Robert Murphy Nevin (May 5, 1850 – December 17, 1912) was an American attorney and three-term member of the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the Bicameralism, 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 Artic ...

from

Ohio Ohio ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Erie to the north, Pennsylvania to the east, West Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Indiana to the ...

from 1901 to 1907.

Biography

Robert M. Nevin was born in

Danville, Ohio Danville is a village in Knox County, Ohio, United States. The population was 1,019 at the 2020 census. History Modern Danville had its start in 1923 by the merging of two neighboring villages called Buckeye City and Rosstown (Rossville). The o ...

, the son of Robert and Frances E. (Eakin) Nevin. His father was a

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and the first

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), ...

Highland County, Ohio Highland County is a county located in the U.S. state of Ohio. As of the 2020 census, the population was 43,317. Its county seat is Hillsboro. The county is named for the topography which is hilly and divides the watersheds of the Little M ...

. He attended the public schools in

Hillsboro, Ohio Hillsboro is a city in and the county seat of Highland County, Ohio, United States, approximately west of Chillicothe, Ohio, Chillicothe and east of Cincinnati. The population was 6,481 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. History Hi ...

and was graduated from the

Ohio Wesleyan University Ohio Wesleyan University (abbrevriated OWU) is a private university, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Delaware, Ohio, United States. It was founded in 1842 by Methodist leaders and Ohio Valley, Centra ...

in June 1868. After graduation, Robert M. Nevin moved to

Dayton, Ohio Dayton () is a city in Montgomery County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of cities in Ohio, sixth-most populous city in Ohio, with a population of 137,644 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. The Dayton metro ...

, where he pursued the study of law under the tutelage of Thomas O. Lowe. When Lowe was elected to the bench of the superior court, Nevin entered the office of Conover & Craighead, well-known attorneys, where he completed his study of law until admitted to the bar in

Montgomery County, Ohio Montgomery County is in the southwestern part of the U.S. state of Ohio. At the 2020 census, the population was 537,309, making it the fifth-most populous county in Ohio. The county seat is Dayton. The county was named in honor of Richard Mo ...

in 1871.

Family

In November 1871, Robert Murphy Nevin was united in marriage to Miss Emma Reasoner of

Dresden, Ohio Dresden is a village (United States)#Ohio, village in Muskingum County, Ohio, United States, along the Muskingum River at the mouth of Wakatomika Creek. The population was 1,650 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. It is part of the Mus ...

. They had four children.

Legal career

In 1876, Robert Nevin entered into professional partnership with Alvin W. Kumler, and the firm of Nevin & Kumler was maintained until the election of Kumler as judge of the Montgomery County

Court of Common Pleas A court of common pleas is a common kind of court structure found in various common law jurisdictions. The form originated with the Court of Common Pleas at Westminster, which was created to permit individuals to press civil grievances against one ...

, by which time it was the oldest continuous law partnership in south central Ohio. R. M. Nevin was a distinguished criminal lawyer and occupied a prominent place at the Ohio bar as counsel for the

New York Central Railroad The New York Central Railroad was a railroad primarily operating in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The railroad primarily connected New York metropolitan area, gr ...

for thirty years (1882–1912).

Early political activities

Robert M. Nevin was a lifelong Republican, very active in state and local politics, and served as chairman of the Republican county committee of Montgomery County. He was a

delegate Delegate or delegates may refer to: * Delegate, New South Wales, a town in Australia * Delegate (CLI), a computer programming technique * Delegate (American politics), a representative in any of various political organizations * Delegate (United S ...

to 14 Republican state

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in 15 years, his name being put in nomination for Secretary of State and

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at different times. In 1893, he nominated

William McKinley William McKinley (January 29, 1843September 14, 1901) was the 25th president of the United States, serving from 1897 until Assassination of William McKinley, his assassination in 1901. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Repub ...

for Governor of Ohio at the state convention in

Columbus, Ohio Columbus (, ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities in Ohio, most populous city of the U.S. state of Ohio. With a 2020 United States census, 2020 census population of 905,748, it is the List of United States ...

. Nevin was a delegate to the Republican National Convention in 1892.

Congress

R. M. Nevin was elected as a Republican as

prosecuting attorney A prosecutor is a legal representative of the prosecution in states with either the adversarial system, which is adopted in common law, or inquisitorial system, which is adopted in civil law. The prosecution is the legal party responsible ...

of Montgomery County and served from 1887 to 1890. He was narrowly defeated for Congress from Ohio's third district in 1896. In 1900, he was elected as a Republican to the Fifty-seventh, and re-elected to the Fifty-eighth and Fifty-ninth Congresses.

Later life

He declined renomination in 1906, resuming the practice of law in Dayton. He was a

Mason Mason may refer to: Occupations * Mason, brick mason, or bricklayer, a worker who lays bricks to assist in brickwork, or who lays any combination of stones, bricks, cinder blocks, or similar pieces * Stone mason, a craftsman in the stone-cutti ...

Knight Templar The Poor Fellow-Soldiers of Christ and of the Temple of Solomon, mainly known as the Knights Templar, was a Military order (religious society), military order of the Catholic Church, Catholic faith, and one of the most important military ord ...

and

Scottish Rite The Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite of Freemasonry is a List of Masonic rites, rite within the broader context of Freemasonry. It is the most widely practiced List of Masonic rites, Rite in the world. In some parts of the world, and in the ...

, an

Odd Fellow The Independent Order of Odd Fellows (IOOF) is a non-political, non-sectarian international fraternal order of Odd Fellowship. It was founded in 1819 by Thomas Wildey in Baltimore, Maryland, United States. Evolving from the Odd Fellows, Order ...

, a Knight of Pythias and a member of the society of Elks.

Death and burial

Robert Murphy Nevin died in Dayton in 1912 and was interred in

Woodland Cemetery, Dayton, Ohio Woodland Cemetery and Arboretum (200 acres), located at 118 Woodland Avenue, Dayton, Ohio, is one of the oldest garden cemeteries in the United States. Woodland was incorporated in 1842 by John Whitten Van Cleve, the first male child born in ...

Sources

* History of the Republican Party in Ohio. Chicago: Lewis Pub. Co., 1898, 1579 pgs. * Gilkey, Elliot Howard, The Ohio Hundred Year Book. Columbus: F.J. Heer, state printer, 1901, 779 pgs. * Conover, Frank, editor. Centennial Portrait and Biographical Record of the City of Dayton and of Montgomery County, Ohio Logansport, IN: A. W. Bowen & Co. (Press of Wilson, Humphreys & Co.), 1897, 1310 pages. {{DEFAULTSORT:Nevin, Robert Murphy 1850 births 1912 deaths Politicians from Dayton, Ohio People from Highland County, Ohio People from Danville, Ohio Burials at Woodland Cemetery and Arboretum Ohio Wesleyan University alumni County district attorneys in Ohio 19th-century American legislators Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Ohio 20th-century members of the United States House of Representatives