Silas Webster Robbins (August 24, 1785 – June 19, 1871) was an American justice of the

Supreme Court of Kentucky The Kentucky Supreme Court was created by a 1975 constitutional amendment and is the state supreme court of the U.S. state of Kentucky. Prior to that the Kentucky Court of Appeals was the only appellate court in Kentucky. The Kentucky Court of ...

. Robbins, son of Jacob and Eunice (Webster) Robbins, of Rocky Hill, 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 nam ...

, was born 24 August 1785. He graduated Yale College in 1808. Immediately after graduation, he entered the Law School at Litchfield, under Judge Reeve, and in 1811 emigrated to Kentucky and began the practice of his profession in Winchester. In the following year he was married, in Litchfield, to Caroline, youngest daughter of the late

Uriah Tracy Uriah Tracy (February 2, 1755July 19, 1807) was an American lawyer and politician from Connecticut. He served in the US House of Representatives (1793 to 1796) and the US Senate (1796 to 1807). From May to November 1800, Tracy served as Preside ...

, at the time of his death (in 1807)

U. S. Senator 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 ...

from Connecticut. Robbins soon became prominent in his profession, and was appointed Judge of the

; as such he was conspicuous as an "Old Court Judge" in the

Old Court – New Court controversy The Old Court – New Court controversy was a 19th-century political controversy in the U.S. state of Kentucky in which the Kentucky General Assembly abolished the Kentucky Court of Appeals and replaced it with a new court. The justices of the old ...

, in which the judges so named were finally successful. Having lost his wife in 1837, Judge Robbins removed in 1838 to

Springfield, Illinois Springfield is the capital of the U.S. state of Illinois and the county seat and largest city of Sangamon County. The city's population was 114,394 at the 2020 census, which makes it the state's seventh most-populous city, the second largest ...

, where he resumed the practice of law. In 1858, he retired from active life to his farm in the township of Springfield, about four miles from the city, where he died, 19 June 1871, aged nearly 86. He was married twice after the death of his first wife, and left a widow. His only surviving child was a daughter.

Attribution

External links

''Litchfield Ledger''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Robbins, Silas Webster Justices of the Kentucky Supreme Court 1785 births 1871 deaths Yale University alumni Litchfield Law School alumni Illinois lawyers Kentucky lawyers People from Rocky Hill, Connecticut People from Wethersfield, Connecticut 19th-century American judges 19th-century American lawyers