Robert L. Caruthers | |
|---|---|
 Caruthers in Masonic regalia, ca. 1849 | |
| Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Tennessee's 7th district | |
| In office March 4, 1841 – March 3, 1843 | |
| Preceded by | John Bell |
| Succeeded by | David W. Dickinson |
| Personal details | |
| Born | July 31, 1800 Carthage, Tennessee |
| Died | October 2, 1882 (aged 82) Lebanon, Tennessee |
| Resting place | Cedar Grove Cemetery Lebanon, Tennessee |
| Political party | Whig |
| Spouse | Sally Sanders (1827–1870, her death) |
Robert Looney Caruthers (July 31, 1800 – October 2, 1882) was an American judge, politician, and professor. He helped establish Cumberland University in 1842, serving as the first president of its board of trustees, and was a cofounder of the Cumberland School of Law, one of the oldest law schools in the South. He served as a Tennessee state attorney general in the late 1820s and early 1830s, and was a justice of the Tennessee Supreme Court in the 1850s and early 1860s. He also served one term in the United States House of Representatives (1841–1843). In 1863, he was elected Governor of Tennessee by the state's Confederates, but never took office.[1]
- ^ Phillip Langsdon, Tennessee: A Political History (Franklin, Tenn.: Hillsboro Press, 2000), pp. 162-163.