518 INDIANA HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS 



about the Robinson family in the period from 1620 to 

 1825, including the guardianship of Solon after the death 

 of his parents. Mrs. Albert S. Field, of Brooklyn, Con- 

 necticut, a descendant of Vine Robinson, Solon's uncle 

 and second guardian, possesses a substantial group of 

 original manuscripts supplementing those in the Con- 

 necticut State Library. Mr. Harry Robinson Strait, of 

 Gary, Indiana, has a number of personal papers dealing 

 with various periods of his grandfather's life. The Niles 

 and Ewing manuscript collections, and the books, maps, 

 and newspaper files in the Indiana State Library at In- 

 dianapolis, contain other data. 



Mr. William J. Hamilton, while librarian of the Gary 

 Public Library, manifested a special interest in Robin- 

 son, and the collection of books and manuscripts about 

 Lake County which he assembled there, as well as his 

 printed and unprinted comments on these documents, 

 offer much useful information. Mr. A. F. Knotts, of 

 Yankeetown, Florida, long a resident of Lake County, 

 who for years engaged in extensive research on the early 

 history of Northwest Indiana, and in the progress thereof 

 became a strong protagonist of Robinson, has assembled 

 valuable records and notes about him. 



Material on the so-called "Shobonier claim" is found 

 in the archives of the Department of the Interior, par- 

 ticularly in the Bureau of Indian Affairs and the Land 

 Office. The official records of Lake County for the period 

 1837 to 1853, preserved in the courthouse at Crown Point, 

 Indiana, are a mine of information concerning Robin- 

 son's activities as an official and a citizen of the county. 

 The early portion, namely those from 1837 to 1843, are 

 in many instances in his own hand. 



Many of Robinson's published writings have been 

 found in the extensive collection of agricultural periodi- 

 cals in the United States Department of Agriculture 

 Library and in the files of the University of Illinois and 

 of the John Crerar Library. Additional writings are also 

 found in the agricultural records of the McCormick His- 

 torical Association. 



