William Erigena Robinson (May 6, 1814January 23, 1892), often referred to by his pseudonym Richelieu, was an Irish-American journalist and politician from New York. He represented

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

in the United States House of Representatives from 1867 to 1869 and again from 1881 to 1885.

Early life and education

William Erigena Robinson was born in Unagh, near

Cookstown Cookstown ( ga, An Chorr Chríochach, IPA: �anˠˈxoːɾˠɾˠˈçɾʲiːxəx is a small town in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland. It is the fourth largest town in the county and had a population of 11,599 in the 2011 census. It, along with Maghe ...

County Tyrone County Tyrone (; ) is one of the six Counties of Northern Ireland, counties of Northern Ireland, one of the nine counties of Ulster and one of the thirty-two traditional Counties of Ireland, counties of Ireland. It is no longer used as an admini ...

on the

island of Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel, the Irish Sea, and St George's Channel. Ireland is the s ...

(the entirety of which was then part of

the U.K. The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

). Robinson attended the classical school in Cookstown and Belfast College in 1834. Robinson emigrated to the United States and settled in New York City in November 1836. He graduated from

Yale College Yale College is the undergraduate college of Yale University. Founded in 1701, it is the original school of the university. Although other Yale schools were founded as early as 1810, all of Yale was officially known as Yale College until 1887, ...

in 1841 and lectured for two years with the

Yale Law School Yale Law School (Yale Law or YLS) is the law school of Yale University, a Private university, private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. It was established in 1824 and has been ranked as the best law school in the United States by ''U ...

Journalist and lawyer

In 1843, Robinson served as assistant editor of the ''New York Tribune'' in 1843 and its only Washington correspondent, writing under the name of "Richelieu". Robinson also wrote Washington correspondence for other papers. He was admitted to the New York

bar Bar or BAR may refer to: Food and drink * Bar (establishment), selling alcoholic beverages * Candy bar * Chocolate bar Science and technology * Bar (river morphology), a deposit of sediment * Bar (tropical cyclone), a layer of cloud * Bar (u ...

in 1854 and practiced law in New York City.

Politics

He was appointed by

President Lincoln Abraham Lincoln ( ; February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was an American lawyer, politician, and statesman who served as the 16th president of the United States from 1861 until his assassination in 1865. Lincoln led the nation throu ...

assessor of internal revenue for the third district of New York in 1862. In 1866, Robinson was elected to represent

Downtown Brooklyn Downtown Brooklyn is the third largest central business district in New York City after Midtown Manhattan and Lower Manhattan), and is located in the northwestern section of the borough of Brooklyn. The neighborhood is known for its office and ...

in the United States House of Representatives, defeating Republican

Simeon B. Chittenden Simeon Baldwin Chittenden (March 29, 1814 – April 14, 1889) was a United States representative from New York. Early life Chittenden was born in Guilford, New Haven County, Connecticut on March 29, 1814. He was the son of Abel Chittenden (177 ...

. After his term in Congress ended, he resumed the practice of law in 1869. He ran for Congress as an independent Democrat in 1872 but finished third. In 1880, he was again nominated by the Democratic Party and defeated incumbent Daniel O'Reilly, an independent Democrat. He was re-elected in 1882. He completed his term in 1885 and ran twice more, first as an independent Democrat in 1888 and then as a Republican in 1890. He was not successful.

Death

Robinson died in

on January 23, 1892. He was interred in Greenwood Cemetery.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Robinson, William Erigena 1814 births 1892 deaths Burials at Green-Wood Cemetery Yale College alumni Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from New York (state) 19th-century American politicians