Leland Robson
{{Short description|American politician, banker, and rancher (1884-1974)}}
{{Use American English|date=September 2022}}
{{Infobox person
| name =
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| birth_name =
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1884|1|21}}
| birth_place = Sandersville, Georgia, U.S.
| death_date = {{Death date and age|1973|8|10|1884|1|21}}
| death_place = Claremore, Oklahoma, U.S.
| alma_mater =
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| spouse =
| boards =
| children = 4, including Helen Walton
| relatives = Sam Walton (son-in-law)
}}
Leland Stanford "L.S." Robson (January 21, 1884 – August 10, 1973) was an American businessman, lawyer, politician, banker, and rancher. He was the father of Helen Walton and father-in-law of Walmart and Sam's Club founder Sam Walton. Robson provided Sam Walton with the loan to open his first store, and was one of Walton's early mentors in business. Robson was also the founder of the town of Fair Oaks, Oklahoma.
Biography
Robson was born on January 21, 1884, in Sandersville, Georgia."United States Social Security Death Index," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:J1KT-43F : 10 January 2021), Leland Robson, Aug 1973; citing U.S. Social Security Administration, Death Master File, database (Alexandria, Virginia: National Technical Information Service, ongoing). He was named after businessman and politician Leland Stanford, whom his parents had met on a train.{{Cite book |last=Elmore |first=Bart |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QYOREAAAQBAJ&dq=Leland+Robson&pg=PA82 |title=Country Capitalism: How Corporations from the American South Remade Our Economy and the Planet |date=2023-04-06 |publisher=UNC Press Books |isbn=978-1-4696-7334-9 |language=en}}
In 1909, Robson moved to Oklahoma. Originally working as a traveling salesman,{{Cite book |last=Bianco |first=Anthony |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7nSQsfvcGygC&dq=Leland+S.+Robson&pg=PA28 |title=Wal-Mart: The Bully of Bentonville: How the High Cost of Everyday Low Prices is Hurting America |date=2009-03-12 |publisher=Crown |isbn=978-0-307-54896-2 |language=en}} Robson put himself through law school and moved to Tulsa, eventually settling in Claremore. In 1916, Robson married Hazel Corrine Car. They had three sons and one daughter.{{Cite web |last=Ortega |first=Bob |title=In Sam We Trust |url=https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/books/first/o/ortega-sam.html |access-date=2023-10-07 |website=archive.nytimes.com}}
In addition to opening a law practice in town, Robson served for twelve years as the city attorney of Claremore.{{Cite book |last= |first= |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=s6VPAQAAMAAJ&dq=L.S.+Robson+Oklahoma&pg=PA452 |title=Annual Report |date=1914 |publisher=Oklahoma Corporation Commission |language=en}} During the 1930s, Robson acquired over 18,500 acres of land in the area and began the Robson Family cattle ranch.{{Cite web |title=Rocking |url=https://www.travelok.com/ie/listings/view.profile/id.1005 |access-date=2023-10-07 |website=TravelOK.com - Oklahoma's Official Travel & Tourism Site |language=en-US}}{{Cite web |last=Hunt |first=Steve |date=2021-10-01 |title=Written history |url=https://www.tulsapeople.com/city-desk/written-history/article_ed403a12-2144-11ec-b46f-cb071cb0053f.html |access-date=2023-10-07 |website=TulsaPeople Magazine |language=en}} At its height, the ranch operated 15 oil wells and a coal mine.{{Cite web |last=Lewis |first=Lori |date=2016-02-13 |title=Looking Back: Robson Ranch |url=https://tulsaworld.com/looking-back-robson-ranch/article_f656abd3-3171-5233-bcd8-0a8527afc951.html |access-date=2023-10-07 |website=Tulsa World |language=en}} In 1936 during the Great Depression, Robson was a founder of the Rogers County Bank, which he ran as president and chairman for over thirty years, and which now operates 20 branch locations in Kansas and 46 branch locations in Oklahoma.{{Cite web |last=Warren |first=Seana |date=2017-05-12 |title=Putting RCB Bank on the Map |url=https://www.valuenews.com/putting-rcb-bank-on-the-map-news-article_4328 |access-date=2023-10-07 |website=Value News}}{{Cite web |title=Branch Locations: RCB Bank {{!}} Personal and Business Banking |url=https://rcbbank.bank/ |access-date=2023-10-07 |website=RCB Bank |language=en-US}} Robson was a co-founder and owner of the Rogers County Coal Company and had a variety of other business holdings in farming and oil.{{Cite book |last1=Burke |first1=Bob |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-lXzIfTwYVQC&dq=L.S.+Robson+Oklahoma&pg=PA46 |title=HISTORIC ROGERS COUNTY: An Illustrated History |last2=Dabney |first2=Eric |date=2010 |publisher=HPN Books |isbn=978-1-935377-11-5 |language=en}}
