His father served in the Civil War,[2] however, and young Robert accompanied him to the front and saw several battles.

[3] Boynton was so impressed with Wynne's work as a reporter that he encouraged him to abandon telegraphy and become a journalist full-time.

[3][5] Boynton syndicated Wynne's work to a wide range of newspapers, including the St. Louis Democrat, Chicago Tribune, Pittsburgh Commercial,[1] and Philadelphia Inquirer.

[6] After a change in presidential administrations in March 1893, he continued in the role for Secretary of the Treasury John G. Carlisle, but left public service in August 1893.

He first became suspicious of illegal activity as a reporter,[3] and his investigation as First Assistant Postmaster General led to many departmental resignations and prison time for a few people.

[23] The Commercial Fire Insurance Company of Baltimore, Maryland, the co-owner of the Southern Building, tried to force a merger with First National in August 1914.

[24] Wynne resisted the merger, and demanded that the Southern Building be partitioned so that First National could extricate itself from its business arrangements with Commercial Fire.

[27] On February 10, 1915, businessman William Tryson and others formed the Allan E. Walker Company to buy the Southern Building.

On March 18, the Walker Company sold the building back to First National, incurring a trust deed of $600,000.

[19] This triggered more stockholder lawsuits, which argued that Wynne was attempting to hide the company's financial distress.

First National agreed to the Walker Co. sale, leading to a struggle for control of the Southern Building among the three entities.

[31] The bankruptcy led to extensive litigation, as shareholders who did not invest in the Walker Company sued to recover their investment in First National and the Walker Company fought to gain ownership of the Southern Building from the Southern Realty Corporation.

[37] With the Walker Company assuming full control by October,[38] Southern Realty was liquidated in July 1921.

[4] Wynne died at his home at 1511 Park Road NW in Washington, D.C., from cardiac disease on March 11, 1922.

[4] In February 1919, Wynne was named to the committee seeking to build a national memorial to Theodore Roosevelt.