Sara Tappan Doolittle Robinson (née Lawrence) (July 12, 1827 – November 15, 1912) was an American writer and historian. She served as the inaugural First Lady of Kansas, 1861–1863, being the second wife of

Charles L. Robinson Charles Lawrence Robinson (July 21, 1818 – August 17, 1894) was an American politician who served in the California State Assembly from 1851 to 1852, and later as the first governor of Kansas from 1861 until 1863. Throughout his political ca ...

(1818–1894), the first

Governor of Kansas A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the type of political region or polity, a ''governor'' ma ...

. Robinson is most notable for her book, ''Kansas : its interior and exterior life ; including a full view of its settlement, political history, social life, climate soil, productions, scenery, etc.'' (1856) during which time, her house was plundered and burned. The book was considered "epoch making" for its time.

Biography

She was born in

Belchertown, Massachusetts Belchertown (previously known as Cold Spring and Belcher's Town) is a New England town, town in Hampshire County, Massachusetts, Hampshire County, Massachusetts, United States. It is part of the Springfield, Massachusetts Springfield metropol ...

. She was the eldest daughter of Myron and Clarissa (Dwight) Lawrence. The distinguished people of the times visited the family home. Among the most noted were

Daniel Webster Daniel Webster (January 18, 1782 – October 24, 1852) was an American lawyer and statesman who represented New Hampshire and Massachusetts in the U.S. Congress and served as the 14th and 19th United States Secretary of State, U.S. secretary o ...

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, Robert Rantoul,

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and W. B. Calhoun. Sara Tappan Doolittle Robinson

She attended school in Belchertown and also studied at th
New Salem Academy
While attending school, she fell and injured her spine, which led to sympathetic blindness. Dr. Robinson (later Governor) was practicing medicine in Belchertown, where he was introduced to Miss Lawrence. Under his care, she regained her health. They married on October 30, 1851. Robinson was a member of the Betty Washington Chapter of the

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(D.A.R.). She founded a research table in the

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Woods Hole, Massachusetts Woods Hole is a census-designated place in the town of Falmouth in Barnstable County, Massachusetts, United States. It lies at the extreme southwestern corner of Cape Cod, near Martha's Vineyard and the Elizabeth Islands. The population was 78 ...

for young women. She gave the first donation toward marking the

Santa Fe Trail The Santa Fe Trail was a 19th-century route through central North America that connected Franklin, Missouri, with Santa Fe, New Mexico. Pioneered in 1821 by William Becknell, who departed from the Boonslick region along the Missouri River, the ...

. The Robinsons did not have any children. She had been with the Sunflower State from its inception, and died in

Lawrence, Kansas Lawrence is a city in and the county seat of Douglas County, Kansas, United States, and the sixth-largest city in the state. It is in the northeastern sector of the state, astride Interstate 70 in Kansas, Interstate 70, between the Kansas River ...

at the couple's "Oakridge" home in 1911. Their estate, valued at $200,000, was bequeathed to the

University of Kansas The University of Kansas (KU) is a public research university with its main campus in Lawrence, Kansas, United States. Two branch campuses are in the Kansas City metropolitan area on the Kansas side: the university's medical school and hospital ...

. The couple's private papers, 1834–1911, are part of the holdings of the Kansas State Historical Society.Robinson, C., Robinson, S. T. L., In Snell, J. W., In Schenck, E. L., Hawley, G. T., Kansas State Historical Society., & United States. (1967). ''The private papers of Charles and Sara T.D. Robinson, 1834-1911, in the holdings of the Kansas State Historical Society''. Topeka: Kansas State Historical Society.

Selected publications

''Kansas; its interior and exterior life. Including a full view of its settlement, political history, social life, climate, soil, productions, scenery, etc.''
(1856) * ''Personal recollections of Mrs. Sara T.D. Robinson of the Quantrell Raid of Aug. 21, 1863.'' (between 1863 and 1911)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Robinson, Sara Tappan Doolittle 1827 births 1912 deaths People from Belchertown, Massachusetts Historians of Kansas Writers from Lawrence, Kansas First ladies and gentlemen of Kansas Victorian women writers Victorian writers American women historians 19th-century American women writers 19th-century American writers Historians from Massachusetts