{{short description|American politician}}
'''Hanmer Robbins''' (December 11, 1815 – July 9, 1890) was a teacher from Platteville, Wisconsin who served several times as a member of the Wisconsin State Assembly.
He was born in Deerfield, New York.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~wigrant/Robbins_Hanmer.htm|title=Hanmer Robbins|publisher=RootsWeb|accessdate=2013-10-30}}</ref> He moved to Platteville, Wisconsin in May 1837 and began teaching the village school. Besides teaching, he also was a farmer and miner.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KgUrAQAAMAAJ&q=hanmer+robbins|title=C.W. Butterfield's History 1881 Grant County, Wisconsin|date=1881|publisher=Windmill Publications|language=en}}</ref> On June 1, 1847, he married Annette L. Goodell.<ref>"Wisconsin, County Marriages, 1836-1911," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XR2L-F2Z : 3 June 2016), Hanmer Robbins and Annetta L. Goodell, 03 Jun 1847; citing, Grant, Wisconsin, United States, Wisconsin Historical Society, Madison; FHL microfilm 1,266,982.</ref> They had seven children.<ref>{{cite news|title=Harmon Robbins [sic]|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/11797616/hanmer_robbins_18151890/|newspaper=Green Bay Press-Gazette|date=June 12, 1890|page=4|via = Newspapers.com|accessdate = June 20, 2017}} {{Open access}}</ref><ref>"Wisconsin Death Index, 1820-1907," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:VJPM-D8V : 12 December 2014), Hamner Robbins, 09 Jul 1890; from "Wisconsin Deaths, 1820-1907," database, Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com : 2000); citing p. 0295, volume 02, Grant, Wisconsin, reel 031, Wisconsin Department of Health and Family Services, Vital Records Division, Madison.</ref>
==Career== Robbins opened a school in a log house with 60 students in attendance.<ref name="Holford 1900">{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pgUrAQAAMAAJ&q=hanmer+robbins+&pg=PA163|title=History of Grant County, Wisconsin: Including Its Civil, Political, Geological, Mineralogical, Archaeological and Military History, and a History of the Several Towns|last=Holford|first=Castello N.|date=1900|publisher=Walsworth Publishing Company|language=en}}</ref> He taught for a few years in that structure until additional schools were developed.
Robbins was town superintendent of schools from 1854 to 1860.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KgUrAQAAMAAJ&q=hanmer+robbins|title=C.W. Butterfield's History 1881 Grant County, Wisconsin|date=1881|publisher=Windmill Publications|language=en}}</ref> He was a member of the State Board of Regents for Normal Schools for ten years and made significant contributions towards the creation of multiple normal schools across the state.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KgUrAQAAMAAJ&q=hanmer+robbins|title=C.W. Butterfield's History 1881 Grant County, Wisconsin|date=1881|publisher=Windmill Publications|language=en}}</ref>
Robbins was a member of the Assembly on four occasions: from 1857 to 1858, in 1861,<ref name="List">{{cite news|title=The Legislature—List of Members Elected|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/11821201/wisconsin_election_1860/|newspaper=Janesville Daily Gazette|date=December 22, 1860|page=3|via = Newspapers.com|accessdate = June 21, 2017}} {{Open access}}</ref> in 1864, and from 1867 to 1868. Later, Robbins was an unsuccessful candidate for the Assembly, losing to Thomas G. Stephens. He was a Republican.<ref name="List" />
He contributed to the development of the railroad through Platteville by gathering funds. The track, finished within three years, ran through Platteville in 1870.<ref name="Holford 1900"/>
His greatest contribution was his dedication to public education in Platteville. Fifteen years after his death, the Hanmer Robbins school was built in 1905. It was Platteville's first official high school. In 1981, the building was repurposed as part of the Rollo Jamison museum.
==References== {{reflist}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Robbins, Hanmer}} Category:People from Deerfield, New York Category:Politicians from Platteville, Wisconsin Category:Republican Party members of the Wisconsin State Assembly Category:1815 births Category:1890 deaths Category:Educators from Wisconsin Category:Farmers from Wisconsin Category:Educators from New York (state) Category:19th-century American educators Category:19th-century members of the Wisconsin Legislature