Joseph Lee Robinson 1811-1893

Joseph Lee Robinson1st home built in Farmington, Utah 2nd home built in Farmington, Utah

LDS Biographical Encyclopedia, Andrew Jenson, Vol. 3, p. 220

Robinson, Joseph Lee, the first Bishop of the Farmington Ward, Davis county, Utah, 

Born Feb. 18, 1811, at Shaftsbury, Bennington county, Vermont, the son of Nathan Robinson and Mary Brown. When yet a boy he moved with his parents to Boonville, Oneida county, New York, where he became acquainted with Mariah Wood and married her July 23, 1832. While living at Boonville his younger brother, Ebenezer, brought him the gospel and baptized him Aug. 13, 1836. He came to Nauvoo in August, 1841; was ordained a High Priest in 1843, by Jonathan H. Hale, and set apart as first counselor in the bishopric of the Ninth Ward (Nauvoo). Before his ordination as a High Priest, he had been ordained an Elder in New York, by James Blakesley, and presided over a branch of the Church near Rome, New York, where he also built a school house. He married Susan McCord Jan. 31, 1846, and helped to erect the Nauvoo Temple, in which he received his blessings. He also became intimately acquainted with the Prophet Joseph, and said later in life that he loved the Prophet more than any other man he had ever known. He participated in the exodus from Nauvoo, and became a temporary resident of Winter Quarters, where he was made Bishop of the Seventh Ward. While at Winter Quarters he married Laurinda Maria Atwood, March 20, 1847. In 1848 he crossed the plains to the Valley, arriving in Salt Lake City Oct. 19, 1848. In the spring of 1849 he moved to North Cottonwood (Farmington) and was set apart as Bishop of that place March 25, 1849. About the same time he was elected justice of the peace for Davis county. In 1853 (Feb. 16th) he married Lydia Foster, and in 1867 (Feb. 2nd) he married Mary Taylor Simmons. By his five wives he became the father of 27 children. When the Davis Stake of Zion was organized, June 17, 1877, Bro. Robinson was chosen as a member of the High Council, and he was ordained a Patriarch by Franklin D. Richards Oct. 24, 1880. Faithful and true to his covenants, he died at Uintah, Weber county, Utah, Jan. 1, 1893.

Another Record:

Joseph Lee Robinson, a convert to the Church, resident of

Nauvoo, friend of the Prophet Joseph Smith, pioneer of Utah in 1848, early settler of Davis County, was a pioneer of southern Utah, and one of the founders of Parowan.

J o s e p h   L .   R o b i n s o n   w a s   b o r n   a t

Shaftsbury, Vermont, on February 18, 1811. He was the son of Nathan and Mary Robinson. When Joseph was five years old, his father moved to Rome, Oneida County, New York, where he acquired a farm. There the boy grew to manhood, and there, on June 23, 1832,

at the age of twenty-one, he was married to Maria Wood.  Four years later his older brother, Ebenezer, brought the message of the Restored Gospel to him, which he heard and believed. He was baptized by his brother in October, 1836.  In the fall of 1841, when he was thirty years of age, Joseph L. Robinson moved with his family to Nauvoo. He was pleased that he had the privilege of meeting and knowing the Prophet Joseph Smith, of whom he wrote in his journal:

"We have long since believed and known that Joseph Smith was a true Prophet of God, but now our eyes do see him and our ears hear his voice. There is a power and majesty that  attends his words that we never before beheld in any other man."

Joseph L. Robinson made himself useful in Nauvoo. He built a home, acquired a farm and was made bishop of the Ninth Ward of that city. He entered whole heartedy into all the activities of the Saints.  After the death of the Prophet, Joseph L. Robinson followed the leadership of President Brigham Young and joined the Saints in their exodus to the West. He left Nauvoo on June 10, 1846, "five years to the day since I left the city of Rome, New York." He did not regret leaving his home in the East and coming to Nauvoo. "I have never looked back or seen a moment I was sorry for, but to the contrary I have always been thankful to God for the privilege of hearing and obeying the Everlasting Gospel." Arriving at Winter Quarters, Joseph L. Robinson built a two-room log home. He was also made the bishop of the Second Ward in that frontier settlement. During the winter he constructed an additional log cabin for school purposes and hired a teacher to instruct the children of the neighborhood.

