From NKAA, Notable Kentucky African Americans Database (main entry)

William H. Robinson from Paris, KY invented the Robinson Mechanical Book, a crank-operated dictionary that spelled and defined words. William and his wife, Elizabeth G. Robinson, were school teachers at the Paris Colored School [source: 1910 U.S. Census]. The couple had a son named Adelphus L. Robinson; the family lived on 14th Street. In 1920, the family lived in Newtown [source: 1920 U.S. Census]. All of the family members were born in Kentucky.

For more see p. 17 of The Negro Year Book (1925); and the Mechanical Book, Patent #US1090502A, Applied for April 12, 1913 and granted March 17, 1914.