George W. Robinson

George Washington Robinson served as Church Recorder of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from April 1838 until October 1840. He also served as secretary to the First Presidency.

Robinson was born on May 14, 1814, in Pawlet, Vermont. After he was baptized, he moved to Kirtland, Ohio, where he served as clerk and recorder for the Kirtland high council. Also in Kirtland, he married Athalia Rigdon, the oldest daughter of Sidney Rigdon.

Robinson was incarcerated in Richmond, Missouri with Joseph Smith and other church leaders in November 1838. He moved to Nauvoo, where he was appointed first postmaster in April 1840.

By 1842, he became disaffected with Joseph Smith and left the Church. Later, during the 1844 Succession Crisis, Robinson supported his father-in-law Sidney Rigdon and joined Rigdon’s sect. Robinson was selected as a member of the Rigdonite Quorum of the Twelve Apostles.

Robinson moved to Friendship, New York. He founded the First National Bank in 1864. He died in Friendship on February 10, 1878.