Asher Robbins (October 26, 1761February 25, 1845) (also known as Ashur Robbins) was a

United States senator The United States Senate is the Upper house, upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the United States House of Representatives, House of Representatives being the Lower house, lower chamber. Together they compose the national Bica ...

from

Rhode Island Rhode Island (, like ''road'') is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is the List of U.S. states by area, smallest U.S. state by area and the List of states and territories of the United States ...

Early life

Born in

Wethersfield, Connecticut Wethersfield is a town located in Hartford County, Connecticut. It is located immediately south of Hartford along the Connecticut River. Its population was 27,298 at the time of the 2020 census. Many records from colonial times spell the name ...

, he graduated from

Yale College Yale College is the undergraduate college of Yale University. Founded in 1701, it is the original school of the university. Although other Yale schools were founded as early as 1810, all of Yale was officially known as Yale College until 1887, ...

in 1782, was a tutor in Rhode Island College (now

Brown University Brown University is a private research university in Providence, Rhode Island. Brown is the seventh-oldest institution of higher education in the United States, founded in 1764 as the College in the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providenc ...

) from 1782 to 1790, studied law, was admitted to the

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 ...

in 1792 and began practice in

Providence, Rhode Island Providence is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Rhode Island. One of the oldest cities in New England, it was founded in 1636 by Roger Williams, a Reformed Baptist theologian and religious exile from the Massachusetts Bay ...

Politics

He moved to

Newport Newport most commonly refers to: *Newport, Wales *Newport, Rhode Island, US Newport or New Port may also refer to: Places Asia *Newport City, Metro Manila, a Philippine district in Pasay Europe Ireland *Newport, County Mayo, a town on the ...

in 1795, was appointed

United States district 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 c ...

in 1812, and was a member of the

Rhode Island Assembly The State of Rhode Island General Assembly is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Rhode Island. A bicameral body, it is composed of the lower Rhode Island House of Representatives with 75 representatives, and the upper Rhode Island Sen ...

from 1818 to 1825. Robbins was elected as Adams (later

Anti-Jacksonian The National Republican Party, also known as the Anti-Jacksonian Party or simply Republicans, was a political party in the United States that evolved from a conservative-leaning faction of the Democratic-Republican Party that supported John Qu ...

and then Whig) to the U.S. Senate in 1825 to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of

James De Wolf James DeWolf (March 18, 1764December 21, 1837) was a slave trader, a privateer during the War of 1812, and a state and national politician. He served as a state legislator for a total of nearly 25 years, and in the 1820s as a United States senat ...

; he was reelected in 1827 and 1833 and served from October 31, 1825, to March 3, 1839. While in the Senate, he was chairman of the Committee on Engrossed Bills (Twenty-second Congress).

Later life

After his time in the Senate, Robbins was again a member of the State assembly (1840–1841) and was

postmaster A postmaster is the head of an individual post office, responsible for all postal activities in a specific post office. When a postmaster is responsible for an entire mail distribution organization (usually sponsored by a national government), ...

of Newport from 1841 until his death in that city in 1845; interment was in the

Common Burial Ground The Common Burying Ground and Island Cemetery are a pair of separate cemeteries on Farewell and Warner Street in Newport, Rhode Island. Together they contain over 5,000 graves, including a colonial-era slave cemetery and Jewish graves. The pair ...

. His daughter was the poetess

Sophia Louise Little Sophia Louise Little (; 1799–1893) was an American poet and abolitionist. Life Sophia Louise Robbins was born in Newport, Rhode Island, on August 22, 1799. She was the second daughter of Asher Robbins, a United States Senator from Rhode Isla ...

References

External links

*
''A Statement of Some Leading Principles and Measures Adopted by General Jackson'' written by Robbins and others
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Robbins, Asher 1761 births 1845 deaths People from Wethersfield, Connecticut People of colonial Connecticut Rhode Island National Republicans Rhode Island Whigs National Republican Party United States senators from Rhode Island Whig Party United States senators from Rhode Island Members of the Rhode Island General Assembly United States Attorneys for the District of Rhode Island Rhode Island lawyers Yale College alumni Burials at Common Burying Ground and Island Cemetery 19th-century American lawyers Rhode Island postmasters