Robert Samuel Mackinnon was born in 1922 on Prince Edward Island. He lived in the Cross Roads area where he worked as a dairy farmer like his father. He was the son of a well known Prince Edward Island midwife, Lettie Mackinnon. Lettie set up a birthing home in her own house, where she also operated the local switchboard for Island Tel.
Robert died at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital on June 19th,1999 at the age of 77. He was the husband of Queenie Mackinnon, the father of two children, and grandfather of one.