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Delaware County, Iowa

 

 Biography Directory

William Robinson

Farmer

Earlville

 

 
    William Robinson resides in Earlville and has been associated with the development of the county both as a farmer and as a skilled artisan, having worked for a number of years as a mason. He was born in England on the 26th of August, 1839, a son of John and Jane Robinson, natives of Nottinghamshire. In 1855 they came to this country and made their way to Delaware county, Iowa, living with their son, George, who owned a farm here. At the end of three years they purchased twenty acres of land in Delhi township and there the father passed away at the age of eighty eight years. In his early life he followed the shoemaker's trade and subsequently learned the mason's trade, at which he worked for a number of years in England. As the result of the explosion of a gun he lost a hand and this incapacitated him for manual work. In his family were four children, one of whom, a daughter, died in England in childhood. George passed away in Cleveland, Ohio, about 1894. William is the next in order of birth. Charles, mentioned elsewhere in this work, is a resident of Delaware county.
     William Robinson began to learn the mason's trade while still residing in England and completed his apprenticeship after coming to this county. He helped to lay the first brick in the erection of the Lenox College building at Hopkinton and also worked upon the first bridge across the river at Manchester. The town was very small at that time and known as Burrington. Mr. Robinson has done a great deal of work in the county along the line of his trade and is also connected with the agricultural development, as he owns a fine farm comprising two hundred and forty acres in Delhi township about two and one half miles from Earlville. He rents his land to his son and lives in Earlville, but derives a material addition to his income from his farm.
     On the 17th of March, 1859, Mr. Robinson was married to Miss Jane Pym and six of the eleven children born to them survive, namely: Mary, who is the wife of George Morris, of Delhi township; Anna, who married Alexander Young, of Delhi township; Charles, residing on the homestead in Delhi township; Nellie, who lives in Earlville; Addie, who married Frank Loomis and resides in Earlville; and Elizabeth, at home. The wife and mother was called to her reward on the 3d of April, 1885, and Mr. Robinson subsequently remarried, Miss Sarah Swinburne becoming his wife on the 27th of October, 1887. Her parents, John and Sarah (Burley) Swinburne, are mentioned at greater length in the sketch of J. W. Swinburne, which appears elsewhere in this work.
     Both Mr. and Mrs. Robinson are members of the Methodist Episcopal church of Earlville and their lives are consistent with their religious profession. He is a republican in his political belief and is loyal in his support of the principles of that party. He has resided in Delaware county for almost six decades and it is a matter of much gratification to him that he has had a part in the development of the county as well as shared in its prosperity. 
 

 

~ source: History of Delaware County, Iowa and its People, Illustrated, Volume II. The S. J. Clarke Publishing Company, 1914, Chicago. Page 332-333.  Call Number 977.7385 H2m; LDS microfilm #934937.

~transcribed and contributed by Constance Diamond for Delaware County IAGenWeb

 

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