained there, conducting Division business until the end of March 1938. During that trip, veteran missionary Elder W. H. Anderson also travelled to inspect the missions in East Africa under the invitation of the Central European Division (which was responsible for the work in Tanganyika).¹²

When he returned, he continued to carry out the work in South Africa until July 1938 when he was again on the road, this time to Nyasaland (now Malawi) for another three months.¹³ Part of his itinerary included ministering at various campmeetings, and he conducted two teachers’ institutes at Malamulo and Mwami missions.¹⁴

In March 1939, Robison was on the road again, this time to the Angola Union Mission together with veteran missionary Elder W. H. Anderson. Led by C. W. Curtis, the Adventist Church in Angola was rapidly growing, and by 1939, they had nearly 1800 adherents in 16 organized churches and five Mission stations.¹⁵ They held a series of campmeetings across the mission stations there. Robison returned to South Africa only briefly, and in July, he left for Barotseland (now part of Zambia) in the upper Zambezi Valley. Together with Elder Cadwallader, Robison spent two months in that area inspecting schools, helping with campmeetings, and conducting a teachers’ institute at the Liumba Hill Mission. They conducted campmeetings at Luiwanyao, Nasalimwe, Tapo, Liumba Hill, and Katima Mulilo, with a Sabbath meeting at Sitoti. Despite the cold weather, the meetings were well attended.¹⁶

At the outbreak of World War II, Robison reported about the Polish and Finnish Adventists who had been severely affected by the German occupation. Some had been executed while others were forced to flee to Romania.¹⁷ The War would keep Elder Robison in South Africa for the months that followed, leaving only in November 1940 to return to the Congo Union, where he conducted some campmeetings. He travelled to the Congo Union Mission, together with Elder W. R. Vail, who at that time, was the education secretary for the Congo Union Mission. They were hosted at the Bikobo Hill Mission station by veteran missionary S. J. Fourie.¹⁸ They held their first campmeeting at Bikobo Hill and later at the Buganda Mission (now part of Burundi). The attendance was great, and about 68 people were baptized after the campmeetings. Elder Vail officiated a wedding in which 11 couples were united in marriage.¹⁹ They also took time to hold an education council at Gitwe Mission (now in Rwanda) and also held meetings at Rwankeri, Ngoma, and Ndora.²⁰

Changes at the Division

In 1941, Division President Pastor J. F. Wright was called to serve at the General Conference in the United States. Elder Neal C. Wilson was appointed Division president. Early in 1942, Wilson departed for the United States to attend the Spring Council of the General Conference. He left Robison in charge of the Division. Wilson was, however, unable to secure his passage to return to Africa due to the disruption of commercial shipping from ongoing War.

In April 1942, The General Conference Committee at the Spring Council elected Elder C. W. Bozarth as president of the Southern African Division, replacing Wilson.²¹ Wilson became the shortest-serving Southern Africa division president, although he would become the General Conference president between 1979 and 1990.

The Spring Council also appointed I. H. Harrison as treasurer and auditor.²² After these changes, Robison relinquished his position in the Education docket, which went to his successor at Helderberg, Professor G. E. Shankel. He remained Division secretary. Bozarth served until 1952.²³ Shankel meanwhile left for Washington, where he joined the faculty at Walla Walla College, where he taught history.²⁴ This caused Robison to serve in the Education docket again. Meanwhile, he doubled up as the assistant editor at the Southern Africa Division Outlook.²⁵ He would hold this position for several years.

In 1943, Robison travelled extensively in various stations, holding campmeetings at the Solusi Mission in Bulawayo before proceeding to Angola, where he visited the Luz Mission, the Lucusse Mission, Namba, Bongo, and also held meetings at Cuale and also at Nova Lisboa (present-day Huambo) in west-central Angola.²⁶

In 1946, F. G. Clifford took over from Robison as secretary and also took over from him as associate editor at the Outlook. Robison was then appointed the field secretary at the Division.²⁷ In 1947, while still serving as field secretary, he returned to Helderberg, serving as acting principal while W. E. McClure was away on furlough. He remained in that position for two years before returning to the Division, where he continued as field secretary.

