William J. Robinson Biography


	This biography appears on pages 1168-1169 in "History of South 
	Dakota" by Doane Robinson, Vol. II (1904) and was scanned, 
	OCRed and edited by Maurice Krueger, mkrueger@iw.net.

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	WILLIAM J. ROBINSON.—No better index of the material prosperity 
and general status of any community can be found than in its newspaper 
press, and in this respect South Dakota is favored in having ably 
conducted and progressive papers in its various cities and towns, the 
subject of this review being the editor and publisher of the Avon 
Clarion, at Avon, Bon Homme county, and having made his enterprise one 
of successful order as representative of the interests of the attractive 
town and its surrounding country. He is a thorough newspaper man and the 
Clarion maintains a high standard of excellence from both an editorial 
and mechanical standpoint, being a five-column quarto and being issued 
on Thursday of each week. 

	Mr. Robinson was born in Delaware county, Iowa, on the 14th of 
November, 1854, being a son of James and Mary A. (Gregg) Robinson, of 
whose twelve children he is the eldest of the nine surviving, a brief 
record concerning the others being here incorporated: Margaret is the 
wife of Christy Bleakly, of Galva, Iowa; Dr. Thomas is a practicing 
physician at Gallup, New Mexico; Robert R. is a prominent capitalist and 
promoter of Manchester. Iowa, and served for twelve years as auditor of 
Delaware county, that state; Eliza is the wife of Rev. James P. Perry, a 
clergyman of the Methodist Episcopal church; Alexander has charge of the 
old homestead farm, in Delaware county, Iowa; John B. is a successful 
ranch-man near Oakdale, Nebraska; Henry E. is a member of the Hollister 
Lumber Company, of Manchester, Iowa, and is manager of its yards at 
Elkport, Illinois; and Gregg C. is likewise a member of that company and 
resides in Manchester, Iowa. The parents of the subject were both born 
in the north of Ireland, whence they came to the United States when 
young, their marriage having been solemnized in the city of Pittsburg, 
Pennsylvania, in 1853. Immediately afterward they removed to Delaware 
county, Iowa, becoming pioneer settlers of that state, and there he 
invested his available cash in land, being able to buy only forty acres. 
James Robinson was a man of ability and had received excellent 
educational advantages for his day, having attended school in Pittsburg 
after coming to the United States and having been there reared in the 
home of his uncle, who took much interest in the young man. He had the 
prescience to recognize the possibilities in store for Delaware county 
through its agricultural development, and upon locating in Iowa in the 
early days he was able to secure land for about one dollar and a quarter 
an acre, and after securing his original tract he bent every energy to 
developing his property, investing every dollar which he could spare in 
adding to the area of his landed property and finally becoming the owner 
of ten quarter-sections of the best land to be found in Delaware county, 
and how his faith has been justified needs no further voucher than to 
state that the land is now worth one hundred dollars or more per acre. 
He is now one of the substantial and successful citizens of the county, 
retaining possession of all the land which he has acquired, while he 
still resides on the old homestead farm, being about eighty-five years 
of age and being one of the honored pioneers of the state. He has done 
much to assist his friends in a financial way and has contributed in 
large measure to the development and progress of Delaware county, where 
he is held in the highest confidence and esteem. While he has never 
sought political preferment he has been called upon to serve in the 
various local offices of trust and responsibility. He is a man of strong 
individuality and pronounced views and wields a marked influence in his 
community, while his inflexible integrity has gained to him the respect 
of all who know him. He is a staunch Republican in his political 
proclivities, and both he and his wife are consistent members of the 
Methodist Episcopal church. His ancestors were prominent in the early 
wars in which England was involved, representatives of the family having 
been with Cromwell in the battle of Waterloo, having been members of the 
Enniskillen Dragoons, one of the regiments held in reserve to combat 
Napoleon's life guards, whom they defeated in a fierce conflict. 

	William J. Robinson, the immediate subject of this sketch, was 
reared on the old homestead farm in Iowa, attending school during the 
winter months and assisting in the work of the farm during the summer 
seasons. In the autumn of 1869, when fifteen years of age, he was 
matriculated in the Upper Iowa University at Fayette, Iowa, where he 
continued his studies about five years, being there graduated as a 
member of the class of 1875, and having received from his alma mater the 
degrees of Bachelor and Master of Arts. The year prior to and that 
following his graduation he was employed as a teacher in the University, 
having full charge of the department of mathematics, in which science he 
excelled. After leaving the university he taught in the public schools 
of Iowa until 1889, when he took charge of a small college in Tennessee, 
but he was not pleased with the outlook and retained the incumbency only 
one year, at the expiration of which he came to Bon Homme county, South 
Dakota, and purchased a quarter section of land, in Albion precinct, 
where he was engaged in agricultural pursuits and stock growing until 
19O1, when he sold his property and purchased a quarter section in 
Sanborn county. In the autumn of 1902, he left the ranch and took up his 
abode in Avon, where he purchased the plant and business of the Clarion, 
which newspaper he has since conducted with marked ability and 
discrimination, making it one of the best county papers in the state. 
While residing on his ranch he devoted special attention to the live-
stock industry, leasing large tracts of land from the Indians and 
utilizing the same for the grazing grounds for his cattle. He is a man 
of high intellectuality and much business acumen, and the town of Avon 
is fortunate in having secured his interposition as editor and publisher 
of its local paper. In politics Mr. Robinson gives his allegiance to the 
Republican party, of whose interests his paper proves an effective 
exponent. In the autumn of 1894 he was elected superintendent of schools 
of Bon Homme county, and was returned to this office as his own 
successor in 1896, while in 1902 he was again a candidate for the 
position, but through a technicality several votes cast in his favor 
were thrown out, giving the victory to his opponent, who was elected by 
a majority of only two votes. Fraternally he is identified with Avon 
Tent, No. 66, Knights of the Maccabees. 

	On the 4th of August, 1875, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. 
Robinson to Miss Emma E. Glasner, who was a fellow student at the 
University of Upper Iowa, her home being in Fayette, that state, and of 
this union have been born four sons—William L. and Robert R., who are 
editors and publishers of the Tyndall Tribune, at Tyndall, this county; 
and Leon A. and Earl V., to whom their father will transfer the control 
of the Avon Clarion in the near future. On August 18, 1903, Mr. Robinson 
was appointed postmaster at Avon, which position he still holds.