28 INDIANA HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS 



time most amusing, flurries among his readers resulted 

 from an unfavorable account of the town of Woodburn, 

 Macoupin County, Illinois, which appeared in one of his 

 travel articles. The indignant citizens of that town 

 pursued him for months with tart replies vigorously re- 

 futing his statements. In vain the editor of the Prairie 

 Farmer, in which the offending article appeared, sought 

 to pour oil on troubled waters ; at last the argument died 

 of its own weight. 



Solon sometimes varied his farm writings by dwell- 

 ing on other topics; for example, he called attention to 

 a new method of printing invented by Josiah Warren; 

 passed judgment upon United States postal regulations, 

 and advocated a flat rate for postage ; criticised the peni- 

 tentiary system in Tennessee ; and stated his opinion that 

 the state debt in Indiana would never be paid. The 

 latter two contributions hurt the pride of the citizens of 

 Tennessee and Indiana and in reply they informed him in 

 no uncertain terms of the error of his views. 



Robinson's travel articles to and including those writ- 

 ten in 1851 have been reproduced so fully that it is unnec- 

 essary to offer more than general comment concerning 

 them. Between 1841 and 1851 he made six major jour- 

 neys and a number of lesser extent, during which he 

 visited almost every state then in the Union and portions 

 of Canada. Devoting his attention chiefly to rural dis- 

 tricts, he presents a contemporary picture of rural 

 America as seen by a shrewd and discerning commen- 

 tator. We perceive the farming of the day, both 

 North and South, in every aspect, ranging from methods 

 reminiscent of Colonial times to those which would be 

 a credit to our own era. Unlike most other travelers, 

 Robinson customarily furnished names of individuals, 

 places, and dates, a circumstance which adds infinitely 

 more to our knowledge than a merely general or regional 

 description. His itinerary was noted in current periodi- 

 cals, with the result that his articles were eagerly awaited 

 and read by thousands of farmers. So voluminous was 