During World War II, Robson was appointed to the three-member Oklahoma Highway Commission by Governor Leon C. Phillips.{{Cite book |last= |first= |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fNAhECZfPFYC&dq=L.S.+Robson+Oklahoma&pg=RA149-PA9 |title=United States House of Representatives Report |publisher=U.S. Government Printing Office |language=en}}{{Cite book |last= |first= |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DJvVAAAAMAAJ&q=L.S.+Robson+Oklahoma |title=Biennial Report of the State Highway Commission and Director to the Governor of Oklahoma |date=1944 |publisher=State Highway Commission |language=en}} Robson submitted an inquiry to the federal government regarding the construction of U.S. highways on Native American lands, which was included in a House of Representatives floor speech by Congressman Jed Johnson in 1942.{{Cite book |last= |first= |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Errpo4y3tSYC&dq=L.S.+Robson+Oklahoma&pg=PA5710 |title=Congressional Record: Proceedings and Debates of the U.S. Congress |date=1942 |publisher=U.S. Government Printing Office |language=en}}
File:Walton's Five and Dime store, Bentonville, Arkansas.jpg
After Sam Walton married his daughter Helen, Robson became an active supporter of his business and financial affairs. In 1945, he provided Sam with his first business loan to open his first store that became Walton's Five-and-Dime in Bentonville, Arkansas.{{Cite book |last=Lichtenstein |first=Nelson |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7-mVC56ioYQC&dq=Leland+Robson&pg=PA21 |title=The Retail Revolution: How Wal-Mart Created a Brave New World of Business |date=2009-07-21 |publisher=Macmillan |isbn=978-0-8050-7966-1 |language=en}} Robson had made his children partners in his real estate and banking businesses from the beginning, and he advised Sam to do the same thing with his family, leading to the establishment of Walton Enterprises.{{Cite book |last=Blumenthal |first=Karen |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=b4GW84unk2IC&dq=Leland+S.+Robson&pg=PT45 |title=Mr. Sam: How Sam Walton Built Walmart and Became America's Richest Man |date=2011-07-07 |publisher=Penguin |isbn=978-1-101-52922-5 |language=en}}{{Cite book |last=Dicker |first=John |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zNCr-NcMlpgC&dq=Leland+Robson&pg=PT35 |title=The United States of Wal-Mart |date=2005-06-16 |publisher=Penguin |isbn=978-1-101-14344-5 |language=en}}
{{Blockquote|text=Listening to L.S. Robson was an education in itself. He influenced me a great deal. He was a great salesman, one of the most persuasive individuals I have ever met. And I am sure his success as a trader and a businessman, his knowledge of finance and the law, and his philosophy had a big effect on me. I said to myself: maybe I will be as successful as he is someday.|author=Sam Walton|title=Made in America: My Story|source=page 7}}
In 1966, Robson founded and incorporated the town of Fair Oaks in Oklahoma.Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture. "Fair Oaks". Retrieved June 14, 2011.[http://www.okhistory.org/publications/enc/entry.php?entry=FA003 Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture - Fair Oaks]
Death and legacy
Robson died on August 10, 1973, at the age of 89. He is interred at Woodlawn Cemetery in Claremore, Oklahoma.
The L.S. and Hazel C. Robson Library at University of the Ozarks is named after Robson and his wife.{{Cite web |title=Ozarks' Robson Library a gateway to wonder, learning, exploration |url=https://ozarks.edu/news/ozarks-robson-library-a-gateway-to-wonder-learning-exploration/ |access-date=2023-10-07 |website=University of the Ozarks |language=en-US}}{{Cite web |title=Robson Library {{!}} Robson Library |url=https://robson.ozarks.edu/?_gl=1*ax8sz1*_ga*Njc5NTUwNzY3LjE2OTY2OTQ4MDg.*_ga_59XZ6NZXBX*MTY5NjY5NDgwNy4xLjAuMTY5NjY5NDgwNy4wLjAuMA.. |access-date=2023-10-07 |website=robson.ozarks.edu}}
Historians have regarded Robson as having a profound effect on Sam Waltons goals, values, and success in business as his mentor.{{Cite book |last=Landrum |first=Gene N. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fRdwUrLj2rgC&dq=Leland+Robson&pg=PA122 |title=Entrepreneurial Genius: The Power of Passion |date=2003 |publisher=Brendan Kelly Publishing Inc. |isbn=978-1-895997-23-1 |language=en}}{{Cite book |last=Tedlow |first=Richard S. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=a4oxEAAAQBAJ&dq=Leland+Robson+Oklahoma&pg=PT117 |title=The Emergence of Charismatic Business Leadership |date=2021-09-14 |publisher=Rosetta Books |isbn=978-0-7953-5310-9 |language=en}}
References
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Category:People from Claremore, Oklahoma
Category:People from Sandersville, Georgia
Category:American businesspeople in retailing
Category:20th-century American businesspeople
Category:American energy industry businesspeople
Category:Ranchers from Oklahoma