If there’s a history book for music in Wilmington, then William G. Robertson would at least hold a few notes.
According to an obituary on Robertson in the StarNews from Feb. 11, 1989, he played the organ and was choirmaster at St. James Episcopal Church in downtown Wilmington for nearly 50 years.
The Scotland native, who first moved to the Port City in 1914, routinely visited schools and played the piano for children. Robertson, along with his wife, Ella, were among the founders of the Wilmington Concert Association.
During sunrise Easter services, you’d find Robertson playing accordion in the tower of St. James.
It’s little wonder that, according to Robertson’s daughter-in-law, “they called him the Wilmington music man.”
Robertson, who died at age 98, taught music until the late 1960s. He was a banker at the former Murchinson Bank downtown on Front Street.
“He had a great, great love for people,” said then-Rev. Robert D. Cook of St. James. “He loved to visit with people — talk and tell stories. He would just weave enchanting kinds of tales.”