Robert was the son of a Revolutionary War veteran. He was only nine when his father died. After his father's death he lived with his Uncle Joseph's family in Clarksburg. A receipt for fees shows that Robert attended St. Charles College in Missouri from 1838-39. He began his adult life as a merchant like his father. In 1845 he purchased a newspaper in Clarksburg which he called The Harrison Republican. His son Waite was born while the family lived in Clarksburg. Robert sold the newspaper in 1849 and moved back to Martinsburg. He studied law with his father-in-law Harrison Waite. His brother William had also practiced law in Marinsburg. William was lost at sea in 1847. Robert may have returned to Martinsburg to take up the law practice of both men. At any rate the family did not stay in Martinsburg long. In 1851 two of Robert's young children died and were buried at the Presbyterian Burying ground in Georgetown. Throughout the 1850's Robert was employed as a lawyer at the US Pension Office in D.C., but returned to Martinsburg before the outbreak of war. It was a place of extreme partisanship. The Sommerville family was known to support the Union, not a popular sentiment in Martinsburg at the time. After son Waite was kidnapped and placed in jail in Winchester for not joining the Confederate army, the family returned to D.C. Once the war ended, the family returned to Martinsburg but did not stay. After recovering from a stroke which seriously impaired his health, Robert again moved the family to Georgetown where he practiced law from his home on Green near Gay St. until his death in 1877. All but three of his children are buried in Georgetown at Oak Hill Cemetery. Robert & his wife Mary Anne were originally buried in the old Presbyterian Burying Ground on Volta Place in Georgetown with two of their young children. Son William G. is buried in Martinsburg. In 1891 Robert & Mary Ann were moved to Oak Hill by their son Fred N. who was the was the superintendent of the cemetery.