author
Solon Robinson
1803–1880
A restless 19th-century pioneer and journalist, he helped found Crown Point, Indiana, then turned his eye to farming, reform, and city life in a string of widely read books and newspaper columns. Best known for the bestseller Hot Corn, he wrote with the energy of someone who had lived many lives.
2 Audiobooks
Guano: A Treatise of Practical Information for Farmers
by Solon Robinson
Hot corn: Life Scenes in New York Illustrated
by Solon Robinson
About the author
Born in Tolland, Connecticut, in 1803, Solon Robinson became one of the many energetic figures who helped shape the American frontier. After moving west, he settled in what became Lake County, Indiana, where he was an early settler and is closely associated with the founding of Crown Point. His work there went beyond farming: he also served in a range of public and practical roles that reflected the improvising spirit of pioneer life.
Robinson later built a national reputation as a writer and agricultural journalist. He wrote for the New York Tribune and American Agriculturist, and his books covered both farm life and social questions. His best-known title, Hot Corn; or, Life Scenes in New York, became a bestseller, showing that he could reach a broad audience well beyond agricultural readers.
Across his career, he moved easily between frontier experience, journalism, and reform-minded commentary. That mix gives his writing its distinctive character: part practical observation, part social history, and part firsthand witness to a fast-changing 19th-century America. He died in 1880.