Leora Bettison Robinson (, Bettison; June 8, 1840 – January 19, 1914) was an American author and educator of the

long nineteenth century The long nineteenth century is a term for the 125-year period beginning with the onset of the French Revolution in 1789, and ending with the outbreak of World War I in 1914. It was coined by Soviet writer Ilya Ehrenburg and later popularized ...

. Together with her husband, she established the Holyoke Academy of

Louisville, Kentucky Louisville is the List of cities in Kentucky, most populous city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky, sixth-most populous city in the Southeastern United States, Southeast, and the list of United States cities by population, 27th-most-populous city ...

. She was the author of ''The House With Spectacles'', ''Than'', ''Patsy'', and other works.

Early life and education

Leora Bettison was born in

Little Rock, Arkansas Little Rock is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Arkansas, most populous city of the U.S. state of Arkansas. The city's population was 202,591 as of the 2020 census. The six-county Central Arkan ...

, June 8, 1840. Her parents, Dr. Joseph R. Bettison and Ann Eliza Cathcart, moved to Louisville,

Kentucky Kentucky (, ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north, West Virginia to the ...

, before she was a year old. The Bettisons were of distinguished

Huguenot The Huguenots ( , ; ) are a Religious denomination, religious group of French people, French Protestants who held to the Reformed (Calvinist) tradition of Protestantism. The term, which may be derived from the name of a Swiss political leader, ...

lineage, being descended from Pierre Robert, of

South Carolina South Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders North Carolina to the north and northeast, the Atlantic Ocean to the southeast, and Georgia (U.S. state), Georg ...

. Bettison's family belong to the Cathcarts of

Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...

, Scotland, who, before coming to America in the seventeenth century, had settled in

County Antrim County Antrim (named after the town of Antrim, County Antrim, Antrim, ) is one of the six counties of Northern Ireland, located within the historic Provinces of Ireland, province of Ulster. Adjoined to the north-east shore of Lough Neagh, the c ...

, Ireland. Dr. Bettison was a surgeon in the

Confederate States Army The Confederate States Army (CSA), also called the Confederate army or the Southern army, was the Military forces of the Confederate States, military land force of the Confederate States of America (commonly referred to as the Confederacy) duri ...

. Leora was the sixth of eleven children. In her classes, Robinson's writings attracted attention, and many of her early efforts were published in the local papers. She was brought up and educated in private and public schools of Louisville, being a member of the first graduating class of the girls' high school of that city in June, 1858. In speaking of her graduating essay, entitled "A Farewell From the Other End of the Class", George D. Prentice, editor of the ''Louisville Journal'' (now, '' The Courier-Journal ''), said: "Miss Bettison is a genius, and she will, if she makes the effort, render this manifest to the world". He also paid her a signal compliment in publishing her essay entire in the ''Journal''.

Career

Since the age of sixteen, her life was devoted to educational work, starting as a teacher in the Louisville high school. On June 29, 1864, she married Prof. Norman Robinson, a graduate of

University of Rochester The University of Rochester is a private university, private research university in Rochester, New York, United States. It was founded in 1850 and moved into its current campus, next to the Genesee River in 1930. With approximately 30,000 full ...

. The couple had one child. Prof. and Mrs. Robinson established in Louisville a flourishing school, named Holyoke Academy. During that time, she wrote her earliest books, ''Than'' (New York, 1877), a sequel to ''The House With Spectacles'', and ''Patsy'' (New York, 1878). Owing to an accumulation of business interests by Prof. Robinson in

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

, they moved to that State in 1880, and resided in the capital,

Tallahassee Tallahassee ( ) is the capital city of the U.S. state of Florida. It is the county seat of and the only incorporated municipality in Leon County. Tallahassee became the capital of Florida, then the Florida Territory, in 1824. In 2024, the est ...

while he held the office of State chemist During the terms of office in which Dr. Robinson was the state chemist of Florida, Mrs. Robinson often assisted him in his laboratory work. In addition to writing books, Robinson also contributed many articles to some leading magazines. As Florida correspondent of ''Home and Farm'', she was widely known, and through her long series of truthful articles, entitled "Living in Florida", she was the means of influencing great numbers of people to settle permanently in the state. For the last few years before her death, she was recognized as one of Florida's great educators. She kept abreast of the times in all things educational and found peculiar pleasure in reading the classics, in doing special literary work, and using her influence for the betterment of city government. Two years before her death, a strong article she wrote, entitled "Public Schools Remodeled", was widely copied in the Florida press. She advocated for years the publishing of all tax assessments and the taxing of all church property throughout the United States. She was a firm believer in woman's suffrage, but during the last few years of her life, she repeatedly said that she hoped the day would never come when women would gain the vote. While living in Louisville, she was a member of the Broadway Baptist Church; while in Florida, she belonged to the First Baptist Church of Orlando.

Death and legacy

Leora Bettison Robinson died on January 19, 1914. Lake Leora in Florida was named in her honor.

Selected works

Books

* ''Than'' (New York, 1877) * ''The House With Spectacles'' * ''Patsy''

Articles

* "Secrets of Home Breadmaking" * "The Rich Goose"

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Robinson, Leora Bettison 1840 births 1914 deaths 19th-century American writers 19th-century American women writers 20th-century American writers 20th-century American women writers Writers from Little Rock, Arkansas Educators from Arkansas Founders of American schools and colleges Writers of American Southern literature Wikipedia articles incorporating text from A Woman of the Century Educators from Louisville, Kentucky Writers from Louisville, Kentucky Educators from Florida Writers from Tallahassee, Florida