Rowland Evans Robinson

Born in Ferrisburgh, Vermont, in 1833, Rowland Evans Robinson grew up on a farm at Rokeby, a home closely tied to antislavery activism through his family. He trained as an illustrator and engraver in New York before returning to Vermont, where he balanced farm life with writing and drawing.

Robinson became known for novels, short stories, and nature writing rooted in rural New England. Readers especially remember him for capturing Vermont dialect, customs, and landscape with unusual detail, as well as for books such as Vermont: A Study of Independence and collections that explored everyday life in the region.

Later in life, worsening eyesight led to blindness, but he continued to write and remained an important literary voice connected with Vermont's history and culture. Though less widely read now than in his own time, he is still remembered as a distinctive regional author who preserved the texture of 19th-century Vermont life.