Fuller, Melville Weston

Born February 11, 1833, in Augusta, ME
Died July 4, 1910, in Sorrento, ME

Federal Judicial Service:
Chief Justice, Supreme Court of the United States
Nominated by Grover Cleveland on April 30, 1888, to a seat vacated by Morrison Waite. Confirmed by the Senate on July 20, 1888, and received commission on July 20, 1888. Service terminated on July 4, 1910, due to death.

Supreme Court Oath:
October 8, 1888

Allotment as Circuit Justice:

Fourth Circuit, December 17, 1888-July 4, 1910
Seventh Circuit, December 19, 1892-April 1, 1894

Education:
Read law
Bowdoin College, A.B., 1853
Bowdoin College, A.M., 1856

Professional Career:

Private practice, Augusta, Maine, 1855-1856
Editor, Augusta [Maine] Age, 1855-1856
President, Augusta [Maine] Common Council, 1856
City solicitor, Augusta, Maine, 1856
Private practice, Chicago, Illinois, 1856-1888
Delegate, Illinois constitutional convention, 1862
State representative, Illinois, 1863-1865

Bibliography

Ely, James W., Jr. The Chief Justiceship of Melville W. Fuller, 1888-1910. Columbia, SC: University of South Carolina Press, 2012.

King, Willard Leroy. Meville Weston Fuller, Chief Justice of the United States, 1888-1910. New York: Macmillan, 1950.

________. “Melville Weston Fuller: ‘The Chief’ and the Giants on the Court. American Bar Association Journal, vol. 36, no. 4 (Apr. 1950): 293-7.

Storey, Moorfield. “Melville Weston Fuller (1833-1910).” Proceedings of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, vol. 51, no. 14 (Dec. 1916): 875-9.

Manuscript Collections

Bowdoin College
Brunswick, Me.
Melville W. Fuller papers, 1879-1906.
ca. 75 items; collection contains 3 diaries (1879, 1880, and 1882), 13 letters to George T. Little, 1 letter to William DeWitt Hyde, and 1 in. of news clippings.

Chicago Historical Society
Chicago, Ill.
Melville W. Fuller papers, 1833-1951.
12 ft. (ca. 7,000 items); finding aid; collection includes correspondence; legal documents; newspaper clippings; and other papers relating to Fuller's personal, professional, and political life.

Harvard Law School
Cambridge, Mass.
Letters and autographs of Melville W. Fuller, 1889-1909.
7 items; letters, including one to the attorney general regarding bankruptcy laws; one to Lloyd Bryce on the Supreme Court docket; letters of introduction; and personal letters.

Library of Congress
Washington, D.C.
Melville W. Fuller papers, 1794-1949.
5,000 items; finding aid; collection contains personal correspondence, notes, scrapbooks, speeches, writings, memorabilia, and other printed matter.

Federal Judicial Center

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Fuller, Melville Weston