INTRODUCTION 25 



faculty, presenting to the readers of the Cultivator a de- 

 scription and drawing of an improved root steamer of 

 his own devising. Declining to take out a patent, he 

 offered the utensil to the fanning public for any use 

 they might make of it. 1 



An ardent protagonist of agricultural organizations, 

 Robinson vigorously urged their cause on every possible 

 occasion. When the Union Agricultural Society was 

 formed at Chicago in 1840 by John S. Wright, James T. 

 Gifford, 2 William B. Ogden, 3 and others, Robinson gener- 

 ously gave his time for several years to assisting its ac- 

 tivities. As official speaker at its annual meetings, pro- 

 moter of the society in various sections of northern 

 Illinois, judge at its fairs, and counselor at large, he 

 rendered notable service in making the society an influ- 

 ential force in rural improvement. 4 



Possessed of vision beyond his time, Solon waged a 

 valiant crusade in the late thirties and early forties to 



1 Cultivator, 7:92 (June, 1840). 



2 James T. Gifford, the "Father of Elgin" (Illinois), born about 

 1800; died August 11, 1850. Emigrated from New York to Illinois 

 in 1835, and settled on the site of the present town of Elgin. 

 Laid out the Galena Railroad as far as Belvidere. President of 

 the Union Agricultural Society, 1842. Vice-president from Illi- 

 nois of the National Agricultural Society, 1842. Contributor to 

 Union Agriculturist, Prairie Farmer, and Cultivator. See Com- 

 memorative Biographical and Historical Record of Kane County, 

 Illinois . . . , 1014-26 (Beers, Leggett & Co., Chicago, 1888) ; 

 Elgin Courier News, Centennial Edition, June 15, 1935. 



' William Butler Ogden, railroad executive, born June 15, 1805, 

 in Walton, New York; died August 3, 1877. Elected to New York 

 legislature, 1834. Moved to Chicago in 1835. First mayor of 

 Chicago, 1837. Elected president of the Galena and Chicago 

 Union Railroad, 1846, and of the Union Pacific Railroad, 1862. 

 First president of Rush Medical College; charter member of Chi- 

 cago Historical Society; state senator, 1860. See Dictionary of 

 American Biography, 13:644-45. 



' The official publication of the society was the Union Agricul- 

 turist and Western Prairie Farmer, the first number of which was 

 issued at Chicago in October, 1840. Practically every issue had 

 either a communication from Robinson, or some mention of his 

 activities. See note on John S. Wright, post, 157 n. 



