Maine’s only native to serve as Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Count was born in Augusta on January 11, 1833. Melville Weston Fuller was appointed to that post by president Grover Cleavland, taking the oath of office on October 8, 1888.
After graduating from Bowdoin College Phi Beta Kappa in 1853, he studied law at Harvard University and was admitted to the bar in 1855. Fuller soon moved to Chicago where he practiced law and got involved in politics. According to the biographical note accompanying his papers at the Bowdoin College archives,
In 1862, Fuller served as a delegate to the Illinois constitutional convention. He was a member of the Illinois House of Representatives from 1863 to 1865 and was a delegate to the Democratic National Conventions of 1864, 1872, 1876, and 1880.
Fuller was at home in Sorrento, Maine when he suffered a heart attack and died on the Fourth of July in 1910. An extensive article in the Los Angeles Herald on July 5, 1910 reviewed his career: [condensed and slightly reformatted for ease of reading]
To Chief Justice Fuller fell the honor of third rank for length of service as presiding Justice in the highest tribunal of the American government. For twenty-two years he was chief Justice of the supreme court of the United States, but Chief Justice Marshall presided over the court for thirty-four years and Chief Justice Taney for twenty-eight years. . . . Before Grover Cleveland sent his name to the senate on April 30, 1888, for confirmation as chief justice, ha was practically unknown except to members of the legal profession.
In Maine, where he was born February 11, 1833, he had been known as a wellbehaved, rather scholarly lad. He had, gone to Bowdoin college and incidentally there won most of the prizes for elocution. He had gone down to Harvard law school for one year. Finally he blossomed forth as a fullfledged lawyer and politician of a highminded sort in his native city of Augusta. He became an associate editor on a Democratic paper called The Age, and about the same time was elected president of the city council and city solicitor. Soon thereafter he left Maine for the greater opportunities of life in Chicago.
He lived in Chicago, but attracted little attention outside his immediate associates and friends, and afterward at the bar until he undertook the defense of Bishop Henry on a charge of heresy. His knowledge of ecclesiastical history and procedure astonished those who conducted tho case, and his argument of the cause of the bishop before the supreme court of Illinois is referred to still as a forensic effort seldom, if ever, surpassed in that court.
He was a delegate to the national conventions of the Democratic party in 1864, 1871. 1876 and 1880. The Maine boy who had “gone west” accomplished much, however, notwithstanding his quiet life. He had laid the foundations for a deep understanding of the commercial laws of the country, and along this line he had performed services for clients that were estimated to have netted him an annual income of $30,000. These accomplishments led the Republican senators from Illinois to urge upon the Demmocratic senate the appointment of Mr. Fuller as the successor of Chief Justice Morrison R. Walte. The nomination of Mr. Fuller, then 55 years old, was followed by a memorable contest in the senate. The judiciary committee with its Republican majority, to which the nomination was sent April 8, held up the appointment until July 20. Then the, committee reported it to the senate “without recommendation.” For three hours that body debated in executive session whether to confirm or reject the nomination. The attack on Mr. Fuller was led by Senators Edmunds, Evarts and Stewart. Senators Cullom and Farwell defended him. The reports that he had been a “copperhead” during the Civil War and that he did not possess tho requisite ability as a lawyer were gone over. Finally, by a vote of 41 to 20, his nomination was confirmed. . . .
The service of Chief Justice Fuller was noted for the dignity with which he filled the position. . . . Although small of stature, not more than five feet seven Inches, his wealth of silvery hair and classic features made him a commanding figure wherever he appeared. Probably Mark Twain resembled the chief justice in physical appearance more than any other man of prominence in recent years. Frequently the humorist was mistaken for the jurist. One day a young woman accosted Mark Twain on the street and with the apology that she had never seen the chief Justice beifore, asked for his autograph. The author wrote: “It is delicious to be full. But It is heavenly to be Fuller. I am cordially yours, Melville W. Fuller.”
The late chief justice as far as known never expressed his opinion of what he thought of Twain for playing that little joke on him. Chief Justice Fuller reflected to a great extent his research into literature by the style of his opinions and addresses. In the earlier days after going on the bench he wrote some poetry, and now and then lapsed into poetical touches in his opinions from the bench.
His death today recalls his words on such events expressed at the centenary of the court, twenty years ago: “Judges will be appointed,” said he, “and will pass away. One generation rapidly succeeds another, but whoever comes and whoever goes, the court remains, keeping alive through many centuries we shall not see the light that burns with a constant radiance on the high altar of American constitutional justice.” Chief Justice Fuller left an indelible stamp on the laws of the country. . . .
Additional resources
“CHIEF JUSTICE MELVILLE FULLER DIES SUDDENLY.” Los Angeles Herald, July 5, 1910. California Digital Newspaper Collection. http://cdnc.ucr.edu/cgi-bin/cdnc?a=d&d=LAH19100705.2.13 (accesed October 2, 2014)
Ely, James W., Jr. The Chief Justiceship of Melville W. Fuller, 1888–1910. Columbia, SC. The University of South Carolina Press. 1995.
Furer, Howard B. The Fuller Court, 1888-1910. Millwood, N.Y. Associated Faculty Press. c1986.
King, Willard L. Melville Weston Fuller, Chief Justice of the United States, 1888-1910. Chicago, IL. University of Chicago Press. 1967.