Robert L. Caruthers - Cumberland University

Cumberland University

Cumberland University was established in Lebanon by the Cumberland Presbyterian Church in 1842. Winstead Paine Bone, in his book, A History of Cumberland University, wrote that Caruthers, a member of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church, "had more to do with the founding of Cumberland University than any other person." He was appointed president of the school's first Board of Trustees in the Summer of 1842, and helped the school secure a charter in December of the following year. He remained president of the Board until his death in 1882.

In 1847, Caruthers and his brother, Abraham Caruthers, founded the Cumberland School of Law, one of the first law schools in the South. The school, which had an initial enrollment of seven students, held its first classes in Robert Caruthers' law office. As an instructor, Abraham Caruthers abandoned the lecture system, and instead assigned a chapter from a law text, and quizzed each student on the chapter the following day, considering this the best way to determine the areas in which a student was struggling. He also held moot courts. During the Civil War, Nathan Green, Jr., whose father had been succeeded by Robert Caruthers on the Tennessee Supreme Court in 1852, managed to keep the school open.

Caruthers joined the Cumberland School of Law's faculty as a Professor of Law in 1868, replacing Judge Henry Cooper. In 1878, in memory of his brother, Abraham, he funded the construction of Caruthers Hall, which housed the law school for several decades. He resigned from the faculty in 1880. In 1961, Cumberland University sold the law school to Birmingham-based Samford University.