The McLauchlin Family emigrated from the west of Scotland to Canada in the 19th century. Archibald McLauchlin (also spelled McLachlan) and his wife Elizabeth (McKellar) McLauchlin moved from the province of Alberta to Wyoming in 1877, where they settled on the Davis Ranch. Elizabeth died in 1897, Archibald died ca. 1906. The couple had several children among whom were: Margaret Isabel (married Harold Loomis) (1866-1930), who lived with her parents until her marriage in 1898; Susan J. (married George Van Zandt), who lived in Cheyenne; Colin (married Isabel), of Montana; and John (married Annie), who returned to live in Canada.
Elizabeth McLaughlin Robinson (1886-1965) was the daughter of one of Archibald’s and Elizabeth’s children. She grew up in the Horsecreek, Wyoming, area and in Sturgis, South Dakota. She graduated from the Spearfish, South Dakota, Normal School and came to Wheatland in 1906. She married Howard Archer Robinson of Wheatland, Wyoming, in 1911. The couple had two children: Dorothy, born 1912, and Frank Delos, born ca. 1914. After his marriage, Howard Robinson worked as an agent for the International Harvester Company. He died ca. 1958.
Howard Robinson and his father, Roswell Delos Robinson, were partners in the Emerald Mining Company, which mined primarily iron ore in Laramie County, Wyoming, from 1904 to about 1908. R.D. Robinson was born in 1849 in New York and married Harriet Rogers of that state in 1869. This marriage produced one daughter, Laura (married Frank Wiley). After his first wife’s death in 1874, R.D. Robinson married Lizzie Archer in 1881. Their son, Howard Archer Robinson, was born in 1883. In November, 1886, R.D. Robinson came to Wheatland, Wyoming, to work as a carpenter for the Wheatland Development Company. In 1888 he moved to Uva, Wyoming, where he ran a hotel (from 1891-1895) and then a general store (from 1895-ca. 1903). R.D. Robinson died in 1911.
From the guide to the Robinson Family Papers, 1865-1960, (University of Wyoming. American Heritage Center.)
