George D. Robinson

George Dexter Robinson
34th Governor of Massachusetts
In office January 3, 1884 – January 6, 1887
Lieutenant	Oliver Ames
Preceded by	Benjamin F. Butler
Succeeded by	Oliver Ames
Member of the United States House of Representatives from Massachusetts's 11th & 12th districts
In office March 4, 1877 – March 3, 1883 (11th) March 4, 1883 – January 7, 1884 (12th)
Preceded by	Chester W. Chapin (1877)
Succeeded by	William Whiting (1883) Francis W. Rockwell (1884)
Member of the Massachusetts Senate
In office 1876
Member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives
In office 1874
Personal details
Born	George Washington Robinson (1834-01-20)January 20, 1834 Lexington, Massachusetts
Died	Chicopee, Massachusetts
Political party	Republican
Alma mater	Harvard College
Signature

George Dexter Robinson (born George Washington Robinson; January 20, 1834 – February 22, 1896) was an American lawyer and politician from Massachusetts. After serving in the United States Congress, he served three terms as Governor of Massachusetts, notably defeating the colorful and controversial Benjamin Franklin Butler in the 1884 election. His most famous legal client was Lizzie Borden, whose acquittal from charges she murdered her father and step-mother he secured.

Early years

George Washington Robinson was born in Lexington, Massachusetts. He attended Lexington Academy and Hopkins Classical School in Cambridge, and graduated from Harvard University in 1856. While at Harvard he was admitted to the Zeta Psi fraternity. In 1855 he had his name legally changed to "George Dexter Robinson", supposedly because someone else in Lexington had a similar name to his.

Robinson was the principal of Chicopee High School in Chicopee, Massachusetts from 1856 to 1865. Robinson studied law for nine years with his brother, and earned a masters degree from Harvard. He was admitted to the bar in Cambridge in 1866 and opened a law practice in Chicopee.

Robinson was elected to the Massachusetts House of Representatives in the 1873 election, serving one year, and won election to the Massachusetts Senate in 1875, both times representing Chicopee. He was elected as a Republican to the Forty-fifth and to the three succeeding Congresses and served from March 4, 1877, to January 7, 1884, when he resigned, having been elected the 34th Governor of Massachusetts.

Governor and later years

Robinson served as governor from 1884 to 1887, and was generally a fiscal conservative. He proposed successful legislation to extend free public education to every student, and required that textbooks be provided to each student free of charge. He also signed legislation requiring that corporations pay workers weekly, and established the state's first Board of Arbitration, which resolved disputes between workers and employers.

Upon leaving office, Robinson resumed the practice of law in Springfield, Massachusetts, at what is now Robinson Donovan, P.C. In 1892, he served as Lizzie Borden's defense counsel for a retainer of $25,000 and secured her acquittal. He remained a prominent lawyer until his death in Chicopee; he is buried in Chicopee's Fairview Cemetery.

Further reading

• Memorial of the Harvard College Class of 1856

External links

• George D. Robinson at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
• George D. Robinson at Find a Grave

United States House of Representatives
Preceded by Chester W. Chapin	Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Massachusetts's 11th congressional district 1877–1883	Succeeded by William Whiting II
Preceded by district reissued	Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Massachusetts's 12th congressional district 1883 – January 7, 1884	Succeeded by Francis W. Rockwell
Political offices
Preceded by Benjamin F. Butler	Governor of Massachusetts 1884–1887	Succeeded by Oliver Ames

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