Frances Elizabeth Robie (maiden name: Freeman) was born on November 11, 1838, in Fairlee, Vermont, to Benjamin Freeman and Dyantha Davis. Her father was a farmer who owned $1,600 in real estate and $375 in personal property in 1860. She married Nathaniel Robie in Fairlee on December 31, 1860. He enlisted in the Union army in 1861, and he died on December 6, 1864. Their daughter, Sarah Dyantha Robie, was born on January 25, 1865.
She secured a widow’s pension soon afterward. By 1870, she was living in Bradford, Vermont, and she owned $1,300 in personal property. She lived with her daughter for the rest of her life. The government gradually increased her pension amount, and by the early 1920s, she was receiving $30 per month. She died on May 23, 1923, in Bradford, Vermont.