Robert Whitehill (politician)

Robert Whitehill (July 21 1738 – April 8 1813) was a member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Pennsylvania.

Robert Whitehill (brother of John Whitehill, uncle of James Whitehill, and great-great-grandfather of John Crain Kunkel) was born in Pequea, Pennsylvania. He settled in Cumberland County, Pennsylvania. He was a member of the Pennsylvania State Constitutional Convention in July 1776 that approved the Declaration of Independence. He was a member of the council of safety in 1777, and a delegate to the State constitutional convention in 1790. He served as a member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives from 1797 to 1800.

He served in the Pennsylvania State Senate from 1801 to 1804, and was speaker of the senate in 1804 during the impeachment trials of the judges of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania.

Whithill was elected as a Republican to the Ninth Congress to fill the vacancy caused by the death of John A. Hanna. He was reelected to the Tenth and to the three succeeding Congresses and served until his death at Lauther Manor, Cumberland County, Pennsylvania. He was interred in Silver Spring Presbyterian Church Cemetery in Hampden Township, near Camp Hill, Pennsylvania.

Notable writings include the Pennsylvania Constitution of 1776, which he helped draft, and the Minority Dissent^[1] to the ratification of the US Constitution by Pennsylvania. This dissent included a number of proposed amendment to the US Constitution and is thought to have been used by James Madison when he drafted the US Bill of Rights ^[2]

Bibliography

Crist, Robert Grant. Robert Whitehill and the Struggle for Civil Rights: A Paper Presented Before the Hamilton Library and Historical Association of Cumberland County, Carlisle, Pennsylvania., on March 20, 1958. Lemoyne, Pennsylvania.: Lemoyne Trust Co., 1958.

Sources

United States Congress. "Robert Whitehill (id: W000404)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.
The Political Graveyard

Preceded by James McLene	Member, Supreme Executive Council of Pennsylvania, representing Cumberland County 28 December 1779—20 November 1781	Succeeded by John Buyers
Preceded by John Andre Hanna and David Bard	Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Pennsylvania's 4th congressional district 1805 - 1813 alongside David Bard	Succeeded by Hugh Glasgow
Preceded by George Smith	Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Pennsylvania's 5th congressional district 1813 alongside William Crawford	Succeeded by William Crawford and John Rea

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References

^ http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?ammem/bdsdcc:@field(DOCID+@lit(bdsdccc0401))
^ Pennsylvania and The Federal Constitution 1787-1788 by JAMES WILSON http://www.archive.org/stream/pennsylvaniafede00hist/pennsylvaniafede00hist_djvu.txt The opposition had no wish to reject it. A few amend- ments would remove every objection, and these Mr. Whitehill presented to the convention on the morning of the twelfth of December. They were fifteen in number, and are remark- able as containing the substance of the ten amendments after- wards added to the constitution. Similarity so marked can- not be accidental. There is much reason, therefore, to believe that when Madison, in 1789, drew up the amendments for the House of Representatives, he made use of those offered by the minority of the convention of Pennsylvania.

[1] ttp://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?ammem/bdsdcc:@field(DOCID+@lit(bdsdccc0401))

[2] Pennsylvania and The Federal Constitution 1787-1788 by JAMES WILSON http://www.archive.org/stream/pennsylvaniafede00hist/pennsylvaniafede00hist_djvu.txt The opposition had no wish to reject it. A few amend- ments would remove every objection, and these Mr. Whitehill presented to the convention on the morning of the twelfth of December. They were fifteen in number, and are remark- able as containing the substance of the ten amendments after- wards added to the constitution. Similarity so marked can- not be accidental. There is much reason, therefore, to believe that when Madison, in 1789, drew up the amendments for the House of Representatives, he made use of those offered by the minority of the convention of Pennsylvania.

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