Wilhelmus Bogart Robinson (1859-1937)

From the New York Call, October 8, 1918.

   One of a handful of Socialist party candidates to be featured here, physician Wilhelmus Bogart Robinson was a three time candidate for the New York State Assembly who later mounted six unsuccessful candidacies for the U.S. House of Representatives from New York. The son of Leander Van Ess Robinson and the former Catherine Rutgers Conger, Wilhelmus Bogart Robinson was born on November 26, 1859, in Manhattan. A distinguished figure in his own right, Leander V. Robinson (1830-1869)  was elected as District Attorney for Rockland County, New York in 1868, but died in office the following year. 

   As the son of a leading New York lawyer, Wilhelmus Robinson had the benefit of an excellent education, attending the Mountain Institute at Haverstraw, New York. This was followed by tutelage at a French school in New York City and later was enrolled at the Yonkers Military Institute. After deciding upon a career in medicine Robinson studied at the New York Homeopathic Medical College and Hospital in 1885, and following graduation in 1888 relocated to Massachusetts to begin practice. First settling in Easthampton, Robinson later resided in Shelburne Falls and in the early 1890s removed his practice to Brunswick, Georgia, where he remained until 1894.

  Wilhelmus Robinson married in Hoboken, New Jersey in 1885 to Mary Elizabeth Walker (1861-1955), to who he was wed for over fifty years. The couple's long union produced five children, Wilhelmus Jr. (born 1886), Mary Curley (born 1888), George Walker (born 1889), Leander Van Ess (born 1891), and Katherine Rutgers (1892-1962). 

  In 1896 Robinson settled in Brooklyn, New York where he accepted an appointment on the staff of the 26th ward's Homeopathic Dispensary. This was followed by a four-year stint (1897-1901) on the medical staff of the 28th ward's dispensary, and during the Spanish American War was a second lieutenant in the New York Volunteer Infantry. The particulars of Robinson's service remain largely unknown, and it is uncertain if he was deployed outside the United States.

  A Democrat for a good majority of his early life, Robinson first became active in politics during his residency in Massachusetts, where he was a Democratic committeeman for the town of Charlemont. After settling in New York, Robinson was exposed to poor living and working conditions in the city while visiting patients, which eventually led to his change of political faith. He joined the Socialist Party in 1912, and thereafter became an active party worker, being remarked as an "able speaker" and "a first rate storyteller".

  Robinson made his first run for political office in 1917 when he received the Socialist party nomination for state assemblyman from Kings County's 22nd district. One of three candidates vying for the seat, he polled a respectable third on election day, garnering 4,285 votes to winning candidate James Morris' total of 5,825. Undeterred by defeat, Robinson set his sights on a Congressional seat the following year, and after gaining his party's nomination, was profiled in the New York Call in October 1918. Under the headline "Robinson Aids Party By Work And Experience", Robinson's curious first name was also mentioned, with the Call noting:

"Dr. Robinson insists he is not William, nor yet Wilhelm. He is Wilhelmus, and he wants you to understand his Dutch ancestry. He probably can look back to a longer line of American ancestors than the vast majority of Americans."

 Throughout the latter part of 1918 Robinson stumped around his district, giving addresses on his campaign platform, and on election day placed a distant third, polling 6,751 votes, far behind winning Democrat David J. O'Connell's total of 28,882. The years 1919 and 1920 brought more of the same for Robinson, as he ran another losing candidacy for the state assembly in the former year and a failed congressional bid in the latter. In 1922, 1924, 1926 and 1928 he again sought election to Congress from New York's 9th district, and in each came out on the losing end, polling around 4,000 votes at each election.
  In 1927 Robinson was dealt a third loss in his bid for an assembly seat, and in 1930 ran his last campaign for the U.S. House of Representatives, losing out to the man who had bested him on five previous occasions, David J. O'Connell. In an unusual twist, O'Connell died a few weeks following the November election in December 1930, and a special election was held in February 1931 to fill the vacancy.

Robinson as he looked during his political career.

  In 1934 Wilhelmus Robinson retired from practicing medicine and spent the final years of his life in the town of Stony Point in Rockland County. He died at age 77 on January 31, 1937, and was survived by his wife and children. Mary Elizabeth Robinson outlived her husband by nearly two decades and following her death at 93 in February 1955 was interred alongside him at the Herbert Cemetery in Doodletown, New York

Illion Everett Moore (1866-1962)

Portrait from the January 23, 1962 edition of the Zanesville Times Recorder.

   A lifelong resident of Muskingum County, Ohio, Illion Everett Moore was long distinguished in agricultural circles in the Buckeye State, later gaining additional notoriety as a member of the Ohio State Constitutional Convention of 1911-12 and as a Socialist candidate for the Ohio legislature. The son of Samuel Anderson and Rosanna Moore, Illion E. Moore was born in the small settlement of Carlwick on February 8, 1866.  Little could be found on his early life or education, though during his youth he entered the employ of a government contractor in "the rebuilding of locks at the dam at Philo." Moore was later employed as a Pullman conductor for the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad and later, the Pennsylvania Railroad.

  During a long life that extended almost 96 years, Illion Moore remained a bachelor and was the proprietor of a farm near Carlwick, Ohio. His interest in agricultural pursuits within Muskingum County extended over seventy years and included work as a member of the Carlswick Grange (of which he was a member for 75 years), a demonstrator for the Ohio Agricultural Experiment Station, and a correspondent for the Ohio Agricultural Department.

  In addition to agriculture, Illion Moore entered politics in the early 1890s, being a delegate to the People's Party (also referred to as the Populist Party) Conventions of 1892 and 1896, held in Omaha, Nebraska and St. Louis, Missouri, respectively. Moore reentered politics in 1908 when he became the Socialist candidate for a seat in the Ohio House of Representatives from Muskingum County. One of four candidates vying for the seat, Moore polled only 373 votes, compared to Republican Winfield Scott Gregg's winning total of 7,900. An electoral result from that contest is shown below.

  Following his defeat for the legislature, Illion Moore resumed his agricultural activities until November 1911, when he and fellow Muskingum County resident Lawrence Kunkle were elected as that county's delegates to the 1912 Ohio State Constitutional Convention that was to be held in Columbus. Moore joined the other delegates at the convention's start in January 1912 and sat on the following convention standing committees: Agriculture, County and Township Organization, Initiative and Referendum. The Zanesville Times Recorder reported on Moore's service in his 1962 obituary, relating that he "wrote an amendment providing for forestry as a public project." 

  After his service at the convention, Moore returned to Muskingum County to resume farming.  Beginning in the 1920s he served as township clerk and justice of the peace for Wayne Township, continuing in the latter office well into the 1930s. Illion E. Moore died at his home in Zanesville, Ohio on January 22, 1962, two weeks short of his 96th birthday. Never having married, Moore was survived by a niece and was interred at the Reeve-Crumbaker Cemetery in Salt Creek Township, Ohio.

From the January 23, 1962 edition of the Zanesville Times Recorder.