William Robson was a local office holder in Pitt County. A member of the Pitt County Committee of Safety in 1774, he also served in the Provincial Congress (1775-1776) and in the North Carolina General Assembly (1777-1778).  In June 1777 he arrested William May and William Tyler, two members of the Gourd Patch Conspiracy and in response, John Lewellen made plans to either intimidate or attack Robson in order to force the men's release. Later he issued a warrant for Nathan Mayo to be brought to the New Bern jail after Mayo murdered his neighbor Thomas Clark.