By Davy Crockett

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On April 24, 1897, ultrarunning/pedestrian champion Alice Robison was running in second place on the last day of a three-day race held at the Fifth Street Rink in East Liverpool, Ohio, with five runners. She was very intent on catching her long-time friend who was a few laps ahead of her. Needing a rest, she retired to her room provided at the Hotel Grand next door.

That afternoon, a man came into town on a train from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The mustached man wore a new suit with a price tag still attached, and a white hat with a black band. He went to the hotel and inquired where Alice was staying. He ascended the stairs and went to the third-story room. Shortly after, a gunshot was heard! The porter of the hotel rushed into the room and found the woman on the floor bleeding from a gunshot wound in her head and saw the man leaning over her, holding a revolver.  How could this happen, an ultrarunner was murdered during a race!

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Jones family in 1870 census

Alice Robison’s true name was Agnes Jane Jones (1860-1897). She was from Pittsburgh Pennsylvania, the oldest of eleven children, a daughter of a coal miner. She married very young to James Waters, a coal miner, had three children, and later divorced. In 1882, at the age of 22, she next married again to Zachariah S. Robison (1851-1906).

Robison family in 1880 census with first wife

Alice was Zachariah’s second wife. His first wife, Martha Alexandria (1854-1881) from Kentucky, died in 1881 at the youthful age of 27, leaving behind four children who had gone to live with their Robison grandparents. Alice eventually took on the role of mother and stepmother to all these seven children ages 3-12, and then had two more of her own, Robert (1883-) and Georgia (1886-) for nine children in the home on a small farm.

Zachariah Robison

Beallsville, Pennsylvania, where Robisons lived

Alice's new husband, Zachariah Robison, was born in 1851. His Robison ancestors came from Ireland and settled in Beallsville, Pennsylvania, about 30 miles south of Pittsburgh, where his father was a cabinet maker. Of Zachariah it was said, “from the time he was 5-6 years old, he was puny and sickly and frequently had epileptic fits.” When his mother Susan Robison (1831-1906) would discipline him, he would fall to the floor in convulsions and remain unconscious.

Once married to Alice in 1883, the Robison family moved around to various places in the west suburbs of Pittsburgh across the Ohio River. Alice became the boss of the family and was in control of all the family finances, including property in Crofton, Pennsylvania rumored to be worth $10,000. She worked hard as a washerwoman and house cleaner. Both Zachariah and Alice had drinking problems and would get drunk causing difficulties in the family. The oldest son David S. Robison (1871-1931), when age 15 in 1886, did not like the manner of life led by his father and stepmother Alice, so he left home and learned the trade of a tailor.

Becoming a Professional Boxer

In 1887, Alice started to take boxing lessons.  She was very strong and weighed about 165 pounds. A newspaper article revealed her motivation for learning how to fight. She was in serious conflict with Hattie Stewart, a boxing champion who her first husband had become infatuated with years earlier. Alice wanted to fight her in some sort of dual. Zachariah was even trying to put up a $1,000 bet that she would win the fight. An editorial stated, "We have no concern whatever as to which woman comes off victorious, but if some fellow would just wallup Robison until he couldn't see straight for a month, we should experience a restful pleasure."

Zachariah also took lessons and the two would box each other.