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Asher Robbins

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Asher Robbins
Official portrait in the RI State House
United States Senator
from Rhode Island
In office
October 31, 1825 – March 3, 1839
Preceded byJames De Wolf
Succeeded byNathan F. Dixon
Member of the Rhode Island General Assembly
In office
1840–1841
In office
1818–1825
Personal details
Born(1761-10-26)October 26, 1761
Wethersfield, Connecticut
DiedFebruary 25, 1845(1845-02-25) (aged 83)
Newport, Rhode Island
Resting placeCommon Burial Ground
Political partyNational Republican, Whig
Alma materYale College
ProfessionPolitician, Lawyer

Asher Robbins (also known as Ashur Robbins; October 26, 1761 – February 25, 1845) was a United States senator from Rhode Island.

Early life

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Born in Wethersfield, Connecticut on October 26, 1761, he graduated from Yale College in 1782, was a tutor at Rhode Island College (now Brown University) from 1782 to 1790, studied law, was admitted to the bar in 1792 and began practice in Providence, Rhode Island.

Politics

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He moved to Newport in 1795, was appointed United States district attorney in 1812, and was a member of the Rhode Island Assembly from 1818 to 1825.

Robbins was elected as Adams (later Anti-Jacksonian and then Whig) to the U.S. Senate in 1825 to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of James De Wolf; 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

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After his time in the Senate, Robbins was again a member of the State assembly (1840–1841) and was postmaster of Newport from 1841 until his death in that city in 1845; interment was in the Common Burial Ground. His daughter was the poet Sophia Louise Little.[1]

References

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  1. ^ Wilson, J. G.; Fiske, J., eds. (1888). "Little, Sophia Louise". Appleton's Cyclopædia of American Biography. Vol. 3. New York: D. Appleton & Co. p. 738.
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U.S. Senate
Preceded by U.S. senator (Class 1) from Rhode Island
October 31, 1825 – March 3, 1839
Served alongside: Nehemiah R. Knight
Succeeded by
Honorary titles
Preceded by Oldest living U.S. senator
February 13, 1843 – February 25, 1845
Succeeded by