After his family immigrated to the United States shortly after his birth, Robison attended public school and then studied at Illinois College.

James W. Robison was born near Banff, Scotland, on March 19, 1831, shortly before his family immigrated to the United States.

He was the son of railroad contractor James Robertson, who worked on the Pontiac and Detroit Railway in Michigan and other lines in Illinois and Pennsylvania.

In payment for his Illinois services, James Robertson was given a large plot of land in Tazewell County in 1835.

[1] Robison visited Kansas in 1879 and purchased a 3,840-acre (1,550 ha) tract of land in Butler County along the Whitewater River.

Robison was a charter member of the Illinois State Horticultural Society, serving on its board of executives with one term as president.

He was a member of the Kansas State Board of Agriculture, served two terms as its president, and was its director at the time of his death.