James O. Robinson was one of the sturdy pioneers who, although stricken by the hand of death at the age when he had just passed the prime of manhood, contributed his part in laying the foundation for the future development of this county. His unfinished work as a pioneer was taken up by his faithful wife when his task of life was ended. She now resides in her cozy home at Whitewater and is recognized as one of the pioneer mothers of Butler county.

James O. Robinson was born in Belfast, Ireland, May 18, 1829, and was a son of Robert Robinson, a native of Scotland, who went to Ireland when a young man, where he married an Irish girl and remained in Ireland the balance of his days. James O. Robinson was the youngest of a family of eleven children. When he was fourteen years of age he went to sea, and was a sailor on the Atlantic ocean until he was twenty-five years old, when he came to America. He remained in New York City a short time, when he went to Buffalo. His natural inclination to life on the water soon led him into employment as a sailor on the Great Lakes. His early training and natural ability were readily recognized, and rapid promotion followed. He soon became first mate and later captain, and sailed between Chicago and Buffalo until 1871. In the meantime he and his wife were living in Cook county, Illinois, near Chicago. In 1871 they came to Butler county, Kansas, and homesteaded a quarter section of land in section 34, Milton township, where Mr. Robinson was engaged in farming until his death, December 17, 1886.

On July 17, 1854, James O. Robinson and Miss Harriet Raymond were united in marriage at Chicago, Ill. She was born in Copenhagen Denmark, December 12, 1837, a daughter of John and Louisa Raymond. The Raymond family immigrated to America when Mrs. Robinson was six years old. A short time after landing in New York, they went to Illinois, the father buying eighty acres of school land in Will county, where the parents spent the remainder of their lives. The father died in 1853 and the mother passed away in 1887. To James O. Robinson and wife were born the foliowing children: Emily, married John Miller and resides in Butler county; Elizabeth, married Edward Balter and resides in Texas; Jennie and Robert, twins, the former now being the wife of George Johnson, both residing in Butler county; James, resides in Texas; Mrs. Marha Smith, of Wichita, and Lucinda, who resides with her mother at Whitewater.

Lucinda Robinson is a woman of unusual qualities, and much credit is due her for the part that she has taken in the development of Butler county, and her co-operation with her mother. She is a prominent member of the Rebekah lodge and at present is treasurer of the local organization, also past noble grand. She was a representative of her lodge at the assembly of the grand lodge at Topeka in 1915. She is a capable woman of high business ability. After the death of the father she and her mother practically took charge of the place, under great disadvantages and discouraging conditions.

The life and the lot of the Robinson family in the early days were not unlike the experiences of the average pioneer. When they came here they had very little capital, and their first years were a struggle with crop failures, grasshoppers and all the other obstacles incident to the early years in Kansas, and they were not by any means started on the road to prosperity when the great calamity of the father's death fell

on the family. Undaunted by these discouraging conditions the mother and daughter set to work with brave hearts and a determination to win, and they did. By industry and self-denial they succeeded in paying off the mortgage and prosperty[sic] followed until, by their accumulation, they rank among the well-to-do people of western Butler county. In 1909 the mother and her daughter, Lucinda, removed to Whitewater, where they have a comfortable home and rank among the leading families of Butler county.

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