Robert Yates

Robert Yates (January 27, 1738 – September 9, 1801) was an American politician, attorney, jurist, and surveyor. As a delegate representing New York at the Constitutional Convention in 1787, Yates is considered a Founding Father of the United States. Best known as a leader of the Anti-Federalist movement, he was the presumed author of political essays published in 1787-1788 under the pseudonyms "Brutus" and "Sydney". The essays opposed the Constitution based on the scope of the national government and the diminished sovereignty of the states. Yates also served as chief justice of the New York Supreme Court from 1790 to 1798.

Early life Robert Yates was born January 27, 1738, in Schenectady, New York, the oldest of twelve children of merchant Joseph Yates and Maria (née Dunbar) Yates. Among his large family was uncle Abraham Yates Jr., who served as mayor of Albany in the 1790s and cousin Peter Waldron Yates, who was a Continental Congressman and New York State Assemblyman. His paternal grandparents were Christoffel Yates, a prosperous farmer and blacksmith, and (née Winne) Yates.

He learned the craft of the surveyor and then decided to pursue a career in law. After clerking for William Livingston in New York City, in 1760 he was licensed to practice on his own.

Career Surveying supplemented Yates' attorney's income as he made a number of important land maps during the 1760s. He drew the first civilian map of Albany in 1770. He also relied on patronage from the Albany Corporation through his uncle, alderman Abraham Yates Jr. In 1771, he was elected to the Common Council as an alderman for the second ward. In those years he served on a number of committees, provided legal advice, and stepped forward to compile and issue the first published version of the "Laws and Ordinances of the City of Albany" in 1773. In December 1787, Yates and John Lansing wrote a letter to Governor Clinton urging opposition to the new Constitution. Yates's personal notes from the Philadelphia convention were published in 1821. After the Poughkeepsie Convention ratified the Constitution with an accompanying request for amendments to protect individual liberties, Yates pledged his support as a matter of patriotic duty.

John Van Ness Yates (1779–1839), who served as the Secretary of State of New York from 1818 to 1826.

He died in Albany, New York, on September 9, 1801, at age 63. He was originally buried at St. Peter's Cemetery, and later reinterred at Albany Rural Cemetery.