Page:Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography (1900, volume 5).djvu/313

Rh ROBINSON, John, clergyman, b. in Cabarrus county, N. C., 8 Jan., 1768; d. in Poplar Tent, N". (.'.," Doc., 1843. He received an academic education at Winnsborough, S. C., studied theology, was licensed to preach on 4 April. 1793. and organ- ized several churches in Dupin county, N. C. He accepted the charge of the Presbyterian church at Fuvrtteville in 1800, established a classical school, preached in Poplar Tent in 1801-'o. and then in Fayetteville again till 1818, when he returned to Poplar Tent. The University of North Carolina gave him the degree of D. D. in 1829. He was one of the most popular and persuasive preachers of his faith, and not less eminent as an instructor. He published only a " Eulogy on Washington " (1800).

ROBINSON, John Cleveland, soldier, b. in Binghamton, N. Y., 10 April, 1817; d. there, 18 Feb., 1897. He was appointed to the U. S. mili- tary academy, left before graduation to study law, but returned to military service in October, 1839, when he was commissioned as 3d lieutenant in the 5th U. S. infantry. He joined the army of occu- pation in Texas at Corpus Christi in September, 1845. as regimental and brigade quartermaster, being promoted 1st lieutenant in June. 1846, was at Palo Alto and Resaca de la Palma, served with distinction at Monterey, and participated in the concluding operations of the Mexican war. He was made captain in August, 1850, was engaged against hostile Indians in Texas in 1853-'4, was ordered in 1856 to Florida, where he led expeditions against the Seminoles in the Everglades and Big Cyprus swamp, and in 1857-'8 took part in the Utah expe- dition. At the beginning of the civil war he was in command at Fort McHenry, Baltimore, and pre- vented its capture by the insurgents by means of a successful ruse. Subsequently he was engaged in mustering volunteers at Detroit, Mich., and Colum- bus, Ohio, and in September, 1861, he was appoint- ed colonel of the 1st Michigan volunteers. He was promoted major in the U. S. army in February, 1862, was commissioned as brigadier-general of volunteers on 28 April, 1862, and commanded a brigade at Newport News. He was soon trans- ferred to the Army of the Potomac, and com- manded the 1st brigade of Gen. Philip Kearny's division. He took part in the seven days' battles before Richmond, and commanded a division at Frederieksburg, Chancellorsville, and Gettysburg, where he earned the brevet of lieutenant-colonel, U. S. army, and in the operations at Mine Run and in the battles of the Wilderness, receiving the brevet of colonel for his services there. At Spott- sylvania Court-House, while leading a gallant charge on the enemy's breastworks, he received a bullet in his left knee, necessitating amputation at the thigh. He received the brevet of major-gen- eral of volunteers on 27 June, 1864. He was unfit for further service in the field, and subsequently commanded districts in New York state, being brevetted brigadier- and major-general, U. S. army, in March, 1865, served as military commander and commissioner of the Bureau of freedmen in North Carolina in 1866, was promoted colonel in the regu- lar army in July, 1866, mustered out of the volun- teer service on 1 Sept., 1866, commanded the De- partment of the South in 1867, and the Department of the Lakes in 1867-'8, and on 6 May, 1869, was retired with the full rank of major-general. In 1872 he was elected by the Republicans lieutenant- governor of New York on the ticket with Gov John A. Dix. He was chosen commander-in-ohie: of the Grand army of the republic in 1877 and 1878 and president of "the Society of the Army of tht Potomac in 1887. In his last years he was blind ROBINSON, John M., senator, b. in Ken- tucky in 1793; d. in Ottawa, 111., 27 April, 1843. When a boy he moved with his parents to Carmi, 111., where he afterward resided, engaging in the practice of law. He was chosen to the U. S. sen- ate in place of John McLean, deceased, and served from 4 Jan., 1831, till 3 March, 1841. In the year of his death he was elected one of the supreme court judges of Illinois.

ROBINSON, Lucius, governor of New Ymk, b. in Windham. Greene co., N. Y., 4 Nov., 1810; d. in Eliuira, 21 March, 1891. He sva> educated at Jelhi, N. Y., and was admitted to the bar in 1832. le became district attorney, and was appointed naster of chancery in New York city in 1843 and eappointed in 1845. Leaving the Democratic jarty on the formation of the Republican organi- zation, he was elected a member of the assembly n 1859 and controller of the state in 1861 and 1863. In 1865 he was nominated for the same of- ice by the Democrats, but failed of election. In L871-'2 he was a member of the constitutional com- mission. In 1875 he was elected comptroller by ,he Democrats. He was chosen governor in 1876. tn 1879 he was again nominated by the Demo- crats for the governorship, but was not elected. 3ne of the entrances to the Niagara Falls park is lamnl in his honor.

ROBINSON, Matthew, Baron ROKEBY, b. near Hythe, Kent Co., England, in 1713 : d. 30 Nov., 1800. He was educated at Westminster and Cam- bridge, and elected to parliament from Canterbury in 1747 and 1754. He led a life of primitive sim- plicity, and was an enthusiast for liberty, and the measures for the coercion of the American colonies were especially repugnant to his sense of justice. He succeeded his cousin, Richard Robinson, arch- bishop of Armagh, as Baron Rokeby in the peerage of Ireland on 10 Oct., 1794. He published " Con- siderations on the Measures Carrying on with re- spect to the British Colonies in North America" (2d ed., London, 1774); "Considerations on the British Colonies " (1775) ; "A Further Examina- tion of our American Measures " (1776) ; and Peace the Best Policy " (1777).

ROBINSON, Merritt M., lawyer, b. in Louisi- ana about 1810 ; d. there, 5 June, 1850. He was the reporter of the supreme court of Louisiana from 1841 till 1847. He published a useful "Digest of the Penal Laws of Louisiana, Analytically Ar- ranged" (New Orleans. 1841). His "Reports," comprising sixteen volumes, including four that he edited, were enriched with valuable marginal notes (New Orleans. 1842-7).

ROBINSON, Samuel, soldier, b. in Cambridge, Mass., 4 April, 1707; d. in London, England, 27 Oct., 1767. His father, of the same name, was the third son of William Robinson, one of the early Cambridge colonists, and who. it is said, was a kinsman of Rev. John Robinson, of Leyden, pastor to the pilgrims that came in the " Mayflower." In 1736 Samuel settled in Hardwick, Mass., where he was selectman ten years, assessor three years, and town-clerk four years, and a deacon of the church. From 1755 till 1759 he commanded a company in the French war. On his return to Massachusetts from one of his campaigns, mistaking his route, he p.-issrd by accident through what is now Bennington, Vt., and. impressed by the attractiveness of the country, determined to settle there. He formed a company at Hardwick, purchased the right-; of the original grantees of lands, and. taking a colony with him in 1761, settled Bennington, this being the first town in what is now Vermont. He " was the acknowledged leader in the band of pioneers