Page:Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography (1900, volume 5).djvu/312

286 1834 : d. in Chicopee. 27 Feb.. 1896. He was gradu- ated at Harvard, was principal of a high-school for nine years, studied law with his brother Charles, and was admitted to the bar in 1866. He practised at Chicopee, was elected to the legislature in 1874, en- tered the state senate in l s ?i>. and later in the same year was elected to congress as a Republican, tak- ing his seat on 15 Oct., 1877. He was thrice re- elected, and resigned his seat in 1883, having been elected governor. In 1884 and 1885 he was re- elected, serving till ihr close of 1886.

ROBINSON, Horatio Nelson, mathematician. b. in Hartwick. Otsego co., N. Y., 1 Jan., 1806; d. in Elbridge, X. V.. 1U Jan.. 1S67. He received only a common-school education, but early evinced a genius for mathematics, making the calculations for an almanac at the age of sixteen. A wealthy neighbor gave him the means to study at Prince- ton, M ml at the age of nineteen he was appointed an instructor of mathematics in the navy, which post he retained for ten years. He then taught an academy at Canandaigua, and afterward one at (ic'in-M'e. X. Y.. until in 1844 he gave up teaching because his health was impaired, and removed to Cincinnati, Ohio. There he prepared the first of a scries of elementary mathematical text-1 ks. Inch have been adopted in many of the academies and colleges of the United States. In revising and completing the series he had the assistance of other mathematicians and educators. He removed to Syracuse. X". Y., in 1850, and to Elbridge in 1*54. His publications include " University Algebra " (Cincinnati, 1847), with a " Key " (1S47)': "Astrono- my, University Edition" (1849); "Geometry and Trigonometry " (1850); "Treatise on Astronomy" (Albany, 1850); "Mathematical Recreations" (Al- bany, 1851); "Concise Mathematical Operations" (Cincinnati, 1854) ; " Treatise on Surveying and Navigation" (1857), which, in its revised form, was edited by Oren Root (New York, 1863) : " Anal 1 1- cal Geometry and Conic Sections" iX'cw York, 1864) ; " Differential and Integral Calculus " (1861), edited by Isaac F. Quinby (1868).

ROBINSON, James Sidney, soldier, b. in Mansfield, Ohio, 14 Oct., 1827; d. in Toledo, 14 Jtin., 1892. He learned the printer's trade, and es- tablished the Kenton "Republican." which he edit- ed for eighteen years. In 1856 he was secretary of the first convention of the Republican party that was held in Ohio. He was for two sessions clerk of the state house of representatives. At the begin- ning of the civil war he enlisted in the 4th Ohio regiment, and was soon made a captain. He took part in the operations at Rich Mountain, Va., was promoted major in October. 1861, served under Gen. John C. Fremont in the Shenandoah valley, and became lieutenant-colonel in April, and colonel in August. 1862. He was engaged at the second bat- tle of Bull Run. and at Cedar Mountain and C'han- cellorsville. and was severely wounded at Gettys- burg. He commanded a brigade under Gen. Joseph Hooker and Gen. Alpheus S. Williams in the At- lanta campaign and the march to the sea, was com- missioned brigadier-general of volunteers on 12 Jan., 1865, received the brevet of major-general on 13 March, and was mustered out on 31 Aug. On his return to Ohio he became chairman of the slate Republican committee. In 1879 he was appointed by the governor commissioner of railroads and telegraphs. He was elected to congress for two successive terms, serving from 5 Dec.. 1881. till 12 Jan., 1885, and subsequently held the office of secretary of state of Ohio for four years.

ROBINSON, John, clergyman, b. probably in Lincolnshire, England, in 1575 or 1576 ; d. in Ley- den, Holland, about the beginning of March, 1625. He entered Corpus Christ i. Cambridge, in 1592, was chosen a fellow, and is supposed to have re- ceived the degree of M. A. in 1599. He officiated as a minister of the established church near Nor- wich, but omitted parts of the ritual, having be- come inclined toward Puritan doctrines at the uni- versity, and was soon suspended from his functions. Pie removed to Norwich, where he gathered about him a band of worshippers. In 1604 he formally withdrew from the national church, resigning his fellowship, and connected himself with a body of dissenters in Gainsborough, Lincolnshire, and the adjacent district. He was one of ministers of the congregation at Scrooby. Nottinghamshire. A part of the flock went with the other minister to Holland. Some months later, Robinson and the rest of the congregation determined to emigrate, in order to escape persecution. After being de- tained by the police and enduring various hard- >hips, the entire congregation escaped to Amster- dam, and, after passing nearly a year there, settled in Leyden in the early summer of 1609, where Robinson, with three others, in 1611, purchased a. large house with an enclosed court. The church met for worship in the house, and some of the com- pany seem to have built homes within the court. He was recognized by his opponents as "the most learned, polished, and modest spirit that ever sepa- rated from the Church of England," and in Leyden gained a high reputation by his disputations in de- fence of Calvinism in 1613 with Episcopius, the successor of Arminius. He became also a member of the university in September, 1615. His congre- gation was increased by accessions from England, and when, in 1IJ17, the plan of emigration to Amer- ica was discussed, he took the heartiest interest in the scheme, and was active in promoting negotia- tions with the Virginia company. There was diffi- culty in bringing the matter to' a conclusion, and about the beginning of 1620 he was a party to a proposition to certain Amsterdam merchants to remove to New Amsterdam ; but the states-general declined to further the plan, and Robinson and his company fell back on their original purpose. And when the younger members of the congregation sailed in the "Speedwell" in July, 1620, he took leave of them in a memorable sermon, intending to follow with the others the next year. A part of the remainder of the church departed after his death: as also, in 1631, did his son, Isaac, who has many descendants in the United States. The Ley- den pastor was the author of "An Answer to a Censorious Epistle " (1609) ; " A Justification of Separation from the Church of England against Mr. Bernard's Invective entitled 'The Separatist's Schism '" (1610) ; "Of Religious Communion, Pri- vate and Public" (1614); "A Manumission to a Manuduction" (1615); "The People's Plea for the Exercise of Prophecy" (1618) ; "Apologia jusla et necessaria" (1619). which was translated into Eng- lish in 1625 ; " Defence of the Doctrine propounded by the Synod of Dort " (1624) : " Letter to the ( 'i >n- gregational Church in London" (1624); "Appeal on Truth's Behalf " (1624); " Observations Divine and Moral" (1625); "On the Lawfulness of Hear- ing of the Ministers in the Church of Kngland " (1634) ; and " A Brief Catechism concerning ( 'hnn-h Government." the earliest known edition of which was printed in 1(142. The " Works of John Robin- son, Pastor of the Pilgrim Fathers." have been published, with a memoir and annotations by Rob- ert Ashton, ami an inaccurate account of his de- scendants by William Allen (','> vols., London and Boston, 1851).