Dickinson Co., KS AHGP-Portrait and
Biographical Album of Dickinson, Saline, McPherson and
Marion Counties-John W. Robson
Portrait and Biographical
Album of Dickinson, Saline, McPherson and Marion
Counties
Chapman Brothers, Chicago, 1893
JOHN W. ROBSON is one of the early
settlers of Cheever Township, Dickinson
County, and one of its representative citizens.
He now resides on section 22, where
he follows farming. A native of Scotland, he was
born on the 16th of March, 1818, in Edinburgshire,
where he remained until twenty-two years of age.
He became a horticulturist, and after his removal
to Shropshire, England, in 1838, was there engaged
in business as a horticulturist for some ten
years.
Wishing to try his fortune in America, Mr.
Robson emigrated to the United States in 1850.
The vessel in which he sailed dropped anchor in
the harbor of New York, from which he went direct
to Jo Daviess County, Ill., and purchased a
farm, upon which he made his home for some
years. Ere leaving England, he was united in
marriage in Shropshire with Miss Jane Lowe, a native
of that county. Seven children were born of
their union: John E.; Lizzie, wife of John C. Mills;
Annie, the wife of the Rev. Charles A. Mastin;
Louisa; Nellie, wife of N. V. Funstane; Jennie,
wife of Judge Matthew Bryson, and Roger. The
mother of this family died in Jo Daviess County,
Ill., in the fall of 1866, and Mr. Robson was again
married in that county, his second union being
with Isabella Gray Bryson, a native of Baltimore,
Md., and the widow of John Bryson. By her first
marriage she had three children: James, Charles
and Emma.
In April, 1871, Mr. Robson sold his farm and
with his family came to Dickinson County, where
he pre-empted eighty acres of land and also secured
a homestead of eighty acres on section 22,
Cheever Township, where he has since made his
home. He is one of the oldest settlers of the township
and his name is inseparably connected with
the history of its upbuilding and development.
Upon his farm he has made many excellent improvements
and has planted many fruit and ornamental
trees which add to the value and attractive
appearance of the place.
Mr. Robson has been a member of the State Horticultural
Society of Kansas since 1876, and has
acted as Chairman of the Committees on Ornithology,
Horticulture, Botany and Vegetable Physiology.
He is a great lover of nature and is an excellent
horticulturist. On coming to this country
he identified himself with the Republican party,
which he supported until 1872, since which time
he has been independent. He is a member of the
United Brethren Church, yet is liberal in his religious
views. He takes an active part in all church
work and manifests a commendable interest in Sabbath-
school work, with which he has been connected
for upward of sixty years. Prior to the war, he
was a strong anti-slavery man and for nearly half
a century has been a strong Prohibitionist in principle
and practice. The cause of temperance has
found in him a warm and upright friend and he
does all in his power to promote morality and religious
work. His example is well worthy of emulation
and it is with pleasure that we present the
sketch of Mr. Robson, one of Nature's noblemen,
to our readers.
(c) 2009 Sheryl McClure for
Dickinson County KS AHGP