Robert Pinckney Dunlap (August 17, 1794 – October 20, 1859) was the 11th

governor of Maine The governor of Maine is the head of government of the U.S. state of Maine. Before Maine was admitted to the Union in 1820, Maine was part of Massachusetts and the governor of Massachusetts was chief executive. The current governor of Maine is J ...

and a

U.S. Representative The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Article One of th ...

from

Maine Maine ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the United States, and the northeasternmost state in the Contiguous United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Provinces and ...

Biography

Born in Brunswick (in modern-day

, then a part of

Massachusetts Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...

), Dunlap was educated by private tutors. He graduated from

Bowdoin College Bowdoin College ( ) is a Private college, private liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Brunswick, Maine. It was chartered in 1794. The main Bowdoin campus is located near Casco Bay and the Androscoggin River. In a ...

Brunswick, Maine Brunswick is a New England town, town in Cumberland County, Maine, United States. Brunswick is included in the Lewiston-Auburn, Maine metropolitan New England city and town area. The population was 21,756 at the 2020 United States Census. Part o ...

, in 1815. His father, John Dunlap, was born in

Dracut, Massachusetts Dracut is a town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. At the 2020 census, the town's population was 32,617, making it the second most populous town in Massachusetts with an open town meeting system of governance. The town cove ...

in 1738 and was as a Massachusetts Bay Colonial Militia

Captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

who served during the

French and Indian War The French and Indian War, 1754 to 1763, was a colonial conflict in North America between Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain and Kingdom of France, France, along with their respective Native Americans in the United States, Native American ...

, while his grandfather, Rev. Robert Dunlap, was born in 1715 in

County Antrim County Antrim (named after the town of Antrim, County Antrim, Antrim, ) is one of the six counties of Northern Ireland, located within the historic Provinces of Ireland, province of Ulster. Adjoined to the north-east shore of Lough Neagh, the c ...

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

and was a

Presbyterian Presbyterianism is a historically Reformed Protestant tradition named for its form of church government by representative assemblies of elders, known as "presbyters". Though other Reformed churches are structurally similar, the word ''Pr ...

minister trained at the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh (, ; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a Public university, public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Founded by the City of Edinburgh Council, town council under th ...

. He studied law, was admitted to the bar in 1818, and commenced practice in Brunswick. Dunlap served as a member of the

Maine House of Representatives The Maine House of Representatives is the lower house of the Maine Legislature. The House consists of 151 voting members and three nonvoting members. The voting members represent an equal number of districts across the state and are elected via ...

from 1821 to 1823. He served as president of the board of overseers of Bowdoin College from 1821 until his death. He served as member of the state militia, and was delegated to receive

General Lafayette Marie-Joseph Paul Yves Roch Gilbert du Motier de La Fayette, Marquis de La Fayette (; 6 September 1757 – 20 May 1834), known in the United States as Lafayette (), was a French military officer and politician who volunteered to join the Conti ...

when he visited Maine in 1824. Dunlap served in the State Senate 1824-1828 and 1831–1833, including three years as

Senate President President of the Senate is a title often given to the presiding officer of a senate. It corresponds to the speaker in some other assemblies. The senate president often ranks high in a jurisdiction's succession for its top executive office: for ...

, in 1827, 1828, and 1831. He is, as of 2020, the only person to serve non-consecutive terms as Senate President. In between his Senate terms, he was a member of the

Executive Council of Maine The Executive Council of Maine was a government body established with the Maine Constitution in 1820 and dissolved in 1977 via a 1975 statewide referendum. It was made up of seven members, traditionally defeated members of the majority legislative ...

. He served four one-year terms as Governor of Maine from 1834 to 1838. Dunlap was elected as a

Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (Cyprus) (DCY) **Democratic Part ...

to the Twenty-eighth and Twenty-ninth Congresses (March 4, 1843 – March 3, 1847). He served as chairman of the Committee on Public Expenditures (Twenty-ninth Congress). He served as collector of customs in

Portland, Maine Portland is the List of municipalities in Maine, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maine and the county seat, seat of Cumberland County, Maine, Cumberland County. Portland's population was 68,408 at the 2020 census. The Portland metropolit ...

, in 1848-49, and postmaster of Brunswick in 1853-57.

Death and burial

Dunlap died in

, October 20, 1859. He was interred in Pine Grove Cemetery.

References

National Governors Association profile

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Dunlap, Robert Pinckney 1794 births 1859 deaths American people of Scotch-Irish descent Democratic Party members of the Maine House of Representatives Presidents of the Maine Senate Democratic Party Maine state senators Democratic Party governors of Maine Bowdoin College alumni Politicians from Brunswick, Maine Members of the Executive Council of Maine Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Maine 19th-century members of the United States House of Representatives 19th-century members of the Maine Legislature