Following his father's assassination, in April 1865 Robert moved with his mother and his brother Tad to Chicago, where Robert completed his law studies at the Old University of Chicago law school (now the Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law).
1865年4月，在父親遇刺後，羅伯特與母親及弟弟塔德搬到芝加哥，並在那兒的舊芝加哥大學法學院（之後被西北大學法學院合併）完成學業。