Robert Pinckney Dunlap (August 17, 1794 – October 20, 1859) was the 11th Governor of Maine and a U.S. Representative from Maine.

Robert P. Dunlap
Member of U.S. House of Representatives
from Maine's 2nd district
In office
March 4, 1843 – March 3, 1847
Preceded byWilliam Pitt Fessenden
Succeeded byAsa Clapp
11th Governor of Maine
In office
January 1, 1834 – January 3, 1838
Preceded bySamuel E. Smith
Succeeded byEdward Kent
Member of the
Maine Senate
In office
1831–1833
Member of the
Executive Council of Maine
7th President of the Maine Senate
In office
1827–1828
Preceded byJonas Wheeler
Succeeded byNathan Cutler
Member of the
Maine Senate
In office
1824–1828
Personal details
Born(1794-08-17)August 17, 1794
Brunswick, Massachusetts
(now Maine)
DiedOctober 20, 1859(1859-10-20) (aged 65)
Brunswick, Maine
Alma materBowdoin College

Biography edit

Born in Brunswick (in modern-day Maine, then a part of Massachusetts), Dunlap was educated by private tutors. He graduated from Bowdoin College, Brunswick, Maine, in 1815. His father, John Dunlap, was born in Dracut, Massachusetts in 1738 and was as a Massachusetts Bay Colonial Militia Captain who served during the French and Indian War, while his grandfather, Rev. Robert Dunlap, was born in 1715 in County Antrim, Ireland and was a Presbyterian minister trained at the University of Edinburgh.[1] He studied law, was admitted to the bar in 1818, and commenced practice in Brunswick.

Dunlap served as a member of the Maine House of Representatives from 1821 to 1823. He served as president of the board of overseers of Bowdoin College from 1821 until his death. He served as member of the state militia, and was delegated to receive General Lafayette when he visited Maine in 1824.

Dunlap served in the State Senate 1824-1828 and 1831–1833, including three years as Senate President, in 1827, 1828, and 1831. He is, as of 2020, the only person to serve non-consecutive terms as Senate President.[2] In between his Senate terms, he was a member of the Executive Council of Maine. He served four one-year terms as Governor of Maine from 1834 to 1838.

Dunlap was elected as a Democrat to the Twenty-eighth and Twenty-ninth Congresses (March 4, 1843 – March 3, 1847).

He served as chairman of the Committee on Public Expenditures (Twenty-ninth Congress). He served as collector of customs in Portland, Maine, in 1848-49, and postmaster of Brunswick in 1853-57.

Death and burial edit

Dunlap died in Brunswick, Maine, October 20, 1859. He was interred in Pine Grove Cemetery.

References edit

  1. ^ "The Ulster-Scots and New England: Scotch-Irish foundations in the New World" (PDF). Ulster-Scots Agency. p. 29. Retrieved July 20, 2019.
  2. ^ "1827 Robert Dunlap". Archived from the original on January 27, 2004.

External links edit

Party political offices
Preceded by Democratic nominee for Governor of Maine
1833, 1834, 1835, 1836
Succeeded by
Political offices
Preceded by 11th Governor of Maine
1834-1838
Succeeded by
Preceded by 7th President of the Maine Senate
1827-1828
Succeeded by
U.S. House of Representatives
Preceded by Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Maine's 2nd congressional district

March 4, 1843 – March 3, 1847
Succeeded by