Background
David Rorer was born on 12 May 1806 in Virginia, United States. He was the son of Abraham Rorer who lived on a farm in Pittsylvania County.
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David Rorer was born on 12 May 1806 in Virginia, United States. He was the son of Abraham Rorer who lived on a farm in Pittsylvania County.
On the foundation of a country school education, David Rorer studied law in the office of Nathaniel H. Claiborne and was admitted to the Virginia bar before he was twenty years old.
David Rorer was admitted to the Virginia bar before he was twenty years old. In 1826 he was admitted to the bar and went to practice in Little Rock, Arkansas. He was appointed county judge and then prosecuting attorney. For a short time, he also worked in American Indian removal and supervised the construction of a portion of the Memphis and Little Rock Military Road.
After moving to Burlington, Iowa in 1836 David Rorer became the principal architect of Burlington’s first town government. In 1837 he was a town trustee and wrote the articles of incorporation, drew up the first ordinances, and helped layout and name the streets. In 1838 he ran to be the Iowa territorial delegate to Congress but lost the election.
During the course of his career in Burlington, David Rorer became one of the area's most prominent attorneys. From 1839 to 1884, he argued before Iowa's high court more often than any other attorney. In May 1853 he became counsel for the Burlington & Missouri River Road Company and continued as counsel after its consolidation as the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railway Company.
During the last twenty-five years of his life, David Rorer specialized in railroad litigation, becoming an expert in railroad law.
Though reared as a slave owner, David Rorer early perceived the evils of Negro bondage and manumitted his own slaves.
During the Civil War, he was energetic in support of the Union and advocated immediate emancipation as a salutary and effective measure.
Colleagues and rivals knew him as a thorough scholar, a vigorous advocate, and a close reasoner who could on occasion be eloquent without oratorical vacuity.
In 1827 David Rorer married Martha (Daniel) Martin, by whom he had two sons and two daughters. His first wife died in 1838, and in the following year he married Delia Maria Viele; two daughters by this marriage survived him.
