Robert Whyte (January 6, 1787 – November 12, 1844) was a justice of the

Tennessee Supreme Court The Tennessee Supreme Court is the highest court in the state of Tennessee. The Supreme Court's three buildings are seated in Nashville, Knoxville, and Jackson, Tennessee. The Court is composed of five members: a chief justice, and four justice ...

from 1816 to 1834. Born in Wigtonshire,

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

,Albert D. Marks, "The Supreme Court of Tennessee", Part I, '' The Green Bag'', Volume 5 (1893), p. 124. Whyte's parents intended for him to enter the ministry, and with that end in view he was highly educated at

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

. He asked his parents permission to pursue a different professions, and when they refused, Whyte he emigrated to America. He reportedly taught for several years as a professor of languages in William and Mary College, although the accuracy of this account is disputed.James W. Ely, et al., eds., ''A History of the Tennessee Supreme Court'' (2002), p. 17-19. He studied law, he went to

North Carolina North Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, South Carolina to the south, Georgia (U.S. stat ...

to practice, and having been licensed to practice law in Tennessee in September 1802, moved to

Nashville, Tennessee Nashville, often known as Music City, is the capital and List of municipalities in Tennessee, most populous city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County in Middle Tennessee, locat ...

, in 1804. In May 1816, Whyte was appointed to the Tennessee Supreme Court to succeed John Overton. In October of the following year, Whyte "narrowly won election by the General Assembly to fill the seat", and then served until 1834, his eighteen year term of service being longest on the court to that point, and one rarely surpassed thereafter. During his tenure, Whyte was "one of the Court's foremost advocates of English law as providing guidance". His service on the court was describe by '' The Green Bag'' as follows: On the reorganization of the court after the adoption of the Constitution of 1834, advancing years and the possession of what was then a large fortune disinclined him to further judicial work; and he retired.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Whyte, Robert Justices of the Tennessee Supreme Court 1787 births 1844 deaths Scottish emigrants to the United States U.S. state supreme court judges admitted to the practice of law by reading law 19th-century Tennessee state court judges