Felix Robertson was born on January 11, 1781, at the fort Freeland's Station, which was later commemorated as a neighborhood of Nashville.

[1][2] He was born to General James Robertson and his wife Charlotte Reeves, who had arrived with the first large group of settlers in Middle Tennessee.

[3][5] Robertson studied medicine under the direction of Benjamin Rush at the University of Pennsylvania, where he received his M.D.

[1][3][5][2] His tombstone is inscribed with the epitaph "First white child born in settlement now called Nashville; Distinguished as a physician; Foremost as citizen.

[9] His portrait, painted by Washington Bogart Cooper in July 1839, hangs in the Tennessee State Museum in Nashville.