Robert Looney Caruthers (July 31, 1800 – October 2, 1882) was an American judge, politician, and professor. He helped establish Cumberland University in 1842, serving as the first president of its board of trustees, and was a cofounder of the Cumberland School of Law, one of the oldest law schools in the South. He served as a Tennessee state attorney general in the late 1820s and early 1830s, and was a justice of the Tennessee Supreme Court in the 1850s and early 1860s. He also served one term in the United States House of Representatives (1841–1843). In 1863, he was elected Governor of Tennessee by the state's Confederates, but never took office. Early life and career Robert Looney Caruthers was born near Carthage, Tennessee, the youngest of seven children of Samuel and Elizabeth Looney Caruthers. His father had represented Sullivan County at the constitutional convention of the State of Franklin in the 1780s. After his death, Robert went to live with an uncle in Columbia, Tennessee, where he attended Woodward Academy. He later attended Washington College near Jonesborough and Greeneville College in Greeneville, and studied law under Judge Samuel Powell in Greeneville. Caruthers returned to Carthage in 1823 to practice law. He served as the clerk for the Tennessee House of Representatives for the 1823–1824 term, and worked as editor of the Tennessee Republican newsletter. In 1826, he moved to Lebanon, Tennessee, and married Sally Sanders, a niece of Andrew Jackson's wife, Rachel Donelson Jackson. That same year, he was appointed attorney general for the Sixth Judicial District (based in Lebanon) by Governor Sam Houston. He served in this position until 1832. In 1834, he was elected brigadier general in the Tennessee militia. In 1836, he and Alfred O. P. Nicholson published A Compilation of the Statutes of Tennessee, which remained the state's standard compilation of statutes for over two decades. In 1835, Caruthers was elected to the Tennessee House of Representatives, representing Wilson County. He served on the House Judiciary Committee, and did not seek reelection. He was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives for Tennessee's 7th District for the 1841–1843 term. Once again, he served just one term, and did not seek reelection. In 1844, he was the Whig elector for Tennessee's at-large district, and as such, canvassed the state for unsuccessful presidential candidate Henry Clay. In 1852, Caruthers was appointed by Governor William B. Campbell to