Robert Whyte (January 6, 1787 – November 12, 1844) was a justice of the Tennessee Supreme Court from 1816 to 1834. Born in

Wigtonshire Wigtownshire or the County of Wigtown (, ) is one of the historic counties of Scotland, covering an area in the south-west of the country. Until 1975, Wigtownshire was an administrative county used for local government. Since 1975 the area has f ...

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

,Albert D. Marks, "The Supreme Court of Tennessee", Part I, '' The Green Bag'', Volume 5 (1893), p. 124. Whyte's parents intended for him to enter the ministry, and with that end in view he was highly educated at

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

. He asked his parents permission to pursue a different professions, and when they refused, Whyte he emigrated to America. He reportedly taught for several years as a professor of languages in

William and Mary College The College of William & Mary (officially The College of William and Mary in Virginia, abbreviated as William & Mary, W&M) is a public research university in Williamsburg, Virginia. Founded in 1693 by letters patent issued by King William III a ...

, although the accuracy of this account is disputed.James W. Ely, et al., eds., ''A History of the Tennessee Supreme Court'' (2002), p. 17-19. He studied law, he went to

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and So ...

to practice, and having been licensed to practice law in Tennessee in September 1802, moved to

Nashville, Tennessee Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the List of muni ...

, in 1804. In May 1816, Whyte was appointed to the Tennessee Supreme Court to succeed John Overton. In October of the following year, Whyte "narrowly won election by the General Assembly to fill the seat", and then served until 1834, his eighteen year term of service being longest on the court to that point, and one rarely surpassed thereafter. During his tenure, Whyte was "one of the Court's foremost advocates of English law as providing guidance". His service on the court was describe by '' The Green Bag'' as follows: On the reorganization of the court after the adoption of the Constitution of 1834, advancing years and the possession of what was then a large fortune disinclined him to further judicial work; and he retired.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Whyte, Robert Justices of the Tennessee Supreme Court 1787 births 1844 deaths Scottish emigrants to the United States U.S. state supreme court judges admitted to the practice of law by reading law 19th-century American judges