Moses Robinson

Moses Robinson
2nd Governor of Vermont Republic
In office 1789–1790
Lieutenant	Joseph Marsh
Preceded by	Thomas Chittenden
Succeeded by	Thomas Chittenden
United States Senator from Vermont
In office 1791–1796
Preceded by	None
Succeeded by	Isaac Tichenor
Personal details
Born	(1741-03-22)March 22, 1741 Hardwick, Massachusetts
Died	May 26, 1813(1813-05-26) (aged 72) Bennington, Vermont
Citizenship	United States
Political party	Anti-Administration Democratic-Republican
Spouse(s)	Mary Fay (1st) Susannah Howe (2nd)
Alma mater	Dartmouth College
Profession	Politician, Lawyer

Moses Robinson (March 22, 1741 – May 26, 1813) was a prominent Vermont political figure who served as governor during the Vermont Republic, and helped steward Vermont's transition to U.S. statehood.

Biography

Robinson was born in Hardwick, Massachusetts where he spent his childhood. As a young man he attended Dartmouth College^[1] in New Hampshire and pursued classical studies. In 1761 he moved with his family to Bennington, in what would later become Vermont. He soon became an important citizen of Bennington, serving as town clerk from 1762 to 1781. Meanwhile, he studied law and became active in the American independence movement, serving as a colonel in the Vermont militia during the early parts of the American Revolutionary War.^[2] He married Mary Fay, daughter of Stephen Fay, a leader of Green Mountain Boys. They had six sons, Moses, Aaron, Samuel, Nathan, Elijah, and Fay.^[3] His second wife, after Mary's death, was Susanah Howe.

Career

In 1778, when the government of Vermont was erected after Vermont had become an independent republic in 1777, Robinson became a member of the governor's council and the chief justice of the Vermont Supreme Court.^[4] In 1782 he was sent to the Continental Congress as a state agent to attempt to solve the dispute with New York, whose government at that time claimed that all of Vermont by by rights a part of New York.^[5] He served on the government council until 1785 and as chief justice until 1789, when he became governor of Vermont, replacing Thomas Chittenden. Robinson served as governor until 1790 shortly before Vermont was admitted as a state to the United States.

Robinson was then elected by the Vermont General Assembly to one of Vermont's two United States Senate seats. He served in the Senate for one term, from October 17, 1791 to October 15, 1796, when he resigned.^[6] He became associated with the anti-administration faction and, later in his term, with the beginnings of the Democratic-Republican Party of Thomas Jefferson. After his retirement from the Senate, Robinson moved back to Bennington and practiced law. He served in the Vermont House of Representatives in 1802.

Death

Robinson died in Bennington, and is interred at the Old Bennington Cemetery, Bennington, Bennington County, Vermont.^[7] He is well known for receiving a letter from Thomas Jefferson in 1801 in which Jefferson said that if Christianity were simplified, it would be a religion friendly to liberty. Robinson was the older brother of Jonathan Robinson, who was also prominent in Vermont's political history.^[8]

References

Further reading

• Allen, Ira (1969) [1798]. The natural and political history of the State of Vermont, one of the United States of America. Charles E. Tuttle Company. ISBN 0-8048-0419-2. 
• Doyle, William T. "The Vermont Political Tradition and Those Who Helped Make It." Doyle Publisher: 1987. ISBN 0-9615486-1-4.
• Duffy, John J., et al. Vermont: An Illustrated History. American Historical Press: 2000. ISBN 1-892724-08-1.
• Potash, P. Jeffrey, et al. Freedom and Unity: A History of Vermont. Vermont Historical Society: 2004. ISBN 0-934720-49-5.
• Van de Water, Frederic Franklyn (1974). The Reluctant Republic: Vermont 1724–1791. The Countryman Press. ISBN 0-914378-02-3. 

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Moses Robinson.

• Moses Robinson at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
• Find A Grave
• The Political Graveyard
• National Governors Association
• Govtrack.us

United States Senators from Vermont Class 1 M. Robinson Tichenor Chipman Smith J. Robinson Tichenor Seymour Swift Phelps Foot Edmunds Proctor Stewart Page Greene Partridge Austin Flanders Prouty Stafford Jeffords Sanders Class 3 Bradley Paine Bradley Chase Fisk Palmer Chase Prentiss Crafts Upham Phelps Brainerd Collamer Poland Morrill Ross Dillingham Dale Gibson, Sr. Gibson, Jr. Aiken Leahy

Governors of Vermont Republic of Vermont (1777–1791) Chittenden Robinson Chittenden State of Vermont (since 1791) Chittenden Brigham Tichenor I. Smith Tichenor Galusha M. Chittenden Galusha Skinner Van Ness Butler Crafts Palmer Jennison Paine Mattocks Slade Eaton Coolidge Williams E. Fairbanks Robinson Royce Fletcher Hall E. Fairbanks Holbrook G. Smith P. Dillingham Page Washburn Hendee Stewart Converse Peck H. Fairbanks R. Proctor Sr. Farnham Barstow Pingree Ormsbee W.P. Dillingham Page Fuller Woodbury Grout E. Smith Stickney McCullough Bell F. Proctor Prouty Mead Fletcher Gates Graham Clement Hartness R. Proctor Jr. Billings Weeks Wilson C. Smith Aiken Wills M. Proctor Gibson Arthur Emerson Johnson Stafford Keyser Hoff Davis Salmon Snelling Kunin Snelling Dean Douglas Shumlin Italics indicate acting governor