Family

On April 25, 1906, Robison married Lillie Fay Goode in Glendale, Los Angeles, California. Lillie was born in February 1882 in California.²⁸ She was the eldest of the five children of Edgar Douglas Goode (1858-1935) and Alletia E. Suttle (1861-1937).²⁹ They were married on April 25, 1906, at Glendale, Los Angeles, California.³⁰ They were blessed with two daughters: Doris Catherine (later Mrs. Robert Buckley) and Esther Jeanette (later Mrs. Elffers). Lillie Fay was his faithful companion in his mission forays. She died suddenly on May 3, 1945, and was laid to rest at Clairmont.³¹ On February 20, 1949, Robison married Mrs. Anna Sophia Bergesen.³² Bergesen was a widow who had a son living in Johannesburg.

Death

On January 27, 1953, the Robison’s returned from furlough in the United States, and he resumed his duties as field secretary at the Division. Just three weeks after returning, on Sunday evening on February 22, Elder Robison died suddenly at his home in Claremont, Cape. He was survived by his aged mother (who passed away in 1957) and his wife of four years, Anna Sophia, together with his daughters, Mrs. Doris Catherine Buckley, who at that time was based at the Emmanuel Mission, Basutoland (now Lesotho), and Mrs. Jeannette Elffers of Wynberg, Cape, and their families. There was also a stepson, Mr. L. Bergesen and his wife and son, who were based in Johannesburg. He was also survived by his younger brother, Pastor James. I. Robison (1888-1961), who, at that time, served at the General Conference in the United States. James had served for many years at the Southern Africa Division in various departments. He had other surviving siblings residing in California.

Robison’s funeral service was held in the Claremont Church in Cape Town on February 25, 1953. Hundreds of young people, who had been his former students, and colleagues were in attendance. The service was conducted by Pastor E. W. Marter assisted by pastors C. S. Pike and E. A. Moon. Pastor Marter, whom Robison had ordained at Helderberg Church in 1940, accompanied the funeral procession and was also in charge of the service at the Helderberg Cemetery. Pastor Marter was assisted by pastors W. E. McClure (principal at Helderberg), F. H. Thomas (veteran Kenya missionary), S. S. Hiten, and A. P. Tarr.³³ The Division President R. S. Watts, together with Secretary F. G. Clifford and Treasurer E. A. Moon, were in attendance.

Legacy

Robison gave 26 years of his life to missionary service in Africa, significantly enhancing Christian educational efforts on a continent that was grappling with the challenges of colonial rule. During this time, he oversaw the remarkable growth of church schools, which often served as the initial introduction to the Adventist faith for many individuals. He served in the Southern Africa Division, which gave him oversight over the vast reaches of sub-Saharan Africa, with him traveling to nearly all the countries covered by the Division. He journeyed to the modern nations of Lesotho, Eswatini, Mozambique, Angola, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Malawi, Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda, Congo, Rwanda, Burundi, and also South Africa, where he lived and died.

Writing in The Outlook in 1934, Robison said:

Do you realise that Education is the basic element in all true uplift work? The medical work; the evangelistic work; the school work; these must all be educational or they will not long succeed. The entire mission programme is an aggressive educational project, and it is proving a great blessing to many peoples in different- lands.³⁴

Such was his passion for education that he saw as foundational to the Gospel mission across Africa.

Milton Robison will be remembered as a compassionate and influential mentor who played a crucial role in the lives of many at Helderberg. Writing in The Southern Africa Division Outlook in 1942, Elder C. W. Bozarth, then president of the Southern Africa Division, said of Elder Robison: “At Helderberg, two men have led out. The first, Milton Robison, an understanding man, will long be respected and remembered as a Christian friend by many a youth he helped to “come to himself,” as well as by many another whom he prevented from “losing himself.”’³⁵ The other there was Professor G. E. Shankel who took over from Robison at Helderberg.

Sources

Ballenger, E. S. “Report of Church Schools of Southern California for Month Ending February 26, 1904.” Pacific Union Recorder, March 24, 1904.

Bozarth, C. W. “Fifty Years of Christian Education.” Southern Africa Division Outlook, October 15, 1942.

Dick, E. D. “Our Sons and Daughters in Service.” Southern Africa Division Outlook, January 1, 1932.

Familysearch.org. accessed July 20, 2024. https://www.familysearch.org/tree/person/details/LWW2-181.

Moon, E. A. “Until The Day Break.” Southern Africa Division Outlook, March 15, 1953.

Osborne, J. S. “The Summer School at Healdsburg.” Pacific Union Recorder, October 23, 1902.

