ROBERT BISHOP, proprietor of a gun-shop. Petersburg; was born in Portsmouth, England, Dec. 29, 1815, and was brought to this country by his parents while quite young; they settled in Boston, where Robert was raised and schooled; his father was the first to invent and put into use the cylinder for revolvers and guns, and died before they were put into general use; Robert, who then was but a youth, had already shown an inventive mind, and soon became a thorough mechanic; some ten y ears of his early life were spent upon the Atlantic Ocean, as a whaler along the coast of Chili, Peru and Panama; after abandoning sea life, he removed to St. Louis and took up his trade; he located where he now resides in 1841, at which time the present city of Petersburg was but a hamlet; he has witnessed its entire growth, and participated in such public matters as pertained to the good of the community; he was a soldier of the Mexican war; now, at the ripe old age, he lives to see the prosperity and usefulness of his children.