Robert Cyrus Titus (October 24, 1839 – April 27, 1918) was an American lawyer and politician from

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Life

He was born on October 24, 1839, in Eden, Erie County, New York. He attended the common schools, and

Oberlin College Oberlin College is a Private university, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college and conservatory of music in Oberlin, Ohio. It is the oldest Mixed-sex education, coeducational liberal arts college in the United S ...

in 1859 and 1860. Then he studied law with

Horace Boies Horace Boies (December 7, 1827 – April 4, 1923) served as the 14th Governor of Iowa from 1890 to 1894 as a member of the United States Democratic Party The Democratic Party is one of the Two-party system, two Major party, major contempo ...

, was admitted to the bar in 1865, and practiced in

Hamburg (male), (female) en, Hamburger(s), Hamburgian(s) , timezone1 = Central (CET) , utc_offset1 = +1 , timezone1_DST = Central (CEST) , utc_offset1_DST = +2 , postal ...

. In 1867, he married Arvilla Clark, and they had two children. He was Supervisor of the Town of Hamburg from 1868 to 1871. In 1873, he removed to Buffalo. He was District Attorney of Erie County from 1878 to 1880; and a member of the

New York State Senate The New York State Senate is the upper house of the New York State Legislature; the New York State Assembly is its lower house. Its members are elected to two-year terms; there are no term limits. There are 63 seats in the Senate. Partisan com ...

(31st D.) from 1882 to 1885, sitting in the 105th, 106th, 107th and

108th New York State Legislature The 108th New York State Legislature, consisting of the New York State Senate and the New York State Assembly, met from January 6 to May 22, 1885, during the first year of David B. Hill's governorship, in Albany. Background Under the provision ...

s. He was a judge of the Buffalo Superior Court from 1886 to 1895. The court was abolished by the Constitution of 1894, and the judges were transferred, with limited jurisdiction, to the

New York Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the State of New York is the trial-level court of general jurisdiction in the New York State Unified Court System. (Its Appellate Division is also the highest intermediate appellate court.) It is vested with unlimited civ ...

(8th D.) in January 1896, to sit until their original terms expired. At the

New York state election, 1896 The 1896 New York state election was held on November 3, 1896, to elect the governor, the lieutenant governor and a judge of the New York Court of Appeals, as well as all members of the New York State Assembly. Besides, a constitutional amendm ...

, he ran for the

New York Court of Appeals The New York Court of Appeals is the highest court in the Unified Court System of the State of New York. The Court of Appeals consists of seven judges: the Chief Judge and six Associate Judges who are appointed by the Governor and confirmed by t ...

, but was defeated by Republican Irving G. Vann. In 1901, Titus and Loran L. Lewis were appointed by the court to defend Leon Czolgosz at his trial for the

assassination of President McKinley William McKinley, the 25th president of the United States, was shot on the grounds of the Pan-American Exposition at the Temple of Music in Buffalo, New York, on September 6, 1901, six months into his second term. He was shaking hands with the ...

. He died on April 27, 1918, in

Buffalo, New York Buffalo is the second-largest city in the U.S. state of New York (behind only New York City) and the seat of Erie County. It is at the eastern end of Lake Erie, at the head of the Niagara River, and is across the Canadian border from South ...

Sources

''The New York Red Book''
compiled by Edgar L. Murlin (published by James B. Lyon, Albany NY, 1897; pg. 403)
Biographical sketches of the Members of the Legislature
in ''The Evening Journal Almanac'' (1885)
''THE NEW SUPREME COURT''
in NYT on December 13, 1895

transcribed from ''Our County and Its People: A Descriptive Work on Erie County, New York'' by Truman C. White (1898)

at Gen Forum

transcribed from the ''Buffalo Morning Express'' on April 28, 1918 {{DEFAULTSORT:Titus, Robert C. 1839 births 1918 deaths Democratic Party New York (state) state senators Politicians from Buffalo, New York Erie County District Attorneys Oberlin College alumni New York Supreme Court Justices Town supervisors in New York (state) Assassination of William McKinley Lawyers from Buffalo, New York 19th-century American judges