Robison, Milton. “Bikobo Hill and Buganda Camp-meetings.” Southern Africa Division Outlook, November 15, 1940.

Robison, Milton. “Camp-meeting Visits.” The Southern Africa Division Outlook, November 1, 1943.

Robison, Milton. “C. W. Bozarth Division President.” Southern Africa Division Outlook, May 1, 1942.

Robison, Milton. “News Concerning Fellow-Believers in Poland and Finland.” Southern Africa Division Outlook, March 15, 1940.

Robison, Milton. “The Message Onward in Barotseland.” Southern Africa Division Outlook, July 15, 1939.

Robison, M. P. “On Behalf of Education.” Southern Africa Division Outlook, July 1, 1934.

Seventh-day Adventist Encyclopedia. Second revised edition. Hagerstown, MD: Review and Herald Publishing Association, 1996. S.v. “General Conference.” S.v. “Pacific Union College.”

Seventh-day Adventist Yearbook. Various years. https://www.adventistyearbook.org/.

Visser, Mrs. F. “News Notes.” Southern Africa Division Outlook, January 15, 1938.

Visser, Jr., Mrs. F. “General News Notes.” Southern Africa Division Outlook, August 1, 1938.

Visser, Jr., Mrs. F. The Southern Africa Division Outlook, January 15, 1946.

Notes

1. E. A. Moon, “Until the Day Break,” Southern Africa Division Outlook, March 15, 1953, 4.↩

2. Seventh-day Adventist Encyclopedia (1996), s.v. “Pacific Union College.”↩

3. J. S. Osborne, “The Summer School at Healdsburg,” Pacific Union Recorder, October 23, 1902, 9.↩

4. E. S. Ballenger, “Report of Church Schools of Southern California for Month Ending February 26, 1904,” Pacific Union Recorder, March 24, 1904, 10.↩

5. Moon, 4.↩

6. E. D. Dick, “Our Sons and Daughters in Service,” Southern Africa Division Outlook, January 1, 1932, 4-5.↩

7. “Southern Africa Division,” Seventh-day Adventist Yearbook, 1933, 12.↩

8. Ibid.↩

9. “Southern Africa Division,” Seventh-day Adventist Yearbook, 1935, 179.↩

10. “Northern European Division,” Seventh-day Adventist Yearbook, 1937, 11.↩

11. Mrs. F. Visser, “News Notes,” Southern Africa Division Outlook, January 15, 1938, 7.↩

12. Ibid.↩

13. Mrs. F. Visser Jr., “General News Notes,” Southern Africa Division Outlook, August 1, 1938, 8.↩

14. Ibid.↩

15. “Angola Union Mission,” Seventh-day Adventist Yearbook, 1939, 192.↩

16. Milton Robison, “The Message Onward in Barotseland,” Southern Africa Division Outlook, July 15, 1939, 3.↩

17. Milton Robison, “News Concerning Fellow-Believers in Poland and Finland,” Southern Africa Division Outlook, March 15, 1940, 3.↩

18. Milton Robison, “Bikobo Hill and Buganda Camp-meetings,” Southern Africa Division Outlook, November 15, 1940, 3.↩

19. Ibid.↩

20. Ibid.↩

21. Milton Robison, “C. W. Bozarth Division President,” Southern Africa Division Outlook, May 1, 1942, 1.↩

22. Ibid.↩

23. Seventh-day Adventist Encyclopedia (1996), s.v. “General Conference.”↩

24. “Walla Walla College,” Seventh-day Adventist Yearbook, 1945, 254.↩

25. Mrs. F. Visser, Jr., The Southern Africa Division Outlook, January 15, 1946, 4.↩

26. Milton Robison, “Camp-meeting Visits,” The Southern Africa Division Outlook, November 1, 1943, 4.↩

27. “Southern African,” Seventh-day Adventist Yearbook, 1947, 9.↩

28. https://www.familysearch.org/tree/person/details/LWW2-181, accessed July 20, 2024.↩

29. Ibid.↩

30. Ibid.↩

31. Moon, 4.↩

32. Ibid.↩

33. Ibid.↩

34. M. P. Robison, “On Behalf of Education,” Southern Africa Division Outlook, July 1, 1934, 1.↩

35. C. W. Bozarth, “Fifty Years of Christian Education,” Southern Africa Division Outlook, October 15, 1942, 1.↩