1868 Rev. H.L. Robinson, Henry Lorenzo Robinson Photo, Catholic Priest

#1057

On reverse: "Miss Kate Mahanney, with the compliments of H.L. Robinson" is handwritten and autographed in old period pencil. (Note: may also be spelled as Mahanny) Photo type: CDV Carte de Visite Photograph, Victorian. Photographer: S. Masury, Photograph Rooms. 289 Washington Street, Suffolk County, Boston, Massachusetts. (known to be photographer Samuel Masury 1818–1874, who learned the trade in 1842 from the famous 19th century Daguerreian photographer John Plumbe 1809-1857. He was also in partnership with G.M. Silsbee, George M. Silsbee 1811-1866 as "Masury & Silsbee")

Found in Public Genealogy Records:
Catholic priest and Friar Henry Lorenzo Robinson 1835–1894 born in Lowell, Middlesex, Massachusetts (as per his death certificate) and died in Chicopee, Massachusetts. His protestant parents were Joseph Robinson and Achsah M. Goodwin Robinson Simmons Waters 1810–1889, who married in 1834. We believe his father Joseph died before 1844, as his mother remarries that year to Charles Simmons, born 1797, and has a child (Henry's step brother) named Charles Goodwin Simmons 1849–1914. She later married her 3rd spouse William Waters 1816–1884. She died in 1889 in Windsor, Dane County, Wisconsin and is buried there with her son, Charles. Achsah's parents were Ezra Goodwin 1779–1867, born in Haverhill, Grafton, New Hampshire and died in Bath, Grafton County, New Hampshire and Sarah Sanborn Goodwin 1779–1860, born in Bath, Grafton County, New Hampshire and died in Salisbury, Merrimack County, New Hampshire. HL Robinson died 2 Jul 1894 at age 58 and is buried in Chicopee, Hampden County, Massachusetts, at the Holy Name of Jesus Churchyard.

H.L. Robinson's Ordination was June 24, 1865.
In 1868, Rev. H.L. Robinson left St. James' Church in Boston, to become the first resident pastor of Greenfield. He was also instrumental in the small Catholic congregations of Deerfield, Conway, Turner's Falls, Montague City, and Miller's Falls, Mass. Rev. H.L. Robinson, D.D. (Doctor of Divinity) succeeded Father Moran as the resident pastor of Uxbridge and was fully appointment as Pastor of St. Mary Uxbridge in 1889.

Bio of Rev. Henry L. Robinson, of Boston:
In public domain book, "History of the Catholic Church in the diocese of Springfield" by Rev. John J. McCoy, Published in 1900 in Boston by the Hurd & Everts Co. and printed by
William J, Malcomson of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: "Rev. Doctor Henry L. Robinson, pastor of Uxbridge, was the successful competitor, and came to Chicopee as pastor May 7, 1889. He was “inducted" with great public ceremony the 12th of the same month by Right Rev. Bishop O’Reilly. Rev. Dr. Robinson was born in Chicopee Falls, in 1837 of Protestant parents, his father and mother being members of the Second Congregational church. His father died when he was a boy, and he helped to support his mother by working in a dry goods store. He was intended for the Protestant ministry, and went to college in the South to study for Episcopal orders. He was an earnest student, and his mind was awakened to the many contradictory tenets of Protestantism. He sought the truth, and for this purpose entered a Catholic college in New Orleans. He was baptized by Archbishop Henni of Milwaukee. Bishop Fitzpatrick, of Boston, sent him to the Grand Seminary at Montreal for a course in theology. This finished, he was ordained by Bishop McFarland, of Hartford, in the church of the Immaculate Conception, at Boston, on the feast of St. John the Baptist, June 24, 1865. Immediately after ordination, he was appointed curate to Father Williams, now the Archbishop of Boston, who was then the pastor of St. James’ Church, that city. After three years work he was made pastor of Greenfield, where he labored for three years more. Thence he went to Uxbridge. Uxbridge and Whitinsville knew his services for seventeen years, when at the death of Vicar General Healy he came here. In this pastorate he remodelled the presbytery, repaired the exterior walls of the clerestory, and put in a steam plant to heat all the buildings, and hung in the tower a sweet toned bell of two tons. For a year before his death he had been ailing, but kept up with brave heart until the end. He died of heart failure on the evening of July 2, 1894, and was succeeded on the 13th of the August following by Rev. John J. McCoy, the present rector. Rev. Dr. Robinson was a man of warm heart, though somewhat hasty and easily drawn into quarrel. He never quite understood the Irish people, who, in turn, never as a body warmed to him. But the priests who follow him have learned of a hundred charities and kindly deeds done the poor, of which the world at large never heard. They have evidence, too, that he was a man of the tenderest piety, and this found expression in a marvellous devotion to the Sacrament of the Altar. He found the parish free of debt when he came, and the changes he inaugurated entailed a heavy debt. By will, at his death, he cleared this all away, and left the parish as he found it, unencumbered."

NOTE: Age discrepancy: 1870 census listed as age 24, not 34:
Henry L Robinson in the 1870 United States Federal Census
Age in 1870: 24
Birth Year: abt 1846 (corrected to 1837)
Birthplace: Massachusetts
Home in 1870: Greenfield, Franklin County, Massachusetts
Occupation: Catholic Priest
Household: Name, Age
Henry L Robinson 24

This is a rare signed Civil war era CDV photo of Henry, of which there are no prior known photos. It was found in Greenfield, Franklin County, Massachusetts, our home town. We believe it to be taken around 1868, when Rev. Henry was age 33 and in Boston. A beautiful and striking photo of a handsome young Catholic priest and a great piece of early New England Catholic history.

Size: 2.5 x 4 inches
      Note: The original is sold, but you may still purchase large, detailed and intimate 300 dpi high resolution scans of front and back, sent immediately via email. Please check our site carefully, as many may be related to each other that we are unaware of. Click scan to place in your cart. Thank you, enjoy! ~debra (please also join me at Ancestorville Genealogy on facebook. contact info on top bar)