A 1906 newspaper ad for the Henson Robinson Co. (Courtesy State Journal-Register)
The standard version is that Henson Robinson planned to go to California but got distracted by Springfield.
The real story is more complicated, but the result was the same. Robinson (1839-1900), a tinner born in Ohio, became the founder of one of Springfield’s longest-lasting businesses.
In 2024, employee-owned Henson Robinson Co. specialized in heating, ventilation, air conditioning, roofing, plumbing and other systems. In principle if not technology, that wasn’t a lot different from the stoves and tinware Robinson and a partner began selling in 1861.
Contemporary evidence suggests Henson Robinson never intended to migrate farther west than Springfield. In fact, Robinson’s father, John Robinson, bought land in Sangamon County in 1838, but died before he could arrange for the family to move from Ohio. Robinson’s uncle, James Rayburn (1821-78), did move to Springfield, however, and that’s what drew the young Henson Robinson to leave Ohio for central Illinois. According to Past and Present of Springfield and Sangamon County, Illinois (1904):
When his term of apprenticeship expired, he felt like a caged animal that had been set free, and deciding to leave his native state he came to Springfield, Illinois, in July 1858, to visit his uncle James Rayburn, a well known tailor. Finding himself in need of money, he sought work at his trade and was in the employ of Eli Kreigh (1843-1906).
Henson Robinson, undated (Findagrave.com/Craig Kennedy)
With a partner, George Bauman, Robinson went into business for himself three years later. Among their early customers were Union soldiers, to whom Robinson & Bauman sold tinware during the Civil War.
“The new enterprise prospered from the beginning,” Past and Present reported.
As trade increased … Mr. Robinson made arrangements whereby he purchased Mr. Bauman’s interest and became sole owner of the business, dealing in stoves, furnaces and tin work. He conducted the business under his own name until 1890, when a stock company was formed under the name of the Henson Robinson Company.
Beyond his own trade, Robinson invested in other local startups, including the Citizens Street Railway and an insurance company, and he served as president of the Springfield School Board.
Robinson ran once for mayor, but, Past and Present said, “being a strong temperance man and a church member, he was opposed by the saloon men, many of whom told him they were his friends in business but being afraid that he would enforce the law would not vote for him.” Robinson lost by 120 votes.
Robinson was chatting with a friend in the lobby of the Leland Hotel on April 17, 1900, when he suffered a heart attack and died instantly.
Robinson’s son, Charles Henson Robinson, and daughter, Margaret, continued family management of the company and expanded its services into sheet metal, roofing, heating and ventilating. C.H. Robinson’s sons and daughter took over the business in the 1940s. The last family member involved in Henson Robinson Co. was Charles Beard, stepson of Henson C. Robinson, grandson of the founder; Beard sold his interest to the firm’s employees in 1991.
Henson Robinson Co. operated from the 100 block of North Fifth Street until 1961, when the company moved to Clear Lake Avenue. The firm has been at 3550 Great Northern Ave. since 2004.
The house at 520 S. Eighth St. where Henson and Henrietta Keyes Robinson (1839-1900) lived is now part of the Lincoln Home National Historic Site.
Henson Robinson Zoo
Henson Robinson Zoo entrance, 2024 (SCHS)
The Henson Robinson Zoo, 1100 E. Lake Shore Drive, is named after Henson Charles Robinson (1901-64), a grandson of the original Henson Robinson. The zoo was home to about 100 species of animals, native and exotic, as of 2024. It is operated by the Springfield Park District.
The zoo’s website says it was Henson C. Robinson’s dream for the park system to include a zoo. However, the person most responsible for its creation was Robinson’s son, Philip (1924-2001). Both father and son were members of the park board.
Henson C. Robinson served two terms on the board starting in 1931, including two years as president.
Robinson didn’t seek re-election in 1937, very possibly because he faced imminent trial for mail fraud. Robinson and co-defendant Angus Littlejohn were convicted in March 1937 of looting a $1-a-month life insurance company; Robinson originally was sentenced to two years in federal prison. However, U.S. Judge J. Earl Major, inundated by character witnesses, reduced the penalty to five years probation. (Littlejohn committed suicide rather than go to prison.)
Robinson’s reputation rebounded enough that he was appointed a member of the Springfield Airport Authority in the 1950s; he also served a term as chairman of that agency.
A plaque near the zoo entrance recognizes Philip Robinson (SCHS)
Philip Robinson was elected to the park board in 1965 and served until 1971. He stepped down after losing a bid to unseat Park Board President Robert Stuart in the April 1971 elections.
The younger Robinson headed the board’s zoo committee. His role in its creation was reported by park district publicist George Derwig in the Illinois State Register in June 1969.
Prime promoter of the zoo, Robinson begged, pleaded, cajoled and needled everyone involved to get the zoo open last year, but the zoo was established under the Sign of the Turtle (a large concrete turtle was an early zoo feature). Nobody and nothing could be hurried, including the weather.
Derwig’s article predicted the zoo would be open in late summer 1969. The actual opening took place June 13, 1970. Dedication ceremonies featuring television personality Marlin Perkins (of “Wild Kingdom” fame) were held Aug. 29, 1970.
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