Robert Bull Bates (1789 – October 7, 1841) was an American lawyer and politician in the U.S. state of Vermont. He served as the 29th and 31st Speaker of the Vermont House of Representatives.
Early life Bates was born in Salisbury, Connecticut in 1789 and was raised in Richmond, Massachusetts.Vital Records of Richmond, Massachusetts to the year 1850, by New England Historic Genealogical Society (Boston), 1913, page 13 He studied law in Delaware and settled in Middlebury, Vermont in 1813, where he practiced law in partnership with Daniel Chipman.Semicentennial Sermon, Containing a History of Middlebury, Vt., by Thomas Abbot Merrill, 1841, page 75History of the Town of Middlebury, by Samuel Swift, 1859, page 3461820 United States Federal Census, entry for Robert B. Bates of Middlebury, Vermont, accessed via Ancestry.com, February 20, 20121830 United States Federal Census, entry for Robert B. Bates of Middlebury, Vermont, accessed via Ancestry.com, February 20, 2012 During the War of 1812 Bates was one of two aides de camp for the commander of the Vermont Militia's 3rd Division.Niles' Weekly Register, H. Niles, editor, Volume 7, 1815, page 183The New England and New York Law Register for the Year 1835, by John Hayward (Boston), 1834, page 94Magazine article, Malfeasance or Theft? What Really Happened at the Middlebury Branch of the Vermont State Bank, by Kenneth A. Degree, Vermont History magazine, Winter/Spring 2000, pages 5 to 34
Active in the Episcopal Church, Bates was a delegate to the Vermont diocese's annual convention in 1826.Convention Journal and the Diocesan Canons, by Episcopal Diocese of Vermont, 1826, page 3
Political career A Democratic-Republican, Bates served in several local offices, including Justice of the Peace.Journal of the Vermont General Assembly, published by Rufus Colton (Woodstock), 1829, page 35 He represented Middlebury in the Vermont House of Representatives on several occasions, and was Speaker of the State House from 1826 to 1829 and from 1830 to 1831.Catalogue of the Principal Officers of Vermont, by Leonard Deming, 1851, page 9
In 1831 Bates was an unsuccessful candidate for the United States House of Representatives, losing to William Slade.Daily National Intelligencer, May 30, 1831, reprinted on U.S. Genealogy Express web site, accessed February 20, 2012
Bates later moved to Albany, New York, and then to New York City where he practiced law until his death on October 7, 1841.Longworth's American Almanac, New-York Register and City Directory, by Thomas Longworth (New York), 1839Death notice, Robert B. Bates, New York Evening Post, October 8, 1841Death notice, Robert B. Bates, 1836-1844 Death Notices of The Vermont Watchman & State Journal Newspaper, Reprinted on Vermont Northeast Kingdom Genealogy web site, accessed February 20, 2012
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