Robert Dollard was the first attorney general of South Dakota

South Dakota

South Dakota is a state located in the Midwestern region of the United States. It is named after the Lakota and Dakota Sioux American Indian tribes. Once a part of Dakota Territory, South Dakota became a state on November 2, 1889. The state has an area of and an estimated population of just over...

. He was born in Fall River, Massachusetts

Fall River, Massachusetts

Fall River is a city in Bristol County, Massachusetts, in the United States. It is located about south of Boston, southeast of Providence, Rhode Island, and west of New Bedford and south of Taunton. The city's population was 88,857 during the 2010 census, making it the tenth largest city in...

, March 14, 1842, and died in 1912. He was a member of the Republican Party.

He was a member of the Fourth Regiment, Massachusetts Volunteer Militia, and his command was part of the Minutemen

Minutemen

Minutemen were members of teams of select men from the American colonial partisan militia during the American Revolutionary War. They provided a highly mobile, rapidly deployed force that allowed the colonies to respond immediately to war threats, hence the name.The minutemen were among the first...

 of Massachusetts. He was among the first to respond to the call for volunteers at the outbreak of the American Civil War

American Civil War

The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...

 and rose to the rank of major during the conflict.

He was admitted to the bar of Illinois

Illinois

Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...

 in 1870 and moved to Dakota Territory

Dakota Territory

The Territory of Dakota was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from March 2, 1861, until November 2, 1889, when the final extent of the reduced territory was split and admitted to the Union as the states of North and South Dakota.The Dakota Territory consisted of...

 in 1879, settling in Douglas County

Douglas County, South Dakota

As of the census of 2000, there were 3,458 people, 1,321 households, and 947 families residing in the county. The population density was 8 people per square mile . There were 1,453 housing units at an average density of 3 per square mile...

. The records of the United States Land Office show him to be the first settler in that county.

He was elected to several local offices and participated in the statehood conventions of 1883 and 1885. He became states attorney of Bon Homme County

Bon Homme County, South Dakota

As of the census of 2000, there were 7,260 people, 2,635 households, and 1,786 families residing in the county. The population density was 13 people per square mile . There were 3,007 housing units at an average density of 5 per square mile...

and was chosen attorney general for the provisional government in 1885. Between that time and statehood he served in the Territorial Legislature as a member of the Council.

In 1889, he was elected as the first attorney general and re-elected in 1890. In 1892 he was elected to the state senate and in 1896 to the state house of representatives. He married Carrie E. Dunn in 1874.