Robert S. Gould

Robert Simonton Gould (December 16, 1826 – June 30, 1904) was a justice of the Texas Supreme Court from May 1874 to December 1882, serving as chief justice from November 1881 to December 1882.

Early life, education, and career Born in Statesville, Iredell County, North Carolina, Gould's father Daniel Gould was a Presbyterian minister who died when Gould was seven years old. His mother, Zilpha Gould, moved to Tuscaloosa, Alabama, in 1837. Gould entered the University of Alabama at fourteen and graduated at age eighteen. He was shortly after appointed tutor of mathematics in the university and held the position for three years, receiving an A.M. degree in 1847. He was licensed to practice law in 1849, and moved to Macon, Mississippi, where he entered into practice in partnership with the Joshua Martin, a former Governor of Alabama. Gould moved to Texas in 1850, and having been admitted to practice in the courts of this State by Judge R. E. B. Baylor, settled at Centerville, Leon County. He was elected district attorney in 1853, and continued in that office until 1857. In 1861 he was elected district judge, resigning to enter the army during the American Civil War.

Military service Gould was a member of the Secession Convention of 1861. He raised a company of cavalry in Leon County for the Confederate service, of which he was elected captain, and this company being united with four others in a battalion, he was elected major-commanding. Gould's battalion was a part of Randle's brigade and of Walker's division. It participated in the battles of Mansfield, Pleasant Hill, and Jenkins' Ferry. At Jenkins' Ferry Gould was wounded and had his horse killed under him. Other companies being united with the battalion, Gould was promoted to colonel. At the close of the war Gould resumed the practice of law in Leon County. In 1866 he was elected district judge but was shortly afterward removed by general military order as an impediment to reconstruction.