M. Gaylord Robinson, ex-mayor of Iola, Kan., was born at Peoria, Ill., Nov. 21, 1841. His father, George Robinson, was born in 1794, and died in 1872; he was a farmer by occupation and married Maria Gaylord, a native of Connecticut, who died in 1873.

M. Gaylord Robinson was reared in his native state and attended school at Galva, Ill., until he enlisted in the army, at Peoria, on Aug. 11, 1862. He was assigned to Company G, Seventy-seventh Illinois infantry; Capt. John D. Rouse and Col. D. P. Greer commanding. The regiment formed part of the Thirteenth army corps, was with the army of the Tennessee until the surrender of Vicksburg, when it was transferred to the Department of the Gulf. Mr. Robinson's regiment was a part of the division that first crossed the Mississippi river, when Grant's army moved to the rear of Vicksburg. His first battle was Arkansas Post; then followed Port Gibson and several other bloody engagements, leading up to the capture of Vicksburg. Late in the summer of 1863 the Seventy-seventh Illinois went to Matagorda Bay, Tex., but returned in time to take part in the Banks' expedition at the battle of the Sabine Crossroads. During the campaign Mr. Robinson was taken prisoner and confined in the Confederate military stockade at Thayer, Tex., until the close of the war. In May, 1865, he was turned over to the Federal military authorities and mustered out of the service July 6, 1865. Mr. Robinson returned to his home in Illinois and engaged with his brother in the manufacture of wagons. Like so many young men of that day, he was imbued with the spirit of the West, which caused him to seek the frontier to start in life, and in the spring of 1870 came to Kansas. He arrived at Iola, March 1, and has continued to reside there since that time. There were few manufactories in Kansas in the early '70s, and Mr. Robinson at once began to manufacture carriages and wagons, one of the first industries of this kind in the state. He remained in this business for years and now owns and runs a large repair shop. Mr. Robinson is a Democrat; has always taken an interest in questions pertaining to the welfare of his adopted city, and served on the school board for over nine years, three years as its president. In 1907 he was elected mayor of Iola on the Democratic ticket; was reëlected April 1, 1910, under the commission form of government, serving as the city's chief executive until the expiration of his term. He is a member of Lodge No. 38, Free and Accepted Masons, is a Knight Templar and a member of the Modern Woodmen of America.

On March 1, 1876, Mr. Robinson married Elnora, the daughter of Richard and Elizabeth Proctor, of Iola, and they have two children: Agnes, the wife of John Thompson, and Theodore P.