Robert M. Nevin Explained

Robert Murphy Nevin
State:Ohio
District:3rd
Party:Republican
Term Start:March 4, 1901
Term End:March 3, 1907
Preceded:John Lewis Brenner
Succeeded:J. Eugene Harding
Birth Date:5 May 1850
Birth Place:Danville, Ohio
Death Place:Dayton, Ohio
Restingplace:Woodland Cemetery
Spouse:Emma Reasoner
Signature:Robert M. Nevin - signature.jpg
Alma Mater:Ohio Wesleyan University

Robert Murphy Nevin (May 5, 1850  - December 17, 1912) was an attorney and three-term member of the United States House of Representatives from Ohio from 1901 to 1907.

Biography

Robert M. Nevin was born in Danville, Ohio, the son of Robert and Frances E. (Eakin) Nevin. His father was a merchant and the first postmaster in Highland County, Ohio. He attended the public schools in Hillsboro, Ohio and was graduated from the Ohio Wesleyan University in June 1868.

After graduation, Robert M. Nevin moved to Dayton, Ohio, where he pursued the study of law under the tutelage of Thomas O. Lowe. When Lowe was elected to the bench of the superior court, Nevin entered the office of Conover & Craighead, well-known attorneys, where he completed his study of law until admitted to the bar in Montgomery County, Ohio in 1871.

In November 1871, Robert Murphy Nevin was united in marriage to Miss Emma Reasoner of Dresden, Ohio. They had four children.

In 1876, Robert Nevin entered into professional partnership with Alvin W. Kumler, and the firm of Nevin & Kumler was maintained until the election of Kumler as judge of the Montgomery County Court of Common Pleas, by which time it was the oldest continuous law partnership in south central Ohio. R. M. Nevin was a distinguished criminal lawyer and occupied a prominent place at the Ohio bar as counsel for the New York Central Railroad for thirty years (1882–1912).

Robert M. Nevin was a lifelong Republican, very active in state and local politics, and served as chairman of the Republican county committee of Montgomery County. He was a delegate to 14 Republican state conventions in 15 years, his name being put in nomination for Secretary of State and Governor at different times. In 1893, he nominated William McKinley for Governor of Ohio at the state convention in Columbus, Ohio. Nevin was a delegate to the Republican National Convention in 1892.

R. M. Nevin was elected as a Republican as prosecuting attorney of Montgomery County and served from 1887 to 1890. He was narrowly defeated for Congress from Ohio's third district in 1896. In 1900, he was elected as a Republican to the Fifty-seventh, and re-elected to the Fifty-eighth and Fifty-ninth Congresses.

He declined renomination in 1906, resuming the practice of law in Dayton. He was a Mason, Knight Templar and Scottish Rite, an Odd Fellow, a Knight of Pythias and a member of the society of Elks.

Robert Murphy Nevin died in Dayton in 1912 and was interred in Woodland Cemetery, Dayton, Ohio.

Sources