Col. Robert I. Chester
Death of the Distinguished Gentleman at Jackson.

Jackson, Tenn., Jan. 14. – Col. Robert I. Chester, one of the oldest masons in this county, died at an early hour this morning in his ninety-ninth year of age. Col. Chester was in the war of 1812, was a friend to Gen. Andrew Jackson, and his first wife was a niece of Mrs. Jackson. He served in the Tennessee legislature in 1837. President Van Buren appointed him United States marshal for West Tennessee, and with the exception of three years he held the position until 1861. He carried the vote of Tennessee to Washington when Cleveland was elected in 1884, where his great age and courtly bearing attracted wide attention. He often said he wanted to live long enough to carry Tennessee’s vote to Washington for Cleveland. La grippe was the immediate cause of his death. He will be buried Sunday with Masonic honors.

Col. Chester was a maternal uncle of T. O. and W. W. Roberts of our town, and was the oldest of a large family of brothers and sisters—and was the last one. He was a man whom men delighted to honor.