Robert Eakin (March 15, 1848 – October 1, 1917) was an American judge and attorney in the state of

Oregon Oregon () is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of it ...

. He served as the 19th Chief Justice on the

Oregon Supreme Court The Oregon Supreme Court (OSC) is the highest state court in the U.S. state of Oregon. The only court that may reverse or modify a decision of the Oregon Supreme Court is the Supreme Court of the United States.Kane County, Illinois Kane County is a county in the U.S. state of Illinois. According to the 2010 census, it has a population of 515,269, making it the fifth-most populous county in Illinois. Its county seat is Geneva, and its largest city is Aurora. Kane County is ...

.Corning, Howard M. ''Dictionary of Oregon'' History. Binfords & Mort Publishing, 1956. His parents, Stewart Bates Eakin and Catherine McEldowney Eakin, traveled the

Oregon Trail The Oregon Trail was a east–west, large-wheeled wagon route and Westward Expansion Trails, emigrant trail in the United States that connected the Missouri River to valleys in Oregon. The eastern part of the Oregon Trail spanned part of what ...

in 1866 along with his brother James A. Eakin.Clatsop County District Court Judges
The family set down roots in the

Eugene, Oregon Eugene ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Oregon. It is located at the southern end of the Willamette Valley, near the confluence of the McKenzie and Willamette rivers, about east of the Oregon Coast. As of the 2020 United States Census, Eu ...

area of the state. Robert Eakin attended

Willamette University Willamette University is a private liberal arts college with locations in Salem and Portland, Oregon. Founded in 1842, it is the oldest college in the Western United States. Originally named the Oregon Institute, the school was an unaffiliated ...

Salem, Oregon Salem ( ) is the capital of the U.S. state of Oregon, and the county seat of Marion County, Oregon, Marion County. It is located in the center of the Willamette Valley alongside the Willamette River, which runs north through the city. The river ...

, where he graduated in 1873. He then studied law in Eugene, and passed the bar in 1874.

Legal career

Following his acceptance to the state

bar Bar or BAR may refer to: Food and drink * Bar (establishment), selling alcoholic beverages * Candy bar * Chocolate bar Science and technology * Bar (river morphology), a deposit of sediment * Bar (tropical cyclone), a layer of cloud * Bar (u ...

, he entered private practice in

Eastern Oregon Eastern Oregon is the eastern part of the U.S. state of Oregon. It is not an officially recognized geographic entity; thus, the boundaries of the region vary according to context. It is sometimes understood to include only the eight easternmost ...

in Union County. There he practiced from 1875 until 1895 when he became a judge for the state circuit court’s 10th Judicial District. He served on that court until 1907. In the fall of 1906 Eakin was elected to the Oregon Supreme Court to fill the position of Thomas G. Hailey, whose term expired in January 1907.Oregon Blue Book: Earliest Authorities in Oregon - Supreme Court Justices of Oregon
/ref> Eakin won re-election to a second six-year term in 1912. Justice Eakin then served as chief justice of the state’s highest court from 1911 to 1913, and then resigned on January 8, 1917 to be replaced by

Wallace McCamant Wallace McCamant (September 22, 1867 – December 17, 1944) was an American jurist in Oregon. A Pennsylvania native, he served as the 46th justice of the Oregon Supreme Court from 1917 to 1918. Later he served briefly as a United States circuit ju ...

Opinions authored

*''Stettler v. O'Hara'', 69 Or 519, 139 P. 743 (1914) (

labor laws Labour laws (also known as labor laws or employment laws) are those that mediate the relationship between workers, employing entities, trade unions, and the government. Collective labour law relates to the tripartite relationship between employee, ...

)

Family

Robert Eakin married in 1876 to the former Nancy Walker. They had four children together. Eakin's younger brother James also served as a circuit judge, but in

Clatsop County, Oregon Clatsop County is one of the 36 counties in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of the 2020 census, the population was 41,072. The county seat is Astoria. The county is named for the Clatsop tribe of Native Americans, who lived along the coast of ...

. Robert Eakin died on October 1, 1917.

References

External links

Oregon Supreme Court Floatage Cases
{{DEFAULTSORT:Eakin, Robert. 1848 births 1917 deaths Willamette University alumni Oregon state court judges People from Kane County, Illinois Oregon pioneers Chief Justices of the Oregon Supreme Court 19th-century American judges Justices of the Oregon Supreme Court