[Titus, Hon. Robert C.]

     Titus, Hon. Robert C., Buffalo, justice of the Supreme Court, is of English descent, and was born in Eden, Erie county, October 24, 1839. His ancestors lived for many generations in England, whence they came to America at an early day. Timothy Titus had a son Robert, whose son, James B. Titus, was born in Hebron, N. Y., July 19, 1794, and moved with his parents to Richfield, Otsego county, N. Y., where he was married, January 2, 1817, to Esther, daughter of Sterling Yeomans. This young couple came on horseback to Eden, Erie county, and first lived in a rude log house; in 1831 they moved into a larger and better dwelling. Mr. Titus was a colonel in the State militia, a prominent factor in local affairs, and died in 1839, leaving a wife and eight children, of whom Robert C. is the youngest. Robert C. Titus entered Oberlin College in 1858 and spent two years, teaching school to pay his way. He then began the study of law in Hamburg, Erie county, with Horace Boies, afterward governor of Iowa, and in 1863 organized a company of volunteers and was mustered into the 98th Regt. N. G. N. Y. He was honorably discharged December 22, 1864, and resuming his law studies was admitted to the bar in 1865. For one year he was special deputy county clerk under Dr. Lewis P. Dayton, and then began active practice in Hamburg. In 1867 he was the Democratic candidate for member of assembly, and in 1871 was nominated for surrogate of Erie county and ran about 800 votes ahead of his ticket. For four years (1868-71) he represented Hamburg on the Board of Supervisors. In 1873 he came to Buffalo and formed a law partnership with Joel L. Walker, and in 1877 he was elected district attorney of Erie county by a 2,200 majority; in 1880 he was renominated for this office and defeated, though he ran 1,200 votes ahead of his ticket. He was a member of the law firms of Osgoodby, Titus & Moot from 1879 to 1883 and of Titus & Farrington from 1883 to 1886. In 1881 he was unanimously nominated by the Democrats for State senator from the 31st district and was elected by a majority of 5,528, running over 7,000 ahead of his ticket, and was re-elected in 1883. In 1885 he was elected a judge of the Superior Court of Buffalo, and in January, 1891, was made chief judge by his associates. Under the new constitution of 1894, abolishing the Superior Court, he became a justice of the Supreme Court, which office he still holds. In the fall of 1896 he was the Democratic candidate for judge of the Court of Appeals. Judge Titus is one of the ablest lawyers and foremost jurists of Western New York. He is a thirty-second degree Mason, a public spirited citizen, and a scholar of broad culture and rare attainments. In 1867 he married Arvilla, daughter of Allen Clark of Gowanda, N. Y., and they have two children: Amy, wife of Dan B. Worthington, and Allen Sterling Titus, a student of Trinity College, class of 1900.