Lavius Arad Robinson (1834-1917)

From the Norwich Bulletin, June 27, 1913

   Born into a prominent Connecticut family, Lavius Arad Robinson had fleeting involvement in Nutmeg State political life, being a Republican candidate for the Connecticut State Assembly in 1894. Like fellow Connecticut native Perlin Shearer Butler (profiled earlier this month), Robinson was a longtime churchman in his native town, serving as a deacon in the Franklin Congregational church. 

  Born in Franklin on October 6, 1834, Lavius A. Robinson was one of several children born to Arad and Lura Abell Robinson. One of Franklin's most venerated families, Arad Robinson was a descendant of the Rev. John Robinson, the " Pastor of the Pilgrims" who ministered at Leiden, Holland from 1609-1625. 35 members of Robinson's congregation later joined with sixty-six Pilgrims from England to sail to America on the Mayflower, reaching Massachusetts in November of 1620. The Rev. John Robinson (having died in Holland in 1625) later had descendants residing throughout New England, one of whom, Arad Robinson, was of the seventh generation of his descendants.

  Young Lavius resided on the Robinson family farm on "Prospect Hill" in Franklin and studied in the "district schools" until reaching age eighteen. Lavius would later take over the day-to-day operations of the family homestead and:

"Added to the original farm and owns ninety acres of most excellent land, and he has also made extensive improvements upon the property, which he devotes to general farming and dairying."

  Lavius Robinson married his first wife Lovisa Brewster in 1858, but their marriage lasted just seven years before her death in 1865 at age twenty-four. Robinson remarried in 1867 to Mary Avery, with whom he had one daughter, Mary Elizabeth, who died in infancy in May 1870. Mary Avery died shortly after her daughter's birth on May 20, 1870, and two years following Lavius married for the third time, taking as his bride Hattie Huntington of Eastford, Connecticut. The couple would be married for over forty years, during which time four sons were born: Nelson Eugene (1875-1894), Clifford Huntington (1879-1959), Arthur Day (died in infancy in 1882) and Lloyd Raymond (born 1883).
   A deacon in the Franklin Congregational Church for many years, Robinson also served as chairman of the church's Ecclesiastical Society. Mentioned as a "staunch Republican", Robinson held the office of Justice of Peace for Franklin and in 1894 was a candidate for the Connecticut General Assembly from New London County. As one of three candidates running to represent Franklin in the assembly, Robinson placed second on election day, receiving 50 votes compared to winning candidate Clayton Lathrop's total of 58. 

An electoral result from the Connecticut State Register and Manual, 1895-96.

   Following his legislative loss, Lavius Robinson continued to reside at his family's ancestral home in Franklin, dying there on July 24, 1917, at age 82. His wife Hattie survived him by seventeen years, dying in November 1934, also at age 82. Both were interred at the Pautipaug Cemetery in Franklin, Connecticut.