Biographical Sketch:  William Robinson (c.1815-1877) was a native of Londonderry County, Ireland, who emigrated to Canada prior to 1835. He and his family came to North Carolina in 1839, first settling in Edgecombe County. By the mid 1840s they were in Waynesboro (later Goldsboro), Wayne County, where William would distinguish himself as a merchant, lawyer, town commissioner, newspaper editor, mayor, and temperance advocate. He was married twice and fathered eight sons, five of whom predeceased him. Dr. Marius Emmet Robinson (1847-1918) was one of William Robinson's three surviving sons. After serving in the Civil War, he earned a medical degree in 1870 from Washington University in Baltimore. He then returned to Goldsboro to set up a medical practice and drug store. He was the first chief of staff of Goldsboro's first hospital in 1896.

Collection Description:  The collection covers the span of circa 1844 to 1891 and includes numerous letters to William Robinson from relatives, friends, and political and business associates. Of particular interest are letters written by his son William George Robinson, a West Point Military Academy cadet who studied under Col. Robert E. Lee in the 1850s. Also of interest are letters from Charles Fisher, president of the North Carolina Railroad; Congressman Thomas Ruffin; son James H. Robinson, a student at the University of North Carolina until his death in 1857; and sons who served in the Confederate army during the Civil War. A Confederate muster roll for the Davis Partisan Rangers of Kinston, dated 1862, lists the names and personal information of dozens of soldiers from Wayne, Greene, Lenoir, Duplin, and surrounding counties.