PREFACE 



IN THE course of a long and active interest in the his- 

 tory of American Agriculture, I have been impressed 

 with the personality and achievements of a group of men 

 living for the most part in the ante-bellum period, whose 

 whole-hearted and unselfish devotion to the cause of agri- 

 cultural improvement won them national recognition in 

 their own time. As a nation we shall be fortunate if in 

 future we can point to the equals of such men as John 

 Taylor of Caroline, John S. Skinner, Edmund Ruffin, 

 Jesse Buel, Martin W. Philips, Thomas Affleck, Andrew 

 Jackson Downing, John S. Wright, Benjamin P. Johnson, 

 and last, but not least, Solon Robinson. Biographies of 

 Taylor have been written by William E. Dodd and H. H. 

 Simms, and Ruffin has his chronicler in Avery O. Craven. 

 I take pleasure in presenting Solon Robinson of Indiana. 

 You will find that he was a man of parts. 



Native of Connecticut, pioneer in southern Indiana, 

 founder of Crown Point and leading citizen of Lake 

 County, nationally known as an experimental farmer, 

 traveler, lecturer, and writer on agricultural subjects; 

 journalist, novelist, and short-story writer extraordinary, 

 Robinson's career up to 1851, which is chiefly covered 

 here, is so interwoven with the story of Indiana and the 

 nation, as to present a fascinating panorama of Ameri- 

 can civilization North and South. 



The preparation of this study has necessitated exten- 

 sive research and not a little travel, including visits to 

 the majority of counties in Indiana and regions farther 

 afield, such as Ohio, Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecti- 

 cut, New York, Washington, D. C, and Florida. So many 

 have contributed, both in large and small degree, to the 

 final substance of the work that it is in truth a cooper- 

 ative product. To mention all who have taken an inter- 

 est in the undertaking would be impracticable. For in- 



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