William M. Robbins

William McKendree Robbins (October 26, 1828 – May 5, 1905) was an American politician, lawyer, and military officer. A Democrat, he was a member of the United States House of Representatives from North Carolina.

Born in Trinity, North Carolina, Robbins studied at Randolph–Macon College. He became a lawyer. During the American Civil War, he fought in the Confederate States Army. He served in the North Carolina Senate, then served in Congress from 1873 to 1879. Politically, he was conservative.

Early life and education Robbins was born on October 26, 1828, near Trinity, North Carolina, the son of Ahi Robbins and Mary Brown (née Leach) Robbins. He was the third cousin of Lucius Quintus Cincinnatus Lamar I and Mirabeau B. Lamar, and the fourth cousin of Lucius Quintus Cincinnatus Lamar and Joseph Rucker Lamar. Through his mother, he was the nephew of James M. Leach.

Robbins was educated at local subscription schools and academies. He studied classics, In 1855, he moved to Glenville, where he founded a women's college. He later left the college and practiced law in Selma. In the House, he pushed greatly for municipal bonds supporting prohibition and opposing black suffrage.

In 1878, Robbins entered a law partnership with his son-in-law, Benjamin Franklin Long, and practiced in Statesville. from an illness in the stomach. He was buried at Oakwood Cemetery, in Statesville. He was the uncle of Gaston A. Robbins.