Justice Robert Bruce Van Valkenburgh
Former Justice Robert Van Valkenburgh was the 21st Justice of the Supreme Court and served from 1874-1888. As a youth, he participated in the Canadian Rebellion of 1838, though, unlike William Forward, he was never captured.
Instead, returning to his home state of New York, Van Valkenburgh read law, and passed the bar in 1843. He joined the Whig Party and became active in politics, becoming widely known for his oratorical skills. He won election to the New York State Assembly in 1856, then the U.S. House of Representatives in 1861, as a Republican.
Van Valkenburgh spent time during the war in recruiting volunteer regiments, raising 17 in all. He commanded one of them at the strategic Battle of Antietam in September 1862.
In late 1865, President Andrew Johnson appointed Van Valkenburgh as U.S. Minister to Japan, where on one occasion, he commandeered a warship and, with 300 volunteers, rescued the Japanese prime minister from capture by rebels trying to take over the government.
In April 1871, he returned to the U.S., suffering from rheumatism, and decided to relocate to Jacksonville, Florida. There he joined with liberal Republicans and some Democrats in promoting a number of issues of Reconstruction politics.
When Governor Ossian Hart died, his Lieutenant Governor, Marcellus Stearns, took over and appointed Van Valkenburgh to the state’s high court. Together with James Westcott and Edwin Randall, he remained on the court for an extended period of time, lending some stability to the high tribunal during a period of intense political and social upheaval.
Van Valkenburgh’s rheumatism prevented him from taking a very active role in the court’s business but his expertise in criminal law was put to good use. Gradually, his health deteriorated further. Within a year of his wife’s death in 1887, Van Valkenburgh died also, while still a member of the court.
Quick facts about Justice Valkenburgh:
- Served as Justice from 1874-1888
- Born: September 4, 1821 – Prattsburg, New York
- Died: August 1, 1888 – Suwannee Springs, Florida
Former Justices
- Justice Robert J. Luck
- Justice Barbara Lagoa
- Justice Alan Lawson
- Justice James E.C. Perry
- Justice Ricky Polston
- Justice Kenneth B. Bell
- Justice Raoul G. Cantero
- Justice Peggy A. Quince
- Justice R. Fred Lewis
- Justice Barbara J. Pariente
- Justice Harry Lee Anstead
- Justice Charles Talley Wells
- Justice Major B. Harding
- Justice Gerald Kogan
- Justice Stephen H. Grimes
- Justice Rosemary Barkett
- Justice Leander J. Shaw, Jr.
- Justice Raymond Ehrlich
- Justice Parker Lee McDonald
- Justice James E. Alderman
- Justice Frederick Brennan Karl
- Justice Joseph Woodrow Hatchett
- Justice Alan C. Sundberg
- Justice Arthur J. England, Jr.
- Justice Ben. F. Overton
- Justice Hal P. Dekle
- Justice David Lucius McCain
- Justice Joseph Arthur Boyd, Jr.
- Justice James Calhoun Adkins, Jr.
- Justice Vassar Benjamin Carlton
- Justice Wade Lee Hopping
- Justice Richard William Ervin
- Justice Millard Fillmore Caldwell
- Justice Stephen C. O'Connell
- Justice Benjamin Campbell Thornal
- Justice Edward Harris Drew
- Justice John Elie Mathews
- Justice Bonnie Kaslo Roberts
- Justice Tolbert Frank Hobson
- Justice Paul Dryden Barns
- Justice Harold Leon "Tom" Sebring
- Justice Alto Lee Adams
- Justice Elwyn Thomas
- Justice Roy Harrison Chapman
- Justice Fred Henry Davis
- Justice Rivers Henderson Buford
- Justice Louie Willard Strum
- Justice Armstead Brown
- Justice William Glenn Terrell
- Justice Thomas Franklin West
- Justice Jefferson Beale Browne
- Justice William Hull Ellis
- Justice Charles Breckenridge Parkhill
- Justice James Bryan Whitfield
- Justice William Adams Hocker
- Justice Evelyn Croom Maxwell
- Justice Robert Spratt Cockrell
- Justice Thomas M. Shackleford
- Justice Francis Beauregard Carter
- Justice Benjamin Sullivan Liddon
- Justice Milton Harvey Mabry
- Justice Robert Fenwick Taylor
- Justice Henry Laurens Mitchell
- Justice Geoge Pettus Raney
- Justice George Gray Mcwhorter
- Justice Robert Bruce Van Valkenburgh
- Justice Franklin D. Fraser
- Justice James Diament Westcott, Jr.
- Justice Ossian Bingley Hart
- Justice Edwin M. Randall
- Justice Samuel James Douglas
- Justice James Mcnair Baker
- Justice Augustus Emmet Maxwell
- Justice David Shelby Walker
- Justice William Augustus Forward
- Justice Bird Murphy Pearson
- Justice Charles H. Dupont
- Justice Benjamin D. Wright
- Justice Albert Gallatin Semmes
- Justice Leslie Atchinson Thompson
- Justice Walker Anderson
- Justice Joseph Bradford Lancaster
- Justice George W. Macrae
- Justice George Sydney Hawkins
- Justice Thomas Baltzell
- Justice Thomas Douglas
Contact Information
Florida Supreme Court
500 South Duval Street
Tallahassee, Florida
32399-1925 | EMAIL
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