MOSES ROBINSON was born in Hardwick, Massachusetts and educated at Dartmouth. At the age of twenty, he moved to Bennington, Vermont and became town clerk the following year, serving in that position for nearly twenty years. He was a member of the Vermont Council of Safety and the Governor’s Council, and Chief Justice for all but one year from 1778 to 1789. In 1790, he was appointed Commissioner to finish negotiating an end to the controversy with New York over jurisdictional rights. In 1789 he finished second in the popular vote to Governor Thomas Chittenden. There was, however, no majority winner as required by the Vermont Constitution and the general assembly elected Robinson. After serving as governor, he won election to the U.S. Senate and later to the Vermont House of Representatives. Having studied law, he resumed the practice of his profession in Bennington after leaving public office.