1887-1888David I. Robinson served as the mayor of Gloucester.Government and Public Service, City Government

Although David I. Robinson was born in Manchester-by-the-Sea, he was raised and spent a portion of his adult life in Alton, Illinois. He served in the Union Army in 1864 and moved back to Gloucester in 1868. While in Gloucester, he became a partner in Stockbridge & Co, which consolidated with the Gloucester Fresh Fish Company and Stenson & Company in 1876 to form the Atlantic Halibut Company. Additionally, he served as the president of Gloucester’s Fishermen’s Institute.

He was elected to the Gloucester Common Council in 1879 and became Council President in 1881. He ran for mayor and lost in 1881 and 1883, and then was elected in 1886. He ran for reelection in 1887 and won by four votes.

Although Robinson was a temperance mayor, the City voted to allow liquor licenses in the same election. The Board of Aldermen granted three licenses, but Mayor Robinson refused to sign them. George A. Davis, whose license was refused by Mayor Robinson, applied to the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court for a writ of mandamus compelling Robinson to sign his license, which he received. Mayor Robinson still refused to sign, so he resigned as mayor.

He was reelected in 1895, and during his second tenure, a new high school, armory, police station, and courthouse were built, roads were paved, and the city’s debt was bonded at a reduced rate of interest. He later served on the Massachusetts Governor’s Council and as the Essex County Treasurer.