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ROBINSON, WILLIAM S., switchman for the Chicago & Alton Railroad Company, is a man of careful habits, whose fidelity can always be relied upon. He was born in Virginia, April 21, 1868, a son of Samuel and Mandy (Grant) Robinson. The father was born in London, England, while his wife was born in County Cork, Ireland. He was a railroad man and later connected with the recruiting service. When twenty0one years old he came to the United States, settling in Virginia, where he worked at various kinds of employment. Eventually he went to Cleveland, Ohio, where he now resides. He belongs to various railroad orders. His wife died in 1869, leaving four children: Martha, wife of Jake Barns; John, Edward and William S. Edward, twin brother of William, is now deceased. Mr. Robinson was a Protestant and a Democrat, and the mother was a Catholic.
William S. Robinson attended school in Virginia until he was eleven years old, when he began working as a structural iron worker, but later went into railroad work. In 1895 he came from Virginia to Terre Haute, Ind., but April 26, 1902, came to Springfield to enter the service of the Chicago and Alton Railroad Company, as a switchman, which responsible position he still holds. For twenty-three years he has been a railroad man and could not now interest himself in any other line of work.
On October 2, 1894, Mr. Robinson was married, at Logansport, Ind., by Rev. H. Harland, in the Methodist Church, to Millie Small, a native of that city, born September 28, 1872, daughter of Alexander and Anna Catherine (Wean) Small, the latter a native of Dayton, Ohio. Mr. and Mrs. Robinson have two children: Otis S., born August 3, 1895, in Logansport, and Marie Catherine, born June 23, 1903, in Springfield. Mr. Robinson is a Democrat and a Catholic, while his wife is a Presbyterian. They are members of the Knights and Ladies of Security. He is very popular among railroad men and is generally liked wherever known. He has been a hard worker all his life and has never shirked any duty which was laid upon him. If he is selected to hold an elective office his constituents may be certain of the same faithfulness to duty in the discharge of its obligations that he has ever observed in private life.