Robert M. Widney

Robert Maclay Widney (December 23, 1838 – November 14, 1929) was an American lawyer, judge, and one of the founders of the University of Southern California (USC). History He was born in Piqua, Ohio. He was the older brother of Joseph Widney, second president of USC; and the nephew of Robert Samuel Maclay, a pioneer missionary to China; and Charles Maclay, later a state senator for California. Widney left Ohio in September 1855 and spent two years hunting and trapping on the Great Plains and in the Rocky Mountains. Los Angeles Widney arrived in California in September 1857. He studied at the University of the Pacific (then located in Santa Clara) from 1858 to 1862. He was admitted to the bar in 1865, and moved to Los Angeles in 1867. In 1871, he was named a judge of the Court of California for Los Angeles and San Bernardino Counties. He was a founder of the Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce (established in 1873). He was a member of the 19th century 'Lincoln' Republican Party.