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REPRESENTATIVE WOMEN OF NEW ENGLAND


was the opening year of the Civil War and, as she says, "a trying time to make a start in the world." Mrs. Robinson's brother, George Mortimer Kidder, enlisted in September, 1861, in Company C, Fourth New Hampshire Regiment, was taken prisoner at the battle of Deep Bottom (or Deep Cut, as it is sometimes called), and suffered in Libby, Belle Isle, and Salisbury Prisons for nearly ten months. He was paroled March 9, 1865, but lived only eleven days after reaching his home in Worcester. His death occurred just before the surrender of General Lee, the news of which he was anxious to hear. Relinquishing a good position, in July, 1863, Mr. Robinson enlisted, and was enrolled in the United States navy and credited to the quota of New Hampshire.

Before her marriage Mrs. Robinson had made jackets for the State militia in Worcester, and she continued to work for the soldiers throughout the war. She had many kinsmen and friends in the army, to whom she frequently sent letters and supplies. She was an eye-witness of the departure of numerous companies and regiments, as they passed through Worcester, and a frequent visitor at Camp Lincoln and Camp Scott in that city. "These scenes," she says, "are vivid in my mind and will never be erased."

When the Grand Army of the Republic began its beneficent work, Mrs. Robinson renewed her efforts for the veteran, in whose welfare she had never ceased to take an interest. She was a charter member of Relief Corps No. 11, auxiliary to George H. Ward Post, No. 10. The Hon. Alfred S. Roe, a Past Commander of Post No. 10, refers to her local Grand Army work as follows:—

"From the beginning Mrs. Angle Adele Robinson has been one of the most enthusiastic and efficient workers in the Relief Corps of Worcester. Seeing her brother go into the service as a member of the Fourth New Hampshire Infantry, and herself wedded in 1861 to William Lyman Robinson, who did his patriotic duty in the navy in those troublous days, it was very natural that her very being should be bound up in the progress and issue of the struggle. It was her fortune as a girl to help make jackets worn by the Massachusetts militiamen in their April trip to Baltimore and Washington, giving to the work all the time there was, Sundays included. As a wife and mother she could tell the whole story of the anxiety which followed the absent husband and father. Her interest in the families of indigent and suffering veterans did not await for its application the organization of the Relief Corps. Long before the good women of the land had formed their invaluable band, she had sought out and helped relieve the wants of many a suffering household. Thus, when the organization was projected, she was ready to become one of the earliest members and one of the workers from the start. Serving in the home corps in about all the offices there were, she has repeatedly represented the same in the State and national bodies. Among the many excellent presiding officers whom the local and department organizations have had, it will not be too much to state that no one has ever performed her duties more intelligently or effectually. Thoroughly posted in the working programme of the order, ready in thought and speech, graceful in action, her accomplishment of each and every assignment is a source of pleasure and pride to her friends; but, above all, her loyal devotion to the ends and aims of the Relief Corps, namely, the helping of those in distress, marks her as one of the most successful and gracious of Worcester's women."

Mrs. Robinson has been a prominent participant in the State conventions of the Woman's Relief Corps for many years. She has been a member of the Department Executive Board, Department Junior Vice-President, Senior Vice-President, and at the annual convention held in Boston, February, 1899, she was unanimously elected Department President. Her tact, good judgment, and business ability were manifest throughout the year.

In the discharge of her duties while thus standing at the head of over fourteen thousand women, she attended many gatherings under the auspices of posts and corps in all sections of the State. Referring in her report to this part of her duties, she said:—

"Of the very many invitations received the past year, I have been able to accept all, except where dates conflicted and then I detailed