In the spring of 1847 he helped to fit-out the pioneers who were to journey west and seek a new home for the Saints in the Rocky Mountains. During the absence of the pioneer band he relates, "We who remained behind began with all our might, plowing, planting, sowing, and fencing."  Fortunately they raised good crops and had enough food to sustain themselves during the winter of 1847-48. In the spring of 1848 nearly all the Saints who had wintered on the west side of the Missouri River, departed for Salt Lake Valley. Joseph L. Robinson and his family were among them. He relates:"I could only muster up teams enough to start three wagons, by hitching up or yoking cows. We had faith in God and great love for his cause; we knew that he was with his people, therefore we had joy and rejoicing, even with our sorrows and tribulations. Nothing daunted or discouraged us."

The journey across the plains was long and arduous, but the heart of Joseph L. Robinson was happy.  "We are traveling in the wilderness," he wrote in his journal, "singing, praying, and rejoicing, because God is with his Saints." There were difficulties on the way: "Many of our cattle got afflicted and died. We had to use a great deal of precaution to save enough to get through to the valley. I lost several, by breathing the alkali dust, and one by wolves. . . . We traveled along, crossed several streams, Ham's Fork, Bear River, through Echo Canyon to the Weber, up and down over mountains.  Surely it was rough and tumble, but through the blessings of God we reached the last mountain before dropping down into Salt Lake Valley. We halted and gazed with wonder and admiration, with tears and joy. There was an emotion in our bosoms we cannot describe. We descended and entered the Valley the first of October, 1848. We drove to the fort our brethren had built to protect themselves."  

As soon as Joseph L. Robinson arrived in Salt Lake Valley, in October, 1848, he traveled both north and south of the city, "six to eight miles," in order to find a suitable place to locate. It appears that he was more impressed with the country north of Salt Lake City as he took his family to the vicinity of Bountiful and built a log cabin on North Canyon Creek. The winter was very severe. "The canyon winds came down cold and raw," he wrote in his journal. "We lost two cows, but still we lived and rejoiced in the Holy One of Israel, believing he would sustain us and never suffer us to perish." 

In the spring of 1849 he had an interview with President Brigham Young and asked him if he should remain where he was or go elsewhere.  "He told me my name was down for a bishop in Salt Lake City, but that they could put another in myplace. . . . He said that I should go north; that I could do as much good there as here, and better for myself; also that they wanted a bishop there."

On March 24, 1849, Joseph L. Robinson was ordained as the first bishop of North Cottonwood (Farmington) Ward, and shortly thereafter established his residence there. The boundaries of his ward were from Bountiful on the south to Ogden on the north.  After having served about one year as bishop of Farmington, Joseph L. Robinson was called by the

First Presidency to accompany George A. Smith and a colony who were being sent to the southern part of the Territory to found a settlement. He was thus numbered among the first settlers of Parowan. In 1851 he assisted President Young and a group in locating Fillmore, the first capital of the Territory.  Having completed his mission in the south, Joseph L. Robinson returned to Farmington in 1853.

Grasshoppers attacked the fields of the settlers that summer, and he lost all his wheat crop except twenty-eight bushels, yet he did not despair. "We rejoice in the Holy One of Israel," he again wrote in his journal, "knowing that he will deliver us, and feed us, if need be, as well as he did the children of Israel in Moses' day." It was this firm, true, and abiding faith that brought the Mormon pioneers of Utah through all their trials and difficulties, and made them at last triumphant. Without that faith they might have failed.  With the approach of Johnston's Army in the spring of 1858, Joseph L. Robinson loaded his portable possessions into "three wagons" and moved with his family to Utah County. When peace was made with the government a few months later, he, with hundreds of others, returned to their homes.  We felt thankful that our God was with his people; that he was fighting their battles, and that we had obtained so great a victory." He found his crops growing nicely, wheat, hay, corn, and flax; nothing had been destroyed.

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In the fall of 1858 he went to Weber Valley and bought a farm and house. He extended his holdings and labored hard to support his large family. He joined in every move that would be for the betterment of the Church. He noted that he had contributed to the building of schoolhouses, meetinghouses, tabernacles, and temples, "and also in supporting the families and furnishing the means to Elders laboring in the mission fields." He sent teams back to the Missouri River to bring in the poor who had no means of making the journey themselves.

On December 1, 1872, his beloved wife, Maria Wood, died at Farmington. "She was not seriously sick but a few days, and when her time came, she passed away without a struggle. She died as she had lived, a good, consistent Latter-day Saint. She shall receive a glorious resurrection and shall live forever."

When Davis Stake was organized on June 17, 1877, Joseph L. Robinson was chosen as a member of the high council. Three years later, on October 24, 1880, he was ordained a patriarch by Apostle Franklin D. Richards. The good and worthy man died on January 1, 1893, while visiting at the home of a daughter, Mrs. A. B. Bybee, of Uintah, Weber County. He was approaching his eighty-second birthday, and was ill only a few hours before his death. The funeral and burial were at Farmington.