Robert was the child of Dave and Martha "Kellum" Dennis. Robert married Time Friend McMichael who was the oldest child of James and Jane "Barrett" McMichael.
Robert and Friend were the parents of nine children: Soporhia Jane Dennis Canton, Carrie Mae Dennis Canton, Dewey Dennis, Robert Taft Dennis, Leslie Faye Dennis, James Lawrence Dennis, Leachie Elizabeth Dennis Canton, Francis Bernice Dennis Cook, and Luther Dennis. Dewey and Leslie Faye died in their childhood.
Robert and Friend raised their children on their own 250 acre farm. They grew cotton for the market. They also grew a variety of vegetables and had all kinds of nuts and fruit trees along with a variety of farm animals. Springs were spent going to school, plowing the fields, and planting the crops. Summers were spent harvesting cotton and canning the fruits and vegetables. Fall and winter were spent going to school, making syrup, drying meat, and getting the farm ready for the spring planting.
Robert and Friend raised their children in a Christian home. He was the secretary and a steward of the New Zion M. E. Church. Grandfather James McMichael was a public school teacher and taught school in Pineland, Texas and in the surrounding places. Because Robert Taft did not go to college and stayed at home and worked on the farm, Grandpa Robert gave him 40 extra acres of land. Grandpa Robert died while Luther was a teenager.
Friend also emphasized education to her children. Out of seven children, five received their Bachelor degrees and three received their Masters degrees. Our family lineage now includes a Rhodes Scholar, a doctor, engineers, a computer programmer, accountants, chefs, and interior decorator, teachers, policemen, probationary officers, counselors, truck drivers, a flight attendant, a pilot, laborers and many other areas of work.
