Marshall County KS Archives Biographies.....Robinson, Neil 1858 - 
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Author: Emma E. Forter (1917)

NEIL ROBINSON.

    Among the native sons of Canada who have come to the United States, where
they have met with success as general farmers and stockmen, is Neil Robinson, of
Blue Rapids City township, Marshall county. He was born at Peterborough,
Ontario, on February 24, 1858, and is the son of John and Elizabeth (Neely)
Robinson.

    John and Elizabeth Robinson were natives of Yorkshire, England, and Ontario,
Canada. Mr. Robinson came to Canada with his parents when he was but two years
of age in 1814. There he received his education in the schools of his adopted
country, and there he grew to manhood and married; As a young man he engaged in
farming, which work he followed until his death in 1872. Six years after the
death of her husband Mrs. Robinson and her children came to the United States
and located in Center township, Marshall county, where she died in 1896 at the
age of sixty-six years. Mr. and Mrs. Robinson were held in high regard, and were
active members of the Methodist Episcopal church, always taking much interest in
religious work. They were the parents of nine children, one of whom is now
deceased, and Neil is the eldest of the family.

    Neil Robinson was educated in the schools of Canada, where he lived until he
was twenty, when with his mother and the other children of the family he came to
Marshall county, where he has since resided. His father had some time before his
death purchased three hundred and sixty acres of land in Center township, and it
was there that the family first settled. The place was undeveloped and without
improvements of any kind. Here Neil, with the assistance of his mother and the
other members of the family, erected a house, sixteen by twenty-four feet, in
which they lived for a number of years. Other improvements were made and they
were soon engaged at the task of putting the place under cultivation. In the
spring of 1878, Mr. Robinson succeeded in breaking sixty acres of the prairie
tract, preparatory to the planting of their crops. He remained on the home
place, where he assisted with the many duties on the farm, until 1886, at which
time he rented a farm in Elm Creek township and began farming for himself. In
1913 he purchased his present farm of three hundred and twenty acres, one of the
best farms in the township and nicely improved with a splendid house and
excellent barn. He has lately built a fine garage for the housing of his
automobile.

    Mr. Robinson is a most successful farmer and a breeder of high-class race
horses. He has exhibited his horses at many of the fairs throughout Kansas and
Nebraska and has taken part in several successful races. He is a great admirer
of good horses, and was interested in racing while living in Canada. He is one
of the best judges of horses in this section of the state, and the animals on
his farm receive the utmost care and attention. In addition to his horses he
also has high-grade cattle and hogs. He believes in the thorough cultivation of
the soil and his fine farm is an evidence of work in that direction. He is a man
who has the confidence and respect of his home people, and in 1900 he was
elected as trustee of Elm Creek township and held the position for two years,
after which he moved to Blue Rapids City township, where in 1916, he was elected
trustee of that township. His influence throughout the county was demonstrated
in the spring of 1916, when he organized the County Fair Association. He made a
canvass of the county and sold shares of stock to nearly every prominent man who
was interviewed. Today the organization is one of the features of the county,
with Mr. Robinson as its president. As an organizer and an executive he has few
equals and much of the success of the new association is due to his untiring
efforts and ability, as well as his faith in the county to have a good fair. He
is a member of the Modern Woodmen and is one of their active members.

    On November 17, 1887, Neil Robinson was united in marriage to Edith Brown,
the daughter of Rev. George and Emma (Popplestone) Brown. Edith Brown was born
at Elmira, New York, April 3, 1869. Her parents were natives of England, the
father having been born in that country in 1844 and died in January, 1913; the
mother, who was born in 1840, is now living at Wamego, Kansas. They received
their education in the schools of their native country and there they grew to
maturity and resided until 1866, when they came to the United States. The
father, as a young man entered the ministry and became a well-known Baptist
divine. On coming to the United States he located at Elmira, New York. In 1881
he came to Kansas and located at Blue Rapids. He preached in many different
towns of Kansas and Iowa, his last pastorate being Clay Center, Kansas. He died
in Wamego, Kansas, January 11, 1913.

    Edith (Brown) Robinson attended the schools of Blue Rapids and specialized
in music, also taking a course in New York. After completing her education, she
was a successful teacher of music. She is a woman of rare attainments and
greatly admired by her friends and acquaintances throughout the county. Mr. and
Mrs. Robinson are the parents of five children, Earl, Nellie, Russell, Fay and
Ila, all of whom are at home with the exception of Nellie, who is the wife of
Carl Andrews. The family are prominent in the social and the religious life of
the community and are among the well-known people of the county.


Additional Comments:
Extracted from:

History of Marshall County, Kansas: its people, industries, and institutions
by
Emma E. Forter

Indianapolis, Ind.: B.F. Bowen & Co. (1917)


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