b. 1794, near Lexington, Kentucky; d. April 25, 1843, in Ottawa, Illinois. Robinson graduated from Transylvania University when he was nineteen years old. When he was twenty-two, he was admitted to the bar, and moved to Illinois. In 1819 and 1821, Robinson was appointed prosecuting attorney, and in 1827, he was appointed state’s attorney. On January 28, 1829, Robinson married Mary B. D. Ratcliff, and they had two children. In January 1832, he was elected by the legislature as a United States Senator to fill the unexpired term of John McLean. He was reelected in 1836, and served for a full term. Robinson was a Democrat, and was friends with presidents Andrew Jackson and Martin Van Buren. In 1843, Robinson became a judge of the Illinois Supreme Court, but he died two months later.