Robert Harris McCarter (April 28, 1859 – May 30, 1941) was an American lawyer who served as the

Attorney General of New Jersey The attorney general of New Jersey is a member of the executive cabinet of the state and oversees the Department of Law and Public Safety. The office is appointed by the governor of New Jersey, confirmed by the New Jersey Senate, and term limited. ...

from 1903 until 1908, succeeding his brother

Thomas N. McCarter Thomas Nesbitt McCarter (October 20, 1867 – October 23, 1955) was an American lawyer who served as the Attorney General of New Jersey from 1902 until 1903, resigning to organize the Public Service Corporation, Public Service Corporation of N ...

. McCarter was born in

Newton, New Jersey Newton, officially the ''Town of Newton'', is an incorporated municipality located in Sussex County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It is situated approximately by road northwest of New York City. As the location of the county's administrati ...

, in 1859 to Thomas Nesbitt and Mary Louisa (Haggerty) McCarter. He attended the

Pingry School The Pingry School is a coeducational, independent, college preparatory country day school in New Jersey, with a Lower School (K–5) campus in the Short Hills neighborhood of Millburn, and a Middle (6–8) and Upper School (9–12) campus ...

and

Newark Academy Newark Academy is a coeducational private day school located in Livingston, in Essex County, New Jersey, United States, serving students in sixth through twelfth grades. The school has been accredited by the Middle States Association of Col ...

before entering

Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial Colleges, fourth-oldest ins ...

, where he graduated in 1879. He studied at

Columbia Law School Columbia Law School (Columbia Law or CLS) is the law school of Columbia University, a private Ivy League university in New York City. Columbia Law is widely regarded as one of the most prestigious law schools in the world and has always ranked i ...

, receiving his diploma in 1882, and was admitted to the New Jersey bar that same year.''Scannell's New Jersey's First Citizens and State Guide''
Vol. 2 (1919/1920). McCarter and his brother joined the law firm of their father, which had been established in Newton in 1845 and moved to

Newark Newark most commonly refers to: * Newark, New Jersey, city in the United States * Newark Liberty International Airport, New Jersey; a major air hub in the New York metropolitan area Newark may also refer to: Places Canada * Niagara-on-the ...

twenty years later. The firm was known as McCarter & Keen until the two younger McCarters, along with their brother-in-law Edwin B. Williamson, became partners, after which time it was known as McCarter, Williamson & McCarter. McCarter's brother Thomas served

from 1902 to 1903, resigning to become president of the

Public Service Corporation of New Jersey Transport of New Jersey (TNJ), earlier Public Service Transportation and then Public Service Coordinated Transport, was a street railway and bus company in the U.S. state of New Jersey from 1917 to 1980, when NJ Transit took over their operations ...

. Governor Franklin Murphy nominated McCarter to take his brother's spot, and he was confirmed as Attorney General on May 5, 1903. He served for a term of five years.Official bio
Office of the

. Accessed June 26, 2008. After his tenure as Attorney General he returned to his Newark law practice, which became known as McCarter & English in 1906 after the death of Edwin B. Williamson and the promotion of Conover English to partner. Though he mostly took on corporate clients, he served as the defense attorney for one of New Jersey's most sensational criminal cases, the Hall-Mills Murder trial of 1926. Edward Wheeler Hall, a New Brunswick Episcopal priest, and Eleanor Reinhardt Mills, had been murdered, and McCarter defended the priest's wife and her brothers at trial. He managed to win acquittals for all three defendants."R.H. M'Carter Dies; Lawyer Since 1882"
''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'', May 31, 1941. Accessed June 26, 2008. McCarter served as president of the New Jersey State Bar Association. He was counsel to

Lester H. Clee Lester Harrison Clee (July 1, 1888 – March 15, 1962) was an American clergyman and politician who served in both houses of the New Jersey Legislature and was the Republican nominee for Governor of New Jersey in 1937. Biography Clee was bor ...

in his 1937 campaign for

Governor of New Jersey The governor of New Jersey is the head of government of New Jersey. The office of governor is an elected position with a four-year term. There is a two consecutive term term limit, with no limitation on non-consecutive terms. The official res ...

against

A. Harry Moore Arthur Harry Moore (July 3, 1877 – November 18, 1952) was an American Democratic politician and attorney who was the 39th governor of New Jersey, serving three nonconsecutive three-year terms between 1926 and 1941. As of , Moore remains t ...

. In 1938 he served as counsel for a committee investigating election irregularities in

Hudson County Hudson County is the most densely populated county in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It lies west of the lower Hudson River, which was named for Henry Hudson, the sea captain who explored the area in 1609. Part of New Jersey's Gateway Region in ...

at a time when political boss

Frank Hague Frank Hague (January 17, 1876 – January 1, 1956) was an American Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party politician who served as the Mayor of Jersey City, New Jersey from 1917 to 1947, Democratic National Committeeman from New Jerse ...

held a tight grip on the county's electoral process. McCarter died of a heart attack on May 30, 1941, at his home in

Rumson Rumson is a borough in Monmouth County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey, and is part of the New York Metropolitan Area. As of the 2020 United States Census, the borough’s population was 7,343, reflecting a 3.1% increase from the 7,122 enumera ...

at the age of 82.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:McCarter, Robert H. 1859 births 1941 deaths Columbia Law School alumni New Jersey Attorneys General Politicians from Newark, New Jersey People from Newton, New Jersey People from Rumson, New Jersey Pingry School alumni Princeton University alumni Lawyers from Newark, New Jersey