Robert Trimble (November 17, 1776 – August 25, 1828) was a lawyer and jurist who served as Justice of the

Kentucky Court of Appeals The Kentucky Court of Appeals is the lower of Kentucky's two appellate courts, under the Kentucky Supreme Court. Prior to a 1975 amendment to the Kentucky Constitution the Kentucky Court of Appeals was the only appellate court in Kentucky. Th ...

, as

United States district judge The United States district courts are the trial courts of the U.S. federal judiciary. There is one district court for each federal judicial district, which each cover one U.S. state or, in some cases, a portion of a state. Each district cou ...

of the

United States District Court for the District of Kentucky The following are former United States district courts, which ceased to exist because they were subdivided into smaller units. With the exception of California, each of these courts initially covered an entire U.S. state, and was subdivided as the ...

and as Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1826 to his death in 1828. During his brief Supreme Court tenure he authored several majority opinions, including the decision in ''

Ogden v. Saunders ''Ogden v. Saunders''25 U.S. 213 (1827) was a United States Supreme Court case that determined the scope of a bankruptcy law in relation to a clause of the Constitution of the United States.. It is notable for its era in producing multiple opinions ...

'', which was the only majority opinion that Chief Justice John Marshall ever dissented from during his 34 years on the Court.

Early life and career

Trimble was born on November 17, 1776, in Berkeley County,

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

to William Trimble (d. 1806) and Mary McMillan. He was three years old when his family

emigrated Emigration is the act of leaving a resident country or place of residence with the intent to settle elsewhere (to permanently leave a country). Conversely, immigration describes the movement of people into one country from another (to permanentl ...

to the Cumberland Plateau region of Virginia's Kentucky County, initially to

Fort Boonesborough Fort Boonesborough was a frontier fort in Kentucky, founded by Daniel Boone and his men following their crossing of the Kentucky River on April 1, 1775. The settlement they founded, known as Boonesborough, Kentucky, is Kentucky's second oldest Eu ...

and then to a settlement in present-day

Clark County, Kentucky Clark County is a county located in the U.S. state of Kentucky. As of the 2020 census, the population was 36,972. Its county seat is Winchester. The county was created in 1792 from Bourbon and Fayette counties and is named for Revolutionary War ...

. He attended

Transylvania University Transylvania University is a private university in Lexington, Kentucky. It was founded in 1780 and was the first university in Kentucky. It offers 46 major programs, as well as dual-degree engineering programs, and is accredited by the Southern ...

and read law under two attorneys, first George Nicholas and then (after Nicholas' death in 1799) James Brown. He was licensed to practice law by the

in 1803 and began a law practice in

Paris, Kentucky Paris is a home rule-class city in Bourbon County, Kentucky. It lies northeast of Lexington on the Stoner Fork of the Licking River. Paris is the seat of its county and forms part of the Lexington–Fayette Metropolitan Statistical Area. As ...

. He established his office at Eades Tavern, which also became his home. On August 18, 1803, he married Nancy P. Timberlake; together they had at least 10 children. Their daughter Rebecca married

Garrett Davis Garrett Davis (September 10, 1801 – September 22, 1872) was a U.S. Senator and Representative from Kentucky. Early life Born in Mount Sterling, Kentucky, Garrett Davis was the brother of Amos Davis. After completing preparatory studies, Dav ...

, who represented Kentucky in the

U.S. House The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they ...

(1839–1847) and then in the

U.S. Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and pow ...

(1861–1872). Another of Trimble's daughters was the mother of James G. Jones, the first mayor of

Evansville, Indiana Evansville is a city in, and the county seat of, Vanderburgh County, Indiana, United States. The population was 118,414 at the 2020 census, making it the state's third-most populous city after Indianapolis and Fort Wayne, the largest city in ...

and the third Indiana Attorney General. Trimble was elected to represent Bourbon County in the Kentucky House of Representatives in 1802. A staunch

Jeffersonian Republican The Democratic-Republican Party, known at the time as the Republican Party and also referred to as the Jeffersonian Republican Party among other names, was an American political party founded by Thomas Jefferson and James Madison in the early ...

