William Robinson (benefactor)

William Robinson (September 18, 1794 – May 13, 1864) was an American slave holder[1] and benefactor of the Robinson Female Seminary in Exeter, New Hampshire, and the Summerville Academy in the Augusta, Georgia, historic district of Summerville.

He then left Exeter for the South and finally settled in Augusta, Georgia, where he entered into business.

[3] He lived the rest of his life in Augusta and amassed a large fortune, most of which he invested in the North.

Robinson made his will in the year 1853 in which, after legacies to his wife and relatives (he had no children), he left his property to an institution in Georgia and to found a seminary for girls in his native town.

[4] Robinson seems to have changed his mind just before he died, and proposed leaving a comparatively limited bequest for the founding of the seminary.