which built mills in Hancock. The owners of that company also organized the Sturgeon River Boom Company in 1875, and built a channel to bring logs from the Sturgeon River to Pike Bay. In 1881, Robinson purchased the land of John Chassell, a local banker and business man, located on Pike Bay. Robinson moved into Chassell's house and later built a new house on the same lot. To accommodate further expansion, the company's mills and principal operations were moved from Hancock to Chassell in 1887-88. By that time, the Duluth, South Shore and Atlantic Railway had extended a line to the area with a stop at the growing community that Robinson named Chassell. The new mill at Chassell, which had a capacity of twenty million board feet (47,000 m³) a year, employed over two hundred and was considered one of the largest in the state. Robinson maintained an interest in the business until 1902, when it was sold to the C. H. Wooster Lumber Company. Robinson also invested successfully in orange groves in Florida. Political career Robinson cast his first vote in a U.S. presidential election in 1856 for John C. Frémont and was a firm Republican for the remainder of his life. He was a delegate from Michigan to the 1892 Republican National Convention. In November 1894, Robinson was elected to represent the 2nd district of Houghton in the Michigan State House of Representatives, and in 1896, he was elected to the Michigan Senate from the 32nd district. He was elected lieutenant governor in 1898 with Governor Hazen S. Pingree and re-elected in 1900 with Governor Aaron T. Bliss. Family and legacy Robinson married Cornelia L. Lombard, of Weathersfield, Vermont on August 20, 1865 in Cleveland, Ohio. They raised two children: M. Ethel, who graduated from Mary Institute in St. Louis, Missouri, and the Boston Conservatory of Music; and Dean L., who finished a course of study at Smith Academy in St. Louis, Missouri, then entered the Phillips Exeter Academy in Exeter, New Hampshire, graduating in 1895. Dean graduated from the Literary Department of Harvard University in 1899 and the Columbia Law School in 1901. References The Political Graveyard Dates in the History of Chassell, Michigan 1834 births 1907 deaths Republican Party members of the Michigan House of Representatives Republican Party Michigan state senators Lieutenant Governors of Michigan People from Claremont, New Hampshire People from Cornish, New Hampshire People