, he served only one term, as he intensely disliked the tumult of politics. He thereafter refused election to any public office, including two nominations to the U.S. Senate. In 1807, Trimble accepted an appointment to the

, but resigned in 1809 for financial and family reasons; he later declined an appointment to become that Court's chief justice in 1810. From 1813 to 1817 he served as

United States Attorney United States attorneys are officials of the U.S. Department of Justice who serve as the chief federal law enforcement officers in each of the 94 U.S. federal judicial districts. Each U.S. attorney serves as the United States' chief federal ...

for the

District A district is a type of administrative division that, in some countries, is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or county, counties, several municipality, municipa ...

of Kentucky. During this time, Trimble proved himself a tireless legal researcher and an energetic prosecutor. Trimble also owned twenty-three slaves at the time of the 1820 census.

Federal judicial service

U.S. District Court for Kentucky

Trimble was nominated as District Judge for the U.S. District Court for Kentucky by President

James Madison James Madison Jr. (March 16, 1751June 28, 1836) was an American statesman, diplomat, and Founding Father. He served as the fourth president of the United States from 1809 to 1817. Madison is hailed as the "Father of the Constitution" for h ...

on January 28, 1817. Confirmed by the U.S. Senate on January 31, 1817, he served for nine years, until his appointment to the Supreme Court of the United States in May 1826.

Supreme Court

Nomination and confirmation

Trimble was nominated as an

associate justice Associate justice or associate judge (or simply associate) is a judicial panel member who is not the chief justice in some jurisdictions. The title "Associate Justice" is used for members of the Supreme Court of the United States and some sta ...

of the U.S. Supreme Court by President

John Quincy Adams John Quincy Adams (; July 11, 1767 – February 23, 1848) was an American statesman, diplomat, lawyer, and diarist who served as the sixth president of the United States, from 1825 to 1829. He previously served as the eighth United States ...

on April 11, 1826, to succeed Thomas Todd. Opposition to the nomination came from fellow Kentuckian, Senator John Rowan (Kentucky politician), John Rowan, whose states' rights views ran counter to positions taken by Trimble while serving on the circuit court that favored federal authority over state authority. The effort to stall the nomination failed, and Trimble was confirmed by the U.S. Senate on May 9, 1826, by a 27-5 vote.

Tenure

Trimble served on the Court from June 16, 1826 until August 25, 1828. During his Supreme Court tenure, Trimble generally agreed with the opinions of Chief Justice John Marshall. In a notable departure, he wrote the majority opinion in the case of ''

''; Marshall wrote the dissenting opinion in the case.

Death and legacy

Following the 1828 Supreme Court term, Trimble returned home. That summer, he became ill with a bilious fever and died on August 25, at the age of 52. He was interred in Paris Cemetery. Following Trimble's death, Chief Justice Marshall wrote to Senator Henry Clay saying, Justice Joseph Story, who served with Trimble, wrote, Trimble County, Kentucky, established in 1837, is named for Justice Trimble. Also, the Liberty ship , built in Brunswick, Georgia during World War II, was named in his honor.

Notes

References

External links

Links to all opinions written by Robert Trimble on the US Supreme Court, from www.courtlistener.com
Robert Trimble
at the ''Biographical Directory of Federal Judges'', a public domain publication of the Federal Judicial Center.
Justices 1789 to Present
www.supremecourt.gov, Supreme Court of the United States. {{DEFAULTSORT:Trimble, Robert 1776 births 1828 deaths 19th-century American judges American Presbyterians American prosecutors Judges of the United States District Court for the District of Kentucky Kentucky Democratic-Republicans Kentucky state court judges Members of the Kentucky House of Representatives People from Berkeley County, West Virginia United States Attorneys for the District of Kentucky United States federal judges appointed by James Madison United States federal judges appointed by John Quincy Adams Justices of the Supreme Court of the United States United States federal judges admitted to the practice of law by reading law American slave owners Judges of the Kentucky Court of Appeals