Court History

January 3, 1961, to October 4, 1972

Robert W. Calvert was born February 22, 1905, in Lawrence County, Tennessee to Porter Calvert and Maud Richardson. Porter Calvert passed away in 1912, leaving his family destitute. Mrs. Calvert brought her family to Texas in 1913, and placed her children in the State Home in Corsicana. Later Justice Calvert would credit his experience in the State Home as the ordeal which forged his character and the determination that carried him all through his life. This determination resulted in his developing a level of almost fierce self-reliance.

After graduating from high school at the State Home, he matriculated through undergraduate and law school at the University of Texas in Austin. After graduation, he went to Hillsboro to practice law and entered public service as a district attorney.

He served as a member of the Texas House of Representatives in the 43rd and 44th Sessions from 1933 through 1935. Calvert served as Speaker of the House in the 45th Session in 1937. He was elected an Associate Justice of the Texas Supreme Court in 1950 and served in that position until November 1960, when he was elected Chief Justice. He was re-elected in November 1966. He retired in October 1972. As a member of the Supreme Court, Justice Calvert will best be remembered by the way he quickly cut through to the heart of a case. His opinions were usually brief and succinct.

Justice Calvert also served as Chairman of the National Conference of Chief Justices from 1970 to 1971 and as a member of the Texas State Ethics Advisory Commission from 1984 to 1985. Judge Calvert's twenty-two years on the Court were followed by twenty-two years in private practice. He died on October 6, 1994 in Waco, Texas, and was buried at the Texas State Cemetery on October 9, 1994.

Information taken from Texas State Cemetery Archives.